If you’ve been eager to get your hands on the awesome looking online features of Crytek‘s latest title, Crysis 3, then now is the time to take the hunt directly to New York. Crysis 3’s multiplayer beta has now officially seen the light of day for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC; with players taking on the role of Nano enhanced special forces in their battle for domination across a devastated urban jungle inside the New York City Liberty Dome. Crysis 3 allows players to use a variety of powers and enhancements far beyond the capabilities of ordinary soldiers including things like increased agility, strength and reflexes.
In this Beta you can expect to find two different game modes as well as two separate maps for increased variation, with gamers able to reach up to Rank 10 before being capped off in this demo. Don’t worry though, as you’ll have the full potential of levelling up to Rank 50 when the full game is released.
The first game mode is the highly publicised and (in my opinion) most interesting type, Hunter. Across five matches a team of two Hunters with infinite Stealth Energy and armed with Compound Bows are set loose on a squad of regular CELL infantry, whose only goal is to survive until the end of the round. Hunters are tasked with eliminating the entire CELL squad, with each kill resulting in that player returning as a Hunter for the rest of the game. Some tips for this mode include:
- When playing as a Hunter remember that you need to pull back and charge your bow for maximum damage, while keeping track of said targets remains easy thanks to all Enemies appearing on Hunter Radar.
- As a CELL trooper your task is to outlast the Hunters, with audible motion trackers (Alien style)  and a vast range of weaponry available across each load-out. Stick together, play as a team and always check your corners as the augmented Hunters could be anywhere.
The second game mode is Crash Site, a standard Take-and-Hold game with each consecutive point being released from a moving drop ship and eventually self-destructing after a period of time. To get the most points your entire team needs to remain on location, fighting off all those who seek the site for themselves. Remember to:
- Always use grenades first on an already entrenched enemy team, this way you put yourself at minimal risk while effectively disrupting enemy lines.
- Use the available shields from Drop Pods as defensive tools when holding points or throw it as a lethal weapon when enemies get too close.
Both these modes are available on Museum, a now flooded and overgrown locale that allows for plenty of verticality and sniper play; and Airport, a once bustling terminal turned plane wasteland, with a mix of long lines of sight and close quarters areas.
An in-game feature known as the “New York Feed” allows players to see how their friends are going in comparison to themselves as well as check out challenges that reward bonus XP and receive news directly from developer Crytek. Similar to previous “AutoLog” systems this will ensure that you always know how you’re going in the grand scheme of things, did your friend just complete a hardcore challenge or earn some ridiculous XP for their last game? Time to show them up next time around.
Did any of this get you excited for the upcoming release of Crysis 3? If so then make sure to pick up the game at its release on February 19th for Europe, 21st for Australia, 22nd for Europe and March 7th for Japan; available across the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC platforms . If you’re still not convinced then feel free to try out the brand new open Multiplayer Beta, available for download now across all aforementioned platforms.
Crysis 3’s Multiplayer Beta trailer can be viewed down below.
