The visuals in Crysis are only matched by the gameplay
In 2008, a game came onto the scene that got everybody talking. It was called, “Crysis.” The graphics and gameplay was so advanced, that most people’s computers at the time could barely run the thing.
Now in 2013, I finally have a computer that can run this amazing game, and let me tell you, it is worth every penny and every second. I’m not going to give you any spoilers, but you need to know that this is not your run of the mill First Person Shooter game. The story is intriguing and the gameplay is compelling enough to make anyone want to charge through while eating a bunch of cheeseburgers. At one point you actually get to float inside a mountain and attain “anti-gravity.” I know, it sounds too good to be true. But this game has it all.
First off, Crysis is a science-fiction story set in the near future. You play as a specially trained soldier from the USA who is equipped with ridiculously formidable armor. The suits you and your teammates wear allows you to run at tremendous speeds, jump super-high, punch and withstand radiation like a thug, and also turn invisible. Not bad for a bunch of interlocking hexagonal plates which don’t take no for an answer.
The best part of the armor suit you wear is that all the special abilities linked with it…are connected by a single rechargeable energy source. So you don’t have to run around looking for armor powerups that allow you to jump. If you take too much damage in your default, “MAXIMUM ARMOR” mode, then you simply have to crouch in a corner somewhere and power up for a few seconds and you’ll be able to jump and take damage again.
The concept of linking your abilities into a chain of action is what makes Crysis in a league of its own. There was a time when there were three NK’s after me. I knew I was outgunned, so I turned invisible via the cloak, then crouched and quietly walked over and around a large boulder. Once I was out of their line of sight I quickly switched to the “MAXIMUM POWER” mode and did a super jump onto the boulder. Then I opened fire with a superior line of sight and also better elevation. The enemy soldiers had no idea where I was firing from and they were felled easily.
Another example of good times in Crysis is when I had to take out a Surface to Air Missile Site (SAM) which was on an island. The island only had one area of entrance. The entrance was a long, well-fortified bridge which was being guarded by a sniper tower. Since I knew the sniper tower was going to be a problem I simply used a rocket to take down the tower from the other side of the lake while hanging out on another island. While the enemies were regrouping, I decided to switch my suit to super speed mode and I swam directly toward the island. Instead of walking across the bridge I jumped over what would be the humanly impassable rockface of the island. Taking out the SAM site wasn’t necessarily easy, but softening up the guards with grenades and engaging the situation was a lot easier than if I tried to painstakingly snipe my way through the fortified bridge.
As you can see, Crysis is an extremely fun game from the gameplay perspective. But when you factor in how advanced the visuals are, you have an absolute gem of a game. For example, with my current computer, I can take advantage of delightful resolutions like 1920 x 1200. This makes the experience more like a simulated science-fiction film where you’re one of the stars…rather than a normal game. These games are getting so graphically advanced, I’d say we’re heading toward virtual reality…without needing 3D or any type of special goggles. All one needs to do is dim the lights and have a decent widescreen monitor…and the scene sets itself.
Overall, I’d recommend this game to anyone who loves science fiction games. If you’re looking for a standard “realistic” FPS, this may be a little over the top. The gameplay mechanics favor innovation, improvisation and battle imagination over traditional combat techniques. For someone who’s played a bunch of games in this genre, Crysis was a breath of fresh air. And since I got it on sale from STEAM it was an awesome find. The only way I could describe this game in a single sentence would be…”It’s the Street Fighter II: Rainbow Edition of FPS games~!”
-Tyler
