This year gamers were already able to experience some of what the Crysis gameplay first brought to gamers in 2007 on the consoles, with the release of Crysis 2. For those that missed out the first time around, you will now be able to purchase the game through a download on either the PlayStation 3 for £15.99 or on the Xbox 360 for 1600 MS points, quite the bargain considering it is a fully regenerated game.

The trailer which can be viewed below demonstrates just how much work has gone into making the game suitable for today’s consoles. The graphics are no worse than what you would expect to see from a new game from debris in the air to the lighting and the gameplay seems almost exact to that from Crysis 2. Crytek’s CryEngine 3 is whats responsible for the revamp, the same engine used in the making of the sequel.

When we first brought you the news confirming the price and the date of the game it appeared as though we weren’t to see any multiplayer mode. Though the price for the game seems fairly reasonable, the fact that there is no online play makes it more like you’re paying for what you get, which is essentially a campaign.

Check out the trailer below and see for yourself just how stunning the game is. Does the lack of multiplayer put you off? Will you be getting Crysis regardless?

According to a recent article by Christophor Rick over on the gamersdailynews.com website, the Decimation Map Pack DLC provides gamers with five brand new maps and 2 new weapons. The new maps include Chasm, Apartments, Prism, Plaza and 5th Avenue.

Meanwhile, the two new weapons include the Smoke Grenade, which comes in handy when covering your retreat in an emergency situation or sneaking past enemy defenses, and the FY71 Assault Rifle, which is perfect for battling over a long distance or tearing through a line of enemies.

The Crysis 2 Decimation Map Pack DLC is available to download now for both the Xbox 360 and the PC. North American PlayStation 3 owners can expect the DLC to arrive on June 28th, while European gamers have to wait until June 29th before they can get hold of the downloadable content.

Have you been waiting to hear about when the Decimation Map Pack DLC was arriving for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3?

The very thought could become a reality in the near future, as Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has spoken in a recent interview with Develop, confirming that the CryEngine will be utilized for Nintendo’s upcoming Wii successor.

Here is a portion of his statement: “Crytek’s support for Wii U is definitely going to happen. We aren’t showing it but we are pretty much running it already.”

We’re not sure about you, but that’s pretty huge right there. Some of you might have thought we were crazy if we said a Crysis game would appear on a Nintendo console, but Yerli’s quote above confirms that it’s very much a possibility.

Could we possibly see ports of Crysis and Crysis 2 appear on the Wii U? If it does happen, we would like to see integration with the Wii U controller, and not just a straight up port for WiiMote use – that would be a waste of time in our opinion. Even better if they design a brand new title from the ground up for the Wii U, then that would perhaps change people’s minds about the future of the console.

What are your thoughts on this? Would you be pleasantly surprised if Crysis came to the Wii U?

Well we now have some exciting news for all you Crysis 2 fans out there, as according to Jason Evangelho over on the videogamewriters.com website, the publisher Electronic Arts has just revealed both the release date and a trailer for the forthcoming ‘Retaliation’ map pack.

Fans won’t have to wait too long for the map pack’s release either, as the release down is down for May 17th. The newly released trailer shows off the four new maps: Compound, Transit, Shipyard and Park Avenue, which as EA states, will be supported across all of the included multiplayer types.

Although there is no word on how much the ‘Retaliation’ DLC will cost, Jason has ventured a guess of around 800 Microsoft Points ($10). If you’re not yet familiar with the Crysis 2 game, it’s a first-person shooter developed by Crytek. The game is available for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Will you be downloading the new ‘Retaliation’ map pack?

The game has already been noted by Softpedia as having extremely good graphics even for today’s standard of games (and the PC version is the best-looking of them all), perhaps the DX11 support will make things even better.

Crytek recently posted on the MyCrysis Forum, here they said: “We would like to announce that there will be a DX11 patch released for Crysis 2″, this news is great for PC gamers who want the best out of their high-end gaming rigs, it will be interesting to see how noticeable the difference will be when the patch is rolled-out.

Softpedia make a point in saying that the game’s graphics are already very impressive so is there really any need to make a patch? But let’s face it everyone wants smoother more realistic graphics, so we doubt there will be any complaints about this news.

Would you prefer Crytek to fix / improve other aspects of the game rather than visuals? If so, what would you like to see?

According to Darren Allan over at techwatch.co.uk, 505 Games’ Latin dance title debuted just behind Crytek’s science fiction-based first-person shooter last week. Zumba Fitness has now become the first fitness game to have hit the top of the charts since Wii Fit Plus was released back in 2009.

It’s also become 505 Games’ very first all-format No. 1. This is pretty good going considering sales of the Zumba Fitness game were cut in half following its launch week. However, it wasn’t just the sales of Zumba that dropped last week, as sales of Crysis 2 were also cut by a further 57 percent.

Meanwhile, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars managed to stay in third place, while the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 moved back up the charts to No. 4. Shift 2: Unleashed ended the week in fifth, followed by THQ’s shooter Homefront at number six.

WWE All Stars finished the week at number 7, while Pokemon Black, Pokemon White and Dynasty Warriors ended the week at numbers 8, 9 and 10 respectively. Did you think that the Crysis 2 game would have stayed at the top for a third week running?

In fact, according to a recent article by Robert Purchese over at eurogamer.net, Shift 2: Unleashed – aka Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed – ended its first week in fourth place. The new entry that quite surprisingly took the second spot however was the Zumba Fitness: Join the Party game for the Nintendo Wii.

