Twenty four years after the events of Crysis 2, the last nanosuit soldier, Prophet returns to New York with the help of long time comrade Psycho which has been transformed into a crumbling urban jungle as a result of the Cell Corporation's nanodome technology built to harvest the Earth's energy. The Ceph alien race from previous games is struggling to survive against Cell's regime and Prophet is launched into this conflict only to find that Cell have unwittingly launched into a plot that may bring about the end of the world. Prophet sets out on a revenge mission to bring down both the Ceph and Cell with the help of local resistance forces. The story in Crysis 2 is less about conspiracies and the threat of an alien invasion, opting instead for a more personal tale involving the nature of the nanosuits and the humanity of those of use them. Psycho in particular provides plenty of emotion as he is torn between his revenge on Cell and his dedications towards the human resistance. Many questions are raised about Prophet' own humanity as well which certainly build intrigue but unfortunately are not given enough time to develop fully as a result of the short campaign.
Crysis 3's design is an unfortunate case of style over substance in some areas; the campaign has been substantially scaled back to five hours and despite the inclusion of new gameplay features, doesn't set itself apart from its predecessor very well. Contrary to the seven wonders of Liberty Dome mentioned, Crysis 3 simply doesn't bring back the freedom that was missing from the second game in the series. It instead offers more wide open environments that give room for experimentation and serve to supply the illusion of freedom; these are fun to play around with but it doesn't hold up against other games that offer player choice or even the original Crysis in terms of versatility. Other aspects of the campaign seem like a wasted opportunity like the Cell buggy among other ground vehicles being available to drive later in the game but being confined to small play areas. The main new features include the predator bow and hacking; Prophet can let loose with various arrow types or hack a turret to deal damage to the enemy; these, again are also satisfying to use but they also drastically reduce the difficulty of the campaign. Even on super soldier difficulty the scraps with the so called ''deadly'' Ceph Scorcher and Pinger units are easy pushovers that become anticlimactic after using exhaustive supplies of explosive arrows and other weaponry. The campaign does have some longevity through collectables strewn about the levels in addition to nanosuit upgrade kits and weapon attachments though these won't appeal to most after the first play through.
Multiplayer on the other hand is anything but scaled back; it seems that Crytek placed much more focus on improving this mode. Nanosuited soldier combat returns but there are numerous additions that make the battlefield feel more dynamic and hectic. Heavy weapons of both the human and alien kind are strewn about the twelve different maps to pick up and even a driveable Ceph Pinger and hovering human VTOL make appearances to help or hinder the teams; even the environment factors into online skirmishes with poles being used as melee weapons and switches to spin razor sharp cutting blades or electrify water. New online modes are plentiful with the Predator inspired Hunter mode being the highlight; here two cloaked hunters eliminate Cell troopers with arrows before the timer runs down. It can be incredibly tense as the Cell team is gradually cut down but it can also be difficult for hunters when Cell Troopers bunch together and hold down a tight area. All standard weaponry and the suit modules are levelled up through use, unlocking more attachments and better effects, making leaning on one favourite weapon and loadout an enticing prospect. All of these additions and improvements along with armour and stealth suit modes being given their own energy bar and extensive leader boards and stat tracking make Crysis 3 multiplayer the most fully featured yet and easily the greatest aspect of the game.
Crysis 3 continues the series patented nanosuit gameplay with a few refinements here and there; using sprint no longer drains energy and firing while cloaked no longer empties the suit's power supply, allowing for greater flexibility in situations. Both the hacking and bow features add to the game's stealth aspect for those who want to avoid contact all together and there are often new enemies patrolling the environments. The Ceph stalkers hide in the long grass like Velociraptors whilst the Ceph scorcher burns through the environment to flush Prophet out. Enemy AI is mostly improved from Crysis 2 with a large reduction in bugs; enemies will be sure to check the last point you fired from and will quickly catch sight of Prophet at close range even while cloaked. Cell troopers work to quickly disable any hacked turrets and Ceph forces will make full use of their weaponry to overwhelm Prophet. Control remains simple and fluid with the suit's functions at the player's fingertips at all times, though vehicle controls would have benefitted from an optional third person viewpoint for better visibility against all the water and particle effects. Traversal is handled mostly well with the ledge grab and slide functions returning but by the end of the game, the environments are spread so wide that it can become tedious to run across them on foot. Playing Crysis 3 remains solid overall and the suit powers are kept at the heart of the experience.
Crysis 3, true to its technological reputation is by far the best looking game on this generation of consoles. Despite running on the same engine that powered Crysis 2 (CryEngine 3) Crytek has managed to squeeze even more performance boosts out of the technology. Of course the game will look the best on a super powered PC but the PS3 version is no slouch, running on 1080p display as a pose to the common 720p format seen on many games. The Liberty Dome looks fantastic with all its beautiful scenery and vegetation and the water and fire effects look near photo-realistic at times. Character models have also received an uplift and the crumbling buildings and other artificial aspects create a vivid picture of an all but destroyed city. The musical score is long and expansive and the voice acting strong and varied; both meet the call for both emotion and action. Crysis 3 technical specs practically dwarf all other games this generation, proving that we may have reached the zenith of presentation this generation.
Crysis 3 does have several setbacks in the short and easy campaign that lacks improvement over previous games but the third and final entry in the series still stakes its claim as the best looking game out there as well as offering the best multiplayer in the series yet.
Rating: 8/10
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