PC gamers, who are afraid that the popular Crysis series will become oversimplified and suffer in quality due to the simultaneous development of console versions, have nothing to fear. Crysis 2 will not be an experience that is drastically changed to meet console-gamer standards. In fact, the "brutality" of the console market will allegedly help shape Crysis 2 into a superior experience over its predecessor.

Crytek Studios CEO, Cevat Yerli, spoke to Kotaku about developing Crysis 2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 alongside the PC version and he explained that because the console gamer is more critical of his/her products, the developer was convinced it needed to create gameplay that is more streamlined and accessible. When asked about the possible "dumbing down" of the game in order to make it work on consoles, Yerli had this to say:

That's exactly what it is not. This is a tighter experience than ever before. Tightness and pulsating speed doesn't necessarily mean linearization or dumber. That's what people often say: if it's linear, it's more dumb. It's not. If it's more linear it can be more dumb, but our point is not to be more linear; our point is to be more fast-paced, more intense.

In addition, the Nano-suit, which enhanced the player's speed, defense, and strength, and provided the ability to cloak, has been reduced from four modes down to two: a Predator mode or a Tank mode. This decision was made to help streamline the game's experience and allow players to quickly master the Nano-suit.

According to Crytek development head, Carl Jones, development of Crysis 2 hasn't been problematic on the consoles. While it is highly unlikely that the graphics of the consoles will match those seen on the PC, Crytek expects the graphics on the console versions to be among the best gamers have ever seen on the PS3 or 360. Jones spoke to PSM3 about developing Crysis 2 for PS3 and said:

At the moment, we're getting slightly more performance from PS3 compared to 360. I'm very confident that products using CryEngine 3 are going to come out as the best looking, or at least in the top three, on every platform.

If past history is any indication, Crytek may just very well succeed in producing a new level of graphical realism on the consoles.

Crysis 2 will be pushing back the invading force this Holiday 2010 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Sources: Kotaku, CVG