 From screenshot to trailer to demonstration, Crysis has left jaws on the floor and pants soiled. The visual impact of Crysis is undeniable. Packed with such state-of-the-art visual effects as motion blur, day-to-night cycles, and parallax occlusion mapping, this game is far more beautiful than anything else that’s available at this time. But does the gameplay match up to the standards set by the beauty? This, unfortunately, is pretty arguable; but Crysis is still one of the better first person shooters of the year.
The story goes something like this: A group of American archeologists makes a startling discovery in the South China Sea but is taken captive by the greedy North Koreans who lock down the island and take a hostile stance towards any interfering forces. You play as Delta Force squad member Jake Dunn – a guy who seems to take things a little more seriously than the oh-so-macho Jack Carver from Crytek’s previous smash hit, Far Cry. Your mission is simple: Land on the island, rescue the archeologists, and deal with any North Koreans blocking your path. As you progress through the single-player campaign, you’ll deal with dozens upon dozens of North Korean military personnel. Admittedly, it can get tiring fighting the same types of troops over and over again, but luckily the game packs enough variety in the mission designs to keep you from becoming too bored. Running and gunning is certainly not a safe option in Crysis because the A.I. will outmaneuver and outgun you in a heartbeat if you aren’t careful. It’s almost rare to encounter a lone soldier, and many firefights will depend on your ability to dispatch individual foes from fairly large groups. If you stay out in the open, you’ll likely be attacked by more than three soldiers at a time – not exactly the best way to stay healthy in the middle of a war zone.  You do, however, have one major form of protection: Your nanosuit. A high-powered battle suit which can divert energy to various areas to give specific performance enhancements, the nanosuit can be shifted into “Speed” mode to make you faster, “Strength” mode to make you stronger and allow you to jump higher, “Armor” mode to shield you from enemy fire, and “Cloak” mode to turn you completely invisible for a hasty escape or a stealthy entrance into an enemy encampment. These suit powers fit perfectly into the game, giving you enough power to stand a chance but not too much so that you overpower anyone and anything in your way.
Another mechanic that aids with survival is the ability to customize your weapons on the fly. You can add silencers, scopes, tranquilizer attachments, grenade launchers, or even flashlights onto your weapons at any time. The way in which these attachments affect the weapons makes them even more intriguing. Silencers cut out most of the noise, but significantly affect the damage you inflict. Scopes allow you to pop enemies from afar, but are of no use when you’re raiding a base and must deal with large numbers of foes in intense close-quarters combat. One mission in particular had me worried about my approach: As I stood still, concealed in the forest, two five-man single-file groups marched down a windy mountain road, leaving me wandering, “Do I shoot to kill for ammo and goods, or do I allow them to pass by and check out where that windy road leads to?” Such decisions are what really define Crysis, and very rarely are there any “one way only” segments in these intense (even if you aren’t shooting!) jungle scenes. Foot soldiers carrying assault rifles aren’t the only ones you’ll have to worry about, though. You’ll also encounter hidden snipers, Special Forces units, attack helicopters, battle tanks, and much more. I won’t spoil my favorite enemy in the game, but allow me to give you a hint: Look in the mirror! Also in the game are extra terrestrial foes that are unleashed later on as the story begins to develop. I won’t spoil too much about their appearance or tactics, but I will say that although their artificial intelligence isn’t quite as impressive as that of the North Koreans’, the aliens’ extremely fast, unfamiliar and unpredictable movements will keep you on your toes and take your breath away once or twice. As a whole, the artificial intelligence in Crysis is fairly impressive. I’ve seen groups of soldiers interacting with one another and enacting realistic squad movements, but I’ve also seen a few screw-ups here and there that unfortunately detract from the realism. For example, some troops don’t react when their buddy is dropped with a headshot, and others will act completely clueless when you go into cloak mode immediately after engaging them. Sure, you’re momentarily invisible, but do these guys have short-term memory loss or something? What is the deal here!? Near the end of the game, you’ll begin to notice the wildly enjoyable jungle missions are being replaced with painfully linear “you versus the aliens” segments in what is an otherwise gorgeous frozen jungle. The frost effects are some of the best I’ve seen, but the straight-forward mission design and repetitive firefights left a lot to be desired. I really wanted more. The zero-gravity alien ship segment was not quite as linear, but the action was minimal and several parts were needlessly confusing. I just couldn’t help but feel that these parts of the game were a complete letdown. Even the ending left a bitter taste in my mouth. Fortunately, there are still some values that give the game plenty of replay value and could prevent it from being the next dust collector. For a real challenge, the “Delta” difficulty is always available – you have no crosshair, all North Korean foes actually speak North Korean, and you’ll be dropped in only a few shots. This one is for the truly elite players, and I can’t imagine how tough it would be replaying the roughest moments on “Normal” difficulty with these settings. Multiplayer is also a fair component, though sorely lacking in options. There are only two game modes: Deathmatch and Power Struggle. Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are nowhere to be found, and if you are scratching your head right now, I don’t blame you. Still, Deathmatch is plenty of chaotic fun and Power Struggle is like Battlefield on steroids. You compete for strategic positions and earn Prestige points in the process which go towards purchasing weapons, add-ons, vehicles, and more. Maps are fairly large in size and vary from your typical island to a misty industrial complex. Though the multiplayer component certainly won’t win Crysis any “Multiplayer Game of the Year” awards, it at least offers a fresh take on the Battlefield-style gameplay while offering some really cool features such as destructible environments and dynamic day-to-night cycles if you have Direct X 10 and are playing in a DX10-enabled server. See that guy hiding inside the hut over to the right? No problem. Pull out your rocket launcher and let it rip. Kaboom! No more safe shelter! The only problem with this is the lack of DX10 servers and the poor performance that results on such servers. Crysis is certainly not one of the greatest shooters of all time, nor is it, in my opinion, a Game of the Year of 2007, but it still packs enough enjoyment to be considered a must-buy for anyone who has been anticipating it since the hype began several years ago. You’ll witness some epic battles and some of the best graphics ever seen in a shooter, and the open-ended sandbox-style gameplay is something that is still seen far too rarely in today’s gaming scene. You owe it to yourself to give Crysis a try – just don’t expect it to be the next greatest thing or the “be all, end all” of PC gaming as it has seemingly been put out to be. Graphics - 8/10 - The visuals can be breathtaking and even near-photorealistic at times, but the poor performance hurts the overall visual fidelity.
Sound - 8.5/10 - As bullets whiz by and North Koreans shout commands in their own dialect, the atmosphere really comes to life.
Level Design - 7/10 - The jungle missions at the beginning are well-crafted, but tend to become repetitive. The later missions become linear and uninspired, making the last few hours a draining experience.
Overall - 8/10 - Crysis is a good shooter but not an all-time great. Shooter fans should not pass it up, but don't expect it to be the next greatest thing nor to be on top for very long.
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