Crysis 2 for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

Being offered solely on the PC, the original Crysis failed to be recognized as a household name. As such, the second offering from Crytek Studios did not receive as much attention as, say, a Call of Duty installment. However, Crysis 2 is a polished game that shines in a market lacking any other juggernauts.

The buzz around Crysis 2 has been due to the graphics, and in short, they are stunning. Everything is vivid and crisp, allowing you to get lost in the story. Even the facial animation, which so often breaks the illusion in other games, is very well executed.

Single player gameplay is immensely fun. Players assume the role of Alcatraz, a Marine forced to don the game's iconic Nanosuit and battle not only the military resistance group C.E.L.L., but the alien invaders known as the Ceph. The Nanosuit features the ability to both cloak the user, for stealth tactics, and a maximum armor feature, which allows for direct confrontation. The presence of multiple powers translates to multiple approaches to the game. In addition, some scenarios open up after careful investigation. For instance, when approaching a group of enemies, allowing their conversation to end instead of simply rushing the group could provide an opportunity to pick them off one by one covertly. The possibilities are numerous.

Multiplayer is surprisingly fun. It offers standard modes such as free for all, team deathmatch, capture the flag, etc. The nanosuit powers are still present, but not unbalanced. My fear that the cloak mode would dominate the game was quickly erased after several hours of play; while still a viable option, the cloak drains quickly and leaves the user quite vulnerable to attack if energy runs out. The best innovation of the multiplayer is the use of “dog tags” that are dropped after killing an enemy, and must be collected to earn killstreaks. This provides a deterrent against camping.

Crysis 2 is well worth a rent, and even a buy if the multiplayer appeals to you.