Crysis 2

Crysis 2: Bought this on March 22nd and have beat it 3 times since! This game is awesome. Amazing graphics, definitely lives up to its billing of "Best looking console game to date" Crytek hit the nail on the head with this sequel.

Complete review after the jump
Gameplay: This ain't your father's FPS, Crysis 2's gameplay centers around the Nanosuit 2, a nanotechnology, semi organic suit of body armor that turns you (Alcatraz) into the weapon! By combining regenerative health, super human strength and speed, endurance, and stealth, Crysis 2 encourages strategy over the typical FPS formula of Run and Gun. I found the best strategy to be to "thin the herd" and then do quick strike type attacks (take out 2 or 3 enemies and then let the rest come to you). This, to me is much more fun than running into a crowd of enemies and mowing them down, or sitting and sniping all your enemies from an impossible-to-touch vantage point.

AI: This is where Crytek fell short, in my opinion the only area. The AI for the most part is good with enemies rushing you in groups that make them hard to take out (an armored grunt with 2 non armored ones etc.) and enemies that will actually often escape grenades. Where it falls short however is sometimes an enemy will "Mario run" against an obstacle or another enemy, or stand around completely oblivious to the massive fire fight going on around him. This happens somewhat rarely, but is impossible to ignore when it does, especially if using the "Threat Tracer" ability to track enemies. More than a few times I would clear a room of all threats only to hear rapid footsteps directly beside me, and turn and see an enemy running in place against a car unaware of me.

Graphics: As mentioned before the jump, they're amazing. Light cascades over the wide open New York landscapes, light actually actively affects your visibility, gorgeous.

HUD: Easily the least intrustive, most intuitive user interface and heads up display out of any game I have ever played. Upgrade menus consist of a POV persepective of your hands, and wiggling a finger to cycle thru the menus.

Multiplayer: This is where I found the difficulty vastly increased. The multiplayer is one of the fastest paced multiplayer modes I have ever experienced. There is a bit of an imbalance in some levels with the advantage going to snipers and players who excel at stealth, however, the quick pace causes difficulty for all but the best snipers. The perks system that COD made the standard is in place here, with the ability to enhance the nanosuit's abilities as well as get weapon upgrades.

Overall Grade: A++ (Too fun and re-playable to rate any less than perfect despite the AI flaws)

-Onward and Upward!