Crysis and Crysis 2 set benchmarks for killer graphics throughout the video game industry. Both games were widely known for their beauty and encouraged many gamers to upgrade to more powerful rigs to get the best FPS performance while enjoying the aesthetics. Crysis 3 is no exception as it brings the visuals to a new level. Crysis 3 is yet another stunning game in the Crysis franchise. Even on medium settings Crysis 3 is visually stunning as you see pouring rain very sharply. The pouring rain very realistically hazes your vision and the faces of the non-player characters are incredibly well detailed.
The Crysis 3 plot takes place 24 years after Crysis 2. This time the protagonist is Prophet, the guy fans of the franchise remember as Laurence Barnes. You get to have frequent conversations with two of the most important NPCs of the game: Psycho and Claire. Pyscho’s frustrations are extremely well rendered as he gets in your face. His frustrations arise from being human and no longer owning the nanosuit. He holds a grudge against the CELL, a private sector military company that has constructed a dome over New York City. New York City looks decrepit and is now a large greenhouse. The blend of nature and destruction looks awesomely real. Crumbling buildings look just like those you would expect to see in real life.
The plot feels more personal in Crysis 3 than in previous Crysis iterations. You see anger, fear, sarcasm, and distrust from Psycho and Claire. Claire seems to think Prophet is hardware rather than a human being. The narrative focuses primarily on Pyscho’s desire for revenge against the CELL and Prophet’s desire to find the Alpha Ceph, the ultimate leader of the alien cephs. The gameplay is focused on your ability as Prophet to use your nanosuit in each mission. The nanosuit can carry a set of modules so that you can use them in specific situations. You can cloak while trying to avoid detection or you can unlock a module such as heavy armor if you want to get into a shootout with the enemies. There’s also the ability to hack sentries that are supposed to track and kill you so that they can be used against the CELL and the aliens. The sensor upgrade can hack sentries and sentinels faster if you max out this upgrade. Each module can be maxed out if you complete a certain condition such as tagging a minimum number of targets with your visor. It’s fun to hack mines so that ceph aliens can trip over them. The visor is an essential part of the nanosuit as it helps you tag enemies, look for primary and secondary objectives. Thus, the visor can help you plan your strategy before you move toward your goals.
There are many weapons in the game; all are very useful and entertaining. Each mission has enough of an openness that allows you to choose between action and stealth while taking on the CELL soldiers and the cephs. The most interesting weapon in the game is the predator bow, a new weapon that allows you to carry more than one type of arrow. It’s fun to experiment with electric charge arrows, airburst arrows, and impact arrows against different types of enemies. This bow is so powerful that it can make the game a little too easy. Some of the more powerful aliens such as scorchers, sentinels, and sentries can be killed or destroyed by using one or two electric arrows or super thermite arrows. Electric arrows can be shot into the water to electrify enemies standing in the water. This predator bow is the best addition to Prophet’s arsenal.
The AI of the enemies is better in Crysis 3 than in Crysis 2. However, I noticed that the AI sometimes isn’t perfect. At times aliens and CELL soldiers don’t react when an arrow narrowly misses them and don’t react when one of their comrades is killed in front of them. On most occasions the AI is above average and their reactions are accurate.
One of the most fun parts of the game takes place in an abandoned train yard. You are forced to traverse tall foliage that included lurking stalkers, who are aliens with coating that prevent you from seeing them in your radar. All you can do is listen for their cries nearby and use armor mode to minimize damage from their pounce attacks. This scenario creates a lot of suspense and unpredictability.
The boss battles are not as interesting as those in Crysis 2 and are bland by comparison. There is nothing as exciting as the epic battle against the Ceph Pinger in Grand Central Station in Crysis 2. I found the boss encounters less challenging than they should have been. Therefore, no boss battle stands out in Crysis 3.
Crysis 3 is astonishing in its looks and non-linear in gameplay so that you can use your nanosuit in different ways. The nanosuit’s vast modular abilities allow you to have fun in more ways than one throughout a given mission. The game feels a bit short at seven missions in the single-player campaign. I think the game is worth playing and I got the feeling from the narrative that this could be the final game of the Crysis franchise. Just don’t expect any standout boss encounters in this game.