Unusually complex for a multiplayer mode, power struggle has players from both North Korean and United States teams vying for alien technology, munitions depots, and energy plant. Completing objectives nets you prestige points to purchase armaments, as well as contributes to the team's ultimate goal of launching a nuclear warhead at the opposition base. Depending on the level of coordination between teammates, matches can end up focusing on cooperative tactics or break down into a sloppy form of team deathmatch. While the attempt to create an original multiplayer mode is to be applauded, power struggle ends up being too complex when paired with the breakneck pacing of the action. Offering team deathmatch or an assortment of other, more straightforward modes would have been preferable.

Any critical discussion of Crysis wouldn't be complete without mentioning its groundbreaking visual presentation. Without question, this is the best-looking game to date on any platform—period. A lot of conjecture has been made regarding the necessary processing power to run the game and some of it has proven correct in predicting problems on lower-end machines. Throttling down settings to low ensures a decently smooth run on less powerful systems, although loss of quality is apparent with less detailed textures and objects popping in and out of view. This can be particularly bad in multiplayer matches where objects, walls, even entire floors appear at random. The host's connection quality factors significantly into this, so be mindful of this when entering full matches.

The primary review system used included an Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor coupled with 2 GB memory and a bleeding-edge GeForce 8800 GTX. The NVIDIA GPU performed beautifully, topping out at a resolution of 1680x1050 and allowing the game to run with all graphical settings on maximum. Needless to say, Crysis running on an 8800 GTX looks utterly fantastic. Windows Vista also helps boost the presentation thanks to DirectX 10, although the game looks great in DirectX 9.0c as well. Some work is needed on the drivers to boost performance, though, as occasional hitches are apparent and more rarely crashes occur.

Crysis is a worthwhile game beyond its visuals, backing them up with finely-tuned gameplay. The combination of a great presentation and entertaining gameplay make it an easy recommendation. Steep hardware requirements frustratingly limit performance, especially if your machine sits at the lower end of the spectrum. Beautiful, action-packed, and fully featured, Crysis is a shining example of how a first-person shooter ought to play.