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From its humble beginnings as a sequel to Farcry to the technologically heavy FPS bonanza that it has become, it’s undeniable that Crysis has a lot of expectation. From the moment that it was unveiled to the public all those many years ago, it hasn’t left the scrutiny of PC gamers everywhere. Promising every graphical effect under its tropical sun and gameplay so in-depth that it borders on realism, it has a lot to live up to. The question is has it successfully fulfilled its promises or has it sank into its overhyped sea. There is one thing that anyone thinking about buying the game should know. If you expect your PC to run at a high resolution, in DX10 mode, with everything set to Very High and AA on, then you can forget it. I’m unsure to whether any rig out there can run that at a high FPS, but you’re probably looking at ridiculous amounts of money. The review machine that Crysis was played on managed fine with all options turned to High, no AA and in DX9 mode. For a showcase DX10 game, it runs pretty abysmally, but the new graphics card series’ will most likely change this. Despite this, even when it’s running at High in DX9 mode, it is still easily the best looking game out on the market. Period. No game comes even close to Crysis’s graphical prowess and it will most likely stay that way for a very long while. Once up and running the game runs as smooth as silk and never seems to lag or crash, which means that it has been optimized well since the demo and multiplayer beta.  It’s always said that gameplay should be considered over graphics, but for Crysis its graphical style is one of its main components. You buy the game not for its AI or gameplay mechanics, but for its breathtaking beauty. The CryEngine 2 renders the lush, tropical paradise with superb detail. Nothing beats standing on a cliff in the game, looking out over miles of realistic vegetation and clear Blue Ocean. It draws you into the game, from the smallest detail, like the sparkling of sunlight off the water or the gentle swaying of vegetation. There’s often a moment when you wish you could pull up a deckchair and relax with a cocktail. Sadly, the game firmly places its intent from the opening sequence that sees you parachute at night through the volumetric clouds onto a beach. Armed with a pistol, SCAR rifle and your fists, you embark on your mission to discover what has happened to scientists. The Koreans have taken over the island and it is your job to stop them in any way possible. Once you’ve got over how pretty the game looks (which is very difficult to do) it becomes clear that you’re not on a package holiday. The game unleashes you onto the island to complete primary (which advance the story forward) and secondary (option extras) objectives. The game is surprisingly linear, in terms of advancing down a set storyline, but it’s the way in which the game allows you to complete these objectives where it shows some initiative. You are armed with a nano suit, which has four gameplay altering settings. Most objectives are sadly repetitive (i.e, kill everyone there) but when equipped with this tool, it becomes interesting.  The scene is set. You’ve climbed to a height to scope an enemy outpost with your binoculars and a plan needs to be formulated. First up is Strength where you can jump huge distances, throw objects and people miles and punch your way through walls. You can run right up to the outpost with the Speed enhancement, blistering past the enemies and take them by surprise, smacking them in the face, hurling boxes at them and punching over enemy vehicles. If you prefer a more stealthily approach you can creep through the undergrowth in Cloak mode and silence them with a carefully aimed pistol round or tranquiliser dart. If either of those doesn’t appeal to you, then you can put on Armour mode, equip your rifle with a grenade launcher add-on and run in guns blazing. Coupled with these suit modes is the option to customize your weapons with various sights, flashlight or laser dot, ammunition types, all in real time. There is a huge amount of scope and options available and it means that every encounter is different. If you’re the player that enjoys using a rocket launcher to blow buildings to dust, (thanks to the great physics system it occurs realistically and spectacularly) or more the assassin from the shadows then it’s here on offer. Sadly, the scope and possibilities are let down by what can only be described as idiotic AI. For a ‘next-generation’ PC game, this is one of the most important things. While the enemies may flank occasionally, and they definitely take cover, they lack common sense. Ducking behind a box doesn’t means the player has vanished and that they should enter ‘search’ mode, neither should running into an outpost and its buildings. They lack common sense and while the Cloak addon can be responsible for some of this (as it makes you invisible and they therefore can’t see you), it’s when you just take cover. They just seem imbecilic. It makes encounters too easy and removes the player from the game’s experience. 
The gripes don’t stop there. The ice-levels could be considered spoilers if it weren’t for all the videos and information released. Farcry’s developers became men and stated; “Yes! The mutants near the end ruined the game! We’ll make sure that we don’t do it again.” This time, replace mutants with weird flying aliens and you have the game. The game starts off great, becomes immense when you get a drivable tank, and then enters the toilet. The aliens, while they look cool are boring to play against and a hindrance. They fly through the air at you and you basically fire rounds into them, until you get to the next one. (They’re not as irritating as the helicopters, which for some reason can see you from 50miles away hidden in the undergrowth) What’s even more linear (by bringing you down corridors) and a waste of time is the zero gravity world which leads you by the hand, making you kill identical ethereal beings that fly round you like planes. It was going so well Crysis until you brought in these sections. If aliens were wanted, then Mass Effect should be the first port of call. Players want to mess about for hours in the endless expanse of humid forests. Multiplayer is an interesting part to Crysis. It won’t drum up crowds like World of Warcraft or Counter Strike but its solid enough to warrant a look in. There are the standard deathmatch modes available but the most interesting is called Power Struggle. It forms two teams with two bases and capture points in between. By capturing them, you rise in rank and gain construction options. Points count as spawn points and it means that they are constantly moving between the team’s control. One you own a war factory, it allows you to create tanks and other vehicles and eventually nuclear weapons which usually means game over. It’s an interesting concept and quite in-depth, so much so that it warrants a movie explaining how it works. It’s a welcome addition to the game and is executed well. Even with this, the game a real disappointment, one that has failed to live up to all its hype. At least Call of Duty 4 promises a total linear experience and delivers that. We’re promised a sandbox adventure that turns into monotony. Crysis has some fantastic features and some unforeseen visuals but it lacks that spark. It seems to promise too much and fail at some fundamentals. Gunplay is decent but often has you unloading several clips into people. The AI seems to be oblivious to what’s going on around them and the zero gravity levels are so unneeded. It’s still a great game, but just not game of the year.
Score: 8/10
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