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Crysis Remastered won't win any awards for its writing, but in terms of presentation and fun, it's a trip well worth taking.
A remastered version of the original game Crysis Remastered plays like a classic, big-budget blockbuster action film of yesteryear. You, Nomad, a big, cool military man who's got a big, cool military supersuit, and you're in an ongoing not-war with North Korean forces for mysterious technology on a lush, tropical island. The set up and pay-off is entirely predictable, but there's a charm in its clarity. Like a James Cameron film, everything is clearly laid out, and while there's no particular guile to the writing, it's simplistic enough to get easily invested in without any friction.
But nobody comes to Crysis - or really almost any Crysis game - for the plot. The questions at the forefront of any conversation about Crysis are "can you run it" and "does it look good?" The original game was CPU-limited, and while significant compromises have been made that many have very vocal about (and perhaps even right about, given how waxy many in-game characters look), I think the overall experience is actually quite solid. In some ways, from foliage density to draw distance, the remaster is arguably the superior version, though I'll gladly admit that there's no accounting for preference.
What surprised me most, though, was how Crysis: Remastered plays. A spiritual remake of the original Far Cry, the shared DNA between the two is most evident in how they diverge. Both are games set in lush or scenic environments that encourage a guerrilla play-style, striking out of the shadows or the underbrush or flanking enemies who approach your last known point of contact. However, the suit's powers in Crysis also prevent a purist approach. This is not a game you can ghost through, nor is it a game that facilitates and completely run-and-gun method. Instead, the player must play smartly, using all tools at their disposal to best their enemies. It feels, in its best moments, like it's approaching something of a military sci-fi immersive sim. Nothing feels quite so rewarding as using a well-timed cloak to slip around and get the drop on a squad of unsuspecting foot soldiers.
That said, it's not perfect. The predictable plot might be a great vehicle for a cinematic experience, something I say truly endearingly, but it also means that characters rarely feel developed or fleshed out. If you were to take the plot of the game and boil it down into an hour and thirty minutes, you'd likely still be struggling to fill out a full runtime. Similarly, as I mentioned earlier, some of the updates to the game's lighting and geometry highlights the original game's age. It's never utterly distracting or takes away from the experience much, but it's certainly noticeable.
And yet, in spite of some blemishes, my immediate instinct finishing the game is to start all over again, try new tactics, and see what else the game will let me get away with. Crysis: Remastered makes a few compromises, but it sacrifices nothing of what made the original game worthwhile while making it more accessible overall. Without any real reservation, I have to recommend giving it a try for a maximum of a goofy, pulpy good time.