From the makers of Far Cry, Crysis offers FPS fans the best-looking, most highly-evolving gameplay, requiring the player to use adaptive tactics and total customization of weapons and armor to survive in dynamic, hostile environments including Zero-G.

Earth, 2019. A team of US scientists makes a frightening discovery on an island in the South China Sea. All contact with the team is lost when the North Korean Government quickly seals off the area. The United States responds by dispatching an elite team of Delta Force Operators to recon the situation. As tension rises between the two nations, a massive alien ship reveals itself in the middle of the island. The ship generates an immense force sphere that freezes a vast portion of the island and drastically alters the global weather system. Now the US and North Korea must join forces to battle the alien menace. With hope rapidly fading, you must fight epic battles through tropical jungle, frozen landscapes, and finally into the heart of the alien ship itself for the ultimate Zero G showdown.

FEATURES

• A unique three-act structure forces the player to use real-time armor and weapons customization to adapt constantly to an ever-changing world.
• Encounter a frightening and totally original alien species—they use their senses intelligently and work together to present the most challenging enemy yet in an FPS.
• Control of a variety of land, sea, and air vehicles including trucks, tanks, boats, and helicopters.
• Explore a living, dynamic world where earthquakes, breaking ice, landslides, and tornados pose an ever-present threat.
• 32-player multiplayer with real-time armor and weapons customization, plus an all-new multiplayer mode that combines player modification and tactical objectives.
• Emergent gameplay means that in-game actions affect future outcomes and give each player a unique experience.
• Highly robust and easy-to-use mod toolset allows players to create their own expansive levels for both multiplayer and single-player modes.
• The CryENGINE 2 engine delivers the most realistic environments, spectacular special effects, physics game engine, lighting system, and enemy Al.

Graphical treat, Decent gameplay, Neat ideas
Using the powerful CryTek engine, the First-Person Shooter "Crysis" provides a graphical treat, decent gameplay, and some neat ideas.

In Crysis, you play as a member of an American special forces unit in North Korea. Equipped with a nano-technological supersuit, you have to use your abilities and your wits to move through hostile territory and uncover the reason behind the North Koreans' recent hostile movements. Your supersuit provides most of the game's gameplay. It can switch between Maximum Armor, Maximum Strength, Maximum Speed, and a Cloak mode. Every mode uses up recharging energy to do its job; Maximum Armor blocks damage until its energy runs out, Maximum Strength can punch down small houses and kill soldiers in a single hit, Maximum Speed lets you sprint at gazelle-like speed, and Cloak makes you invisible and lasts longer if you stay still.

Of course, it's easy to assume that with all these abilities, you'd be an unstoppable death machine. In reality, you're more like a somewhat above-average regular person. The different abilities are more useful when used intelligently; Armor, for example, can only block four or five bullets, and speed only provides super-fast speed in bursts of a few seconds. Therefore, the game lies not in simply overpowering your enemies, but using your abilities well. However, the game still does a good job of making you feel powerful - there's nothing quite as neat as jumping over a wall, then killing the guard on the other side with a single punch. Creative use of your powers

While the variety of guns isn't particularly great (the standard FPS assortment of assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, and so on), the real appeal of the guns lies in customization options. Each gun can take a variety of scopes, laser sights, silencers, and grenade launchers. The run-and-gun action in the game is reasonably fun, but as mentioned, it's better to play Smarter than Harder. The guns don't handle particularly well, and it's possible to hit an enemy 10 times in the chest without killing him, or hit him once in the head and have him die.

The graphics in the game are its main attraction; the open maps consisting mostly of jungle environments look great and feel immersive, with near-realistic trees and grass. The huge maps and lush lighting effects complement the great feeling of the game. This is one of those games that people buy when they've just bought a top-of-the-line computer and want to show off what it can do. The sound design isn't that great, but it's serviceable.

Overall, Crysis is a fun game, and if you've got a computer that can run it, then it's definitely worth picking up. The one major problem in gameplay is the twist near the end of the game. Not a simple storyline alteration, the twist results in a major change of gameplay. Overall, however, the game is fun and rewards creative thinking, a rarely-seen trait in most modern games.