'7 Wonders of Crysis 3' Web Series Launches First Episode

Dec 13, 2012 by Andrew Dyce

Crysis 2 may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the stunning visuals and Nanosuit powers won’t be making a return to PC and consoles soon. With Crysis 3 fast approaching, EA and Crytek have teamed up with director Albert Hughes (Menace II Society, Book of Eli) to produce a cinematic web series befitting a hero as iconic as Prophet (Alcatraz?…Proph-catraz?).

Feast your eyes on the first episode exploring the 7 Wonders of Crysis 3, titled “Hell of a Town.” The series follows the new Prophet as he returns to New York City twenty-four years after the events of Crysis 2, and although life under the Liberty Dome seems to be erased of a Ceph threat, that doesn’t mean players won’t be in for a fight.

The first announcement of the 7 Wonders of Crysis 3 project piqued interest of gamer and fans of web content alike, with Hughes explaining the task of telling a human story without seeing a recognizable human on screen was a challenge he welcomed. From everything we’ve seen of Crysis 3‘s new urban jungle environments (which are apparently just one of seven contained under the New York Liberty Dome, if the title is to be believed) the fidelity and style of the game world seems built to play host to more than a simple shooter.

“Hell of a Town” introduces the player to the New York City of 2047, hinting at the devious machinations of the Crynet Corporation and the continued pursuit of Prophet by the company’s military forces, C.E.L.L. Luckily Prophet is still imbued with the enhanced strength and invisibility the Nanosuit provides, and the web series does a good job of showing that it’s as potent as ever in the hands of a player who knows how to use it.

Fans of Crysis who may have thought that a ‘cinematic web series’ wasn’t the kind of focus on the game they’d appreciate may want to reconsider as well, since – sure to be disappointing to some – a majority of the first episode is essentially a gameplay trailer. Not that we blame Crytek or EA, since the purpose of the series is to provide a new look at what the developers have made possible, and one that will build excitement among fans (assuming their computers are capable of running it). And from the incredibly polished gameplay evident in this first episode, we’d say it does the job.

Crytek has maintained that the impressive capabilities of their new CryEngine 3 aren’t intended to simply make games prettier, but better all around. The fluidity of the combat encounters seen in the episode, and the staggering fidelity of everything from the vegatation to the destructible environment, it seems Crysis 3 will off yet another unparalleled experience – on the PC, at least.

There are six more wonders to witness from this web series, and the chance to see Prophet wield that bow and arrow in action directed by a proven filmmaker. We can’t guarantee that the best is yet to come, but how Prophet escapes from the situation “Hell of a Town” places him in will be nothing if not entertaining.