With the pedigree Crytek has established for its CryEngine games such as FarCry and, more notably, Crysis, it would be impossible to talk about this game without first mentioning the graphics. I played Crysis 2 on XBOX 360, and I have to say that Crysis 2 displays some of the most impressive graphics I’ve ever seen on a console. The lighting effects cast a realistic shine over the world. Shadows dance as objects in the world move, reflections shine off water with clarity, and lens flares bounce of the nanosuit’s visor in a believable way. Everything in the world is so intricately detailed. From the smallest piece of trash in the city streets, to the Empire State Building towering above you. Character models are incredibly well detailed, and animate realistically. Crysis 2 is worth playing just on its looks, alone.
But looks aren’t everything in a video game. The gameplay is solid, as well. Moving around the city feels good. The game is paced to compete with modern shooters. Your character moves fast, as do the enemies. The gunplay is heavy and frantic, which gives a real tight feel to the controls when shooting. There are a lot of guns in Crysis 2, and all of them feel really good when shooting. Plus they are all customizable on the fly. You can add new scopes, attachments, or fire modes depending on the situation you find yourself in.
Crysis 2 also allows for alternate gameplay approaches to just busting in a room and spraying the walls with bullets. The nanosuit allows for the player to customize various powers. From cloaking and stealth, super strength, and even enhancing your armor, how you approach a situation is really up to you. Throughout the game, there were several instances where I simply turned invisible and snuck past a group of soldiers. Other times I threw up my armor enhancement, grabbed a gun turret off of its mount, and strutted into an enemy camp as a walking tank.
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| Yes, this game is gorgeous. |
Crytek tightens up a little on the player’s freedoms in Crysis 2. Unlike previous games, you are funneled through a series of levels instead of having a big open world to play in. While it is disappointing that you can’t roam the streets of New York in your super-powered nanosuit freely, this change brings wonders for the story.
Crysis 2’s story takes players throughout the city fighting off the alien invasion and saving survivors. While the notion of a super-powered marine fighting off aliens in New York City might sound cliché, the game does a really good job of making it an action packed summer blockbuster movie style thrill ride. The game is ripe with amazing set pieces and large scale battles that really immerse you. And while the characters aren’t that great, that’s not what you expect from playing this type of game.
Crysis 2 has competitive online multiplayer as well. Like Call of Duty, the game rewards players for kills or other actions with experience points that can be used to level up and unlock new guns or powers. It’s very run of the mill as far as first person shooters go in their online component. The only notable thing I can say is using powers wisely can be a ton of fun in multiplayer. The powers add a new twist that make the multiplayer interesting, and can keep it interesting. Although once I got out of the “newbie” matches and into the real ones, I hit a wall. There isn’t a lot of balance between the levels, and as a level 10, I was having a really hard time scoring a kill on some of the level 40 or so players in the matches with me.
Overall Crysis 2 is a great first person shooter. It’s absolutely beautiful, and has really sold gameplay. While the story and the multiplayer could use to be more interesting, the single player campaign took me almost 9 hours to complete, which is a pretty great length for first person shooters these days. If you are a fan of shooters, blockbuster movies, or incredible graphics, Crysis 2 is definitely worth checking out.
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