Crysis 3 Xbox 360 Review - PAGE 1

When someone saves humanity from imminent doom, you’d think that people might pay more attention to what they have to say, even if the hero can’t stop raving about alien invasions. Think of all the trouble and lives that could’ve been saved if the greater galactic community had listened to Commander Shepard! Enter Prophet in Crysis 3, a fellow who’s proven time and time again just what a capable hero he is. Yet when Prophet tells his allies that the Alpha Ceph is coming, no one listens.

Before you ask, allow me to assure you that the Alpha Ceph is actually a thing.

Crysis 3 drops us in Prophet’s shoes as he’s being rescued by a squad of rebels led by long-time buddy Psycho. You see, after Laurence Barnes saved the day in Crysis 2, he gets abducted by evil mega-corp CELL. When the third game starts, 20 years after his Barnes’ kidnapping, he’s being forcibly freed from their custody. What follows is a clash between the new and old as Crysis undergoes a curious transition that deviates from the familiar in an effort to join the modern shooter bandwagon. The result ends up being Call of Duty with a sci-fi twist, which is to say, solid yet unmemorable.

Crysis fans will find enough here to remind them of nanosuit adventures past, at any rate, not to mention some of the best graphics we’ve seen on Xbox 360 in a long time. With Crytek at the helm, I can’t expect any less either. In the end, what we have is an entertaining action shooter with enough unique traits to keep it mostly interesting. At the same time, Crysis 3 fails at telling a compelling story in the same way its predecessors had, despite having a decent narrative foundation.

New York Never Looked So Good

Prophet is freed, and after a lengthy escape sequence that also doubles as a lightweight tutorial, you’re set free in the Liberty Dome, a massive dome that encompasses what’s left of New York City. The environment is, to say the least, stunning as all hell. The Liberty Dome is a verdant wonderland with a post-apocalyptic flare, where derelict buildings are overrun by lush greenery, and wild deer navigate the tall grass and broken wire fences. Even the people are so beautifully rendered that you’ll probably find yourself staring at unsuspecting targets through your scope rather than immediately taking the shot. Now, there’s no argument that the PC version is king when it comes to high-quality graphics, but Crysis 3 is one of the graphically impressive games we’ve seen on Xbox 360 in some time.

Crytek knows where its strengths lie, and the developers are clearly eager to show players just what the CryEngine is capable of. Inserted throughout Crysis 3 are moments where the game will simply take control and divert your attention to the nearest breathtaking scenery, letting the player admire Crytek’s work through Prophet’s eyes. Between gunfights, you’re sometimes prompted to hit Y to check out some of the background action – usually a big explosion. Gameplay transitions seamlessly into cutscenes and vice versa, creating a surprisingly immersive cinematic experience without any terribly jarring moments between action and storytelling.

The sounds of Crysis 3 are just as wonderful as its sights, and Crytek’s efforts have paid off here as well. For most games, the soundtrack is barely worth mentioning, because as essential as it is, music tends to fade into the background as ambience. There’s nothing wrong with this, really, and some might argue that a good soundtrack shouldn’t distract. In Crysis 3, it manages to stand out without taking away from player immersion, and even the pause screen has a nice piano tune going. I’d even argue that the music does a better job at storytelling than the spoken dialogue.

Story, the Weakest Link

Crysis has never been known for its stellar narrative, or delivery of said narrative, for that matter. Though I wouldn’t say Crysis 3 has exceptionally bad storytelling (no worse than the previous two), this still winds up being the game’s greatest flaw. The campaign does show occasional promise, utilizing some pretty evocative themes like Prophet’s dwindling humanity and a corporation’s exploitative conduct, but that potential is never fully realized. The narrative rests on a fairly solid foundation, but Crytek instead chose to focus on the Ceph invasion and the great Alpha Ceph, the supposed bogeyman of Crysis.

On top of the narrative shortfalls, we have a small cast of rebel fights that feel nearly impossible to relate to. Prophet is still the leading man, and he’s backed by a foul-mouthed Michael “Psycho” Sykes and Sykes’ romantic interest Claire Fontanelli. Based on how much dialogue these two have, I’m assuming they’re meant to be sympathetic characters, two friends-who-could-be-more trapped in a war for survival against the all-powerful CELL and frighteningly formidable Ceph invaders. Prophet does get his say now and then, but you spend most of your time listening to these two, be it Psycho spouting English profanities or Claire barking orders at rebel operatives.

For all his talk of losing his humanity, Prophet comes off as the most likable (read: least dislikable) of the bunch. Sure, he’s the faceless superhuman in an alien nanosuit and lacks a personality, but he’s the only guy who seems to know what he’s doing and doesn’t complain every five seconds about his life choices. He does lament on a regular basis that he’s sacrificed Laurence Barnes to become Prophet, but that’s nothing compared to how often you’ll hear Psycho whine about CELL or Claire talking down to the protagonist like he’s beneath her. Toward the end of Crysis 3, the characters do resolve their issues, but their revelations come so suddenly that it just doesn’t make any sense. At least Barnes is consistent in all of this.

The terrible voice work certainly doesn’t help matters. Couple that with the uninspired dialogue, and you’ve got more cringe-worthy moments than you’ll know what to do with. This problem extends beyond the primary cast, and some of the most unintentionally hilarious moments will come from the human enemies screaming and wetting themselves in Prophet’s presence.