It's not too often that the campaign serves as the highlight of a game for me, but I always make sure to play it before hopping into the multiplayer, as it's generally the ways that the developers intend it to be. Unfortunately Call of Duty has seemed to get rid of this ritual for most players, but that's another topic.
Both games in the Crysis series have most of their emphasis on the campaign of the game, and Crysis 2 stands no different. Crysis 2 features a 10-hour campaign, 4 hours longer than the standard Call of Duty game, giving it a much more fufilling story than the previously mentioned. Despite usually only running through the campaign one time and leaving it be, Crysis 2 has a certain pull factor that makes me want to go back into the campaign and play it; the story is very fufilling, and definitely one of the best FPS stories I've played in quite some time. A normal FPS story is straight forward and require no explanation; Crysis 2 has a story that will have you go through the entire game, and end with a "what just happened?", which in this case is by no means a bad thing. The fact that Crytek can make such a complex story with only about five of six characters (and no alien hivemind) is quite a feat. It seems like I've been rambling about the glorious campaign part for quite a while, so I'll move on to the other aspects, starting with gameplay and continuing with graphics.
The original Crysis was well-recieved for its open-ended levels and player choice; it's not quite the same way in the sequel, given that it's set in the urban jungle of New York City this time around. Goals are generally straight forward, usually one at a time. Unfortunately, this means that's there's less choice to be given in order of goals, but the game still gives the players choices through the super-human abilities given by the Nanosuit. Should I use the suit's cloaking ability to sneak around the enemies? Or should I use maximum armor to go in guns blazing? The game is filled with opportunities like these, and it gives the player some fresh air for a change; instead of the standard "run to room, shoot everbody, move up, repeat that has become ridiculously overused in FPSes, there's more than one way to do one objective. Plus, stealthily stabbing the enemies one-by-one unnoticed by the other enemies is just so much fun.
Crysis 2 delivers many new gameplay features, as expected being a sequel. Immediately when I started the game, I noticed a table; normally tables just stand, maybe sometimes able to be pushed around; but I saw a little message come up-"Hold RS to power kick"- and to my joy and happiness, I did exactly as the game told me and the table flew across the room. The introduction of kicking heavy objects has allowed for some actual tactical purposes depsite seeming like a minor feature to add fun; cars and table alike can be kicked into enemies immediately to quickly neutralize them.
While the addition of kicking things is my highlight of new stuff, new customization options are added; along with the modification of weaponry similar to the first game, the player can also short-press the "back" button (on Xbox 360) to open up a Nanosuit modification menu; the player can choose one modification for each module of the suit, between basic suit upgrades, armor, power, and stealth (invisibility)
In order to buy these upgrades, the player has to collect a substance called "nano catalyst", which can be scoured from defeated aliens. Unlike the original Crysis, upgrades to the suit, along with all the weapon attachments the player has found, are carried over to any level the player chooses, and even if they start a new game; this means that the player could have the air stomp ability (picture Mario) right at the beginning inside the castle they awaken in.
Graphics in Crysis 2 remain basically the same as the first game, although with slight improvement, mostly like optimizations made to compensate for the console's hardware; Crytek consiously developed Crysis 2 with all platforms considered this time around, so it does, as expected, look great. Lighting remains this series' strength; from the light pouring down from the sun to the crimson trails of the insidious eyes of the Ceph, lighting looks amazing.
Vehicle gameplay this time around is much more subtle than Crysis, with only a few vehicles present in the game to even get into; the entire damage system and "diagnostic" showing the current locations of damage have been removed, instead replaced with visual signs. Basiscally, if you see fire, get out. Tires still pop on vehicles, and the bare rims on the road shoot out sparks; however, the player rarely, if ever, gets the chance to take advantage of this; there are hardly any circumstances where an enemy vehicle is moving, let alone travelling at a high enough speed to get them to flip from popped tires. Despite the lighter emphasis on vehicular gameplay, Crytek still made a "tank" level in the game, although in an LAV of some sorts. The level (and it's actually a part of a larger level), is somewhat short, but it's still enjoyable to speed down the FDR drive, explosions everywhere, pushing any civilian vehicle out of the way with minimal effort.
Crytek has done an amazing job with the campaign in Crysis 2; although not quite as open or nostalgia inducing as the first game's setting, the campaign of Crysis 2 still stands as one of the best storylines I've ever had the pleasure to play.
Stay tuned for part two: multiplayer. (Don't expect a lot of words like this one, I plan on making it brief, as I'm rerunning the campaign again.)
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