Stunning Visuals, excellent gameplay and a riveting story make this sci-fi first person shooter a must play
Crysis 2 gives off a great first impression; the game simply looks incredibly stunning. The visuals are clearly one of the most important aspects of this game, and one of the great achievements that crytek have made whilst developing. However this was all achieved to the Cry Engine 3 game engine. Every single environment is lavishly detailed with precise and truly remarkable design, whether its from the vast open space of lower Manhattan or the texture design of the inside of a building, every location and environment in the game looks absolutely amazing. The visual design is also remarkable from a draw back distant. Every far away view still shows off the perfect visual effects the game supplies, and every step you take and every new location you discover, you will just realise how truly remarkable Crysis 2 looks. These are the technically proficient graphics which are above most other games in the graphics department. This adds instantly a great presentation aspect to the game, everything looks polished up and fine tuned to instantly stand out, and crytek don't let you miss this with the many memorable action sequences or on screen prompts to look at an environmental change. Also out of game the presentation is unique and remarkable. Each menu layout is greatly designed, its simple design in itself, but it just looks great and adds too the sense that the game looks amazing in or out of the game.
The story in Crysis 2 is instantly interesting and intriguing. There are many questions to ask straight away at the beginning. Who exactly is Prophet? Why does Alcatraz have the suit? Well asking these questions isn't a bad thing because it juts adds extra interest to the story and all questions are answered over the course of the game in a brilliant way. The story comes together fantastically well; you'll be mesmerized to see the twists and turns throughout the campaign, as well as becoming attached and motivated by the characters who make the story what it is. These characters each have there own reasons for being in New York during this invasion. Once again questions have to be asked, and this makes these characters incredibly enjoyable to get to know there inclusion towards the plot, and each are likable in there own way. The single player aspect of the game is a lengthy experience, much longer than the usual first person shooter, and it will take around about 10-12 hours to complete, depending on how you approach each level. As the twists and turns come together to bring the conclusion to the compelling storyline, it is finished with an excellent plot line, which leaves you awing in anticipation; Crysis 3 anyone?
Crysis 2 has unique gameplay which makes it different from any other first person shooter out there. The game is split up into each levels, however the game isn't a sandbox open world style game, but Crytek have cleverly implemented huge open areas for each level. This makes the gameplay incredibly fun, as tactical options are implemented everywhere and you can play the game as you choose; whether its going round stealth killing every enemy, blasting your way through gunning everyone down in your sights, or just generally exploring each area, every area is a new fantastic triumph. The suit is what really makes the gameplay what it is. The nanosuit 2.0 is a super suit, made with extensive equipment utilized to change the way the suit reacts to the way the player decides to play. There is the stealth mode, in which you go invisible and the enemy cannot see you. There is the armor mode, where your suit becomes incredibly stronger and take a lot more damage. And there is the power mode in which this is effected when you are sprinting, or jumping throughout the environment. These are all incredibly advanced in there own way, and make the game so unique and effective it really works well. The best implementation though has to be the visor. This allows everything which is essential to you in the environment to become outlined through the visor. Once outlined each object can be highlighted as when you remove the visor the objects then become visible even during combat. This is really effective and useful as then you know the whereabouts of a weapon or ammo for example, in the environment.
Gunplay in Crysis 2 looks and feels impressive and astounding. Gunplay is solid and is tipped off with the lovely visual blood effects and the scream of your enemy (whether is human or alien) to notify you of a perfect kill. There are a number of guns throughout the single player experience, and one thing Crytek have done really well is each weapon when needed at points throughout the game can be found in the environment. This is really good because it offers variety to each situation and extra firepower when needed. Upgrading suits and weapons is done in a unique and clever way to make the game increasingly more fun. Press the select button and Alcatraz's hand raises on screen and from each finger next to it is the each section of suit upgrades. This may sound odd but it is a really nice way of upgrading and different from many games. Each upgrade to the suit can be unlocked once you attain enough nano substance. This is collected after you kill a Ceph (aliens), and they drop it. There are a number different suit upgrades slit up into the categories of stealth, armor and power, and each offer plenty of variation and adaptation during combat. Weapon attachments are unlocked once they have been found in the environment on guns of the same type, and the great thing is guns can be changed anytime through combat. If you get to a situation and feel like being stealthy but without using the suits ability, just hold down select and scroll down to add a silencer to your gun. After this section it can be instantly removed again and saved for another time. This is really good because it always makes combat better and better throughout the game.
There are only a few bad points in Crysis 2, none too much to detract from the experience but definitely clear. Enemy AI at some points is poor. The Enemy AI at most points are actually good, clever and adapting to the way you play during combat, but from a few glitches the AI suddenly becomes none the wiser, as even a few enemies were running round in circles. These glitches are not common at all which is a very good thing and nothing too seriously bad. However one thing that is bad is the checkpoint system. Having passed through 2 sections of long combat and died, I felt there had to be a checkpoint somewhere, but no. If you die the majority of the time you will have to replay a lot of action again, which isn't necessarily bad because the combat is great, however sometimes can become slightly annoying as you have felt robbed of your progress.
In Crysis 2 the soundtrack is extraordinary. The music is intense throughout the single player experience, and also passes into multiplayer as well as the main menu screens. The music is just so incredible, that at times you can just stop and listen to marvel at it playing in the background. Hans Zimmer has lent his incredible talents to the game, and instantly it is recognisable because the music is fantastic and definitely a highlight to the game. In game sounds are also greatly effective and make combat even more of a blast. Whether it's the sound of gunfire throughout battle or the shouts of orders from your squad mates or enemies, the sound really is effective whenever your playing.
Multiplayer in Crysis 2 has also had a lot of work put into it. The multiplayer is instantly fun, with everything loved about the single player experience added into multiplayer; gunplay, the suit abilities, expansive environments etc. These environments are what makes the multiplayer more unique and more fun than any other multiplayer game out there, with there diversity from each other as well. Each environment are similar to the single player, but changes up for multiplayer purposes. And still the environments are so expansive and so finely detailed it is still jaw dropping to experience this feeling in multiplayer as well as single player. There are many unlockables to achieve such as new weapons, attachments and custom classes to keep you playing the game how you want, and also the addition of customary dog tags to use throughout multiplayer are all fun to unlock and attain. During combat there are a number of skill point to achieve, e.g. headshots, and you are always rewarded with more xp for this, or rewarding with earning more dog tags. Customization is clearly evident in multiplayer and its thoroughly expansive that it suits any gamers play style how they like to play.
Overall Crysis 2 is an epic experience. Whether this is experiencing the single player portion of the game, or the thoroughly expansive multiplayer, the game is just a remarkable experience which just simply needs to be played.
Good Points:
-- Stunning visual design
-- Sandbox style environments offer plenty of variation
-- Nanosuit 2.0 is fantastic implementation
-- Excellent Soundtrack
-- Great Length Campaign
-- Story is intriguing and concludes brilliantly
-- Multiplayer is incredibly fun with terrific customization
-- Upgrading suit abilities and weapons are done in a unique and clever way
Bad Points:
-- Occasional glitches
-- Enemy AI sometimes can be poor
-- Unforgiving checkpoint system
--------------------------
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Presentation: 9.5/10
Graphics: 10/10
Story: 9.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Enemy AI: 7.5/10
Sound: 10/10
Online: 9/10
--------------------------
Overall: 9.5