Halflife Crysis – Crysis 2 Review

I’m gonna start off by saying that this game is fucking awesome.  I’ve been playing it over the past two days, not far from the end with 30% trophies unlocked.  For  a relatively linear shooter, there is plenty to do.  As you’d expect, there are collectibles scattered throughout the levels, but, there aren;t many on each one to collect (unlike many other shooters like Call of Duty, Battlefield Bad Company etc) which is good as it doesn’t take you out of the game hunting for little trinkets while the world is being invaded around you.

Graphically, this game is a visual orgasm with lighting effects being one of the highlights.  Quite far into the game, one section almost took my breath away; I’ve just knocked the power out and I’m now trying to escape in the dark using thermal vision.  My nanosuit energy has depleted and I know there is a CELL soldier nearby as I heard him but my thermal vision cuts out and all is dark.  He opens fire and the bursts of light from his gun barrel as well as a few of his com padres who have now joined him light up the room in a firework display of bullets and ricochet sparks.

I have never played the original game but another incredibly strong point for this game is the story.  I won’t reveal any spoilers but the story is well complimented by excellent voice overs and musical score.  The typical plot twists and turns are all there but they don;t come across as cliched or overdone.

The game has a wealth of cool weapons but the biggest and most integral part of the game is the nanosuit.  It gives you special abilities, but again, in an interesting but welcome turn, there aren’t to many features you get bombarded with.  The idea is simple, R2 activates the suits cloaking mechanism allowing stealthy approaches and stealth kills.  L2 activates the suits increased armour allowing you to take substantially more damage.  Later in the game, as you kill the Ceph (the alien invaders) you pick up nano catalyst points to upgrade your abilities.

One thing, plot-wise I really liked was the fact that the Ceph don’t actually appear from the on-set.  You initially tussle with CELL troops and it takes a few levels before you meet the Ceph so there’s an element of suspense as to who and what you’re really dealing with.

So, if like me, you’ve never played Crysis then get out and get this.  If you have, then you should go and get it too!

Overall, I give this a cybernetically superior 9/10.