Crysis 2 uses destruction as a "visual language"

Crytek's Nathan Camarillo has described Crysis 2's urban jungle setting as written in a "visual language" of "destruction and catastrophe".

"We wanted to take the flow of gameplay spaces from the original Crysis and bring them into an urban setting," Camarillo told Gamespot during a guided video demo of the game in action.

"We did that by using catastrophe and destruction as a visual language as well as being able to sculpt the urban space the way that we want to.

"So we have the hard surfaces of concrete and buildings, and fun things to play with like cars, but we also have trees and everything else you would expect to find in a more traditional jungle setting."

Camarillo also noted that some levels of Crysis 2 will allow the player to "experience the full grandeur of New York" thanks to an attempted faithful reproduction.

Crysis 2 releases on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in late March.

Watch the full, nearly 20 minute gameplay walkthrough below.