Beaten: Aug 25 2021
Time: 9 Hours
Platform: Xbox Series X

So yeah, I wasn't expecting to like this game quite this much? I played a little of Far Cry 3, which is ostensibly built on the same rhythms as Crysis (If you don't know, Crysis is the game that Crytek made after Far Cry got sold to Ubisoft, and it is structurally and visually very similar), but the rpg-lite mechanics and frat dude story of that game didn't end up drawing me in too much. Crysis, on the other hand, has what's probably a weaker story, but the structure of the game and it's mechanics make it just a freakin blast to play!

Let's get my least favorite part out of the way first: The story of the game is just kinda there. The more militaristic side of the story in the first half of the game is rather generic, and the apprehension they try to set up for the second half of the game doesn't amount to much more than a small scale Independence Day. I've seen all these characters before in other media, and I didn't like them the first time.

Alright now that that's over with; this game is so much fun. It's got these kind of mini sandbox levels, where they'll drop an objective and just be like "get there and do it, however you want to". You can be stealthy, cloaking and sprinting around the enemy camp as you take them all out silently, or you can grab a pickup truck and send it flaming through the enemy's front door, while you roll out, turn on your armor, and mow down enemies with a really great feeling shotgun. It's free, but not overwhelming. Expansive, but not open world, I mean hell it's got actual levels. And most importantly? It's not just a series of checklists, like so many of the games that've iterated on this formula are.

As you get to the back half of the game, the design changes, and now you're fighting different enemies in much more linear areas. It's fine, but you can tell the mechanics aren't built for this. These enemies don't drop guns to scavenge, and are too beefy to make sneaking around worthwhile. You end up feeling on edge, constantly running low on ammo and health. I think that's what was intended, but it sacrifices the best and most unique part of the game for it.

Regardless, the first 6 or so levels are just about perfect. A little pulpy, a little militaristic, but not more than the other shooters of the era (or god forbid a more recent shooter), and just really good, really tight, really focused open ended levels. If you want a bizarre mix of halo's level design and far cry's combat rhythms, you literally won't find anything else to scratch that itch. Big recommend.

Es un buen FPS que ha logrado convertirse en un referente para otros títulos de su género no solo por ofrecer una calidad gráfica impresionante que continúa superando a títulos que han salido 10 años después, sino también porque entrega a los videojugadores una experiencia refrescante gracias a la implementación de unas mecánicas que no se ven muy a menudo y que aunque se llegan a complicar un poco al ofrecer tantas características, salen adelante gracias a un estilo sandbox y una dificultad justa, convirtiendo a Crysis en un título que se disfruta de principio a fin, diferenciándose claramente de otros FPS. Dejando a un lado alguno que otro bug, Crytek ha construido un juego con mucha calidad y elegancia, que tiene el potencial para romper esquemas y convertirse en una gran saga.

On paper Crysis is the kind of game I vibe with easily. An sandbox-style shooter with a suite of superpowers and combat encounters that have you weaving in & out of stealth. Though I struggled to achieve that ideal experience more often than not, what I did find was a somewhat prescient vision for what the open-world action game would become in the decade that followed. I was initially drawn towards trying this after the recent remastering efforts of the series but within a couple of hours of playing the newer version I encountered so many weird bugs & technical issues that I put it down in favour of simply playing the original, which I'm inclined to believe is the one worth revisiting.

I don't have a whole lot to say on the much-talked about visual fidelity of the game; it impresses in places but the artifice becomes all too obvious in these combat arenas that feel like tech demos first, convincing environments second, which undermines the façade of photorealism. Experiencing the sandbox elements of those environments is where I found myself the most conflicted, however. For a game that is so clearly indebted to the ’87 Predator film as to position itself as a power fantasy of being an unstoppable… predator, stalking your prey in the depths of a jungle, I found that the systems were too fragile to sustain that experience for too long before everything collapsed into more familiar, clumsier shooter territory. I could never get the balancing of your suit powers and the enemy artificial intelligence to feel quite right, regardless of difficulty setting or even my own custom tweaks to the numbers in the command console. I would frequently find myself getting spotted by enemies I hadn’t seen whilst struggling to contend with the power limitations of the nanosuit. Undoubtedly some of this is born out of being spoiled by more the forgiving stealth-action games that followed after Crysis though taking that into consideration did little to make it less frustrating. When it all came together it was definitely exciting but too often that would only come to pass after numerous failed attempts and reloads.

