First-person shooters...getting old? This is a thought that seems to cross a lot of minds lately, as there's a large glut of them on the market and only a distinct few that really stand and deliver the kind of experience that makes their playtime stretch out over a series of months. But these games still manage to leave an impact, as a number of next-gen developments are in the works that will keep the genre going strong with a great deal of freshness. One of them that remains pretty strong is Far Cry, an involving FPS that featured lush jungle environments, intense action, and all sorts of multiplayer options, whether you're tackling the game on the PC or checking out Instincts Predator on the Xbox 360.

Crytek is the development team that handled that franchise, but they probably felt the need to move on and challenge themselves further. Any good development team really does, after all. And they found a way to strike a deal with EA to produce a completely new first-person shoot-em-up that looks to be even more advanced than Far Cry. Is that possible? Well, the old phrase "Where there's a will, there's a way" rings true, certainly here.

The game is called Crysis, and probably the biggest noticeable feature about it is Crytek's evolving of their game engine technology. They introduce a new engine here known as CryENGINE 2, and it's capable of a number of things, as the game's initial trailer shows. You've got volumetric clouds that are so real to the actual cloud effect, that you see parts of it disperse as you run through it in the camera's point of view. There's also ambient real-time map design, complete with unreal lighting effects that capture soft shadows and other effects as if they were real-life. Of course, that's the point. Other small effects include precision of depth, motion blurring for faster movement, and soft shadowing, so there's not such a forced presence on the graphics.

Of course, none of the graphic touches matter if there's not some involving gameplay to go around with the title, and, fortunately, Crytek looks ready to deliver once more with Crysis. The trailer also managed to show off some gunplay in the game, and there's a number of weapons that come into play, as well as the ability to zoom in and take your shots accordingly. You can also hide out in certain parts of the island chain you're invading by using military tactics, which are better employed here than with the mere stealth and tree-trap stuff you ran into with Far Cry. How it gets implemented in the final product will be an interesting thing to see, and, hopefully next week at E3, we'll get a hands-on approach to see what Crytek has in mind.

The trailer might indicate this is just a spin-off from Far Cry, but, really, it isn't. The story manages to strike a blow to some of the real-world conflict going on right now, and then throws a dollop of science fiction on top. An asteroid has landed somewhere in the islands of North Korea, and they seal off the area to make the discovery of its content. The US, not willing to just stand by and let this happen, deploys a team of Delta Force operatives to investigate and try to regain control. But just when you think it's going to be a mere firefight between humans and other humans, the asteroid bursts open, and a large alien ship breaks out. Its powers work quickly, as the island is suddenly frozen over to some degree, and the weather system surrounding the planet is endangered. So not only do you have to deal with the North Koreans, but plenty of alien menacies and weather-induced problems as well. Yikes.

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