Action-packed, creative, beautiful levels but paper-thin characters and bland story hold an otherwise great shooter back
* Wonderful level designs that i'm dying to see in full DX 10 on max settings someday. Was able to play with high frame rates on a 1920x1200 LCD, Windows XP, 8800 GTS (640), and 2.4 Core2 Duo, with everything on High except Objects (Low), Shadows (Med) and Shaders (Med)
* The detail on the aircraft carrier level was unexpected, and the detail and animation on the aliens and inside their HQ was phenomenal. The tornadoes on the VTOL level were cool as hell. Death-by-tornado is definitely one of the most interesting examples of game physics I've seen yet.
* Final boss battle felt sufficient bad ass and over-the-top, and definitely worth playing through on Delta for the most intense experience. I played it on Normal, and that was definitely too easy, even moreso once you figure out basic game tactics and weapon choice
* Good ending, didn't want it to end at all, and definitely looking forward to the expansion pack or sequel ... the ending leaves it kinda open for either.
Cons:
* Story is right out of cliched '80s action movie hell with instantly forgettable characters. Granted, shooters don't necessarily need a great narrative to be a great game ... but it certainly raises the game to the next level of immersion and interaction when you care about what's happening and you care about your role in the overall fiction of the game. * Nanosuit powers add an interesting wrinkle on traditional shooter gameplay, but it's not nearly as compelling as you think it would be. The only truly useful power you'll use over and over again is (the slightly overpowered) stealth mode. The other powers (Strength, Speed) are entirely situational and rarely used unless you're tossing around items/people for comic effect in Strength mode.
Overall Crysis does what we hoped ti would ... but not much more. It obviously raises the bar for next-gen game environments and graphics with a solid, albeit forgettable storyline to propel you along the way.
However, compared to truly excellent fare this year like Portal, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4 and Half-Life 2: Episode 2, it's hard to look at something like Crysis and excuse the developers for not investing as much time and talent into the personality of the game world and plot as they obviously did with the technical engine.