Years ago, the original Crysis was the ultimate stress-test for gaming PCs when it launched with way-ahead-of-its-time visuals. Crysis 2 came a few years after, bringing the series to home consoles as well as introducing a competitive multiplayer mode. Now that Crysis 3 is almost here and I’ve had some time with the beta, here’s what I think of the third installment so far:

*Note: this is my experience with the Xbox 360 version of the beta. From what I can tell, the PC version is slightly better.*

Jumping into the Crysis 3 beta, which was live from January 29th to February 12th, I immediately could tell that it was going to be similar to Crysis 2. What I didn’t anticipate was how right I would be.

The main menus of the games have always had a neat (yet gritty) look to them. This one is no different, with a dark color scheme and very tone-heavy music. This is one of my favorite parts about the series; they do a great job of setting the stage. I have already made up my mind that I will be purchasing the Crysis 3 soundtrack. In fact, I sat at the main menu for a good 20 minutes just listening.

The beta was online multiplayer only, which is no surprise as Crytek wanted to get major bugs out of the way. While I know this was a beta, and not necessarily representative of the final game (releasing on February 19th), I couldn’t help but feel that Crytek got lazy with this one.

Allow me to clarify: the game feels like a clone of Crysis 2 with a few adjustments, new maps and a new weapon. Everything that made the series famous is here, from the nanosuit to the exceptional graphics, but all of my problems with the last iteration are also present in this one.

Killcams are still horrendously buggy, hit detection is sub-par, and the lack of weapon variety is quite frankly shocking at this point in the genre. The class system, as well as everything else, is nearly identical to the last game, featuring different abilities and upgrades that you can choose for your soldier or your gun. At least this time you can edit your attachments in-game, which is nice.

When Crysis 2 released, it claimed to be the best-looking shooter on consoles. While I think that may have been true (I was quite impressed), I think it’s the last of the series the current generation should have seen. I was very surprised when I learned that C3 would release on current systems, especially given that the new consoles are so close. The game is meant to show off its power, and unless running on a high-end PC rig, that can’t happen adequately. Maybe they will port it to the new consoles when they release, but I doubt it. In my opinion they should have waited.

Anyway, the game is still a Crytek version of the modern FPS multiplayer we are all used to. I’m not going to say it’s a Call of Duty clone, but anyone can tell it still borrows from it. Even things like walking mechs and alien weaponry don’t hide that fact. However, combining the new bow with the elusive cloaking ability is very, very fun and delivers moments that used to only be available in scripted single player campaigns of the past. There’s actually a mode dedicated to the bow, called Hunter. Think of Infection or Flood from Halo.

One gripe I had with Crysis 2 was that the single player was way too linear. Apparently C3 aims to change that, and from what I can tell with the multiplayer maps, that may come true. There are always at least three ways to approach a spot on a map, allowing freedom of advancement depending on what you’re getting in to. See a cloaking sniper on a high ridge? Power-jump in front of him and melee him off the edge. Is a gunner using his armor to lay waste below? Ground-pound to get him out of his camping spot.

This is where the game shines: when you pull of a move that just screams “don’t mess with me.” The coolest thing I did was kill three people with a ground pound after leaping off a 2-story building. I then captured the objective and called in my UAV killstreak.

These moments don’t happen often, and because of the ridiculous amount of bugs and lag, you are dying from what seems like Heaven, Hell and Purgatory’s wraths all at once. I almost never knew how I died, and that was infuriating. Not to mention all the times I would empty a clip into somebody, only to realize they aren’t where the game shows them being.

Once again, I know its beta, but this scares me because these problems were in the full version of Crysis 2. I just hope they fix them.

In all, this is definitely a GameFly title for me. I will not be purchasing it, but I do want to see if Crytek supports it better than the last one. Also, the series’ campaigns have always been awesome, so there’s that.

The Crysis 3 Multiplayer Beta gets a 3/5.