Although not as brilliant as the first Crysis, it's still really fun to play and has some of the best graphics of 2011.
Let's begin by talking about the visuals. As expected from a developer such as this, CryTek has pushed the boundaries of gaming technology once again - with the debut of their new CryEngine 3; the very powerhouse that Crysis 2 runs on. The graphics of this game are simply astounding... that is, speaking from a technological point of view. Unfortunately, the environments lack the artistic and natural beauty of the original Crysis' jungle environs. You will no longer be able to recreate scenes from "Predator", as this sequel is set in New York - where an alien invasion is taking place. Nevertheless, the radical change of scenery allows for some remarkable set-pieces: alien dropships flying overhead, earthquakes reducing whole districts to ruins, skyscrapers collapsing in front of your eyes and corporate helicopters blasting what's left of the whole picture to dust.
Character models and facial animations are very realistic, so are every single person's bodily movements. Weapons are crafted with detail; they look authentic. The cephalopod-like aliens and their advanced technology will make you stare in awe. All of these things look amazing, and yet there are a few unforeseen inconsistencies that contaminate this superb image. Textures of some objects are revealed to be of really low-resolutions (when looked at from up close), there are some occasional glitches and the game was released without any Directx 11 support whatsoever (though the latter was fixed with an optional patch). CryTek even released a downloadable high-resolution pack for those who were unsatisfied. All of this isn't much of a problem - even if you're playing without DX11, because it's highly impressive how they've managed to create and run this on DirectX 10 technology - but still, the small negatives stand out more when there are so many big positives.
Now that we've got that covered, let's move on to the story. Frankly, CryTek has never been known for master writing. Far Cry was a hell of a game, but to be completely honest with you, I have to admit that its story was quite rubbish. Crysis was a step forward in the right direction, giving us characters that we actually cared about, better voice acting and a much more interesting plot… but in the end, there was plenty of room for improvement. So what does Crysis 2 do? It actually improves! Fortunately for you, I am not going to spoil it here. All you need to know right now is that the plot offers much more backstory on the appearance of the extra-terrestrials than the first Crysis did, has more unexpected plot twists, an overall better story and fewer interesting characters. Also, expect to see a reduced amount of alien technology and more of the slimy monsters themselves.
Crysis was originally released in 2007, as a PC-exclusive title. It was a huge success and the flagship of the PC platform in modern gaming. With the release of Crysis 2 as a multiplatform title for PC, and the PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 systems also, many fans were worried that the series would undergo serious "consolization". This is to some extent true, which is nothing bad for the console ports but not appropriate for the PC version. However, it is definitely not serious enough to remove the fun of playing the game. The first Crysis offered us huge levels that were completely free to explore, with little boundaries - especially for a shooter game. Crysis 2 is a more linear experience. You're no longer in the middle of a jungle; you are walking through the ruined streets of crumbling New York City, meaning that more paths are closed off to you. On the other hand, the environments are still quite open for a modern FPS and offer you a multitude of ways to dispose of your enemies, such as tactical options and different approaches to combat situations.
Even though this sequel is more linear than its predecessor, the Nanosuit we get to use is still a blast to play with. The Nanosuit is an exoskeleton (powered by advanced nanotechnology) which enhances the wearer's abilities. This means that you can: jump high and grab normally-inaccessible ledges of the environment to climb up, then come crashing down on unsuspecting enemies like death from above; activate armour mode in order to make yourself more resilient to bullets; sprint incredibly fast and slide with speed across surfaces, evading multiple hostiles at the same time; use cloak mode to become temporarily invisible and sneak up on enemies to perform silent stealth kills; and more. All of this sounds quite unbalanced, and while the game does plenty to give you the feeling of power - it doesn't ever feel too easy on the normal level of difficulty, since the suit's limited amount of rechargeable energy (which gets used up by these abilities) ensures that there are some really difficult battles to win (every now and then).
In addition to that, you can still modify each weapon you find with attachments, such as: reflex sights, suppressors, scopes, extended magazines, grenade launchers, laser pointers and much more. What's a bit disappointing is that, even though you get to see plenty of the aliens throughout the singleplayer campaign, you can only use man-made guns. And there's more to be sad about: you can no longer go prone or lean by pressing the "Q" and "E" keys.
Alright - enough about the gameplay. Often, it is what we hear that creates a large part of the action we get to experience in first-person shooters. Crysis 2 has some very good sound effects. The shootouts and the explosions all sound quite convincing, and the voice acting is mostly good too, but it's not the general audio design of the game that's so extraordinary… it's the soundtrack. Truly, this has got to be some of the best video game music I've heard in a long time. Though is it really that surprising, when composers like Borislav Slavov (fantastic music composer, known for the music in games like Gothic 3 and Two Worlds II) and the famous Hans Zimmer (created scores for films like The Lion King, Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Inception and many others) both played a part in creating a masterful soundtrack for this game.
Crysis 2 has a singleplayer campaign that lasts around 8 or 9 hours - unless you want to unlock all the bonus material, then there's some replay value. That's not too bad considering the current state of the FPS genre, but it's not that long either and at the end of the day, it's usually the online features which keep us coming back to shooters. With that said, Crysis 2 has a very addictive multilayer component. It is strange that the maximum limit of players has been lowered to only 16, yet the maps are well designed and there's not much more to ask for, since there are plenty of unlockable weapons, gun attachments, Nanosuit enhancements and more stuff to look forward to whilst playing. The game modes are nothing original, neither are the killstreak bonuses, and everything feels too CoD-like most of the time. If you're a fan of Call of Duty then this isn't bad for you, but we've had plenty of multiplayer games like these; even the use of Nanosuits by players doesn't do enough to make it all feel at least a bit original.
Let's recap:
GAMEPLAY - 8/10 (Impressive)
The Nanosuit is still a ton of fun, and the new features are also a plus, but the switch from non-linear gameplay to more linear environments is overall disappointing.
STABILITY - 8/10 (Impressive)
Very few bugs or glitches and not much to complain about, though it needs a fairly powerful machine to run on the highest settings.
STORY - 7.5/10 (Good)
Like with most shooters; it's unoriginal and the characters aren't that interesting, but the plot is attention-grabbing and the action wrapped around it is engaging.
GRAPHICS - 9.5/10 (Incredible)
Although not as much of a step forward as Far Cry and Crysis were, Crysis 2 still looks really realistic and has some jaw-dropping moments.
SOUND - 9.5/10 (Incredible)
Crysis 2's sound effects immerse, the voice acting is fine and the music is exceptionally elevating, obviously composed with great talent and care.
LONGEVITY - 8/10 (Impressive)
The singleplayer campaign is of decent length and never fails to entertain, and the multiplayer - although unoriginal - is quite hooking and pleasing.
Ultimately, Crysis 2 fails to beat both the first Crysis and Far Cry; in terms of quality. Nevertheless, it certainly shines in these three areas: the gameplay is really fun, the graphics are dazzling and the soundtrack consists of some ear-gasmic musical pieces. It's a shame then that the open and artistically-vivid locations of its predecessors are gone and the unoriginality of the multiplayer is so evident. But should you buy this game? Well, as long as you don't expect a gaming revolution, you should be more than happy with this purchase.
OVERALL RATING - 8/10 (Impressive)