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Crysis 2 was a controversial release; Crytek's renowned 'maximum game' ethos was put on hold in favour of targeting multiple platforms, much to the annoyance of the PC hardcore. It took the release of a DirectX 11 patch and a high-res art upgrade to placate the fans, but the results were more than worth it - it's still one of our 'go to' games for sheer visual spectacle. This time around, we suspect there'll be no such complaints. The focus on extreme visual quality is back in Crysis 3, with the development team building this sequel around high-end graphics cards in order to deliver a visual masterpiece worthy of the next generation of gaming hardware.The single-player component of Crysis 3 will almost certainly push the graphical envelope further than its online counterpart, but regardless, the recently released multiplayer beta allows us to get some idea of how CryEngine 3 has evolved over the last couple of years, plus we get an early preview of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 image quality and performance. Are the 'vintage' consoles up to the task of running a Crysis game that is even more visually demanding than the last?
From the off, it's clear that much has changed in Crysis 3 in terms of the environments and how they are integrated with gameplay. The dilapidated, man-made cityscapes of New York are now combined with sprawling organic locations situated in various bio domes. Two distinct locations are available in the beta: a museum stage set in a large and murky swamp and an old abandoned airport, slowly deteriorating and overgrown with foliage. Here, Crytek manages to infuse elements from the first and second games in the series into its latest work.
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