Crysis 3 PS3 Review

"Crysis 3," now available for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC is the first must-play of 2013, a great action game with a deep multiplayer section and some of the best graphics you'll see until the PS4 hits stores. "Crysis 2" did not garner the praise it deserved two years ago and one would hope that this incredible title does not suffer the same fate. The single-player campaign, while a bit narratively thin, is action-packed, intense, and incredibly variable to the player's authorship. Want to approach your enemy stealthily? One could play through "Crysis 3" almost entirely without engaging in actual combat. On the other hand, perhaps you prefer the armored approach? The game certainly allows for that as well. And this sense of gameplay authorship carries over to the multiplayer modes as well, where you'll be able to find your favorite style of play over a dozen maps with a wide variety of game objectives. With stunning visuals, "Crysis 3" is a game that builds in entertainment value the more you play it. Plug in a couple hours and you'll be hooked.

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
  
• Developer: Crytek
  
• ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
  
• Genre: FPS
  
• Release Date: February 19, 2013
  
• Pros: Breathtaking Graphics, Robust Multiplayer, Blend of Strategy & Action
  
• Cons: Lackluster Story, Short Running Time

The single-player campaign puts you back in the Nanosuit of a soldier named Prophet as he returns to a New York City that has become a shell of what it once was, encased in a Nanodome created by the Cell Corporation and crowded with soldiers and machines looking for your head. The Nanodome has turned the Big Apple into a perfectly-designed mix of nature and urban construction. Dilapidated buildings sit next to raging rivers with grass and trees sprouting from them. The environments in "Crysis 3" are some of the best-designed in an action game in history. One minute, you're crouching through a marsh and the next you're descending the stairs into a futuristic complex. And it all feels of one piece, not the inconsistent design that could have brought a game like "Crysis 3" crashing down.

Prophet is a killing machine with a suit that helps him live up to his design. The Nanosuit is as essential to the gameplay here, both in single-player and multiplayer, as is your FPS trigger skill level. Your suit has a limited amount of energy that recharges when exhausted. Fast movement drains the energy more quickly if it's being used for one of its two major functions -- Armor and Stealth, both triggered by respective Left and Right buttons. When a conflict arises, you'll have to think quickly. Engage Armor and fight it out or activate your Cloak Mode and try to evade?

You'll also use your Nanosuit for some essential recon. A visor allows you to see the heat signatures of not just enemies in your environment but objects, weapons, and even enemy turrets, which you can hack and use against your foe. "Crysis 3" has a wonderful blend of strategy and action. Prophet enters a massive section of the Nanodome, one that allows for dozens of different angles from origin to end point, and the first step will always be to assess the situation. Use the visor to identify enemies, who will then be tracked. Enter Stealth and take them down, often without firing a shot. And then be prepared for your careful plan to fall apart. Rarely has a game found a more balanced approach to strategy and gunfire. They are perfectly balanced here, with sections that I found easy to pass due to a careful plan of attack seamlessly blended with sections that required more improvisation.

The narrative of the "Crysis 3" campaign could have been more engaging but this is a game about action more than storytelling. In terms of narrative build, it's woven into the increasing intensity of combat, environment danger, and enemy complexity. "Crysis 3" isn't a long game but it feels long enough, streamlined to the action that matters with little sense of repetition from characters or combat.

The campaign is good but it's the multiplayer portion of "Crysis 3" that really makes it a must-play. I liked the "Crysis 2" multiplayer. I love the "Crysis 3" multiplayer. Yes, it's mostly the same with familiar modes (except for the new "Hunter" mode which pits two enhanced soldiers against ten average ones) and gameplay but the new maps are incredible and the degree of personalization is intense. Every new unlock will send you back to your customized soldier, finetuning the game until you've truly made it your own. And the modes are intense and perfectly designed. Deathmatch modes and objective-based modes will challenge for your favorite. I'll be playing the "Crysis 3" multiplayer all year. It's incredibly addictive.

You will see few games that look as remarkable as "Crysis 3" until you buy a PlayStation 4. The detail of the grass in the swampland, the shadows in the buildings lit by enemy searchlights, the detail in the dilapidated buildings and debris-strewn train stations -- it's all breathtaking if you take a moment to stop and look at it. Yes, the PS3 has a few glitches right now -- a couple of framerate issues when the graphics get too impressive for the machine and a few times I noticed enemies clipping walls or disappearing after being shot -- but they are glitches that accompany visuals that are 99% stunning. I'll take the occasional glitch for graphics this breathtaking.

Judging purely the multiplayer portion of "Crysis 3," which the reason many people love this series, the game if a perfect 5, a very rare score here at About.com. The multiplayer in "Crysis 3" is what developers should aspire to -- smart map design, a variety of modes, and unlockables that give the player true customization. The single-player campaign brings the game down just a notch due to its brevity and unengaging story but even that portion is better than most recent sci-fi/action games. This is the first must-play since "Far Cry 3," over two months ago. One hopes it's not the last before the PS4.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.