When Crysis was unveiled in 2007, our eyes and brains melted due its stunning graphical prowess and we all knew this game was the new bench mark for visuals in the industry. Sadly those visuals came at a cost to your bank balance, you needed a PC and graphics card that was state of the art and if you didn’t then you simply had to sit on the side-lines. It’s now 2011 and Crysis is still regarded as a graphical masterpiece with most console and even PC releases still not coming close to its beauty. At the time of its release Crytek claimed the game would never run on a console, well times have changed and the arrival of CryEngine3 has meant that us lowly console gamers can finally see what all the fuss is about. With the arrival on Crysis on Xbox Live and PSN, console gamers can now finally understand that the game isn’t just pretty but is a solid shooter as well.
The story Crysis tries to tell is a simple one at first, North Koreans have taken over a remote tropical island due to a newly discovered scientific marvel. The player is dropped in as a member of Team Raptor, to find out what the hell is going on and pretty much from the start of the mission it all goes wrong. You are immediately split up from the team and you quickly begin to find out that the North Koreans aren’t your only problem on the island. Without wanting to spoil the plot it’s safe to say that this isn’t your standard military story and it quickly turns into a sci-fi thriller.
Another sci-fi aspect of the story and gameplay is the Nanosuit which all members of Team Raptor get to don. As expected this suit enhances your senses and abilities making you superhuman and turning you into the ultimate marauder of those pesky North Koreans. In gameplay terms the suit gifts you with 4 abilities to dispatch foes with in the form of armour, strength, speed, and stealth. You can’t stay in these modes forever and after a short amount of time they burn out and you have to wait for them to recharge, this adds a compelling strategy aspect to the gameplay.
Mike
