Before talking about the game itself, I'd like to make it clear that this games' graphics (it's biggest argument) comes nowhere even close to the first game, which still is, to this day, the technical marvel we saw back in the day (2007 I suppose).
This game is a huge waste of potential. And CryEngine 3? More like CryEngine 0.5...having played the PC version on Ultra and with DX11, I can safely say that CryEngine 3 is a poor, washed-out version of the shadow of the engine of the first game. It is much, much more lighter on the hardware, true, but don't be fooled. That performance "improvement", as always, comes with a price, and I'm afraid this isn't courtesy of the engine code this time, since this game is one of the buggiest things I've ever played in my life (even updated to the last version, 1.9). I lost count how many times I had to restart the game from Windows and watch that intro a dozen times before getting back to action.
The game is indeed pretty and makes very good use of shaders (like the first game), but for an urban setting it could be much, much better, compared to the complexity of the environment they made for Crysis 1.
The story is ridiculous and actually bothered me. Yes, I'm serious, the least important part of an shooter actually gets in the way in this one. It's so boring, predictable and uninspired (not to mention confusing most of the time)... And that I say having full understanding of it.
Not that the first game's plot deserved an Oscar, but at least it was atmospheric.
Gameplay wise, Crysis 2 feels like a generic shooter and plays like a generic shooter. The suit's control is much, much more simplified gameplay-wise (made to fit a controller), and because of that, the situations you're exposed are very repetitive, even if you get to "choose" your best approach, if it's gonna be guns blazing or stealth. It gets tired real soon.
The only thing that really impressed me in this game was the soundtrack. It has some very good moments (despite the "I LOVE AMERICA" feeling). It's too much of a good soundtrack to a mess of a game.
Oh, and come on, no last boss? A overpower, super soldier game without a overpower super last adversary? Come on. Even on Veteran the game I found the game super easy, and I'm not even a FPS freak. It offered no challenge at all, which contributes to the boredom of playing it.
If you never played the original Crysis, who knows, maybe you'll like it. The controls are (always were) pretty tight overall, the aim is very precise, the graphics (despite of there being NO improvements at all... on the contrary) are still awesome, etc.
But if you did and you're expecting a true sequel to the monster Crysis 1 was back in the day... trust me, your best bet is to stick to the original, seriously. Go play on Delta difficulty, look for mods, anything. I'm a demanding customer, but I think I'm right when I think that if you're gonna do a sequel, you must at least honor the franchise's roots properly.
6.0 for a experience I wanted to end as quickly as possible is too much of a score.
Sorry if my review was offensive for those who liked the game, but I was truly disappointed.
Peace!