[REVIEW] Crysis 3

Christopher Sheridan
(PlayStation 3 [REVIEWED], Xbox 360, PC)

Crytek took the PC gaming world by storm with Crysis, a gorgeous, open-ended sci-fi shooter best known for its prohibitive system requirements. Luckily, it had gameplay to back this up, and ended up gaining a strong following. The sequel appeared on consoles as well, and transferred the large open jungle areas to a more confined, segmented urban jungle. While good, Crysis 2 was not as well-received as its predecessor. With the third game in an apparent trilogy, Crytek seeks to find the balance between the games. For the most part, they succeed.

The story here is commendable for its attempts at deeper characterization, though it loses points for being almost annoyingly convoluted. Nanosuit-wielding soldier Prophet has progressed from a mindless super-soldier to a man on the brink of devastation at his loss of humanity. At this point in the Crysis storyline, Prophet’s human flesh has all but been replaced by the nanosuit, a Ceph exoskeleton that has merged with his body and mind. More than 20 years after the conclusion of Crysis 2, Prophet is awakened from slumber by his old friend Psycho, resurrecting Prophet to take down the remnant of the evil Cell organization, who has used the aftermath of the alien Ceph defeat to wield energy as a means of indebting citizens and forcing them into slavery to pay for it. During a run-in with Cell in their nanodome–overrun with plant life and foliage after 20 years–the Ceph hive-mind is reawakened along with the alien leader, the Alpha-Ceph. In order to defeat the Alpha-Ceph and stop the world’s end as seen by Prophet in recurring visions, the super-soldier realizes that he must unlock the suit to its full potential, at the risk of completely transforming himself into a Ceph.

The storyline has its moments, but it’s ultimately a mixed bag due to requiring a working knowledge of an overly-complex backstory and a very slow first half filled with seemingly inconsequential plot threads. However, the final third or so of the game kicks things into high gear with some extremely intense action sequences that make slogging through the first chunk of the 6-hour story worth it.

While the difficulty is rarely taxing, Crysis 3 does bring a bit of a challenge in the tactical offerings available. There is a multitude of ways to approach a situation, whether it be by stealth, hacking turrets, using brute force, or some combination of the two. The game’s environments establish a happy medium between the almost-too-big levels of the original game and the smaller, more confined areas of Crysis 2. While these levels maintain the mindset of the previous game’s “small sandboxes,” they’re bigger this time around with more options and alternate paths. Enemies, with the vision of hawks, are not always easy to sneak around, but display impressive flanking AI and teamwork.

As before, different modules and upgrades can be outfitted with the nanosuit, and provide small bonuses such as increasing the speed of aiming down the sights, bullet dampening, or being able to see enemy footsteps. The upgrade menu is laid out in a sort of 4-by-4 grid that resembles a slot machine. To make use of a purchased upgrade, it needs to be moved to the bottom row. Four unlocked upgrades can be loaded into a preset. The minor issue that arises with this is that two upgrades that occupy the same column can’t be used simultaneously (for example, the jump-boosting Verticality upgrade and the speed-increasing Light Armor upgrade). Still, up to three presets can be made, and then changed at any time, and switched out on the fly as the situation demands.



Weapons can also be given attachments at any time; holding down a button brings the gun up to eye level in real time so that modifications can be swapped out instantly. Picking up dropped enemy weapons may unlock an accompanying attachment to be used on the gun in the future. Having the versatility to use a scope on a rifle to pick off soldiers from a distance, then switch to a reflex sight with a suppressor for closer range killing is welcome.

In nearly every respect, Crysis 3 feels fantastic. Everything has weight, and weapons and head movement feel natural and realistic.  Guns have a good kick behind them, and everything in the world feels like it actually exists there with realistic heft and weight in relation to the rest of the environment. Bullets and melee attacks have the appropriate weight as well, and feel as though they would definitely hurt. The game finds a mechanical middle ground between looser games such as Call of Duty and tighter, heavier ones such as Killzone.

Crytek, in the months leading up to the release of Crysis 3, was not shy about how great the game looked. The wise among us, recalling the running “Yeah, but can it run Crysis” joke, didn’t retort. As it turns out, Crytek’s confidence was not unfounded. Crysis 3 look terrific no matter which platform it’s running on, with lush environments and robust explosions. While the PC version is leaps and bounds above the consoles, it still looks fine on the PS3 and rarely experienced any framerate stuttering. There are, of course, the requisite masturbatory landscape shots, and they are all breathtaking.

Multiplayer has improved over Crysis 2. That game laid the foundation for a solid multiplayer experience, and Crysis 3 improves on it with better modes and smoother gameplay. Nearly all of the requisite online shooter modes are present, such as Team Deathmatch, but an additional mode called Hunter, in which Cell operatives are hunted down by a couple of nanosuit-wearing stalkers, was a welcome addition that added a nice dose of tension to this side of the game. Multiplayer in general had some questionable hit detection and some severely unbalanced weapons, and there isn’t really enough time in between matches to modify the intricate, Call of Duty-style loadout while remaining in the same lobby, but the mode is still fun to throw some weight around in, particularly with the fantastic map design that features tons of variety.

Crysis 3 is good, but apart from some breathtaking graphics there isn’t much that will cause gamers to fondly recall it at the end of the year. There are some awesome moments, but there are almost as many mediocre ones. Thankfully, the game plays magnificently even if the lack of arcade-y weightlessness takes some getting used to after hours of Black Ops II. Fans of the series, and of the work of Crytek, should certainly take a look, and will likely find much to love. Everyone else will probably like, but not love, this newest sci-fi shooter.