There are days when we all need something like a Nanosuit. A security blanket with nails.
Something that will protect us from the bumps and scrapes we all incur throughout our lives. Something that will absorb the pressures we face and allow us to fire back hard when we no longer want to roll with the punches.
In a pinch, we can simply fire up handy boosters and jet the hell out of here, safe in the knowledge that our persecutors will think twice before daring to give chase. In short, a suit that says “don’t mess with me”.
According to the legend in the videogame Crysis, a suit like that is but 10 years away. But, boy, are we going to need it then. In that near future, on a mythical island off the coast of the Philippines, lies the genesis of an alien invasion that threatens to saw through the foundations of our civilisation.
Camouflaged in the dense jungles and mountains of this idyllic paradise, it is man’s natural curiosity and power lust that rouses the beast. North Korea, now redesigned and immensely powerful under the shadowy auspices of Kim Jong II’s son, are the first to recognise the potential at hand.
The keys to a technology light years ahead of any human ingenuity prove way too tempting to resist, particularly with global domination high on the agenda. The US, too, keen to keep the North Koreans in check and entrench their own monopoly on the world stage, have sniffed out the prize. It’s their first glimpse of the power the North Koreans possess, but it’s the aliens who really provide the rude awakening.
So begins a Mexican stand-off in which the fate of the known world falls on the shoulders of one intrepid marine. First Lieutenant John Dunn, code-named Nomad, is dispatched to the island to rescue forensic scientists investigating the alien power source and keep the North Koreans at bay.
Equipped with a Nanosuit, a kind of Transformer body armour that will keep his hide intact when the fighting is at its fiercest, he will battle seemingly insurmount-able odds.
He will watch helplessly as his comrades in arms are mercilessly picked off by the alien superpower, but never, ever will he shirk his responsibility.
In a series of nerve-shredding scrapes with his alien foes, he deals the invaders a telling blow. Earth is safe. But for how long?
That answer is revealed in Crysis 2, where the battle takes place a little closer to home. Well, at least if you’re an American. The stage has now moved from the steamy, tropical jungles of the Far East to a concrete one, and New York City is sporting a nasty black eye. In the ruins of this once proud city, aliens and Earth’s cyber warriors stalk one another in a full metal chess match for world dominion. Forget the Mayan calender and 2012. In the year 2023 it is a Terminator-style apocalypse that will ultimately decide our fate.
We’ve seen this setting before, where America is the last remaining hope of the free world, where a country like North Korea is hell-bent on destroying all that is sacred, where aliens are trigger-happy and just aching to gobble up our solar system. But, there had never really been a game like Crysis. The requirements on your PC were rather excessive, especially if you wanted to enjoy the full spectrum of its visual and game-play delights, and it remains the benchmark in terms of PC graphical performance.
Crysis 2 has been designed to go one better. Its jaw-dropping visual appeal, allied to a very strong multi-layered first-person shooter, is now more accessible to the average PC user, and to console gamers on their PS3s and XBox 360s.
Basically, it promises to be something special.
To celebrate the launch of Crysis 2, Tonight and EA Games are giving away the very limited Nano Edition of Crysis 2. This awesome prize includes a limited edition copy of the game in a steelbook case, a model of Crysis 2’s main character Alcatraz, perched on top of a New York taxi, an art book, and a Nanosuit backpack modelled on the equipment in the game. The Nano Edition of Crysis 2 is as rare as hen’s teeth and has already been sold out overseas. But to lay your hands on a copy, all you have to do is answer one very simple question: In which city is Crysis 2 set?
Send your answer, along with your name, address and contact details, to [email protected]. The competition closes on Friday at noon. Only the winner will be contacted. - Tonight