Crysis

Despite not having the chance of playing the original PC version, I bought this from Xbox Live Arcade. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is this one of the best shooters out there on the market(even comparable to Halo, Far Cry 1&2, and to some extent, even Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops), it's also one of the most visually stunning games out there too.

Crysis has quite a history as it was notorious for being technically demanding as having the latest PC hardware is the only way to get the full effect of this visual powerhouse. As I stated before, I never played the original, but the current version is graphically excellent; due in part to the phenomenal CryEngine 3, one of the best game engines out there. No matter which version you have, both games are still a tour de force.

You play as Nomad, a super-soldier armed with a high-tech "Nano-suit" that gives him augmented strength, speed, agility, and durability. He is sent on a mission to answer a distress call on the fictional Lingshan islands. As the mission progresses, Nomad soon realizes that not all is well on the island as mysterious events began to occur.

I won't spoil the plot and although is not original by any means, it does have a great narrative structure with many twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. Nomad has a sense of duty and will achieve his mission no matter what. Though tense and suspenseful, there are some moments of humor that lighten up the tone and it gives the game lots of gravitas to grip even the most veteran of FPS gamers.

Not only is the story very good, I was surprised by how strategically tactical the game is. With it's open-world structure, the game gives you many options on how to complete your missions. Wanna go in guns blazing? Wanna take a more stealthy approach? Wanna use multiple attachments on your foes? Wanna waste enemies with some vehicular combat? You can do it all and more as Crysis lets you mix it up in any way you see fit. And unlike most FPS, Crysis also lets you explore and admire the scenery as well.

And boy how lovely it is. Not only beautiful to look at, it also packs some really impressive special effects such as trees and grass swaying in the wind, buildings crumbling apart realistically, sunrises and sunsets during missions, moonlight reflects the water, and even some wildlife. All of this makes for truly living environments that's realistic as possible while also being highly interactive. You can pick up objects and hurl them at the scenery and even enemies; especially explosive and non-explosive barrels, crates, sticks, chairs, you name it. Almost anything can be interacted with and it really makes the game even more special.

Kudos is also given to the superb voice acting as well. The main character sounds just like any soldier would and it's very convincing indeed. But the most hilarious moments come from Michael "Psycho" Sykes with his no-nonsense attitude but also with heart and determination. Some of the one-liners are really cool, as is expected in an action game of this caliber. I was really impressed that the enemy soldiers talk in their native language and it gives Crysis a sense of culture; something that's seldom seen in FPS games as well as the AI of enemies. They'll call reinforcements, duck behind cover, throw grenades, and even stalk you!! Never has a game been of this kind of intensity and tense excitement. High marks for the developers for putting this much thought and heart into a game. It's the final moments of the game that feel truly epic in scale with well-thought out and surprisingly original action set pieces. I know games are cutting edge and whatnot, but what makes them even more memorable are it's action set pieces and this game's got it in spades which I will not spoil for anyone new to this franchise.

All goodness aside, there are some graphical glitches such as enemies(and some cases, the player) freezing in place, slowdown, pop in,lack of multi-player and Co-Op modes, but none of these diminish what is otherwise a stellar game.

In conclusion, I'd say that Crysis is one of the most surprisingly well-made games ever made. With cinematic production values, top-notch voice acting, interactive environments with a lot of life in them, great visuals, memorable set pieces, and balls-to-the-wall action, this is one action FPS that you should definitely not pass up.

Crysis is the second sandbox game from Crytek. Like Far Cry before it, it juxtaposes a lush tropical environment and tense tactical combat with a science fiction plot. Like Far Cry the story itself won't be winning any awards for originality, but what it does achieve is a sense of tense immersion.

Almost anything can be destroyed in most maps, usually with explosives, tires blow out from gun fire, turning vehicles into impromptu cover or deathtraps. And enemy human foes stalk you with remarkably complex tactics.

The game does have flaws, most noticeably the stratospheric system requirements, even over a year after release. But the payoff for those is an incredibly beautiful and visually realistic world.

Like Far Cry before it, the game's difficulty ramps up sharply once the Science Fiction elements start emerging. And unfortunately much of the sandbox structure of the early maps is abandoned by the middle of the game, which comes far too early.

But, even as short as the game is it's exceedingly re-playable (especially the first 5 or 6 maps) and boasts a very cinematic story that actually benefits from the focused campaign structure.

Well designed and fun to play, Crysis is first and foremost focused on its graphics and visuals and they are truly something to behold. If you have a pc capable of handling it, max settings will still make your jaw drop all these years later. The CryEngine is a marvelous beast. The combat, shooting, and open design is fun too, and it's always fun to cloak and terrorize the enemy patrols. And the aliens are cool and mysterious. The game suffers from an awful climax though and a story that's quite clearly an afterthought, and the enemy AI at times are not the smartest tools in the shed. Still worth a play through.

Just wanted to say that this is one of the top 10 games I've ever played.

It's simply amazing how much graphics that have been crammed into this game, and it's even less than the newer versions.

It was one of the few games that I played (I didn't play for many years so games and hardware have improved greatly since then!) after I got a decent setup with a so-so GPU (and some time later I got an even better one!) and I was blown away of the graphics. The level of details are astonishing, vibrant, alive, and yes, frightening aliens as they just jump at you (This is where a Trainer helps you from smashing your keyboard - Cheating, you betcha, but saves nerves, and possibly your peripherals from a beating).

With mentioned newer GPU (ATI/AMD), I re-experienced the game, but this time with Eyefinity and 3 monitors - Sensational! Same, but a world of a difference in game feel. You get so much peripheral vision with a multi-monitor setup - This was what I wanted people to know, as for a reason for this review.

Forget single monitor (unless you have one of those large ulta-wide ones) - You haven't gamed until you've gamed on a multi-monitor setup.

Anywhoo, what more is grate with this game is the length of it.

You play a handful of missions and thinking it'll end soon, but it will keep you occupied for hours on end as the missions keep piling up, one after the other.

Personally, I'm not much for fighting aliens in games, but these are somewhat of an exception since they're, well, what the game's all about.

Some appear near impossible to kill, and I never go for the highest game mode, and it's taken me hours to complete some missions, and thankfully it's no 3 tries & "Game Over" like many games, so you can skip quite a lot of boring bits (like when you have to re-do a whole level) and jump back into the saddle.

It's easy to miss out on some mission objectives that are explained to you (or rather the character), especially if English isn't your native tongue, so some levels seem quite straight forward, but can be very difficult to remember some keywords that were spoken and put that into the current task at hand, as some solutions might be not so obvious to find.

You'll get there, eventually if/when you encounter such obstacles.

Of all FPS, this definitively goes in my top 10 best FPS I have ever played. I don't know where to start… well, let's see: Great graphics, great gameplay, great design of costumes, characters, weapons, vehicles and aliens. Good music score, and voice talents. Also cool sound effects. The story is interesting, an alien meteor falls on Lingshan islands, which was taken over by north Korean army (well, I think it was that good old "let's pick a country for a villain" principle), so a special army team is sent to save American scientist and to investigate the meteor. Team's specialty is their suits called 'Nanosuit'. The suit is one of the main points in the game. It's is an advanced combat suit that can make you stronger, faster and adaptable to environment, which is cool, but the usage of each and every one of suit's skills is pretty short, so you need to use them wisely. The gameplay is, well pretty easy, you need to get use to it. But, once you get use to it, you are about to witness a great, action packed adventure, during fighting with north Koreans. The fight with them is pretty good practice, but when aliens appears, you better get prepared, they are tough. Grab the console and enjoy yourself, the game is badass.