Crysis 3
Crysis 3 is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third installment in the Crysis series, and a sequel to the 2011 video game Crysis 2. The multiplayer portion of the game was developed by Crytek UK. Crysis 3s story, which serves to end the Crysis trilogy, revolves around a Nanosuit holder named Prophet and his quest for revenge against the Alpha Ceph, the leader of the Ceph alien race. Gameplay revolves around the use of the Nanosuit, which grants players a variety of abilities such as invisibility. New features introduced in Crysis 3 include a new Nanosuit ability called "Rip & Throw", a compound bow and hacking, which allows players to hack into enemies' equipment, drones, and security defenses.
Crysis 3 is set in a post-apocalyptic New York City, in an effort to merge the urban landscape of Crysis 2 and the forest setting of the original Crysis. The game introduces the "Seven Wonders", with each wonder having its own unique landscape and tactical layout. Due to complaints about Crysis 2s linearity, the game's levels were opened up so as to grant players more freedom. The development team also put efforts into creating a more emotional story, and the story's protagonist was inspired by the lead character of District 9. The game was developed by a team of 100 people during its 23-month development cycle. Crytek UK developed the game's multiplayer portion.
Officially announced in April 2012, the game was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in February 2013. A port for Wii U was in development, but was canned because of relation troubles between Nintendo and EA. The game received positive reviews upon release. Praise was directed at the weapon selection and customization, menus, level design, visuals and multiplayer, while it was criticized for its story, length, and outdated mechanics in comparison to its predecessors. With a budget of $66 million, the game sold 205,000 copies in its debut month, and became a commercial failure for Electronic Arts. The game was later included in Crysis Trilogy, a compilation released in February 2014. A remastered version, titled Crysis 3 Remastered and following in the steps of Crysis 2 Remastered, was released in 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
and also bundled as part of the Crysis Remastered Trilogy compilation.
Gameplay
Similar to the earlier games in the Crysis series, Crysis 3 is a first-person shooter. Players take control of Prophet as he progresses through New York City to defeat the Ceph, a technologically advanced alien race. Throughout the game, players can slide, sprint, jump and crouch. When encountering enemies, players can defeat them by using guns or a compound bow, utilizing explosives like grenades and C4, or by performing a melee attack. Performing certain movements takes up energy from the Nanosuit, the armor worn by Prophet. Some abilities are not available for players to perform or utilize if the Nanosuit's energy is too low; they must wait until energy is refilled. As a result, players are tasked to manage the use of the energy. The game's artificial intelligence was updated allowing enemies to react more quickly to players' attacks. Enemies can take cover when attacked, and can employ strategy to assist and support each other against attacks.The Nanosuit allows players to identify the threat level, and the weapons held by enemies. Players can tag enemies and items by enabling visor, and can spot enemies using Nano-Vision, which detects the heat of both enemies and allies. Levels are more open-ended than in Crysis 2. Players are given more freedom, and can choose a gameplay style based on direct confrontation, or a more discreet and stealthy approach, in order to deal with enemies and to complete their objectives. There is no definite way to beat the game's seven levels. Instead, players can take different alternate routes to reach their objectives.
Players can fight against enemies utilizing a wide array of gadgets and weapons, and by using the abilities granted by the Nanosuit. They can utilize an invisibility cloak to evade enemies, prevent themselves from being detected, or to perform silent takedowns. The nanosuit also has an armor mode, which reduces the amount of damage taken, in exchange for slower movement speed. New weapons are introduced in Crysis 3, such as a compound bow. Players can use the bow while in cloak mode. When using other firearms, the cloak is disrupted and can no longer function until it cools down. Arrows can be collected by players after use. Players can hack into enemies' technology, one of the game's new features. In addition, players can hack security codes, weapon boxes, Ceph technology, mines, lasers, and sentry turrets, which can all be used to fight against enemies.
Players can also upgrade and customize their weapons and the Nanosuit. They can change the attachment and ammo types for their weapons. For instance, players can change between explosive arrows and electric arrows for their bow. The Nanosuit can be upgraded by collecting different suit upgrade modules scattered across the world. These upgrades can increase the suit's properties, and strengthen or unlock new abilities for players as they progress through the game.
Multiplayer
Gameplay remains similar when playing the multiplayer mode. Unlike the single-player campaign, when players sprint or boost their armor in the multiplayer modes, it does not use any nanosuit energy. There are 8 different modes, with a total of 12 available maps to play on. They are Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Crash Site / Spears, Capture the Relay / Extraction, Hunter, Assault, Cell Vs Rebel, Developers Choice, Maximum Team Deathmatch, and Maximum Deathmatch. Scattered throughout each map are special alien weapons with scarce ammo and can be picked up by players. Players also have a new passive ability called Rip and Throw, in which they interact with environmental objects to create obstacles for hostile players and tactical advantages for themselves. This ability to interact with the environment was pushed heavily upon the team by their publisher, EA. A refined kill streak system is introduced in Crysis 3, allowing players to gain rewards by killing hostile players simultaneously while collecting their dog tag. This refined kill system involves collecting dog tags that are dropped by enemy players when killed. The perks gained from this vary from map to map. They are Maximum Radar, Swarmer, Gamma Burst, EMP, and Maximum Nanosuit, which reveals enemy players locations on the mini-map.In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, a new multiplayer mode, the Hunter mode, is featured in the game. It is an asymmetrical multiplayer mode which pits two teams of players, playing as either hunters, or troopers from CELL, against each other. The three CELL classes are equipped with completely different weapons, and defeated troopers respawn as hunters and have to defeat their former teammates. Hunters are equipped with the nanosuit and infinite cloak, as well as the Hunter Bow, which allows the hunter to fire while they're cloaked. The hunters also have access to a Thermite Arrow tip, and the CELL have various explosives and weapons that change depending on class selected. The PC version of the game can accommodate up to 16 players, while the console versions can only support 12 players.
