Nov 13, 2007

For the first three hours of Crysis, amid the giggles, the going is extremely tough - with you seemingly permanently cowering behind small lumps of rock while Korean bullets try to carve you into new and interesting shapes. The key to beating this difficulty curve is the mastery of the nanosuit - which is not only vital to your continuing survival, but also to the amount of joy you can get out of the game.

You play as a guy called Nomad, a gruff military sort who only speaks when in direct proximity to plot. You and your (steadily disappearing) squadmates are gifted with muscle-hugging nanosuits that make you the first line of offence in any international squabble. The nanosuit itself is accessed through pressing down on your mouse wheel and, with an increasing aspect of second nature, nudging in the required direction for speed, strength, invisibility or shielding. Of these shielding is most vital in terms of death avoidance, it means that your suit will sap your energy reserves to let it soak up two or three shots before any skin gets pierced, and as such is generally your neutral mode. Invisibility, well that's where you get to feel like the Predator. Only applicants with the very finest of eyesight get into the army of Kim Jong Il these days, and even the briefest flash of your hide can have klaxons blaring, distress flares being fired far into the air and a collection of badasses being ferried in by helicopter. Strength, meanwhile, is the most fun (yet least used) power - letting you leap onto roofs, punch through the walls of wooden structures and, yes, even punch jeeps. As for speed - well that does what it says on the nanotin.