Perhaps the most talked about PC game of the last year, Crysis is both revered and feared among all gamers. Console gamers are asking for a version they can play and PC gamers are praying that their machines can handle it. As one of the most realistic and stress-bearing games in the industry, they have a right to be fearful, and in turn that may make console gamers get the title.
Crysis takes the specialized power suit of Halo and Half-Life 2 to where it should have been the whole time, with power. Most games with these suits simply give extra armor so you don’t die as fast as your AI counterparts, but Crysis scoffed at such. Power suits require power, and they’d be damned if they didn’t give any.
And for brutal honesty, my machine is ill fit to run it, and only managed to chug along at the lowest settings. Even with 2GHz dual core, 1 GB RAM and 2 Nvidia 7600 Pro’s running on SLI, at any resolution higher than 1024x768 there was obvious slowdown. Yet even then the graphics were reminiscent of Gears of War…not quite on par, but very close.
Back to the power suit, it actually does things in Crysis. Five functions are Maximum Armor, Speed, Strength, Cloaking and weapons upgrades. These all sound fairly obvious, but the abilities are generally much more than they seem. Maximum armor just means that the suit will take damage for you until its power dies out, and then you start losing health. Maximum speed makes you run faster in standard running, and practically makes you fly when holding down the sprint button. Maximum strength makes physical attacks super effective and also lets you jump much higher than normal. Finally, cloaking makes you invisible.
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The first three powers, if you will, are pretty straight forward, but using them to the maximum effect takes lots of practice and precision. Switching between them isn’t just for planning before the attack, it has to be done while in battle as well to get the most out of it.
Cloaking is different. Obviously you cannot ever be completely invisible, but from a distance the AI won’t see you out in the open. Up close, if they look directly at you they will look at you for a second or two, then become hostile. They won’t fire right away, but they’ll call for help.
Weapons upgrades, while not part of the suit, is a way to give your gun the necessary tools for whatever the situation calls for. It may be a reflex scope instead of bare sights, grenade launcher attachment, or maybe taking those off. Each change will have minor effects on you and obvious physical changes to the gun. The more you stack up, the slower you’ll move, for example.
The whole story takes place on an island off of North Korea (or presumably North Korea is a superpower, so it could be anywhere) where an American research team finds…something, but the North Koreans just like to bully around and shoot wildly at unarmed scientists.
That’s where Delta Force comes in. Playing as Jake Dunn, aka Nomad, you’ll have your powered suit against Koreans in the beginning, and then whatever the hell caused the whole situation in the first place. The farther along you go the more things become hectic. Starting out from a normal jungle area, you’ll move on to an aircraft carrier, back to the same jungle that’s been frozen over, and finally into the big alien ship itself, where zero gravity fights will ensue.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much more to say. As of now, the game is officially done and will ship in just a few short weeks. The special edition comes with a ton of great extras, including a 32 page concept art book, official soundtrack, and some making of and concept videos. Not only does it look to be the most technologically advanced and demanding title of the year, its astounding gameplay may very well make it a frontrunner for Game of the Year. Head to stores and start waiting now, or go back to work so you can earn enough for a computer that can run Crysis.
