Preview: Crysis 3

Set twenty-four years after the events of Crysis 2, Prophet returns on a revenge mission to New York City and finds it encased in a huge Nanodome, engineered by the C.E.L.L. corporation. Everything inside the dome has turned into dense rainforest. Within this dome, known as the Liberty Dome, are seven distinct and dangerous environments known as the Seven Wonders that Prophet can explore. In this new entry, Prophet has uncovered the truth about C.E.L.L. following the events of Crysis 2 and is set to foil the corporation’s plan of global domination.

Name: Crysis 3
Genre: First-person Shooter
Players: 1-2
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Developers: Crytek
Publishers: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 22 February, 2013
Price: R359 (PC); R549 (Console)

In Crysis 3, the speed and fast gameplay retain much from the first Crysis and Crysis 2. The Nanosuit is still your central hub of all your abilities, with powers such as enhanced strength, speed and invisibility part of the overall deal. It seems though, from the latest video, that the Nanosuit will now feature even more powers and has been customised in some ways since the last outing. For many this means exploiting a variety of ways to kill and maim enemies, and for others it offers new ways to approach stealth kills. There is also a greater focus on the Nanosuit enabling prophet to be more of a hunter than seen in the previous Crysis entries. This is starkly represented in the inclusion of the territories in the game known as the Seven Wonders which are seven distinct environments that bring home what the game’s singular focus is this time around.

There are different environments to tackle such as the urban jungle areas that are littered with the carcasses of urban decay like old motor vehicles which with the aid of your powers can be flung at unsuspecting C.E.L.L. agents. There is also a vast array of weaponry that continually fuesl the high octane nature of the combat in Crysis 3. You can slam enemies to the ground with the help of your superhuman strength and the ability to play with these types of gameplay mechanics in an urban jungle environment is promising.

As I said before, there is a stronger emphasis on the “hunt” in Crysis 3 and being a hunter is part of the experience that Crysis 3 is attempting to cater to. This is where the new weapon, a bow and arrow, come into play and with lush green grass to naturally camouflage Prophet in certain areas of the urban jungle you can become an efficient killing machine. In the game, the bow and arrow become an extension of Prophet as you can manipulate the weapon in a variety of ways, more so than any other weapon showcased so far in the game.

You can change arrows to suit different combat situations, and change the form of your bow arrow into a crossbow to deal with enemies (such as the Ceph) at close range, whilst changing to a longer hunting bow form when shooting at longer range targets. It is a versatile weapon and when combined with Prophet’s Nanosuit abilities you become a force to be reckoned with. Crysis 3 asks you the question: “Are you the hunter, or the hunted?” and this is very apparent in the game’s design.

There is also a focus on “Cause and effect” in the game. In Crysis 3, it seems that your actions will have huge consequences and this may well be reflected in the way the story pans out as you make your way further through the game. We could also assume from this that story will delve more into the purpose of the Ceph and the plans of the C.E.L.L. corporation in the larger scheme of things. We’ll discover what has exactly happened in the last twenty-four years, how the game has changed for the Ceph, C.E.L.L. and Prophet’s own team. There should be some clarification to the ending of Crysis 2 and we may be getting more answers, or perhaps even more questions than before.

One can only extrapolate, and with not enough information available yet, the singleplayer campaign could force the player to consider all the ramifications of taking on enemies and making certain decisions throughout the game. This type of dynamic could make the story feel more tense and the stakes that much higher. But this all speculation.

With Crysis 3, comes a great number of weapons including The Typhoon which is a specially engineered machine gun made to dealt with the Ceph and has more firepower than you could care for. The amount of bullets that this weapon can shoot is amazing and it’s perfect for dealing with the threat of the Ceph. If this is any indication of the types of weapons we’ll be able to use in the game, then there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll have the arsenal to deal with any threat.

In terms of multiplayer, Crysis 3 has just recently released an open beta for the multiplayer component of the game which can be downloaded off Xbox Live, Origin and PSN. The multiplayer features two modes in the open beta with the first mode called Hunter in which you play as cloaked assassins tasked with taking out C.E.L.L. soldiers with bows, and the second mode called Crash Site in which you play in opposite teams where you have to capture and hold pod locations that are dropped across the map. As such, the multiplayer component of Crysis 3 is as diverse as they come and if you want to know more about it check out the Hands-On we’ll be writing up in a number of days.

Crysis 3 itself is looking to be a promising game and now as we near its release we are given little snippets of what to expect in this new entry. Whether the game will be a critical success remains to be seen. But we can only hope for the best.