Just Play It!

Crysis does what so many games set out to do: mine the gems from the FPS genre, then polish those gems until gamers are blinded by the sheer excellence of the finished product. It's not a new gem – we've seen this gameplay before, and the story has hints of circa 1980's Hollywood action movies – but it's the most well-cut FPS to grace a display (PC or otherwise) this year. Where other shooters strive to somehow move beyond the "kill-or-be-killed" mechanic, Crysis revels in the aspects of cover and stealth that some franchises live on, all the while giving players the option of jumping into the action with guns blazing. The game won't spark a revolution in FPS development, but it will force other developers to revisit their notions of "quality" and "entertainment". If you're looking for the most engaging game, shooter or otherwise, to hit the PC this year - and you have the hardware to run it – look no further than Crysis.

When in a pinch, just grab the enemy and throw him!

A time-honored tactic: race in on an encampment with the turret blazing.

Summary of YouGamers Hardware Testing

The publisher of this game state the following specifications for their minimum and recommended requirements:

Component	Publisher's Minimum	Publisher's Recommended
Processor	Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) / AMD Athlon 2800+ or faster (3200+ for Vista) / Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
Memory	1GB or more (1.5GB on Windows Vista)	2GB
Graphics Card	ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro 256MB for Vista) / NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB	640MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Graphics Card Example	Not specified	Not specified
Free Disk Space	12 GB free space	12 GB free space
Net Link	Broadband	Broadband

To learn more about how YouGamers performs its hardware testing, click here. Through our extensive gameplay and hardware testing across the full spectrum of PC configurations, YouGamers suggests that one should use the following guidelines for an appropriate minimum and recommended setup:

Component	YouGamers Minimum	YouGamers Recommended
Processor	AMD Athlon 64 3800+ / Intel Pentium 4 650	AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ / Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Memory	1 GB	2 GB
Graphics Card	ATI Radeon X1950 256MB / NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT 256MB	ATI Radeon HD 2900XT 512MB / NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB
Free Disk Space	12 GB	12 GB
Net Link	Broadband	Broadband

Scores

To learn more about our scoring methodology, please click here.

Gameplay	90	The action is well-paced and flows around a capable but ultimately underwhelming story. A semi-open game world with multiple routes to successful objective completion provides a feeling of freedom rarely matched in games, let alone by usually confined FPS environments. Keen AI helps the replay but it doesn't do anything in terms of gameplay to move the genre forward.
Graphics	98	More than any game in recent memory, Crysis wholly immerses the player in the game world with some of the most detailed environments and character models ever seen in a shooter. One of the most polished visual experiences to ever grace a PC screen, the attention to detail is noteworthy. From special effects to lighting to animation, Crysis has no contemporary equals.
Audio	95	Audio quality is on par with the best releases of the year. As with the visuals, there are no obvious dents in the aural armor: sound effects are spot on, voice-overs are exceptional and the score is of a caliber rarely seen in video games. The Special Edition's audio CD is one you may actually listen to.
Technology	90	Without exception, the Crytek engine sets the current high-water mark for graphical capabilities. However, just because one can doesn't mean one should; the hardware required to sustain a playable frame rate at even moderate settings is unreasonable. An engine built to scale with future hardware? Perfectly acceptable. But a game designed to run on hardware that won't exist for a year or more? Pure hubris.

OVERALL

Crysis takes time-honored FPS conventions and hones them to a razor-sharp finished product. Gameplay isn't particularly innovative, but it's a thoroughly fun experience, even if it is wrapped around a run-of-the-mill plot which is inconsistent in quality. Crytek has crafted an exceptional game, but if you were waiting for a revolution in FPS gameplay, then your wait continues.

If you wish to comment on this review or talk about the game further, then click right here (registration not required).