Well I took a gamble this past Tuesday, I decided to pick up Crysis 2. I never played the original Crysis because I don't play PC games and I didn't want to watch my computer melt from Crysis' stunning visuals. But I'm telling you if 2011 keeps this pace up, it might be the best year of gaming in a while. Dead Space 2 came out in the beginning and Crysis 2 has come out. Crysis 2 is visually stunning. The light in this game is amazing and the graphics themselves are so beautiful. But the main reason I am mentioning Crysis 2 is the gameplay. It is a FPS (first person shooter) and I finally get a unique style. Crysis 2 takes place in the future and you wear a Nano Suit that holds different types of abilities. You can jump high, run at fast speeds, turn invisible or turn into a "Walking Tank" where your suit becomes bullet proof armor. The levels themselves are not linear like other shooters that I will mention in a little bit. The game gives you different ways to attack your opponent. You may sneak up and use stealth to kill, or turn on your armor and fire away. You can also use the streets or the roofs to your advantage. The game never makes you go down this corridor to fight these guys. The suit itself reminds me of the gameplay in Halo and Assassin's Creed. You can jump high, run fast, and tear off a turret from it's base like Halo. You can sneak around enemies, kill whenever you want or pass by them and they wouldn't notice like Assassin's Creed. The gameplay is phenominal - look for my review soon.

But the main reason for this blog is to praise Crysis 2 for finally giving me a new batch of gameplay that I haven't seen since CALL OF DUTY 4!!!! FPS in the previous years have been the same (and not the because they all have "Call of Duty" in their names). Shooters now have been linear, action packed, but unbelievable. Since Call of Duty first came out, they have been doing the same thing over and over again. 1-3 & 5 have been based upon World War II battles and 4, 6, and 7 have been more modern shooters. As I said, COD4: Modern Warfare was the last shooter (before Crysis 2) I have played and truly wowed me. The story was short but realistic and the gameplay was fresh for its time (also because this was the first M rated CoD game). The shooting mechanics were perfect where every button had its own use. The graphics also gave us something new, (i.e. when you are a soldier dying of radiation and the last thing you see is a city completely destroyed - powerful but amazing). Call of Duty 6 (also known as Modern Warfare 2) had a shorter story than its predecessor and became unrealistic. The game almost became a thriller than an actual war story (i.e. when you are driving down a snowy moutain and take a leap of faith [over a couple hundred feet long mind you] and land it without breaking a sweat). But Call of Duty is not the only FPS that has fallen. Battlefield: Bad Company also hasn't brung anything to the table except for blowing up buildings.

The point of the matter is this - FPS games have been slipping whether they are unoriginal or just go under the "been there, done that" genre. Shooters need to change their tactics and Crysis 2 has succeeded in this portion. More cool abilites and less linear level design is needed for dried out FPS games.