Crysis 3: The story seemed great in the trailers, and the promos were even better. Yet most gamers (specifically in social media circles) want their money back from EA for being pawned into buying Crysis 3. But the same isn’t true for me. Having finished the game partly, I went back to dodging gamers in Need for Speed: Most Wanted or killing Chimera in Resistance 3. But, that was before I was lured into playing my first game in Crysis 3: Hunter Mode. (Online) And my first game changed my allegiance towards first-person multiplayer games.
Some part of my admiration for such a kickass concept comes from the fact that I love Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator. It was a revolutionary concept brought to life by Dark Horse Comics, about an alien hunting humans on the face of the earth, using its super intelligence and the art of camouflaging against the world. For a writer who has his share of the dumb media world and the dumber social circle, it is quite evident that anything beyond the imaginable would captivate me and hunt me down. And this is how it all started. 22 hours ago, I realized the survival lusty animal in me, watching out for a shimmer in the horizon or listening to the faint dip in the sound. Let’s get down to the details of the Hunter Mode now.
A fascinating and perhaps one of a kind offering in the gaming mainstream, it is undoubtedly the best thing about the latest Crysis edition and the reason why you SHOULD BUY Crysis 3. The Hunter Mode sets you up as a fragile CELL soldier who is devoid of any super-soldier strength or stealth. In the words of Crysis, it means that you cannot use a cloak or maximum armor. You and 13 others crash into a site and struggle to survive against some fierce and smart aliens by the name of Hunters. The Hunters use alien warfare technology, and their suit keeps them hidden from your sight for the remainder of the game. Your one and only job is to survive their hunting spree. You do not have Molotovs, what you actually have is an EVP piece that denotes leaving the Hunters partially visible to your eyes. Partially. If the guy playing Hunter is really good, he can evade your attacks in less than 2 seconds. That’s because the Hunters can jump like kangaroos. Think about all these combat disparities before going into Hunter Mode.
In order to survive as a CELL, you need to stay sharp all throughout the game. There are no extra points for brevity, so don’t even think about becoming a hero amongst your CELL team-mates, you’ll be stoned to the ground and you won’t even see it coming! At the end of each round, players are credited points for the longest survival. That’s what you need to do to win this game of hide and seek, put on a low profile and resist. In order to live, you will need to watch out for every moment happening before you, from the drop of a stone to the rustling of grass. Hunters try to be Phantoms of the Jungle, but even they have their weaknesses. Look out! Their body suit emits radiation every now and then. Watch out for a blur in the Picture Perfect game level, chances are, it’s a Hunter trying to hunt you down. You cannot see them on your mini map, while the Hunter can. It puts you in real trouble, as your smart move to stay behind a boulder may turn costly if you fall asleep while watching your back. The game levels are designed to be used. Staying behind pillars or hiding in thick bushes always gives you the chance to turn your neck, just so that you can track down a Hunter activity around you by following a strange noise. A noise like the sound of a metallic heartbeat tells you that a Hunter is near you. The more intensity the heartbeat grabs, the nearer is the Hunter. Stay sharp for the sound and try not to evade it, because who’s gonna watch your back, son?
When you die, you respawn as a Hunter. It might sound flashy and all, but it is not. Armed with a predator bow and disallowing you from switching it for any other weapon, being a Hunter is a hard alien choice. Yes, you can see the CELL soldiers now, and walk up to them with your strategy to hunt them down. But, your predator bow should always aim for their heads, or else you may blow your cover to the Multiplayer pros from Italy and Russia. You can attempt to sneak behind their backs, but a good gamer will always know that he’s constantly getting hunted. Try to shift their focus by power-kicking objects and quickly evaporating from the spot. When your opponents are out investigating, you have the greatest time in the world to take their skulls, literally. The job as a Hunter is to hunt the CELL guys within a given amount of time, so get ready to memorize the short cuts to your targets, because needless Marco Polo-ing would cost you points.
The Hunter Mode works as closely as Karma. The other small reason why I love this mode. Based on how you survive and the extent of your sacrificial acts, you are brought back to life as a Hunter or a CELL. While it sounds awesome to hunt someone like the Predator, it is always wise to come out as Schwarzenegger at the end of the session. My point being, CELL rules the game. It is harder, challenging and more scoring while staying as a CELL. There are loads of levels for the Hunter mode, and you simply cannot resist giving them a try.
So the next time someone comes to you and says Crysis 3 wasn’t a good buy, tell him how you loved surviving hours and hours like a hero. Chances are, you’ll meet him the next day, either as a CELL or as a Hunter. Thumbs up to the concept, thumbs up to the seamless servers, and double thumbs up to the online players who make Crysis 3: Hunter Mode such a legendary multiplayer mode.
