Crytek is known Industry wide for creating some of the most detailed textures, lighting effects, and facial animations in their titles. My experience with Crysis 2 on the Xbox 360 made me a believer of this assertion. My later screening of Crysis 2 on PC with Direct X 11 changed what I thought lighting effects could look like in a video game.
Crysis 2 was my first foray into the acclaimed FPS and I was definitely impressed with both the Sandbox Style campaign and the Multiplayer Suite. The amount of options available to dispatch C.E.L.L. and Ceph foes made the Nanosuit 2.0 come to life. Crytek did a fantastic job of outlining potential advantages and objectives without too much hand holding. The online Multiplayer ran fantastic on Crytek’s CryEngine 3. The online game types were a bit limited, but they were integrated extremely well with the environments experienced in the single player campaign.
Crytek has upped the ante with Crysis 3 in terms of game play, Multiplayer modes, and a hybrid backdrop to experience. As you know (or may not) the first Cryis took place in off the coast of North Korea, and the second iteration in New York. Crytek has blended the two environments to create an urban jungle for Crysis 3. The New York City Liberty Dome has allowed the vegetation to start to reclaim the portions of New York that it’s encasing.
You’ll reprise your role as Prophet as he returns to New York nearly a quarter century after the events of Crysis 2. The C.E.L.L. Corporation is responsible for dropping the Liberty Dome into place and creating what’s referred to as the Seven Wonders that will act as districts for breaking up the single player campaign into chapters. The citizens of New York have been misled by the C.E.L.L. Corporation into thinking the Liberty Dome is to help exterminate the Ceph invasion. In reality it’s part of their land and technology grab on the way to world domination! Prophet will seek his revenge throughout Crysis 3, and you’ll be in the drivers seat.
I have no doubt Crysis 3 will offer the same beautiful aesthetics as past titles in the series, as well as the polished shooter mechanics, and sandbox environments that hooked me in my first experience with Crysis. Look for Crysis 3′s release on February 19th for PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. Pre-Order Crysis 3 Hunter Edition now for some great pre-order bonuses.
MIT Gamelab