Crytek delivers another FPS

As the title implies, Crysis is developed by Crytek, makers of Far Cry, using the Cry Engine 2. Wow I didn't know it was possible to overuse the word "cry." Anyway, is it as good as Far Cry? That depends on who you ask, but the game does deliver in several aspects where Far Cry fell short, although some problems remain.

Thats not to say that this is a sequel, nope its a whole new game/trilogy. But the Far Cry comparisons are inevitable-both share the lush terrain full of trees and nature, both are on an island, both are known for their gorgeous graphics and game engines, both are made by the same developer and the list goes on. There are differences though, this time your main character, referred to as "nomad", is part of a military special ops force. He, and others like him, are given nanosuits that enable them to perform "super-human" actions. This nanosuit enables the player to use maximum-speed, maximum-strength (which allows you to jump higher and hit harder), maximum armor (suit energy becomes armor), and a cloak which can be used to disguise yourself from the enemy. The suit's energy does recharge, as well as your health. This presents an interesting take on the gameplay that is much different from Far Cry, however its not entirely a revolutionary concept (super speed has been around since the side-scrolling days). But nevertheless it is useful in the game and there are certain situations which take advantage of your nanosuit. One such instance is when you need to jump high enough to reach your objective and it can only be reached with maximum strength.

However, the problem comes when you realize that the only way to be stealthy in this game is to use your camouflage because the enemies can unrealistically see you from even great distances. And to do this you need to run to a spot on the map, hide and wait for recharge, and keep moving along until you pass without the enemy seeing you. This process is repeated over and over again until you finish an area. Of course this gets boring, which is why its fun to kill enemies and then hide and do this over and over again. Although, the A.I. is smart enough to see you from a good distance and they can tell when one of their buddies has been shot. So the enemies aren't smart enough to see the camo but just smart enough so you can't kill one of them and get away without your alert status going up. The reason I dedicate a paragraph to this issue is because its something that you go through the entire game with. Its pretty ridiculous, but if you stop trying to be stealthy all the time the game improves, otherwise it is a little tiring. It just seems like the developers wanted us gamers to take this path with camouflage in some areas and so easily available, but they make it so difficult and frankly annoying to do so.

Other than this the gameplay remains consistently solid in most aspects as a First Person Shooter. Like I said before, the A.I. is smarter than your average game and they do things like spread out so you can't take them all with a grenade. At the same time, they can see you at unrealistic distances even when it seems like they aren't looking at you. think Far Cry on this. The shooting, on the other hand, is fun throughout. Each gun you have can have things added on ranging from laser-sights and flashlights to incendiary ammo and grenade launchers. Theres also tactical and sniper scope add ons and a tranquilizer which is essentially useless. Everything thats typical in a FPS as far as weapons go appears in Crysis, including rocket launchers, C4 and your more tradition pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle. Later in the game you get the heavy duty weapons that matter like the gauss gun and the, well...I don't want to give that one away ;) Their all realistic-looking and the guns "feel" authentic. Also, if you get good enough, its fun to combine the suit's abilities when your in combat. You can time it so you jump high over a wall and activate your camo to fire on unsuspecting enemies, then switch to speed to move right up to him and back to strength to knock him out. You can even take a an enemy as a human shield, although his friends just end up shooting at him anyway.

Most of your missions will be something along the lines of stop the North Korean's device that is jamming the GPS, rescuing hostages, and taking out specific targets. There is a healthy variety but nothing to different then what traditional FPS players are used to, although there are some cool parts involving the aliens in later parts of the game and sinking entire ships. As far as the rest of the gameplay goes, its all standard. Except the vehicles which, if anyone remembers from Far Cry, were terrible to control and not fun at all. This still remains in Crysis in a large way, unfortunately. It feels like your driving a semi no matter what vehicle you are in.

When it comes to the story and narrative, the game could have done better considering the polish and production values put into this game. Some of the writing is ridiculous but in large it is decent. The narrative often leads you wondering how you got to this point in the story or where you are supposed to go but a look at the map can fix that. Crysis does have its moments as well. Some parts and cut scenes are neatly done and polished nicely with a future-tech overlay that makes it feel like Crysis. When you accomplish certain objects and get to see the fruits of your labor is when the game shines best.

The voice actors are all excellent at what they do and each conveys a sort of emotion or pride that makes you want to continue on in the fight. In other aspects of sound, the sound effects are amazing. The way things blow up and shake give the bass an incredible feeling! Everything from grenade explosions to blowing up a tank sound realistic in some aspect. To go along with these excellent sound effects, there is an orchestraic score done over the game. It is superb and captures a movie-like experience when it comes to theatrical music. Its worked in so well to the game at climactic events and stressful situations.

When your done blowing through the average (10-13 hour) length story mode you'll be treated to a somewhat appetizing multiplayer mode. The multiplayer does keep the nanosuits which provide every player with the ability to perform out-of-the-ordinary actions. The first multiplayer mode is essentially death match, only it is called "Instant Action." The other mode is "Power Struggle." This is similar to Battlefield in that the game is one team versus the other, he North Koreans or the United States can be played. It is the goal of each team to find key points, these include alien crash sites and armories, on the map and capture them in hopes to build greater technology to discover more alien weapons and even nukes. So obviously to discover alien technologies it is important to take over an alien crash site. There is also a point-based system to determine the winner like in Battlefield 2. Then Counter Strike comes into play when it comes to getting new weapons. You buy things with prestige points earned by killing enemies or capturing points. This wraps up Crysis into a nice neat package complete with a well thought out story and fun gameplay that works well in multiplayer.

Scores:

*Note: 0 is the worst possible score, 10 is the best. 5 is average.

Graphics: 10/10
---When it comes to polish, Crysis takes the cake. Gorgeous environments and precise detail make this game the new standard. Some lag issues towards the end but its hard to dock the game for being so beautiful.

Sound: 8/10
---Top notch production values again, full orchestra that comes in at the appropriate times. Also the audio CD comes with the Special Edition, a bonus for those who enjoy the music as much as I did.

Gameplay: 7/10
---Exciting FPS action but draw backs in terms of game design (i.e. walking around with camo on, pause, wait to recharge, rinse and repeat).

Story: 8/10
---Overall, the beginning of this trilogy offers intense sequences that add up to a climactic and cliffhanging end. Some narrative and writing issues, though.

Multiplayer/Value and Longevity: 6.5/10
---Somewhat new and enticing experience, which borrows some from Battlefield and Counter Strike in the Power Struggle mode. The problem is, it isn't entirely fun or friendly, at least until you break the learning curve.

Performance: (No Score see below)
---By this I don't mean quality I mean what you can get out of your computer. Crysis is a very intense game and requires more power than your average computer. Even if your computer runs Bioshock smoothly, which mine does, that does not mean you can run Crysis on the same settings. This game is a PC hog and running it on an older PC or a laptop will require you to do some overclocking or lowering of specs. The bottom line is that you'll need a lot of power to run this game, and you might just half to sacrifice its top-notch visuals for a smooth FPS (frame rate per second)

In the end, Crysis delivers on the aspects it promises to, high production values and high quality video and audio which will make it the benchmark for at least a little while. The story could use some work but seeing as how this is the first of a trilogy I'm willing to forgive Crysis for that. I am looking forward to future games in this series based on the amount of fun I had in this one. Thats right, despite its short comings I had fun with this game which all that really counts in the end.