Solid gameplay and terrific visuals make for an excellent shooter but it never manages to reach its true potential.
It seems pointless at this stage to say Crysis is a very good looking game, the technical proficiency of the graphics is commendable and the jungle landscapes of Korea look rather fantastic. Sadly, the art design is not particularly strong, everything looks really nice but nothing is truly memorable. It may be one of the best looking games ever made but many games with inferior graphics have more memorable design. Luckily, the pure technical proficiency of the game is more than enough, if you're looking for the photo realistic style of art design you will not be disappointed; and although the game is still a way off photo realism it still looks really pretty.
The true brilliance of Crysis however lies not in its graphics but in its great tactical gameplay. Crysis is a PC FPS made straight for the PC, it doesn't feel like a console game in any way; it is a hardcore PC shooter. The aiming requires precision and the feel of the shooting is just spot on, aiming from the hip has a slight offset. Where you shoot may not be quite where you hit which means you have to use your sights for most of the game. This slight offset is originally rather confusing, and even a tad irritating, but within time you learn to love it. The combat feels far more precise than the spray and pray nature of many FPSs, the constant resorting to scopes creates a more tactical edge which complements the core gameplay perfectly.
The set up of Crysis is that you are a highly trained elite army soldier and part of a very special squad who are all given nano suits. This may be an unoriginal name but the things you can do with them make for some really original gameplay. The suit has four features which are blared out to you when you select them; in a male or female voice depending on your preference (the default male one is more hardcore though). You have a cloaking device which renders you invisible, a super strength mode which lets you jump crazy heights and murder people with turtles, a super speed mode which is self explanatory, and a shield mode which doubles your health bar. Each of these powers will drain your suit's energy and they are balanced in such a way that, for example, the shield loses energy as it takes damage and the cloak will stay longer if you move slowly and stealthily. This means that each power can suit a certain style of play which is the foundation for the sandbox gameplay. Crysis is not a linear shooter, the levels are like open worlds within themselves, they are not huge but they are definitely big and there are multiple paths and multiple approaches to any given situation. You can play the whole game stealthily and not kill a single human or you can run in guns blazing, picking up people as you go and throwing them at other people. That part is really quite satisfying. This core gameplay is really tactical and makes for a remarkable experience. It's fun to try a mission one way and later try it again and do it in a completely different way. When talking about the game to friends you will be constantly surprised by the ways you could have done things which you had never even thought of.
The on foot gameplay is the best part of the game. There are several vehicle sections (some totally optional depending on which route you take and some very much not so) and these range from really exciting to rather weak. The controls in vehicle aren't that great and the camera can be overly restrictive in third person, as well as first, when in your craft of choice. The craft available include boats, planes, tanks, and military jeeps to name just a few and each can be a lot of fun in small segments. These occasionally dull sections are an indication of Crysis' main problem; there just isn't enough content to justify the moderately lengthy campaign. At the heart of Crysis is something special, the gameplay is great and well used in the Korean jungle but as soon as things take a turn toward science fiction, the game goes downhill. Instead of tactical battles against Korean militia, you are subject to drawn out and dull battles against bullet sponge aliens which take away the tactical element and the small element of choice and force you to play in a certain way. Gone is the way of the pacifist, now it is time to kill some aliens. The level design in the alien sections is also a disappointment; it is either very uninspired or geared towards snazzy visuals so much that it becomes a confusing area to traverse, creating some major path finding issues. Crysis has some fantastic technology at its centre as far as gameplay and visuals go, however the form they have taken is more of a tech demo. It does not feel like a complete game due to the lack of an engaging story and some poor levels, it feels like Crytek are showing off game technology that they are about to put in a complete game.
Another issue with the game is the story, or lack thereof. It's all very clichéd and there is nothing really lost from skipping it entirely, apart from a few visual feasts in the games cut scenes. The characters are uninteresting and the game has an opportunity to really say something by placing you as the US fighting on Korean soil but this opportunity is totally ignored. This is yet another thing which is not memorable in anyway, the story is enough to get you from A to B and provides you with some fantastic set pieces and some really cool moments but as far as narrative goes it is poor.
Despite all this criticism Crysis is in no way a bad game, in fact it is a rather exceptional game. Most of the campaign is a complete joy to play. The physics are fantastic and the visuals are splendid but that is not quite enough. The game is bogged down by some frustrating moments which take a lot away from the freedom the game can offer. When Crysis is doing its thing it can be, at least gameplay wise, the best first person shooter ever. There just isn't enough of this. However, the game is still fantastic and should not be missed by shooter fans or any PC gamer. This game will laugh at your graphics card and bring your computer to its knees but it's scalable and fun enough to make it worth picking up even if you can only run it on low settings. All in all Crysis is a landmark game in the FPS genre and although it lacks soul and personality, it is a great show of what is to come from Crytek. The technology is in place, all that is needed now is a complete game to surround it.