Game Preview 9:Crysis

Publisher: EA
Platform available: PC
Release date: Q4 2006

Crysis is developer Crytek’s second game after its first outing with Far Cry. Just like Far Cry, Crysis is set in the lush backdrop of a tropical rainforest of an island. The story begins with a landing of an asteroid on that island. Your squad has been sent to the island to investigate, but the North Koreans have arrived there earlier than you and your platoon mates. What happens when you place American soldiers and North Korean soldiers together? As expected, the story continues with a fight breaking out between the two forces. That is what you would be doing in the first part of the game – repelling North Korean soldiers. However, during the second part of the game, the aliens are revealed and now, you and your soldiers and the North Korean soldiers have to be on the same side in order to fight the aliens. This seems like a typical storyline for a first-person shooter (FPS) game with monsters, but before you dismiss this game, do note that Crysis is different from other FPS games in a way. For example, the events would not repeat themselves each time you play the game. In other words, different players playing the same game may see different events taking place or different events may unfold depending on how you play the game. In some other FPS games, if a person with an important role perishes before he can complete his task, you can no longer progress and are forced to restart from the last checkpoint. Crysis promises to be different. Even if the person with the important role dies, you can still complete the game, but in a more difficult, tedious way. This would certainly put an end to all the frustration players get when playing FPS games. As far as I know, Crysis also offers two types of saving, namely the checkpoint system and the quick save system, where you save whenever you like. It is also reported that the easiest game settings for Crysis would even be simpler than the easiest game settings for Far Cry. The other aspect of Crysis that I want to touch on is the graphics.


Crysis introduces a new level of realism into games by injecting the much-needed cinematic feel. For example, when you walk past a bush, the leaves would sway. And if you focus on things near you, your vision of other things further away would blur. But do not panic if you think that all these effects mean that you need to get new hardware. The developers have promised that the game would be playable even on systems with hardware that are 2 years outdated. Therefore, if you have a top-end 2004 gaming rig, you would still be able to play the game. The game has been designed to take full advantage of the latest hardware like the Intel Core2Duo chips, though. Okay, Crysis also works best with the latest graphics cards. If you have all the best hardware, do not be surprised if you think you are playing a PS3 game when you are actually just playing Crysis on your PC.