Crysis 2 Review

Verdict: Great Game

Release Date: 3/22/2011
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: First Person Shooter, Sci-fi
Rating: M
Platform: PC, PS3, 360
Players: 1 Offline/ 2-12 Online Competitive



    Crysis 2 is Crytek's follow-up to the popular Crysis and Crysis: Warhead titles for PC. Now on consoles for the first time, let's see what this installment brings to the table.

Story/Atmosphere

    Its been roughly three years since the events of the first game and things have been going downhill quickly. Aliens called the Ceph are invading New York city, a deadly virus ravages the people and martial law has been established through CELL, the private military of Crynet. If you're unfamiliar with the first game, Crynet is the company who produced the nanosuits, advanced battle armor which enhances a soldiers abilities beyond human limits. In Crysis 2 you play as a marine named Alcatraz who, through unfortunate circumstances, becomes the wearer of Crynet's newest nanosuit model. Unfortunately the game never develops Alcatraz's character beyond that. All we're given is the fact that he is a marine who might have a bit of a drinking problem. Instead , the game focuses primarily on the nanosuit 2.0 which seems to hold some sort of secrets about defeating the Ceph. While it would be nice if Alcatraz had a little more character, the story of Crysis 2 is above average for its genre and kept me wanting to see what would happen next.
    The game environment is well designed and stunning to look at. You'll find a nice variety of urban combat that is even further complimented by the game's beautifully composed soundtrack. These elements, accompanied by quality voice acting come together to pull you right into the world of Crysis 2.

Gameplay

    Crysis 2 offers very unique gameplay thanks to the nanosuit 2.0. With the touch of a button you can activate the suit's armor mode to take your foes out head on, or stealth mode to become invisible and silently sneak past them. By default the nanosuit is in power mode which allows you to sprint more quickly, jump higher and slide to cover. If you prefer a little reconnaissance before the fight you can use the nanosuit to quickly scale ledges and activate your visor to spot and mark enemy positions. As you progress and kill Ceph forces you'll gain a type of experience called nano catalysts that you can use to unlock even more nanosuit abilities. You'll also have the option of equipping several attachments to a single weapon on the fly which allows you to quickly adapt to each combat situation. As dynamic as this all is, it's not without limitations. Using almost any of the nanosuit's abilities requires suit energy and will drain your reserve. Though this reserve does recharge fairly quickly, it keeps the player from being too much of a juggernaut.
    The game itself is not too difficult and it does a good job of easing you into using the nanosuit. Once you have access to your core abilities it should only take 10-15 minutes to get the hang of things. Learning to keep an eye on your suit energy might take some getting used to though.

Tech

    Crysis 2 runs on the CryEngine 3 and it is hands down one of the best looking games you'll find on console or PC. The textures are detailed, the lighting is realistic, even the water looks superb! Crysis 2 is truly a beautiful game.
    The console versions of the game run pretty smoothly and didn't give me any trouble with bugs. The PC version on the other hand had a severe bug that caused my nano catalyst to disappear. Beyond this, I don't really have any complaints. I have heard of people having trouble with spotty AI but I did not encounter this myself.

Multiplayer

    The multiplayer of Crysis 2 is a nice change of pace from the typical shooter. In a standard match everyone has a nanosuit and access to all three of its power, armor and stealth modes. Each of these modes level up independently of each other depending on how you use them, giving you access to various suit modules and abilities as they do. You character also gains experience and ranks, which grant you various unlocks for you to use on weapons and equipment. There isn't an incredibly large selection of weapons but you do have the ability to use several attachments at the same time which gives each weapon a wider range of uses. Like Modern Warfare, you're given a set of custom slots that you can tailor to your preferred play styles. This is where the similarities end however, as the run and gun tactic used by many Modern Warfare players is simply not a good idea here. Anyone in the game can be in cloak or armor modes at any given time, and any given place considering how vertical the map design tends to be. It's nice to be able to climb ledges and actually swim but it also means you've got more places to keep an eye on. These things, accompanied by the fact that almost everything you do is dictated by your suit energy means that your strategic skills are going to be just as vital as your observational and reflex skills. This may sound complicated but it's actually quite fun and very well balanced.
    For all the positive things the multiplayer has to offer it's not without its flaws. I tend to have more trouble with laggy matches in Crysis 2 than I do with most other games. The spawn system has its frustrating moments as well. I can't tell you how many times I've died by spawning a few feet directly in front of an enemy. These are both fixable issues that will hopefully be addressed in the future.

Verdict

    Even with a few downfalls Crysis 2 is undeniably a great game. It's interesting, beautiful and a blast to play! For anyone who's growing tired of today's standard shooters, Crysis 2 is a breath of fresh air.