Nanosuit

Nothing says Crysis quite like your nano-powered battle suit. These groovy red-and-black threads are what the fashionable super-commando wears to go into battle against the North Korean army and any extraterrestrials that happen to be in the vicinity, and they're just as utilitarian as they are stylish.

All of the suit enhancements can be accessed with a click of the third mouse button and then selected by rotating a radial menu. Or you can flip them on directly with hotkeys. You'll want to learn the latter, as the radial menu is a bit clunky for quick access when you get into serious firefights.

Not only the Romulans have cloaking devices.

Armor

Best used when in a big scrap with lots of enemies and no cover is readily available, maximum armor is a last resort power that gives you the ability to withstand more damage than normal. You can fire it up by choice right before attacking an enemy position head-on, though. It also clicks on by default whenever the power runs out when you have cloak activated.

When activated, Armor will let incoming bullets sap your energy levels instead of your health. When you run out of energy, your health will start to go down as normal, but this effectively gives you a second life bar, which will let you survive that much longer in a firefight. Armor will also let you regenerate health more quickly when you've been wounded.

Cloak

Given the massive number of enemies in Crysis, this power is the one that you will use the most. By which we mean all the freaking time. Cloak can be employed in all situations, although it is at its best when you want to pop up in the midst of a gang of enemies and take them by surprise, or when you need to sneak past an enemy patrol. It is also invaluable when approaching enemy positions like bases or machine-gun nests, as it gives you the ability to run across open stretches without being seen (and shot into itty bitty pieces).

The only drawback with cloak is its power draw. It sucks your suit dry in moments, especially if you're running, so you have to be careful that you don't run out of juice in mid-sneak and wind up turning visible in the middle of a clearing. Power consumption is really cut down if you're crawling, though. So if you've got the patience, drop into a prone position and creep forward. This will be rewarded with oodles more time to invisibly flank enemies. In other situations, you can always try to find a hidden corner away from enemy line of sight, turn off your cloak for a second, regain your energy, and flip it back on before resuming your movement.

Cloaking can also be used to escape enemy attention while you're inside one of their bases. If you cloak while an enemy is looking at you, they'll continue to fire, but if you can escape their line of sight (by ducking into a building or around a corner), activate your cloak, then quickly reposition yourself to another area, your foes will typically keep searching for you where they last saw you, allowing you to make your getaway.

While nanosuits may look an awful lot like high-tech fetishwear, you wouldn't want to take on the North Korean army wearing anything else .

Speed

Another big-time power drain, maximum speed is best utilized when either attacking gangs of enemies or running away from gangs of enemies after realizing that you've bitten off more than you can chew. It is also a plus when you're trying to make good time running down roads. Doing this can sometimes cause you to race into trouble, though. You move so fast that you can easily wind up in the middle of an enemy patrol before you know it, with your suit running on empty. However, keeping speed activated without sprinting will also increase your movement speed by a small but noticeable amount if you keep your energy topped off.

Strength

Maximum strength is cooler in theory than it is in reality. Sure, it sounds awesome to be able to dial up super strength and choke the life out of North Koreans. But in reality, you're generally taking on so many enemies in firefights that getting up close and personal with one leaves a half-dozen or more with clear shots at your back.

The passive mode of maximum strength is more useful, as it allows you to make Jedi-like high jumps up walls, punch open stuck doors, and the like. Of course, it's not nearly as nifty as snapping necks, so you won't hear as much about it in the press releases. It can be pretty handy when infiltrating a base, as it'll let you jump over otherwise impassible low walls.

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