Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

The guys from Crytek were showing off their new pride and joy, Crysis, at E3. The game is suppose to come out mid September and has come a long way since I witnessed it at CES in January. One thing that surprised me was that the game is a Games for Windows labeled game, but no mention is made if it is a Live enabled game. I have heard that it is, but nothing solid had told me that yet and the Crytek guys were not commenting on it.

I was playing through the first level of the game. I landed in the jungle just off the bay (yeah, I asked why the obsession with the jungle) and needed to infiltrate the enemy base and meet up with my team at an LZ on the other side of the bay. So as I was starting the mission, I was told that I could get to the first checkpoint in the mission any way I wanted to. I could follow the main path to the building I was looking for, I could go over the mountain and come down the other side, or just cut through the jungle to the left and work my way over to the building. Crytek stressed that this game is about allowing the player to choose their path. Do you go left or right, up or down, shoot or sneak. It is all up to the player.

The game was running on a Vista box and the frame rates were very smooth. When details would get hectic, the frame rate would slow down a little bit, but overall the game has rock solid frame rates. The foliage in the jungle is detailed and alive. You hear it crinkle as you walk through it. Characters models and textures are repetitive, but they do look good. Little things like slight blurring of the side of the screen when you take sharp turns in a vehicle.

If you asked me about the story, I could not tell you what it is. I know it has something to do with the powerful suit that you wear. It can turn invisible, regenerate health, give you super strength or shield you from damage. Activating the suit is as easy as clicking on the mouse wheel and then moving the mouse around the circle of options that shows up on the screen.

The game also has a great physics engine. I do not know if it supports Ageia PhysX cards, but I do know that I threw a grenade into a building and not only did it kill everyone inside the building, but the building collapsed down as well.

Crysis looks to be a fantastic game. I would like to know more about why I am supposed to be in the game, but I assume more is told either through cutscenes or an opening movie. Either way, this looks like it is shaping up to be a monster hit on the PC. Look for it in the fall.