This review is of the 2011 console version
Crysis was dropped in Novermber 2007 for the PC, as a result it began the first PC genocide regime, making processors, graphics cards and RAM drives clunk, groan and just begin to melt under the pressure of having to run such a high demanding game. However the game was met with a critical success despite the need for space age computers to run it and eventually got itself a sequel in 2010 as well as a 2008 expansion pack that were both met with near equal praise.
However there was one thing Crysis fans all over the world were crying out for, and that was a console release of the original game so they could experience all the game had to offer and not have to get a new mortgage because they had to splash out on a supercomputer. Luckily that time has come, but is it as good as the PC version?
Crysis takes place in the year 2020. You are part of Raptor Team, a special forces team made up of five 'super-soldiers'. Though they are technically still human they wear a 5 billion dollar suit called the Nanosuit. The Nanosuit can adapt to situations to give the wearer the best tactical advantage there is, it does this through giving the wearer super speed, super strength, near unbreakable armour and the ability to turn invisible for short periods of time. You are flown in to the remote island of Lingshan where you have received distress signals from an archaeological team, in which they highlight that they are under attack by North Korean forces. You are there because they have found something, something that your government is very interested in however what it is you are not told. When you parachute out of your drop plane you are scattered from the rest of your squad, you must regroup with them, take down the invading KPA forces and find out what everyone is so interested in, which by the way is aliens living in the central mountainous area of the island.
The story to Crysis is very sub-standard. It has been told before a million times and nearly all of them have been better told versions. The problem doesn't lie with the story though, its the way Crysis chooses to tell it. The game never leaves its first person viewpoint from the character Nomad, Nomad is a largely boring and very unexplored character surrounded by a great supporting cast of his fellow team mates. Though some are killed off very early on in the game they still provide a more interesting character than Nomad. The game also never really explains why any of this is happening, this is explained due to the fact that because neither the KPA or the US forces know how the aliens operate or how to deal with them but it just comes off as making the US army look like a bunch of testosterone fuelled gun nuts because all they want to do is nuke the place. Also the game doesn’t really end properly, you fight the final boss and then the credits roll, you get no closure or have no idea as to what happens to the characters after this point. Now I would let that slide if Crysis 2 or Warhead had explained what happens after the end of the game, but they don’t meaning that there is a large hole in the plotline that needs to be filled.
Crysis's gameplay is among the finest in the genre. Though the game does look and mostly play like every other FPS before it, it has something tucked up its sleeve. The Nanosuit becomes the games most important weapon and gameplay element. How you choose to use the suit's powers can directly affect how you play the game and how much you will enjoy the game. For example you could activate armour mode and run into an enemy encampment guns blazing. The likleyhood is that you will completely wipe out the camp if you use the environment to your advantage. Alternatively you could switch on the stealth mode and completely sneak past the camp or stealthily kill all the patrolling guards in the area before raiding the place for ammo and weapons. However you will need to use all of the suits abilities to get past firefights, you cant just stealth kill everyone or expect your armour to last forever which is where the speed and strength suit powers come in. You could sprint round enemies to shoot them in the back, grab one of the still living KPA soldiers and use him as a meatshield to quickly dispose of the rest in eyeline, throw the soldier at some incoming reinforcements to throw them off guard then rip into them with your assault rife whilst activating armour before sneaking off in stealth mode before the next wave of reinforcements arrive. The game encourages that you use everything at your disposal to get the job done and it mighty good fun when you use the suit to its full capacity.