This of course means that last week’s No. 2, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars was knocked down to third place. Meanwhile, the much-awaited MotorStorm: Apocalypse game, which was another of last week’s new releases, ended its first week way down the charts in a rather disappointing 17th place.

Kaos Studios’ Homefront dropped down to fifth place, while Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters and WWE All Stars both debuted at No. 6 and 7 respectively. The three games that rounded off the top 10 were FIFA 11, Pokémon White and Art Academy.

You can read our recent hands-on review of the Crysis 2 game here. Are you surprised that the MotorStorm: Apocalypse game didn’t make it into the top 10?

Crysis 2 amazed us from the start, the level of detail is something the Xbox 360 and PS3 is not used to, and while we’re sure that the highest spec PC will smash the consoles for graphic detail, the cross-platform development has resulted in something very special for PS3 and Xbox 360 users.

On this page you can see a few screens from our time with the game, and if you remotely like these screenshots, trust me, the science fiction first-person shooter is miles better when you’re in the thick of it, hands-on. It’s nice to see a game that really pushes the next-gen games consoles to the limit, and doesn’t settle for below par graphics (we’ve seen enough of them).

Crytek show what the CryEngine 3 game engine can really do for consoles, and our first impressions was on the Xbox 360, although we did play a PS3 copy too, which showed no notable difference.

Crysis 2 is set three years after the first game, and in the year 2023. New York City has been deserted after the aliens came, and you’re able to move around the destroyed cityscape, through buildings and between floors. The option to pickup almost any item is pretty cool, but pointless most times. All the time you are enjoying the surroundings, and how realistic they look.

You’ll find yourself backed up against a wall at times, surrounded on all sides but not just from one enemy, you will be fighting both the aliens and CryNet Systems at times. This is not a problem for the Force Recon Marine you play as, aka ‘Alcatraz’. This is thanks to the Nanosuit 2.0, which you wear and integrates with your body giving you enhanced abilities.

The Nanosuit 2.0 has some cool features, which are more streamlined than the first game, Crysis. The two modes we used the most in our review were the armor mode, and the cloaking mode. After playing a while and shooting everything you came across, the tactics start to set in, and you discover its better to cloak in most situations, and go for the stealth kill. Your tough, but you cannot kill everyone.

Crytek has said the combat in Crysis 2 is ‘catastrophically beautiful’, and they would be spot on with that statement, it’s amazing. If you’re looking to buy the best-looking FPS, then this near-perfect (visually) game will be the one to choose.

The story is good, but the real magic in Crysis 2 comes from the staged combat, which varies from backdoors like through the sewers, to carefully placed enemy patrols that you need to either fight through or find a way around, again this is where cloaking comes in handy.

There is a lot to Crysis 2 but this is just our first impression. Its great eye candy, and maybe not perfect inside but overall it’s at least 9 out of 10. We’ve a lot more to see of the game, and will post more in time.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 are aging a bit, and Crysis 2 shows that the console hardware can match most modern PCs, although maybe not the high end models. Have you played Crysis 2? What do you love and hate?

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As for an update on the multiplayer key patch, Crytek has said that they are still working on it, but in the meantime a pretty major update is now available to download from BigDownload, and we have the list of changes for you, as reported from VG247.

Here are the patch notes for the Crysis 2 update:

Server Browser shows incorrect pings – Fixed
· Some matches never initiate – Fixed
· Faster text chat – As speedy as can be
· Console re-enabled – Console has been re-activated
· Cheat detection – Now in place to ensure all users are on a level playing field
· Fix USB headset issues – Current issues have been addressed and fixed
· Fix hologram icon staying on screen after being used – Fixed
· Remove Auto Aim – This has now been completely removed due to overwhelming community feedback

As you can see, the big talking point here is the fact that ‘remove auto aim’ is now gone. Obviously, there were complaints about this feature, as it made aiming in the game a lot easier for users who consider themselves beginners. Now that the feature has gone though, it should make multiplayer games much more competitive. PC shooters should all be about the mouse and keyboard aiming anyway, although we understand it may be needed for those who use gamepads plugged into the PC.

What are your thoughts on the changes – are you happy that auto aim is now gone? Is there anything which has been left off the list in your opinion? It’s interesting to add that Crytek has also implemented a ‘cheat detection’ feature into the game, which you may have something to say on.

Since you probably are getting bored of all the attention that Crysis 2 is getting with regards to it’s graphics (which are stunning by the way), we’re going to keep things to a minimum by pointing you in the direction of perhaps the most definitive verdict you’ll need if you’re looking for the best version between the Xbox 360 and PS3.

That verdict comes from the guys over at Lens of Truth, and you probably will know that their comparisons are well regarded in terms of gaming analysis. They have uploaded a series of side by side screenshots of both versions, as well as an included video to back up their analysis. Each individual image gives you key information below, such as the frame rate on each console per image, and also the amount of screen tearing, if any.

Here’s the interesting part though. While the screenshots seem to suggest that the Xbox 360 has better frame rates than the PS3 version, the 360 version does have a little screen tearing, while the PS3 doesn’t have any. The images themselves though look pretty identical, so it’s a bit harsh to say that there is a clear winner here.

What are your thoughts on their verdict? Are you satisfied that there are no big differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Crysis 2? We’ve included the video below since it’s pretty essential that you take a look for yourself.