Crysis 2 is the sequel to Crysis and the series’ second main title, following the original title and the stand-alone expansion Crysis: Warhead. It is a first-person shooter in which the standard weapons are upgraded with a nano suit that grants new skills, similar to the original game. Many essential elements from its predecessor are reused, with one notable exception: the game shifts away from the jungle environment on a tropical island, which was also featured in Crytek’s previous title Far Cry, to a darker urban warfare setting set in the destroyed cityscape of a future New York City in 2023, three years after the events of the first game.
The player takes on the role of Alcatraz, a force recon marine not the same as the protagonist from the first game. After an outbreak of the Manhattan virus, which causes cellular breakdown, New York City has been devastated and is mainly under martial law. Simultaneously, the city is infested with the extraterrestrial race Ceph, also present in the previous game. Alcatraz was sent initially as a regular marine as part of C.E.L.L., Crynet’s private military outfit that developed the nano suit. During an early mission, Alcatraz finds himself alone and encounters the infected central, Laurence Barnes, who owns an updated 2.0 version of the case. He gives it to Alcatraz, who then has to deal with the Ceph and C.E.L.L. soldiers, who mistake him for Barnes due to the costume. Crynet pursues Barnes since he is an active biohazard due to the infection and has expressed dissatisfaction with the adverse effects of wearing the suit.
Most of the game is spent fighting through the city, but there are also tiny sections where you can drive a car. In addition to melee attacks (stomping, kicking, punching) and many weapons and explosives, the game’s commercial phrase “Be the Weapon” strongly emphasizes the nano suit’s skills. The suit has a limited amount of energy and must be recharged regularly. The original game’s four modes for the case have been reduced to two. Aside from the usual Weapon mode, the two main modes available to players are Cloak and Armor. A cloak grants invisibility and silences sound, while Armor increases protection. The suit can be further customized with various modules that provide specialized powers. Speed and Jump are still optional skills, but they activate automatically when the player dashes or holds down the jump button. These and many other modules are called passive secondary powers because they consume energy when engaged. Items, buildings, and opponents can be labeled through a tactical visor in the different secondary Tactical modes. This leaves the player unprotected without a weapon but wastes no energy. In contrast to the first game, numerous suit powers can be activated simultaneously. Other skills include hit detection (which indicates the direction of incoming gunfire) and various weapon attachments.
The suit modes provide various approaches to levels, such as brute force or stealth. A head-up display (H.U.D.) displays a tactical radar with a basic map of the surrounding landscape, nearby adversaries, and a stealth meter indicating whether enemies know your presence. The freedom of movement is more limited than in the first game due to the narrower city design. Still, there are many ways to progress through levels, as well as a greater emphasis on the verticality of the environment and using objects for cover and stealth, as well as parkour-like movement that includes sliding and climbing up ledges.
The included multiplayer modes can handle up to twelve players at the same time. Crash Site (steal energy from alien pods), Assault (nano suit operatives must download data from terminals defended by black ops soldiers), Capture the Relay, and Extraction (extract alien bio-ticks from guarded locations) are the game modes.
The game is compatible with stereoscopic 3D.
