Review by: Brian Rowe

The original Crysis single-handedly raised the bar for PC shooters back in 2007, and probably killed a few hundred machines in the process. Crysis 2 doesn't inspire the immediate wow-factor that the original did, but there is no denying that it is a technical powerhouse of a game. New York City is in the throes of disaster, with citizens turning into puddles of biological goo, tremors toppling skyscrapers, and aliens roaming the streets. Any game with this much chaos is bound to get your attention, but is it for the right reasons?

Crysis 2 doesn't bother with low-end graphics. The settings start at High and go up from there. With a 3 GHz dual core AMD processor, 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 video card, and a measly 4GB of RAM, my modest PC took the hit like a champ with only brief instances of slowdown. The 3D models and textures are in line with current standards, but the lighting, particle, and environmental effects are unmatched. All this beauty would go to waste if it weren't integrated into the gameplay so tactfully, with plumes of smoke and ripples of water on your visor obscuring your targets, or the dust of a collapsed building offering a perfect smokescreen.

The nanosuit your character wears is a fine piece of engineering, but by no means does it make you into an unstoppable war machine. Careless use of the suit's heightened agility, armor, and cloaking abilities can drain your fickle energy supply in an instant, leaving you vulnerable until it recharges. You need to inspect your surroundings and plan your strategies ahead of time. Even the run-'n'-gun approach requires foresight and finesse to properly account for sprints and jumps.

Upgrading your nanosuit requires some risk for the reward. Many areas can be surpassed by sneaking or sprinting to the end, but every alien killed leaves behind nano crystals used to purchase improvements. I only wish that there were better, and more clearly described options. You can have four out of twelve upgrades available at once, but you won't necessarily know an upgrade's function until you have saved up the nano crystals. Mobility Enhance, for example, is cheap and very useful, while the more expensive Air Friction gives you a little control over falls and is nowhere near as beneficial as it sounds.

Crysis 2 trades in the large, jungle environments of its predecessors for more claustrophobic urban architecture, which keeps the action tighter and much more nerve-wracking. Upon reaching a battle-section, you can always expect predetermined routes, such as the sidelines for stealth or the high road for sniping. They will actually be labeled in your tactical visor, and you can expect to find the appropriate weapon for the situation nearby. It can be too much hand-holding for my taste, but using the visor is a welcome option when you need some assistance.