Third time's a charm for Crysis in Crysis 3 review

Another weekend, another set of reviews. Crysis 3 was delivered at the beginning of the week and since I had completed Revengeance, it was a welcome delivery. In Crysis 3 you take on the role of Prophet, a Nanosuit soldier hell bent on the cliche, yet standard storyline, rediscovering humanity while seeking brutal revenge. For those that missed the previous entries and are joining the party a bit late, the storyline in Crysis 3 takes place in a future dilapidated New York City and follows an adventure around the symbiotic relationship between soldier and suit while coping with the memories of the previous suit’s occupant. On top of that you must also deal with wake of an alien invasion and a secretive military faction. That being said, let’s see how this title actually plays.

 
A little history of my time spent with this series consists of me missing the first title, playing most of the second until I reached a game breaking glitch, and played through the third in it’s entirety. I felt that the third probably played more smoothly than the last with a much better tutorial to get you accustomed to the nanosuit and the available abilities. Like the last, the post apocalyptic New York City looks stunning with the CryEngine3. Aside from looking great, the gameplay is smooth and has a lot to offer regardless to your gameplay style, run and gun or stealth, you are rewarded for your actions and can progress your character based on your preference.

Now for the things I was not particularly fond of, first would easily be the online multiplayer gameplay. The maps felt small in comparison to the large single player sandboxes and the number of people online was rather lacking with a couple hundred at most in any of the game modes at numerous times throughout the day. The other, would be the story and dialogue. My issue with the story is that is it just kind of bland and doesn’t stand out in comparison to a number other recent titles that have been released. While there is plenty of conflict and great subject matter the cutscenes are easily skippable, the only thing you would be missing out on would the eye candy.
 
All in all, Crysis 3 is a solid game for the single player experience. The online is a fun to play, just don’t expect to play against a large variety of opponents and with such a small community, I worry that it will quickly get smaller. The single player was where the real enjoyment came from for me, that and stealth with with the bow. I loved starting new levels, scanning the area for look out points to plan one long and violent strategy with numerous contingency plans for when my suit runs out of energy to recharge. The gameplay is a blast, the graphics are stunning, but the story just wasn’t too memorable for me, possibly resulting from not playing the first or completing the second.