The best way to understand “Crysis 3” is to watch its TV commercial. It’s a light-hearted display, with the wearer of the iconic nanosuit strutting around the battlefield to ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man,” blowing through enemies like it’s nothing.
Basically, I don’t think developers Crytek took it all that seriously and what otherwise could have been a great game fell short of its full potential.
The reason things got derailed is because developers probably focused too much on making “Crysis 3” computer-crushingly pretty. And while they succeeded, the problem with so much attention to aesthetics is that functionality suffers.
Examples are frequently stupid and predictable AI, a game-breaker weapon and deceptively linear gameplay.
The first is easy to explain — many of the enemies were too easy to outsmart and pick off. As long as you stay in stealth mode and keep your distance, there’s usually no challenge.
Kill one enemy, and while his friends go look for you — unsuccessfully unless you’re waving a flag —finish picking them off until no one is left. Rinse and repeat for 90 percent of combat scenarios.
This first problem is compounded by the second, and the worst part is that it’s one of the most highly touted features of the game — the compound bow. It’s so overpowered that using it makes the game amazingly boring after the novelty wears off.
For one, you can shoot it while in stealth-mode, which makes using it risk-free. The bow is also silent and generally a one hit kill. Plus you can recycle arrows from corpses, resulting in near infinite ammo.
Oh, and did I mention there’s an exploding arrows option that blows most shit up? Yeah, that makes life a breeze.
The final problem is the least prominent for newcomers but most noticeable for those returning to the “Crysis” series. In “Crysis 2,” the player was able to take different routes to the same objective, resulting in different kinds of challenges along each path. Such freedom is relatively absent in “Crysis 3.”
Sure, the developers try to hide the differences by giving players multiple objectives to accomplish on big maps, but at the end of the day players are still going from point A to point B.
The game does have plenty to offer despite its flaws. The feeling of playing with the nanosuit is empowering, and as long as you’re committed to mixing up strategies, you won’t get bored.
The story was a nice surprise, too, and though there are still plot holes big enough to fly a spaceship through, there have been major improvements in voice acting.
As for multiplayer, there’s not much to say because “Crysis 3” can’t, and won’t, ever compete with mainstays like “Call of Duty” and “Halo.” It’s worth trying but not worth playing every day.
Get the game if you have some time to kill, want something pretty and you’re not looking for anything too deep — but don’t expect “Crysis 3” to blow your mind. A game has to be more than a glorified tech demo with some bells and whistles.
7.5/10
