Crysis 3 Review

Our verdict on the visually stunning science-fiction trilogy finale...
In 2011, CryTek proved that there was still plenty of life in their favourite franchise with the release of the solid Crysis 2 (8/10), although there was room for improvement in pace and difficulty. Two years on, then, what have the developers learned to show? It turns out, not all that much- while Crysis 3 is another decent outing in the series, it feels more like Crysis 2.5 than anything else.

Firstly, a positive attribute that seems inextricably tied to the Crysis franchise as a whole. The visual fidelity of the game engine at the end of current generation of consoles is undoubtedly very impressive, hinting at the kind of beautiful and realistic location and character models that the next-generation can provide us with. If this is but a taste of what's to come, then we're in for something very special later this year!

The equal shortcoming caused by this strength? There's an awkward sense that CryTek once again put so much effort into pushing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to their limits that in doing so they forgot about creating intelligent AI or a consistent difficulty level. Rather than providing regular challenges for the player, the developer simply has created a range of Point A-to-Point B quests for the protagonist Prophet with the odd difficulty spike in a boss battle or QTE sequence. It means that all in all, Crysis 3's main campaign mode amounts to just 3-4 hours for the fast player, which is simply atrocious for a fully priced retail product.

On another level, though, it just feels as if barely anything has actually changed from the past instalment. The FPS gameplay confrontations against Cell soldiers and the alien Seph forces play out much the same as you'd expect if you've played any other Crysis game, lacking any real innovation, and when a brave new setpiece does come along, it's normally ridden with an unusual difficulty spike that's virtually guaranteed to ruin any potential enjoyment. Again, it's a shame, as CryTek really had a chance here to push every element of their engine to next-generation standards ahead of the game.

Instead, in this third entry what we've been left with is a stunning visual engine that hides well its invisible walls and limitations, and takes precedence over any real gameplay or narrative innovations. Crysis 3 has its moments, but neither its campaign nor online modes exceed expectations (or to some extent even match them) enough to warrant a full £40 purchase. In this day and age, gamers have a right to expect more bang for their buck when it comes to a genre where the likes of BioShock Infinite can still innovate magnificently, and on that basis alone Crysis 3 probably only merits a rental from fans of the franchise.
6/10