At the beginning of 2004 all the buzz was about the imminent release of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 but after months and months of delay, those titles were beaten to the punch by a much less heralded game called Far Cry from first time developer Crytek. This time around Crytek didn't have the advantage of sneaking up on people but with Crysis once again they have delivered and exceeded all expectations with a game that looks amazing and sets new standards for first person shooters.
Game Details
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: Crytek
- ESRB Rating: "M" for Mature
- Genre: Action - First Person Shooter
- Theme: Sci-Fi
- Pros: Amazing game play, the action never stops; Visual effects, environments and graphics unmatched by any game currently on market; In depth and engaging storyline; Excellent multiplayer experience;
- Cons: Hefty system requirements; The game ends.
Storyline
The story for Crysis begins with a seemingly small confrontation between the United States and North Korea over the kidnapping of some archeologists on a small Pacific Island. Set in the year 2020, players take the role of Nomad, a member of an elite US Special Forces team, who is sent in to rescue the archeologists. Upon arriving you soon discover that there's something more to this "little" confrontation with the North Koreans, more specifically an alien invasion and you quickly become embroiled in fighting for not only your survival but fighting to stop the invasion. The game's story unfolds like a great book where each turn of the page something new and exciting is uncovered. There are no traditional cut scenes, rather the story is told through various assignments and dialog with your superior officer and a seamless flow from one gorgeous environment to another.
Game Play
Having a great story is one thing, but if the game play is terrible what is the point. Not to worry though because Crysis backs up it's great story line with excellent and intuitive game play. As you would expect being a member of a special forces unit entitles you to some of the most state of the art equipment, especially in a video game. In Crysis you are equiped with a high tech suit that looks somewhat like an exoskeleton called a nanosuit. This nanosuit not only acts as a sort of armor shell for added protection but it also enables you with enhanced strength, super speed and cloaking. Cloaking is great for sneaking up undetected on enemies while nanosuit strength and speed provide similar features to give you a lot of options depending on the situation. Each of these abilities can only be enabled for a limited time before the suit needs to recharge but they are extemely handy to have on top of your weaponry.You begin Crysis equiped with a pistol and SCAR Assault Rifle, you'll soon run out of ammunition for the SCAR so you'll eventually need to pick up or swap it out for a Korean made FY71 which looks very similiar to an AK-47. The weapons in Crysis can be loaded up with all sorts of attachments. You'll need to pick up an existing weapon with attachments to gain these weapon modifications but before long you'll have laser sights, an assualt scope, sniper scope, grenade launcher and many more to add to your arsenal. In addition there are also different types of ammunition for some of the weapons. There are a dozen or so different weapons you can find and you'll have the ability to carry a good amount of them at one time. You can carry two pistols, two rifles, a rocket launcher, explosives and 10 hand grenades. This may seem unrealistic but heck, it's a video game and Crysis makes it work by letting you catch glimpses of yourself in reflections or shadows showing weapons strapped to your back.
The environments in Crysis are simply fabulous; first off they look terrific but not only that they are so large and detailed that you are open to accomplish your objectives in anyway you see fit. Don't feel like traveling to the enemy controlled village by road? No worries, just trek through the jungle around the village and assault it from the rear. The open nature and freedom of these large environments is what makes Crysis such a joy to play. It just seems there's countless ways to approach or complete a specific task giving even the single player game mode very high replayability value.
Graphics/Visual Effects
If you have a powerful enough CPU and Graphics Card then you're in store for some truly mind blowing graphics with Crysis that are unmatched by any game currently on the market. Crytek didn't leave a stone unturned in detailing both the environments and character models. The texturing and lighting effects are amazing and we can only hope for more in future games built on the CryEngine 2 engine that was used to create Crysis. The recommended system requirements call for a NVIDIA 7800 Series or ATI Radeon 1800 Series or better but to get a true experience of the graphics on the highest settings you'll probably need the latest 8800 graphics cards.Bottom Line
About the only flaw found in Crysis is that the game eventually ends. The multiplayer portion adds some great game play options such as Deathmatch and Power Struggle modes, but it's the single player portion of the game that really sucks you in. The excellent graphics, game play and storyline flow together flawlessly throuhout the game and until the end. It's really a testament to the high level of detail and hard work that is apparent in this game. If there's one game you should play, it's this one.
