Crysis is exactly what it was hyped out to be.
Crysis is the ( insert second) brainchild of German baised developers Crytek; you know, the same guys behind FarCry. Sporting a whole new engine, and the promise of a true sandbox experience, Crysis offers itself to the fans as a whole new gaming experience. Although difficult to stay enthuthiastic about it since it's less than impressive and more than "how the (explicit) am I going to run this game (explicit) so it doesn't look like trash?" demo, Crysis is still a high anticipated game. Not to mention it has that little logo on it saying "EA", which is a sign of impending doom that will make you and your best friend run away from almost any title it lands upon.
So whats new? Nothing much to be honest. However what is there has been polished to a mirror shine. Crysis doesn't reinvent the genre, it doesn't make any forms of innovations that are going to scream at you, what it does do is take what is already there and make it somewhat better. I say somewhat because at times this game can leave you wondering what the (explicit) just happened? Even after you sat back and cursed to death the North Koreans, you can actually enjoy the game and realize that it is better than the sum of parts, because if that wasn't the case, Crysis would be a bad game.
Crysis falls into the category of the "(explicit) not again with this bull(explicit)". Tell me if you haven't heard this story: man discovers something that's alien, it then triggers somethings, aliens come to life, they want to enslave and kill us all, rinse and repeat. This appears to be the new fashionable thing to do now days, or maybe we aught to blame Valve and so forth. In one aspect this is were Bioshock does shine, and it's incredably ingenius plot, and this is where Crysis fails. You are part of an elite group of super soldiers (doesn't that one sound bloody familiar?) that must go and rescue those so called humans who are trying to discover an "ancient race". Along the way you get to blast away and choke North Koreans, that being the funner part of game.
Even though Crysis is generic in terms of story, it successfully is able to almost make one forget about it and focus on the tasks at hand. What the (explicit) right? Yeah I know, a story is essential in all genres of gaming, but this one somehow seems to be able to squeek by without one. Your focus isn't really progressing further into the story, it becomes more of a, and believe me it does, "how am I gonna get pass all those fricking North Koreans?". I would dare to add stupid in there if I was partially blind and in need of a brain transplant, because the AI in Crysis is far from stupid. It is the most dominating, smartest, and overal bastard AI I have ever seen in my life. The feeling of being shot from every direction is one of pure frustration; seriously, getting whipped by a computer?
As difficult as that may seem, Crysis seems to suffer from an identity crisis of it's own - no pun intended. The game has stealth elements and has run and gun elements. You will often find that fighting in big open spaces, such as a forest for example, is the (explicit) pits. This is where you need to use stealth at every corner to get an uper hand and keep it, because just like a pimp slaps his hoe, the AI will slap you silly if you try and mess with it. This doesn't help that the only "tool" you have for sneaking is the cloak function of your nifty nanosuit. Which last, oh less than 15 seconds before it runs out and leaves you sitting in front of 5 angry North Koreans screaming at you "Die you American Pig!"; it's kinda funny how all NK seem to think you are an American Pig. The stealth elements are frustrating because there is nothing else aside of the cloaking feature. There is no function that will slow you down or allow you creep up behind enemies and take them out, not like that would help, but it would certainly give you a boost in terms of finding the right position in which to assault the enemy.
Difficult (trust me it is) and mundane as that might sound, it is incredably fun and exhilirating. Your nanosuit can literally give the ability (if used properly) to completely overwhelm and overpower your enemies. This course is supplimented by a true sandbox feel. The developers didn't lie when they said this was a true sandbox game, because it is. There are a multitude of options for you choose in terms of you will do everything. You could do whatever you want and be able to complete the mission, although some things would be more adviseable than others. The game loses its charm and feel during the last fourty or so percent of it, when you shift gear and face off against the alien menace. Even though the contrast between tropical climate and frozen wasteland is something to behold, you lose the sandbox feel, and you are pitted off against some of most annoying aliens around.
One can fault the developers for not being creative enough when it comes to those last few levels. But it overall seems to help bring the idea that there is a plot back into the framework of things. It's easy to lose yourself in the presentation of this game. Crytek has probably created the best video game engine to date with the CryEngine 2. Fantistically well optimized, and has some great elements that it make it just a darling to play and enjoy. It would be difficult for me not to say that the first part of Crysis has easily become one of my favorite parts in all the games I have ever played. It does FarCry one more and just seems to make you want for more.
Even as good as some of it might be, there are some glaring issues about it. It doesn't seem to have viable multiplayer; well no (explicit), I mean having to compete with Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 3, Halo 3, and the Orange Box for a slice in the online gaming genre pie is no easy task, only a madman, or developer feeling like they should at least make an attempt at it would do. It's a decent multiplayer, but it doesn't seem to be able to take away from the luster of those other ones. The obvious hardware requirements will make you (explicit) yourself, because they are just insane. I have a top of the line computer, and was only able to play it at high settings with a larger than normal resolution and mid range AA on. That being said though, that shouldn't be deterrent if you are looking on getting this game.
Personally, Crysis is a fantastic game if you aren't looking to find Jesus Christ bundled with it. It has one of the best gameplays around because it has almost perfected the form of sandbox gaming, and has made it so that you have total control over how you can do things. It is better than the sum of parts because it helps to bring you an experience that has been fine tuned to the best of anyone's abilities and if you are a PC first person shooter fan, this is a definate must pick up. All the rage with the ending is just a load of bull(explicit) considering every single Half Life 2 related game has had an equally or worse ending than Crysis, and the fact that it settles the first act, and leads on to the second one seems give some form of closure. They should have cut the time spent on the aliens and instead focused more on fighting the Koreans because that was what Crysis was billed to be and should have had more focused placed upon it. But then again this is personal opinion here, and shouldn't stop you from buying one of the best games of the year.