New York City devastated by an Alien virus, the world, as we know it on the verge of total anarchy. What makes the situation even worse the Aliens from the first game are back and this time they look like they are here in force, a full-blown invasion.

Making your way through a battle torn New York City is gut wrenching at times. There are signs of the devastation and the horrors that the virus itself has brought down upon the city. There are bodies piled up in some places’ and even some survivors who seem sick and very much infected by the virus.

One thing about the Alien virus victims, as you make your way through the levels there are still live victims around, those that are awake seem to be in some form of catatonic state. They do not react to any of the battles going on around them, nor if you fire a weapon near them. In fact, your gunfire does not hurt them at all. I am a bit disappointed about this, not so much to be able to shoot them, but the extra drama of accidently shooting something or someone you should not shoot would have been nice. If nothing else the victims you come across are nothing more than window dressing, they may have well been a tree or a bush.

With so much going on, I was worried that the computer would make it a non-playable mess. Surprisingly enough the game play and graphics set to the highest run very smooth and look great. Our gaming rig we use for the main reviews is a quad core machine and we have the graphics card set for performance. The scenery in the game is spectacular with action set pieces taking place that is awesome to behold.

Sound and music blend well into the game, gunfire and explosions are very satisfying with just the right punch hitting the receiver system speakers. Even the sound of spent brass clanking and jingling on objects around you is just one of many small things audibly that draws you into the game and engulfs you in this mind blowing adventure.

If anything in the game slowed me down a bit at first it was the controls. That was more me than the controls actually giving me a hard time; they took most of the first several levels to get comfortable with their use. Happily this is not a problem the designers worked it in that the tutorial is just part of the game play. There are times in the beginning that the suit it self over rides your forward movement, and just at the right time tells you to use a certain feature that is just at that moment and forward from that point available for your use.

The player starts the game as part of a Marine Deep Infiltration and Extraction Team sent in to secure a scientist, the game starts with the infiltration of the team into New York City. All hell of course breaks loose and you are soon introduced to a whole lot more technology than you are used to. I will not do any spoilers here; it is much to fun to let the story unfold for you as you play. There will be fans of the first game that are both surprised and shocked and saddened. That is all I will say.

To find out what is going on, make sure to use the suits abilities to first listen in on evens and enemy chatter. This will give a bit more back-story and will let you know what has been going on with the first enemy troops you run into. For the best experience, look around, search areas, sometimes there are things to switch on, gather information as you go. You are a Marine after all.

With the Nanosuit 2 you are a one man squad. With all the stealth and combat enhancements, you would think it would be a total snap to walk through everything in your path. Not so, the suit has to be managed, because there is a limited power supply to the suit. The suits energy does replenish very quickly. Learning to balance when to use the suits abilities and how is paramount to flawless success.

The game design is well balanced out; it does not saturate you into things too quickly. Early enemies are a slight challenge, not by much with your enhanced abilities. Later levels bring on the Alien beings; they are interesting and look as if they are sporting some kind of enhancement suits of their own. They are very fast, very strong and will take the player out ricky tick if they do not use the suits enhancements to full advantage. Shooting them when they are in the middle of attacking enemy soldiers seemed to be a good tactic. Taking them out when they are occupied with another enemy.

While this is of course a kick ass action game, several areas have more than one path to take to reach your goal. You can go all medieval and open up a hail of bullets on everything that moves, or you can see just how well you can use the enhanced stealth capabilities the suit gives you. Try making it to the other side of a level with out firing a shot. Taking out enemies as you go with close combat is one way to go. Alternatively, try to get past them all with out taking anyone out, or being detected.

Crysis 2 all comes down to one thing, the Nanosuit 2. I mean sure, there are weapons to be had, and plenty of them, all fun to blast away with and all, but the suit is the real draw here. As stated earlier on, management of the suits energy is the key to success. Both in single play and multi player slug fests.

As the game progresses and the player collects Alien tissue samples, they are able to upgrade the suits special features. These extra features are unlocked in an in game menu by earning experience. Other than, in the multi player part of the gaming, upgrading the suit with special abilities never saw much use in my single player experience.

The main special abilities of the suit are always there and these are the main functions that the player will call on to get them through the adventure. From a nifty cloaking or invisibility, to extra strength or speed, and of course increased armor to take more punishment with out being brought down.

For me it is a rare thing to enjoy both the single player experience and the multiplayer experience. Here in Crysis 2, is one such game. The single player experience is a blast and can get rather exciting. Then in the multiplayer gaming realm, it is incredible to play against other thinking opponents, some who may be new and just run about spraying and praying. Then there are those experts who have mastered balancing the suits energy and abilities to rule the battlefield.

The single player on the other hand at times the enemy AI does dumb things. Such as standing there and proclaiming that, they have lost you, even though you are about 10 feet or so from them and never cloaked. Occasionally you may see an enemy running in place because they will not go around an obstruction. I recall shooting down an enemy helicopter and my radar showed an enemy in red still. Going over to the downed chopper I see an enemy still crouching sideways in the choppers passenger bay section as if it was upright., unmoving and yet unable to be shot.

Granted the story is shallow at times, and the characters are the standard stereo types, the game on the other hand visually looks spectacular. The good things far outweigh the bad here.

Even with these oddities, the game is a solid fun adventure piece.

Have fun, play games
Edwin Millheim
United States Editor
Impulse Gamer