Synopsis
Setting
Players take on the role of Prophet as he returns to New York City in 2047, 24 years after the events of Crysis 2. He discovers the city has been encased in a giant dome created by the corrupt CELL corporation. The New York City Liberty Dome is a veritable urban rainforest teeming with overgrown trees, dense swamplands, and raging rivers. Within the Liberty Dome, seven distinct and treacherous environments are known as the Seven Wonders. Prophet is said to be on a "revenge mission" after uncovering the truth behind CELL's motives for building the quarantined Nanodome.Plot
After the events of Crysis 2, Psycho and Prophet travel the world looking for the Alpha Ceph, the ultimate Ceph leader. Prophet and Psycho finally trace the Alpha Ceph in Russia and imprison it. However, shortly afterwards CELL Corporation, now attempting global domination of land and technology, disables Prophet in Siberia and captures all the Nanosuit soldiers, skinning them of their suits to recover the Ceph genetics stored in them. CELL transfers Prophet to a facility in New York, encased within a giant "Nanodome", to skin him. He is saved by a resistance force, led by Claire Fontanelli and Karl Ernst Rasch, as Prophet is the only Nanosuit holder left who can stop CELL. Psycho, who was saved by Claire after being skinned, explains to Prophet that during his absence, CELL used Ceph technology to generate unlimited energy, and gained a monopoly over the world's power supply. Those who could not pay for energy were enslaved by debt to CELL. The source of CELL's power generation for the entire world, called System X, is located in now abandoned New York. The resistance group wants System X destroyed to free the world from CELL.After Psycho and Prophet disable System X's core, it turns out that it is a system protocol designed to contain the Alpha Ceph while draining energy off of the alien. However, the secondary defense protocol was initiated, causing the power facility to self-destruct. The Alpha Ceph, free from containment, opens a wormhole to the Ceph homeworld. They plan to send the powerful Ceph warrior caste to invade Earth through the wormhole and terraform it at the expense of all local life's extinction. With the Alpha Ceph no longer dormant, the Ceph coordinator reactivates, and a coordinated Ceph attack ensues.
After unlocking his potential ability by removing some neural blocks in his suit, Prophet learns that CELL plans to use Archangel, a satellite-based energy distribution device that can draw power from the world's power grid, as a directed energy weapon to destroy the Alpha Ceph. Firing it would cause a chain reaction that would destroy Earth. They shut off the weapon before it has enough energy to fire.
Along the way, Psycho discovers Claire was one of the scientists who reluctantly skinned him, causing friction in his previously romantic relationship with her. Unfortunately, Karl, who had secretly used Ceph technology to extend his lifespan, is possessed by the Ceph and critically wounds Claire while psychically crippling Prophet. Regaining control after Psycho shot him, he sacrifices himself to distract the Alpha Ceph. Prophet, Psycho, and Claire board the VTOL and battles with Ceph ships, eventually crashing. Claire dies in the process. Psycho, saddened by her death, laments to Prophet that he is powerless because he no longer possesses a Nanosuit. Upon being told that his lack of a Nanosuit saved him from Karl's control earlier, Psycho, now going by his real name, Michael, finds another VTOL to take Prophet to the Ceph.
Michael and Prophet head towards the Alpha Ceph, but are bogged down by the Ceph Master Mind. Prophet finds his way through the Ceph Army hordes and kills the Alpha Ceph which in turn kills all other Ceph troopers in the area. However, they do not have enough time to destroy the Ceph wormhole structure and the beam powering the wormhole pulls Prophet into space. Now in orbit around Earth, Prophet sees a massive Ceph warship coming through the wormhole. Recalling Archangel's power, Prophet wakes up and hacks into the satellite, and uses it to destroy the warship, collapsing the wormhole and preventing Ceph warrior caste from invading Earth. Prophet is pushed back to Earth. He crashlands in the water near the Lingshan Islands where the events of Crysis took place 27 years earlier.
When Prophet wakes the next morning, he is in an abandoned hut in Lingshan. A television playing in the background informs him that CELL's assets were frozen by Senator Strickland as the corporation is under investigation. As the neural blocks are removed from the Nanosuit, the suit's outer layer is changed to reform Prophet's former physical body, resurrecting him. He walks out onto the beach and relinquishes his past by throwing his tags into the water. He then decides to use his actual name "Laurence Barnes" from then on. The game ends with Prophet walking back to the shed and activating his stealth ability.
In a post-credit scene, two CELL soldiers are shot by Michael after they escort three board members into a bunker. Michael announces he would like to make a complaint to the board members regarding his treatment at one of their "hospitals".