Crysis 2: Limited Edition

First off, the graphics in this game are nothing short of incredible. They are hands down the best I have seen on consoles, and better than quite a few PC games as well. Considering the age of the 360 in particular, this is quite an achievement. In addition to the graphics, the city itself is gorgeous and highly varied throughout the main story.

Next, the gameplay. Too many shooters today more or less copy the same mechanics that Call Of Duty 4 succesful, not that its a bad thing, but it gets old fast. Crysis 2 introduces fun and exiting gameplay to the FPS genre in the form of the nanosuit; The nanosuit has three main functions, stealth, armor, and power. Each of these allows for many different play styles and tactics when engaging the challenging enemy AI.

It is worth mentioning that a few reviewers have been somewhat unimpressed with the AI, claiming it is unintelligent and glitchy. Across the whole campaign I noticed only one AI glitch, and it was somewhat minor. I played the game on Soldier the first time through, and was consistently challenged by the AI, which reacted intelligently to virtually every tactic I used against it. Unlike many modern shooters, the enemies of Crysis 2 move freely around the environment in response to your actions, and act as a team to bring you down.

The sound effects in this game are top notch, and they are accompanied by an incredible original score by Hans Zimmer (the guy that did Inception's soundtrack). The overall presentation of this game is simply superb, and overwhelmed me enough that I had to stop playing several times just to take it all in.

The multiplayer combines the interesting tactical options of the nanosuit with unpredictable fellow players to make an engaging experience. There are a few balances that need to be made, but overall it kept me coming back for more thanks to the vast array of suit and weapon customization options.

Sure, there may be a few slight issues regarding bugs, but none of these even slightly hindered the rest game's incredible aspects for me. The campaign easily has to be the best I have played since the original Halo, and lasted nearly 12 hours.

the demo of this game was brilliant, with great graphics, easy to use controls and very entertaining gameplay. Large range of weapons and attatchments, lots to customise!! great game!
Graphics - 9/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Controls - 10/10
Customisation - 10/10
Overall - 10/10 - Great Game!!

As a fan of the original Crysis I have been eagerly anticipating this game over the last year or so. Thankfully I didn't have to worry about the ridiculous system requirements hampering PC gaming.

For me, the single player is one of the best campaigns I've played since Half Life 2 or Bioshock. It took me nearly 15 hours to beat it but it will depend on how you play. But don't take any notice of anyone who says it took them 6 hours to beat. The Story is rather forgettable and the characters are your typical gruff army captain and edgy scientist type. There isn't much of a bridge between Crysis 1 and anyone unfamiliar with the first game will be clueless to who Prophet is. There's also little explanation to what happened to the protagonist Nomad and Psycho, which is unfortunate. The alien Invasion escalates as you progress, with a good variety of enemies and set pieces that are simply awe inspiring.

The game play feels much more focused and there's less micro managing of the suit abilities. The controls feel a little overcrowded but you get used to them pretty quickly. Armour and Stealth can be activated with the shoulder buttons and the power and speed are combined to be the default mode. A huge improvement. The levels are smaller but more unique and the tactical visor gives you multiple options to use the environment. For me this was the best part, by using cars to crush enemies, performing stealth kills, throwing enemies at one another and doing parkour to explore. It starts off a bit slow but things begin to escalate into thrilling spectacles and more enjoyable set pieces than the first game. Overall it feels tighter and more streamlined, making for great tactical encounters and gunfights. The gunplay feels very authentic as you can't pop someone with a headshot from 200 yards away.

I Originally played the MP demo in January and it sold me on the game. There were a few problems but the customization and use of the nano suit were so much fun. Sadly I feel the finished product is somewhat unbalanced and very frustrating. The tap of the armour button can determine whether you live in gunfights. Players who are level 50 will have a significant advantage of new comers. There are some great modes and levels but I can't see myself playing this for months to come. The first Crysis had a great 32 player vehicle based mode which is completely absent here, instead Crytek have opted for a COD clone. Which is a disappointment.

Of course it's a Crytek game so the graphics are outstanding. The console versions suffer from some off putting object pop in. But the weather effects, lighting, texture work and sheer scale make it seem like a minor complaint. PC gamers need to learn graphics aren't everything and I don't need to worry about system requirements. Also the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard in a video game. The enemy AI is not terrible but will sometimes get stuck in the environment and may even be oblivious to a teamate who has fallen over dead next to them. It doesn't ruin the game and it's actually rather funny.

So the Multi player was a disappointment for me. But the length and quality of the game play and single player more than make up for it. It's one of the best FPS I've played in recent years, and even better than the original.

Lets get the bad out of the way

- 6V6 is a step backwards, on some maps i've gone an entire round finding around 3 people.(rarely but still)
- AI are abit iffy
-P2P connections need sorting out
- A few other graphical/sound bugs but nothing game breaking

SIngle Player.
Its a pretty good single player averaging between 8 - 10 hours.
You get to choose whether or not you go full on or take it stealth but you always get the option. Human AI are more observant so stealth is harder where as aliens are not so but if they seem to catch your sent they will hunt you down.
The story is good but it lacks that something to make it an amazing story, the main character does not speak which really takes away from the actual story. Its takes a little to get into the story but once you pushed through that 1st few levels it starts to get good! and a nice variety of vehicle/combat/stealth missions, defending locations and much more! The suit upgrades and weapons have lots of upgrades to play around with.

Multiplayer
wow! what an experience, Coming from someone who hated the demo/beta i really did not think it would be any good but it really is amazing! Run n gun and you will die in this so be warned.
The abilitys, You have your basics Stealth/Armor/super strength then you have modules which enchance and help with beating/counteracting those abilitys which all in all makes the game very well balanced.
The weapons, Not a vast array of weapons but enough with alot of attachments to mess around with and try out even a decoy which is most amusing to use :P
Maps, most are decent sizes with multiple levels to keep it interesting, the maps are probably the best i've seen ina multiplayer game before, my particular favorite being a partially collapsed building so you have to fight in it at a slight angle which really adds to the dynamic of the game.
Unlocks, You collect these dog tags in game for performing which you can use to unlock new dog tag backgrounds or weapons/attachments and moduels, there is a vast array of stuff to unlock in this game to keep you busy

Overall the game is a great experience and I am really glad i bought this. Any sci-fi shooter fan this is a must have or any FPS fans who fancy a more tactical shooter to the more run n gun type games which is getting a little generic, the 6v6 is a little bit small but you wont notice it in every game because most of the maps are ok with 6v6.

I'd give this game a 4/5 stars for single player and 5/5 stars for multiplayer

I love FPS games and not knowing anything about Crysis wasn't going to get it, until a friend of mine recommended it, and the fact I was fed up with Homefront.
Well to be honest I am so please I listened to my mate and got it, its brilliant. Graphically its superb, the game play is fast and furious but unlike many games nowadays the campaign is big and lasts for ages.
Although its fairly linear you have the options to play the game as you like, as you look through your visor it gives you the option to flank, stealth or like me just go guns blazing. You have this special suit and at first I kept forgetting to use its special abilities, but when I remembered and got the hang of it oh boy does it help you, and make the game even more fun.
Online is just as good, I like the way you can join noob lobbys from rank 1 to 10 and that gives you a good feel for the game and gets you used to the maps before you join the masses and the high ranked and get absoloutly slaughtered ( well I do anyway). But having said that its great fun running around turning invisible and surprising people.
Overall I personally think that Crysis 2 is the best game I have played on the xbox for a long time, there are many good games out there but this feels different and so enjoyable, and also its a game that you can and will want to replay time and time again. If you like FPS games then you should have this game in your collection.