By Larry Frum, Special to CNN
March 22, 2011 12:39 p.m. EDT | Filed under: Gaming & Gadgets
"Crysis 2" is available Tuesday for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
(CNN) -- "Crysis 2" is a beautiful game with lots of action, but is plagued by a glitchy artificial intelligence that can be unintentionally comedic.
A sequel to PC-exclusive "Crysis," the new title (Crytek, Electronic Arts) expands its reach into the console world while trying not to lose the intense graphical designs the first game was known for.
You start off as Alcatraz, a Marine who is sent into an environmentally devastated and combat-ridden New York City to help fend off an alien invasion and rescue people from a horrible plague.
As expected, your submarine transport is attacked before you get there and you have to be rescued by someone wearing a strange armor suit.
Before you know it, you are wearing the suit, known as a Nanosuit 2.0, and hurled headlong into a pitched battle against not just the alien Ceph, but also mercenaries, and corporate and military leaders who have agendas of their own.
Yes, nearly everyone is against you.
The new and improved Nanosuit is quicker, stronger and has the power to become invisible. Using the armor mode, the outer casing of the Nanosuit toughens up, allowing players to go toe-to-toe with their enemies. This is a great power if your style of game play is to kill everything that moves.
If you prefer to fight more discretely, the stealth mode makes the player invisible and allows them to move silently through a battlefield. In some scenarios, I used stealth mode to get through wave after wave of enemies without firing a shot.
Each mode uses up power when it is turned on. But that power recharges quickly when the modes are turned off.
Learn quickly where cover or hiding spots are located and you can use them to recharge. Plus the suit is customizable, so the power provided in each of the modes can be upgraded.
The Nanosuit also comes equipped with a tactical display that helps locate enemies and important locations, like ammo caches. It also keeps track of your weapon's condition and power consumption.
When using the Tactical Visor, you can tag enemies to keep track of their movements.
Gamers get to try out all these features in the urban jungle known as New York City. If you've ever visited the Big Apple, you are going to recognize a lot of the city's sites.
The graphics are extremely well done with great design, use of natural lighting, and a destructible environment that feels natural.
The designers at Crytek did a great job of making the city come alive.
It is as much a character as the Ceph.
From skyscrapers to underground train tunnels, each area is wide open, allowing the player to attack scenarios from multiple angles.
It is a controlled sandbox and doesn't feel like you are being walked along a linear path.
Combat is what you would expect from a first-person shooter. There are 22 customizable weapons that you can discover and use with 11 different attachments.
They are varied enough in accuracy, reload and rate of fire to make paying attention to what you are carrying worth the time.
Alcatraz can carry a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and explosives like grenades, C4, or even a guided-missile launcher.
The enemies are pretty straightforward, and here is where the game's downside begins.
Two factions, the alien Ceph and a private army known as C.E.L.L, are out to stop Alcatraz. C.E.L.L soldiers are ex-military and can usually be taken down pretty easily with a head shot.
Ceph come in various flavors -- from harmless Ticks that harvest resources to the mighty Pinger, which comes armed with an electromagnetic pulse that depletes the Nanosuit's power and a rapid rate of fire that tests your armor's capabilities.
Grunts, stalkers and heavies also make up the alien force.
However, they apparently aren't the brightest bulbs in the box thanks to a spotty artificial intelligence that leaves them vulnerable.
Enemies will sometimes walk into walls -- keeping it up even while being shot. They will also take multiple bullets without moving before apparently realizing they've been shot and fall down dead.
Don't feel bad for them, though, because the artificial intelligence, or AI, also gives them an advantage from time to time by allowing them to see through walls and fire before the player even exits protective cover.
They also will inexplicably be able to spot you without even looking in your direction. Very frustrating.
The story starts off as a fairly straightforward shooter, but gets more complicated and more interesting as it goes along.
The political and financial intrigue, along with all the "shadow figures" trying to pull your strings, makes the storyline intriguing and fun.
I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but I will say this: Know your enemy.
The multi-player mode allows you to dodge the moody AI. Six different game modes across 12 maps offer enough variety to keep the action going. Everybody gets a Nanosuit, but each player can select one suit mode -- power, stealth or armor -- to upgrade.
The battles are intense and there are bonuses available for the entire squad when you perform certain actions. Players can also choose from four different character classes or create their own.
Overall, "Crysis 2" is a gorgeous game with some combat AI issues. But issues aside, you will be hard-pressed to stop playing once you get started because the story, action and environment will keep you hooked until the very end.
"Crysis 2" will be available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 22 in North America and March 25 in Europe. It is rated M for Mature due to blood, partial nudity, strong language and violence. This review was done using a review copy for the Xbox 360.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
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