Crysis 3 Review

Exploring the terrain, creating a plan, and putting it into action in the midst of a vast open world: these are the three main components that convey the dark atmosphere of the jungle, setting the original Crysis apart from other shooters that are almost as beautiful. In Crysis 2, despite all its grandeur and spectacle, such things seemed like distant memories. The previous battle between Prophet and the Ceph, layered with a storyline of alien invasion and mysterious nanosuits, concealed a more interesting story about how technology can influence game worlds, and how they, in turn, can affect the enjoyment derived from playing.

And it was a bleak story. Multi-platform development meant compromises in terms of graphics, and compact urban spaces could not provide the tactical freedom comparable to the first game. Forget about planning several moves ahead and developing strategies – you are doomed to wander through these claustrophobic streets in search of a path to the next “action bubble.”

Crysis 3 is an attempt to combine the first and second games. Twenty years after the events of Crysis 2, what remains of Manhattan is enclosed in a high-tech dome, designed by the Cell network to contain the remnants of the aliens and maintain control over the planet. Under the dome is exactly what many players wanted: a mixed urban architecture, familiar open streets, and dense vegetation. Sadists who enjoy playing with their enemies before killing them will find plenty of suitable areas for that. Part nature reserve, part drilling station: this is the environment that Prophet finds himself in after escaping from Cell captivity.

And in most cases, it’s a successful combination. At the beginning of the game, I was making my way through the Financial District and noticed a deer wandering by the stream. Are there animals in the game? That’s a good sign – as well as the fact that the Cell soldiers nearby started to worry in the thickets. “Someone is hunting us!” says one of them, noticing the body of his comrade who had the misfortune of meeting me a minute ago. “He’s armed with a bow.”

Oh, yes. The bow. Take it for granted that Crysis is a shameless Rambo simulator, and the bow will turn into a wonderful toy. Silent kills with a single shot and the ability to shoot while remaining invisible indicate which of the main components of the series Crysis 3 decided to focus on. Playing Crytek’s new creation as a kind of stealth-action, you will surely have a lot of fun.

The AI still behaves somewhat ambiguously, but the humans still panic and separate from the group, and the aliens have gained new species. They have become more wild, both in appearance and in aggression, and with the larger ones, you can tear off heavy weapons if you want to change the pace of the game abruptly.

From time to time, Crytek presents us with a delightful theater of sadism, filling colorful maps with sudden bursts of brutal – and often silent – action, interspersed with periods of tense anticipation. The pace is set by the nanosuit, offering the choice of a stealthy invisibility mode and a mode of practically complete invulnerability for moments filled with both heroism and reckless risk. But the main focus is on the bow, with its mesmerizing creaking and constant shortage of arrows.

Local freedom is always confined within tangible boundaries, but although the small levels may irritate Crysis and Crysis Warhead fans, the linearity of Crysis 2 is now more skillfully disguised. In general, the game’s limitations even work in its favor. For example, the energy of your suit depletes slowly when you stand still and depletes much faster when you move or come under fire – creating a pleasant tension every time you are not safe. And the constant shortage of ammunition forces you to act more creatively to conserve it. Only take down enemies where you can retrieve the arrow from the corpse, and never engage in a firefight until you have marked all nearby weapon caches on your visor.

In its best moments, the game pits you against one or two squads of soldiers in open but at the same time intricate terrain. For example, in a train yard where enemies successfully control the signal bridges but lose the advantage in flooded tunnels running under the tracks, or in a city center turned into a wild savannah. By the way, optional objectives usually help earn points for upgrading the suit. Deviating from the main course and killing a few extra enemies will likely allow you to purchase a perk that extends invisibility or adds speed. Convenient.

Choosing is possible from what, but it is worth remembering that the first two games (I mean Crysis and Crysis Warhead) encouraged different gameplay styles as diligently as Crysis 3 encourages stealth. It is incredibly interesting to play as a sneaking hunter in the new part, but rushing headlong quickly becomes boring. The game still remains a good shooter, but playing without a bow, you will encounter unremarkable weapons and unremarkable decorations. By speeding up the pace of the game, Crysis 3 can be completed in about five hours – and there will be nothing to remember.

Without deviating from the traditions of FPS, we will be presented with obligatory rides, turrets, helicopters, and a couple of bosses. If you don’t hide, don’t wait, don’t save arrows, it will be an ordinary mediocre shooter. In some ways, the game can be compared to Warhead, but Crytek clearly should not be pleased with such comparisons. In addition to Psycho with his rough, Statham-like style, Crysis 3 borrowed from the early game a relative brevity, which manifests itself when it comes to large-scale battles – so even the most stubborn stealth fans will not reach the finale unnoticed.

Towards the end of the game, you will mostly encounter open battles. The game simply does not use its strengths when it is necessary to rely more on the armor mode. If the enemy sees an arrow flying towards him, all interest in the process is immediately lost.

In particular, the last level is horribly linear, boring, and completely forgettable. It’s annoying that this was done in the name of the plot – the story must always end grandly. The tale of the “world’s demise” is no worse than what we’ve seen in other games – but also no better. And certainly, sacrificing the tactical sandbox for the sake of guiding us through the finish line was not necessary. In Crysis 2, we were fed lies, using an item of clothing as one of the central characters; in Crysis 3, the story is only slightly better.

Well, at least these lies are wrapped in a beautiful package, and you will see swaying ferns and reflections on the water regardless of your gaming platform. And let these beauties not be in an open world, Crytek’s artists and programmers have still done an amazing job. On PC, everything looks brilliant, and even on Xbox 360, the urban forests remain a beautiful and organic place where you can admire the play of light and shadow on dense foliage, without experiencing performance issues that were present towards the end of Crysis 2. It’s not just about the level of detail, but about the magnificent craftsmanship: the city streets have turned into narrow strips of land stretching along a volcanic beach, and the Financial District has become a tropical grotto – a creepy place at night. New York is beautiful again.

Such variety benefits the multiplayer – dozens of maps include both dirty plains and military objects. And there is also an interesting use of the bow in the “Hunter Mode”: two players dress in nanosuits and arm themselves with bows, while the rest play as regular Cell soldiers. Killing each soldier switches them to the side of the hunters – the fewer of them remain, the higher the tension rises.

Standard Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are complemented by a fresh look at CTF and King of the Hill, and the action always takes place at a frantic pace, thanks to the map design and class system. Leveling up and equipping are similar to other online shooters, but the local multiplayer still retains its own uniqueness – not necessarily thanks to the main campaign, but Crytek UK managed to compile all its advantages skillfully.

Well, the story ends, and it seems that the nanosuit is going into a well-deserved retirement. Can the game be considered a worthy conclusion to the series? Not entirely: the campaign’s ending feels rushed, and interest in the narrative diminishes as you progress. However, Crysis 3 has its own charms: just turn on the tactical display and hide in the shadows amidst the lush environment. You will understand what I mean when you start killing enemies, breaking the silence only with the whistle of arrows and the creak of the bow.