Metareview: Crysis (PC)

For months and months, all the PC fanboys have gotten their jollies by pointing out to the irrelevance of consoles by lauding the release of Crysis. There have been plenty smug statements of superiority reveling in the fact they've had to take out a second mortgage just to afford a damn graphics card to play the 'effing game (some viewing it as a bloody red badge of courage -- and not what it really is -- sheer stupidity). Because of all this noise, it's been had to pay attention to the game's actual merits. But, it finally releases this week, so the time has come to don paper bags to obscure our faces as console owners from the blinding awesomeness that is Christ-is Crysis, right?

• GameTap (100/100): "Ultimately, even with the sudden change in design style, and some minor quibbles (suit power, technical horsepower required for the best visuals), Crysis remains a landmark shooter. Yes, it's aggravating that the flat-out brilliance of the early early levels isn't sustained, but even still, the most that change did for me was to turn Crysis from a 'so f---ing awesome game' to a mere 'awesome game.'"
• Eurogamer (90/100): "This is a game that feels supremely engineered, like a precision machine, or a German automobile. It's makes Half-Life 2 seem old and frail, but by the same token it does nothing to diminish the imaginative achievements of that series. Crysis is impressive, but not imaginatively bold. Nor does it engage us like some other great shooters -- such as BioShock -- have done with their world and their personality. It's far better than Far Cry, and it's clearly going to create a rabid army of fans, many of whom I hope will plug themselves into the absurdly easy-to-us level editor and create us more single-player campaigns. Personally I'd like to see where this astounding world-forging technology will take us. And I can't wait to see what Crytek will do next."
• 1UP (80/100): "And on it goes. Stints in motorized air-defense systems ... that don't move. Low altitude flight in a leaden VTOL, where defeating drones dissolves invisible barriers no one intends to notice, allowing us to fly forward, fight off another three drones, dissolve another invisible barrier, fly forward ... Fast forward through scraps of miserable story and melodramatic dialogue, along with a 'boss battle' inherited from the coin-op class of '88 (see: Contra), and the ordeal is done -- beautiful throughout, mostly amazing, but vegetative by the end."