Crysis Remastered (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.8.0 Update

Crysis Remastered is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and released in November 2007. It is the first game in the Crysis series. A standalone expansion entitled Crysis Warhead was released in 2008, following similar events as Crysis but from a different narrative perspective. At the time Crysis was released, and years thereafter, it has been praised for its milestones in graphical design (commensurate with high hardware requirements). The game is based in a future where a massive, ancient alien-built structure has been discovered buried inside a mountain in the fictional Lingshan Islands, near the coast of the east Philippines. The single-player campaign has the player assume the role of U.S. Army Delta Force soldier Jake Dunn, referred to in-game by his callsign, Nomad. Nomad is armed with various futuristic weapons and equipment, most notably a “Nanosuit” which was inspired by the real-life military concept of Future Force Warrior. In Crysis, the player fights both North Korean and extraterrestrial enemies in various environments on and around the island. A remastered version of the game titled Crysis Remastered was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020 and also bundled as part of the Crysis Remastered Trilogy compilation.

GAMEPLAY

As with Crytek’s previous game Far Cry, Crysis is a first-person shooter game with many ways to meet objectives. The player controls a special forces soldier codenamed Nomad. The player’s weapons can be customized without pausing the flow of time, for example changing firing modes, changing scopes, or adding sound suppressors. The player is also capable of selecting various modes in Nomad’s military “Nanosuit” which draws power from the suit’s energy.

When the suit’s energy is depleted, no modes can be used and the player is more vulnerable to damage before the suit recharges. One of four modes can be selected: Armor deflects damage and recharges the suit’s energy faster; Strength allows stronger hand-to-hand combat, the ability to throw objects and enemies with deadly force, higher jumps, steadier aiming and reduced weapon recoil; Speed increases running and swimming speed, as well as other forms of motion such as reloading weapons; and Cloak, which renders Nomad almost completely invisible and suppresses movement noise.

The suit’s integral facemask has its own HUD, displaying typical data including a tactical map, health, current energy levels, and weapons information. The view is electronic, shown in-game through things such as a booting readout and visual distortion during abnormal operations. A particularly useful utility is the binocular function, which allows the player to zoom in and electronically tag enemies and vehicles from afar, thereby tracking their movement on the tactical display.

The player can engage enemies in a variety of ways; using stealth or aggression, bullets or non-lethal tranquilizers, ranged rifles or short-range weaponry, and so on. Enemy soldiers employ tactical maneuvers and work as squads. All soldiers will respond to noise caused by the player, including using signal flares to call for reinforcements. If the player has not been detected in the area, enemies will exhibit relaxed behavior, but if they are aware of the player they will draw weapons and become combative.

PLOT

The game begins on August 7, 2020, when North Korean forces led by General Ri-Chan Kyong take control of the Lingshan Islands. A team of American civilian archaeologists, led by Dr. Rosenthal, sent out a distress call indicating that they had discovered something that could change the world. A week later, the United States Army Delta Force’s Raptor Team is dispatched to the islands, with the core mission of evacuating them and securing any valuable information that they have. The team consists of Nomad, Psycho, Aztec, Jester, and team leader Prophet (all under code names); they are outfitted with technologically advanced Nanosuits, which help protect them from gunfire and explosions, as well as giving them superhuman strength and abilities. As they perform a high-altitude jump onto one of the islands, an unknown flying entity disrupts the jump by smashing into Nomad, and the team is separated.

The crash deactivates Nomad’s Nanosuit and destroys his parachute, but he is saved because he lands on water and his suit absorbs the impact of the landing. After he makes his way to shore, Prophet can reset Nomad’s suit remotely, restoring its normal function. As the Raptor Team regroups after the jump, Aztec is killed by an unknown entity. When the team finds him, they discover that whatever killed him also killed and dismembered a nearby squad of KPA soldiers. The remaining members of the Raptor Team proceed with the mission. Along the way, they discover the hostages’ boat frozen on a hill near the coast of the island. They also get their first look at the aliens who have been attacking their team when a flying alien machine sneaks up on them and snatches Jester, killing him shortly thereafter. The first hostage the team rescues turns out to be a CIA agent who was sent to monitor Dr. Rosenthal’s work. In the jungle, Nomad finds another hostage named Badowski dead with ice shards in his back as the KPA battles an alien machine nearby.

After Nomad regroups with Prophet, Prophet is suddenly snatched by another flying machine, which flies away with him in its grasp. Shortly after, Nomad is contacted over the radio by Major Clarence Strickland of the American military asking if he wishes to abort the mission since most of his team has been killed or missing; Nomad refuses, saying that he can still complete the mission. Nomad makes his way to Dr. Rosenthal’s research complex, where he has found a rare fossilized artifact predating humanity by two million years. The partially excavated artifact resembles one of the flying machines (designated “exosuits”) that has been attacking the team. Rosenthal also references other discoveries of similar artifacts in Afghanistan and Siberia, suggesting that the aliens have a global presence, and are not just confined to the island. While Rosenthal is running a scan on the artifact, it emits a powerful energy pulse that freezes him solid. Nomad’s Nanosuit can maintain his internal temperature, saving his life.

Nomad then rendezvous with a VTOL, after eliminating a Nanosuit-equipped four-man KPA special forces team near the landing site. He notifies his superiors about this because the U.S. military had hoped to prevent the Koreans from acquiring Nanosuit technology. The U.S. military then begins a full-scale invasion of the island, led by Major Strickland. As the U.S. forces continue to the main excavation site, the central mountain on the island begins to fall apart, revealing a huge alien structure inside, which is nearly the size of the mountain itself. Nomad enters the excavation site at the mountain’s base but is captured by Kyong’s men. Kyong deactivates Nomad’s Nanosuit, and Nomad watches, helpless, as Kyong shoots one of the hostages in the head and then detonates explosive charges to open the structure. An energy pulse emanates from the structure and kills Kyong’s men; the pulse also reactivates Nomad’s Nanosuit. Kyong, also wearing a Nanosuit, attacks Nomad, but Nomad can kill him. As the mountain continues to collapse, a VTOL evacuates the last hostage, Dr. Rosenthal’s daughter Helena, but is unable to rescue Nomad.