
In fact, if you haven't played the original Crysis, the first few hours of the sequel might make you wonder why it is so beloved. It's a shame that it takes several nondescript hours of FPS action before you get to see the spectacular devastation. There's always a missile launcher nearby when you need one. How refreshing it is for a game to set up a sequel without resorting to cheap cliches. But once it does, it carries you along properly, delivers a few twists, and comes to an intriguing conclusion that you won't see coming. You won't find much of interest in the characters, and the meandering plot takes a while to find its rhythm. Thus, you aren't just fighting off an alien invasion, but you're also fighting ground troops that would be happy to see you dead. You receive this suit in dramatic fashion from the original game's Prophet, and the nature of this technology figures heavily into the story. You can also activate a mode that boosts your armor. This suit makes you the soldier of the future it allows you to jump to great heights, temporarily cloak yourself, and scan your environment. You play as a marine known as Alcatraz, and like Nomad in the original game, you are outfitted with a nanosuit. The visual design eschews artistic flair in favor of authenticity, and it mostly succeeds at providing a frightening real-world backdrop for large-scale shoot-outs. There's an eerie contrast between the untouched trees of Central Park swaying in the wind and the rubble stretching behind them. Familiar landmarks are defaced, lay in ruin, or explode as you watch. The few occasions when the game stops to consider how the average citizen might be affected by an alien invasion lend humanity to your militaristic actions. And, because they are often so momentous, your attention is drawn to them. But rather than wrest control away from you to highlight every falling skyscraper, collapsing passageway, and hovering alien ship, Crysis 2 allows these events to simply happen.

Yes, there are a few scripted moments in which you are more of an observer than a participant and, yes, you might be able to hold a button to peer at the imposing alien structure towering in the distance. There is still plenty of cinematic excess here, though it's delivered organically.


By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot'sĬrysis 2 does an excellent job of portraying a city under siege without indulging in constant action-film cutaways.
