Crysis in 2010
Well, the graphics are still amazing 3 years later. Enough about that.
The difficulties are well-thought out. Most games make AI "cheat" and give their guns more damage on harder difficulties. Crysis gives extra aids on easier difficulties and made the harder ones more realistic. Delta, the hardest difficulty, is very enjoyable if you like a realistic challenge. Eventhough you have a nanosuit, you won't survive a rain of bullets like you do on normal.
The 4 difficulties are: easy, normal, hard, delta.
The gameplay is what made me write this review. I've played the campaign 3 times now. It should be awarded just for it's replayability. Throughout the runs I've gone for 3 playstyles. All on Delta, except the first. The nanosuit makes all kinds of styles possible. Consider these play styles, change them and find your own.
The first play style was a lot of fun. Use every nanopower at will. Engage Koreans like Rambo. Explore the entire map. Objective: Kill everything that breathes. Even chickens!
On Hard/Delta that means: Sneak up on them, throw grenades all over the place, shoot before they shoot back, take cover, run from grenades and repeat.
The second play style was objective based. Kill Koreans that are in the way, complete the objectives and continue. It's the most realistic approach. Act like you are a true special-ops guy infiltrating. Here's a fun tactic:
Get some C4. Place it on every exploding barrel, car and gas tank in a corner of a village without being seen. Go to a nearby hill for an overview.
Press the magic button and watch the fireworks. Chaos and confusion everywhere. All Koreans are distracted and will look for you in that corner. Sneak in, silently take out any remaining Koreans and complete your objective. If you alert a Korean, they'll all return from the explosion site though, so be carefull.
Wait... don't listen to me! Be creative! KPA is there to be messed around with!
The thirth play style was the hardest. Only kill Koreans that have to be killed for your objective. Imagine going into a village, setting of a alarm and getting out alive, without killing a single enemy.
For this one I even didn't destroy helicopters. Just the fact that an approach like this is possible is awesome.
It's very difficult and time-consuming though.
The AI is very good. Koreans act in a realistic way most of the time. Sometimes you might see some strange behaviour like investigating a burning fuel tank. It rarely happens, which makes it rather funny, not annoying.
If you silently infiltrate you'll see Koreans in their daily lives. Washing cars, talking about you, smoking, even taking a piss.
I love what they say about Nomad, sadly they all talk in Korean on Delta difficulty. The comments of the KPA are really funny and worth another playthrough on hard.
If you haven't played Crysis by now, you should.
It's not an expensive game anymore.
On a bad note:
The campaign is short. It makes you scream for more. Going through the campaign once takes about 10 hours. That's why I posted 3 play styles. The game can feel very new if you try a different approach.
Thank you for reading.