Crysis 2

 It says a lot when a shooter can take many strides away from the norm, delivering an experience thats both innovative, inviting,

thrilling and fun. The original Crysis achieved just that--blending nanosuits with big levels that led to a ton of flexibility and all of that was coupled with some of the most advanced visuals ever seen on the PC, which prompted players to upgrade their hardware just so they could gock at all the amazing grahpical fidelity. While the game recieved recognition for being more of a visual showcase than anything else, developer Crytek are now stretching their legs with the sequel, Crysis 2 since its available on the PC aswell as the consoles. With little over three years in between games, hopes are high that Crysis 2 can be a legitimate contender to other juggernaughts in the genre and that a new fanbase can emerge from the console side of things.The good news is that Crysis 2 has more than lived up its own high standards and provides a ton of thrilling spectacle both in the gameplay and visual department and also boasts a fantastic multiplayer component to boot. Simply put, Crysis 2 is one of the best shooters of the year, and quite possibly one of the best looking aswell.

The game′s opening chronicles the events leading up to a massive alien invasion on New York City and the various corporations, key-figures and plot strands from the first game will immediately be recognized by anyone who played the original. Newcomers on the other hand, will be lost--cameos and references are likely to go right above your head and the story in Crysis 2 doesn't do a great job of bridging the gap between the two games, so if you are a console player and haven't played the first, then you should brush up on your basics before playing this one.  That's not to say the story doesn't offer up any campy sci-fi fun, because it certaintly does. In the game you play as a marine called Alcatraz--who like Nomad before him-- dons the Nanosuit and he sets out to find a doctor named Nathan Gould. You actually acquire the suit from one of the supporting characters from the original, though how is best left unrevealed. As the story wears on, you learn more and more about the alien race, called The Ceph invading New York and the Nanosuit itself becomes an essential participant in the story. It starts off slow, but the story eventually gets more interesting overtime which is helped by the eerie, New York backdrop.

Where gameplay is concerned, Crysis 2 sticks true to its roots while adressing the faults leveled against the original. The Nanosuit is

still the real standout here and its also what seperates Crysis 2 from the legions of other shooters. You can enter cloak and slip past enemies or silently take them out from behind, you can activate armor and absorb a ton of a damage and you also have a lot of manueverability as you can sprint fast, jump high, grab onto ledges and slide underneath obstacles. You also have plenty of weapons at your disposal so you can expect to look the down the sights of various assault rifles, sub-machine guns, sniper rifles and more as you take out the many soldiers and aliens that stand in your way. Much like the first, you can bring up a slick menu interface and add different attachments to your guns depending on how you want to proceed and this flexibility coupled with the wide-open sandbox environments make Crysis 2 feel distinctly different and you'll likely come away wholly satisfied with how Crysis 2 plays, feels and looks.

The pacing was rightfully criticised in the first Crysis for abruptly putting an end to all the tactical thinking and approachability in favor of aliens that aimlessly floated above you. This time, Crysis 2 is much better paced and its also longer too. The first half is very much about surveying your surroundings with your tactical visor, planning your approach and effectively taking out enemies before moving forward. The verticality of the gamespace allows for a lot of different playstyles, be it guns blazing or silent infiltration. Once this style of play wears off, the game escalates into absolute chaos and the last hours of Crysis 2 are about as thrilling and memorable as shooters come and go. The campaign should last a good 8-10 hours and there are multiple difficulty settings to check out, collectibles to find and more.

But like so many other shooters, you gotta have fun playing online and Crysis 2 does not dissapoint. There are six modes to check out, twelve maps in all and plenty of things to unlock when leveling up. The nanosuit also makes for a lot of interesting encounters and the players who uses the full extent of their suit are the ones that will win the day. The same vertacality and stellar gunplay of the campaign works even better here and it makes matches unpredictable and fun.

Crysis 2 looks spectacular to say the least. The lighting is among the best ever seen in a shooter and there are a ton of marvelous details on display. The animations are superb, the gun models look terrific and the destruction is very impressive. All of this is backed up stellar sound design that includes good voice acting and a fantastic score--the main theme in the game composed by Hans Zimmer is some seriously grandiose stuff. 

While the game is somewhat held back by a slow start, some visual glitches and inconsistent artificial-intelligence, Crysis 2 is still a thrilling experience. The campaign is lengthy and exciting, the multiplayer fun and addicitve and the audiovisual presentation is phenomenal. Roll all of this together, and Crysis 2 is simply a must-buy for anyone who is looking to experience what it would be like to be put in the thick of an alien invasion in a devastated city that we all know and recognize so well.