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Crytek pays attention. Far Cry came out four years ago now and was heralded as a classic first person game. Graphically it can still challenge many of the games out today. It's gameplay was sublime. But it certainly wasn't perfect, especially towards the end. So the developers paid attention.

You can leap onto rooftops and then punch through walls with your super strength

Crysis is the sequel to Far Cry. First person gunfighting, on a tropical island, against Korean soldiers using nothing more than a gun and your wits to progress. That part of the game is intact. But the developers have drawn inspiration from dozens of sources and brought them all together in a perfect package.

Divide the game up into letterboxed sections like in Halo? Check. Add hundreds of inanimate objects scattered everywhere to muck about with like in Half Life 2? Check. Give the main character super powers like a Predator? Check.In fact, Predator is the biggest inspiration here by far. You play as a covert-ops soldier clad in a hi-tec super suit that gives you special powers, and what this basically does is turn you into a Predator. You can cloak, sneaking right up to guards as they stand idly looking through you. You can leap onto rooftops and then punch through walls with your super strength. You almost feel a well of sympathy for the soldiers you kill. They don't stand a chance!
    
Not to say that the game is easy. The tables eventually turn back the other way because the soldiers aren't the only thing on the island. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you if you don't already know but lets say that a 2005 Spielberg film is also a heavy source of inspiration.
On higher settings, the graphics are nothing short of perfect. Nothing, on any system, even comes close. Not even Gears of War. Of course your computer won't be able to run the highest settings because the technology doesn't really exist yet, but even on the medium settings it still looks as good as anything else out there.

It's a masterpiece of story telling, atmosphere and technical prowess, taking down Halo 3 and even shunting Bioshock off the top spot for game of the year. If you have a PC and you've upgraded it within the last twelve months, you simply can't afford to miss this. It's the new benchmark in gaming.And for that, I would like to give it eleven out of ten (a bit like the amps that Spinal Tap use!).