What storytelling there is present in Crysis is hardly worth more than a groan out of me. It’s the same kind of jingoist drivel that is everywhere to be found in this kind of shooter campaign, right down to the ‘respect the troops’ moralising and racist depiction of the enemy forces. When the plot turns towards ~ancient aliens~ in the latter half it only becomes more of a slog as that coincides with the levels becoming far more linear. I can’t be mad at the abrupt conclusion because I don’t know that I would have had the patience to play much more, regardless.

With Crysis 4 having been officially announced shortly before I sat down to write out my thoughts, I am left wondering when the marketing campaign that follows for this next entry into the series inevitably leans into a “going back to our roots” messaging to drum up excitement from lapsed fans, what Crytek will decide is worth pulling inspiration from in the 2007 original. I had such an uneven time with the game that I am not so sure there’s a lot one can mine for a sequel out of it beyond some admittedly ambitious ideas.

The biggest hype behind Crysis was it looks. Very few people have the hardware to run the game like it should be: All settings to very high and using DirectX 10, and I am one of the lucky few to have the hardware setup to do so. While most people can run this on ultra settings you won’t find too many who can run it above 30 FPS. My setup was able to handle most of the game at above 20 FPS but did dip into the single digits every once in a while. With that aside Crysis is just stunning even three years later. Every texture is high res and even when looking at something u close you can see all the detail in that texture and not just a blurry or pixelated mess. All the lighting is gorgeous and the physics seem almost real thank to the super advanced Crytek engine and DirectX 10. Everything in the game just looks amazing: Every blade of grass sways, trees crumble under fire, leaves on palm trees shear off when fired at. Throughout the whole game, you will never get sick of looking at this tropical technical feat.


Now a game can look as good as it wants, but it’s no use if the game doesn’t play well, and have a good story?. You play as a Special Forces agent called Nomad and are sent in with a team to investigate an island that the Koreans have occupied. It gets interesting right from the beginning and stays interesting throughout.

Thankfully Crysis is a solid shooter with some elements that other FPS games have never used before and the biggest thing is the Nano Suit. This thing lets you choose between four different modes to help you out on the battlefield. Stealth turns you invisible for an amount of time. The faster you move the more energy it depletes. Armor…well is pretty self-explanatory, and speed gives you a super boost that lets you dash dozens of yards in a matter of seconds, for a few seconds. Lastly, strength lets you throw enemies, and melee them to make them fly as well as extra height when jumping. All these are crucial to surviving in this hard and wide open game.

Yeah, that’s right it’s not linear. Surprised? Well with so many linear FPS games out there cough Halo cough it’s a nice change. The island is huge and wide open and you can take different approaches to each situation. Most of the time you have to infiltrate Korean KPA camps and using stealth along with silenced weapons is a good start. Or you can go in guns blazing. If you prefer the back door approach maybe you can get there by truck or swim across the lake and take them all by surprise. The multi-approach system is useful, but stealth may not always be the best choice, and sometimes you don’t get one.


That brings me to the next element of customizing your weapons on the fly. Have a sub-machine gun and can get an accurate shot? Attach a silencer, and a sniper scope, and set it to single shot and pop off some guys before charging in. Once inside attach a red dot sight, and add an ACOG scope to the top and even a grenade launcher. Being able to change one weapon to another on the fly is just awesome and really does help in every situation. This breaks the monotony of trying to find a gun for specific situations.

The game’s pacing takes a turn halfway through the game when you start fighting aliens. Of course, this makes the game more interesting and is almost like two games in one, and takes a more linear turn. Instead of infiltrating KPA camps your fighting alongside squad mates against aliens. This is fun and I wish shooters would do stuff like this more often. It breaks up the monotony of the open jungle and kicks things up a notch.


Every element in the game works, but of course, everything could be better, and that’s why Crysis 2 is coming out. My biggest gripe with the game is the difficulty. Even on easy the game is brutal and seems unfair at times such as vehicles blowing up really fast, and having 30+ guys come after you, and not being able to use stealth to get into a camp. This can drive you nuts, but the story is good enough for you to keep coming back for more. If you have the PC power Crysis is a must have.