Crysis 2 has a terrific single player campaign that manages to outshine the game's flaws.
The storytelling in Crysis 2 is not the game's strong suit. Basically, there's an alien invasion invading New York City and you and your squad are tasked with finding a scientist named Gould. There's reason to believe that Gould may have answers regarding the alien outbreak and how to stop it. Gould also believes that you are the one they call Phrophet, who has the nanosuit. You manage to obtain the nanosuit from Prohpet at the beginning. There's an entire army of men that want you dead, plus the constant aliens that constantly attack you. There's a massive corporation, a commander, a scientist, and a female ex navy seal. The story is just so convoluted, that you likely won't care. The characters are hardly interesting enough to care about anyway.
However, despite the lackluster storytelling, the actual gameplay during the campaign is amazing. This game may have some linear sections, but this is not another corridor shooter. There are plenty of massive open areas where you can choose to approach the situation. This is where the nanosuit comes into play. You can use the suit to go cloaking, armour yourself, or scan the area for ammo. Cloaking is the most useful ability as you can sneak up an enemy and earn a stealth kill which is always satisfying.
The nanosuit, combined with the sci-fi setting and story, and open level design, make Crysis 2 feel completely different than any other shooter on the market. This is what I truly like about Crysis 2. You can tell it apart from Modern Warfare, Homefront, Halo, and any other shooter. It has a distinct look and feel and the multiple ways to approach a firefight make the game worth playing through multiple times. The other unique feature is the ability to customize your weapons with different attachments. Crysis 2 is a game that you will want to play though more than once. How many shooters recently can you honesty say you wanted to replay the campaign instead of playing multiplayer? Probably not many. Crysis 2 is different in this regard. I've already played through the game 3 times and loved every minute of it. The only problem here is the length. Crytek promised a 10-15 hour campaign, but I completed it in 8 hours without rushing. But that's still longer than recent COD's and it's good enough to replay several times.
Crysis 2 also boasts a multiplayer component with some good ideas. The Call of Duty style leveling up system, challenges, and weapon unlocks are here. There are also modules which you can upgrade as you play more and more. And surprisingly, the online performance is pretty solid with only a few hiccups. This is all good stuff. The problem is, the multiplayer isn't very fun. The word cheap instantly comes to mind in describing the multiplayer. Maybe cloaking isn't the best idea for a multiplayer shooter as it just frustrates more than it satisfies. But maybe that's just me.
Crysis 2 is certainly a beautiful game on consoles, except the character models. The lighting effects are beautiful. Seeing the sunlight bounce off the glass from all the giant skyscrapers is certainly a treat. The water looks beautiful as well. Explosions look terrific and really make a satisfying sound too. There are some minor technical issues like frame-rate drops and pop-in, but these issues are minor. The audio is equally impressive with a fantastic musical score and great sound effects, especially in the explosions and destruction.
Crysis 2 has a short campaign, lackluster storytelling, and a frustrating multiplayer component. And yet, I thought Crysis 2 was still amazing despite these issues. The freedom in the campaign and nanosuit abilities really make the game a standout. The game also looks and sounds amazing too. Crysis 2 certainly stands out on the consoles and if you've been looking a shooter on xbox 360 that isn't a corridor shooter that holds your hand every step of the way, give Crysis 2 a shot.
Visuals- 9
Audio- 8.5
Controls- 8
Replay- 7.5
Gameplay- 7.5
Multiplayer- 4.5
Overall- 7.5