E3 2006 proved that developers have finally gotten a handle on the new technology, and nowhere else was this more evident than at EA's booth. Nestled between the Spore presentation and Battlefield 2142 was Crytek's phenomenal looking FPS Crysis, a tantalizing display of lush foliage, cold, hard steel, and nasty aliens. It's still rough in spots, but if the developers have their way, this could very well be the graphical benchmark by with all future games will be judged.

Crysis is an intense first person blast fest that's set on a tropical paradise during the year 2019. A mysterious asteroid smashes into Earth, lodging itself into an island. Almost immediately after this traumatic event, a tense military stand off occurs between the U.S. and North Korea, both of which are trying to gain control of the crash site. But unfortunately for both sides, the asteroid splits open and a bunch of world conquering aliens spew from its innards, and to make matters even worse, parts of the island (contained within this strange sphere) have been frozen solid. The main character's job is to basically explore the area, uncover the mystery, and most importantly, stop the damn aliens from doing whatever nasty shit they intended to unleash.

There were two levels on display at the show. The first, and the most impressive by far, takes place on a sinking aircraft carrier. The reasons for its injuries weren't made known (though I'm going to assume that the aliens hit it hard), and the goal is to basically get the hell out of dodge and destroy anything that's trying to kill you.

Controls in the game are simple enough, you're standard WASD set up, but what's interesting is how the weapon and armor can be switched on the fly by pressing the center of the mouse. Furthermore, all of the weapons are customizable and this can also be done in real time. A menu pops up that displays the selected weapon on its side, and all of the various sections (things that can be tinkered with) are front and center, allowing you to do things such as adding a silencer, a scope, or other fun toys. It feels very intuitive and it's just a neat thing to have. Plus, you can move around while you're doing this.

During the mission on the aircraft carrier, we encountered military guys in various states. Some were on the brink of death while others were putting out the fire swarming through the ship. The game makes it seem like there's a mad scramble to reach the deck, yet we leisurely took our time so that we could admire the sites.

Topside, all hell was breaking loose. Things were exploding and there were these aliens flying about. But what really spooked us was this humongous crab-like creature that climbed onto the deck. The damn thing is huge and quite intimidating, yet at the same time it's just awesome to stare at because of its lifelike animations. We pumped it full of some gunfire, but it was far too strong. Thus, we met our untimely ends.

The aircraft carrier mission is beyond gorgeous. The billowing smoke and fire effects are among the best that we have ever seen in a game, and all of the textures, from cold metal to alien skin are just outstanding. Then there's the motion blur that occurs whenever we made sudden movements. Rare did a commendable job implanting it into Perfect Dark Zero, but the way it's been implemented here further blurs the line between reality and videogame.

The second demo took place in a jungle. It sort of reminded us of Far Cry since we could go anywhere and cause all sorts of havoc within this tropical wonderland, except the visuals had been kicked up several notches. The sheer amount of plants and trees were staggering, and what was really cool is how they can be torn to shreds by waves of gunfire, though it also appears that only certain plants are affected. But everything, from the way the sunlight peaks through the trees, the rocks, the greenery; it's impressive. However, it wasn't as hot as the aircraft carrier. At times the game looked great, and others it was bogged by some slowdown and things looked a bit pixilated. However, Crysis isn't coming out until sometime this fall, and I'm sure Crytek will polish it further.

As for how the level played, we were very impressed with the level of interactivity (blowing up trees and vehicles) but also with the AI, which will duck for cover and purposely blend into their surroundings. They're also aware of what's going on around them, so they won't just stand around waiting for something to explode. They'll recognize the threat and move away from it.

It was a bit difficult to truly be immersed within the game's environments due to all of the E3 noise, but we're still very impressed with what we saw and we want more! Look for more info on Crysis as soon as EA makes it available.