Crysis

🎮 Steam ⏳ 12 hours ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Revolutionary FPS Debut #

The very first entry to the Crysis franchise is a FPS by Crytek that became instantly famous for its groundbreaking graphics and ambitious design. Set on a lush, tropical island, the MC is called Nomad, a U.S. Delta Force operative, who is tasked with rescuing hostages and investigating alien activity. What makes the experience truly unique is the Nanosuit, a high-tech exoskeleton that grants abilities such as enhanced strength, speed, armor, and even cloaking.

Tactical Gameplay Freedom #

This allows for a variety of approaches, you can go in guns blazing, sneak past enemies unseen, or use environmental objects as weapons, giving unprecedented tactical freedom at the time. The open-ended level design encourages experimentation and rewards creativity. Combat feels dynamic because enemies react intelligently, cover is realistic, and the environment is highly interactive, allowing for destructible structures and natural cover. And this was impressive at the time, though still today, few games try to implement such deep and intelligent interactions with your enemies, so I can safely say this title is not all about the looks.

Graphics and Story #

But beyond the gameplay, it stunned you with its graphics, with detailed foliage, realistic lighting, and water effects that were unmatched in 2007, earning it a reputation as a benchmark for PC hardware. The story, involving a mix of North Korean soldiers and extraterrestrial invaders, is serviceable but mostly serves as a backdrop for the action rather than a deeply emotional narrative. And I wished that at least the characters that you interact with would be able to carry the plot, but very few of them are charismatic enough.

Pacing and Performance #

Particularly, I really like the protagonists of the subsequent entries to the series, way more than the first one, such as Psycho and Prophet. Despite this, the pacing keeps you engaged from the dense jungle ambushes to large-scale confrontations with alien forces. As for the performance, this was notorious for being extremely demanding, to the point where the phrase “Can it run Crysis?” became a meme. Yet, for those with high-end PCs, the game offered a stunningly immersive experience that combined beauty, challenge, and innovation. Though as technology evolved, it became clear that the real issue in running this title was due to it’s bad optimization, which lead to poor resource usage when it comes to multi-core processors at the time.

Enduring PC Milestone #

In retrospect, this videogame remains a milestone in PC gaming, both as a showcase of technological achievement and as a flexible, thrilling shooter that rewards creativity and tactical thinking. I would recommend playing the Warhead expansion instead of this one, it is a much better experience in my opinion, and I would only advise playing the first entry if you are a fan of shooters in general and want to experience the past of FPS PC gaming’s milestones.