Crysis 3 Preview

System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Dev: Crytek Frankfurt
Pub: Electronic Arts
Release: Q2 2013
Players: 1
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p

Take A Bow
MDP

The original Crysis was a technical showcase for the CryENGINE 2 when it launched on PC in 2007. At the time, it set the benchmark for high-end graphics, demanding a beastly machine to be seen at its absolute best. Even today, it can make a computer that's less-than-top-of-the-line stutter when the visuals are ramped up to full, but the result is certainly still respectable from an aesthetic standpoint. Besides its technical acumen, though, Crysis was also a better-than-competent shooter, especially in its early going when players were stalking North Korean forces in the jungles of the Lingshan Islands.

Later in the game, this gave way to awkward battles with hovering alien squids in a barren, icy wasteland, but the initial freedom of the game was a tremendous high point. Yes, it had a definite plot that pulled you on a fairly linear path through the island, but how you got to your destination was up to you, with the nanosuit's abilities providing options for stealth as well as full-frontal assaults and speedy retreats.

Crysis 2, set in New York, was smart enough to replace alien squids with bipedal forces via humanoid exoskeletons, but was far more limited on exploration, forcing players down a comparatively narrow path in the streets of the city and across its rooftops rather than the free-ranging jungles of the first game. That said, it provided impressive verticality and definitely a more powerful sense of place than the first game's generic jungle island.

Crysis 3, though, is aiming for the best of both worlds. Set twenty years after the previous game, in 2047, New York has been encased in a "nanodome," which supposedly serves to cleanse the air of the last remaining spores from the Manhattan Virus the Ceph unleashed on the city in Crysis 2. It's, in essence, a massive greenhouse that accelerates the growth of the flora within, such that what was once a concrete jungle is now a literal one. Also, it has sections of canyon and swamp, among other climes. Early gameplay footage has shown that the Ceph are still present, still a threat, with Prophet (yes, the player is apparently Prophet, in some way or another) shown hunting them in mixed jungle/urban environments, taking them out with powerful new projectile weapons (such as the Typhoon, which fires five hundred rounds per second) and what appear to be bloodier, more violent stealth kills.

Of course, the iconic image for Crysis 3, the one that first revealed its existence to the world, is of the nanosuit-wearing Prophet wielding a high-tech bow and arrow. In footage released by Crytek and EA, Prophet has been shown with the bow folded, snapping it out to full length before loosing arrows with it. One can't help but wonder in what ways Crytek will encourage the use of the bow, which will by necessity fire far slower than the guns players find lying around, and the Ceph weaponry they can employ for limited periods. Perhaps we'll see a variety of arrows, serving numerous purposes and making the bow a more versatile tool than a mere weapon.

It's also possible that Crysis 3 will aim for a more survival-focused style of gameplay, with reduced access to weapons and ammunition, thus increasing one's dependence on stealth, melee, and weapons with recoverable ammunition (it's certainly possible that fired arrows will be recoverable). Structuring the game as such would run counter to its sandbox sensibilities, reducing player options rather than expanding them, but Crytek has already demonstrated that a tighter experience can still offer freedom in approach while providing the player with enough direction to keep them engaged.

The nanosuit, though, is still all about providing options. In addition to its familiar abilities, Crytek has unveiled a new ability (there may be more waiting in the wings) that allows Prophet to hack enemy devices such as turrets. As of now, there's no minigame or test tied to this—it's simply something that Prophet can activate and take advantage of to turn weapons against enemies—but it will certainly help him deal with some of the new enemy types.

The Ceph Scorcher, a creature in what appears to be a morphable exoskeleton, and Seekers, which are unarmed-yet-far-from-harmless hovering probes, make their debut in Crysis 3's semi-urban sprawl. The former are slithering monsters capable of popping up on four legs to chase you down, while the latter possesses the unsettling ability to deactivate your cloak, making what had been a surefire escape route in previous games far from perfect in this one. It's always a pleasure to see a company take steps to balance out gameplay and ratchet up the tension.

And, really, that's what I think everyone wants to see from Crysis 3, and perhaps the real purpose of hyping the bow as the poster weapon for the game. When people think of bows, they generally associate it with hunting and subsistence living. A sandbox shooter with engaging survival elements, one that doesn't depend on railroading a player along to impose its tension upon them—that's what I'd like to see out of Crysis 3, and what I hope Crytek is aiming to provide.