4/5 ★ – patjans5's review of Crysis 2.

Following up one of the most groundbreaking FPS games of all time could not have been easy, but even when it falters in some ways, Crysis 2 manages to be a worthy follow-up. Taking you away from the dense jungles and mountains of the first Crysis game, Crysis 2 takes you to the streets of New York City amidst the alien invasion that the first games closed off on. You play as Alcatraz, a marine tasked with saving the world from the alien threat by Prophet, one of the central characters from the first game. While Crysis offered up a slow build sense of tension in it's story, right up until the thrilling finale, Crysis 2 sends you straight into the action, with very little time to breathe. The momentum in this game is practically nonstop, with only a few slower moments. I think this really ramped up the theatrical element of Crysis 2, the cinematics, the music, the combat, the crumbling world around you felt straight out of an action movie. I remember playing this game back in the day and marveled at how good it looked, and while this 2021 remaster touched up the lighting and graphics quite a bit, I still think it holds up today. This focus on the action packed element of Crysis 2 meant that the story fell short quite a bit. So much of it felt bland and, like I said before, felt reminiscent of an American action film, only this time in a bad way. Not to say it wasn't great, there's even some plot twists and interesting characters, but for a story that's even shorter than Crysis, it sure felt long at times. While in the first game everything felt foreign and unsure, even unsettling, it all felt too familiar here. I loved the combat, just like the first game Crysis 2 required some method of strategy and tactical fighting, though maybe not quite as much since the enemies feel a bit dumber this time around. Instead of having smart AI, you have a bunch of enemies bombarding you with bullets. It does change the element of the gameplay in a way that felt different enough to separate itself from the first game, but it could've been better. It's a tough call as far as a rating goes. I think it does some things better than Crysis, other things worse. All in all I like it the same, just in different ways.