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Epic Games wasn't the only game engine maker with a cool tech demo at GDC 2011 last week. Developer Crytek also showed off some new features it's putting into its CryEngine 3 game development tools at the show. A video showing off some of those features has found its way to YouTube.

The video, which you can check out after the break, shows off some new tools that can be used to create impressive cinema-like cut scenes. The foliage that is shown in the demo is certainly the most realistic we have seen in a real time game engine. Of course the first CryEngine 3 based game, the first person shooter Crysis 2, is due for release on March 22.

Sometimes when a multiplatform game is released the PC version tends to suffer from things like lack of features and graphics that are stuck with the lower resolution looks of the console version. That won't be the case for Crysis 2, according to Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli. In a new interview on the Edge web site he states that having the upcoming first person shooter sequel show up on consoles will be a help for the PC version.

Yerli states, "Crysis 2 will have a PC version that's a PC game. We're going to push it as much as the engine can take. It'll be at least as beautiful as Crysis, but the context is different. It's New York. Not a jungle, but an urban jungle." He adds that the budget for Crysis 2 will be much higher than for the original Crysis because of its multiplatform development. Yerli says, "So PC gamers will get a better game out of that; it isn't just take, it's also give."

Yet another multiplatform game from publisher Electronic Arts is bypassing its PC demo audience. Today EA revealed that the upcoming sci-fi shooter sequel Crysis 2 would release a multiplayer demo on January 25 but it's exclusively for the Xbox 360 console. The demo will contain one map and two multiplayer gameplay modes.

The game's developer Crytek has mostly been a PC exclusive development studio with the original Far Cry, the original Crysis and Crysis Warhead all made just for the PC. Crysis 2 is the first game from the developer that was made specifically as a multiplatform game release. It's CEO Cevat Yerli has been vocal about his issues with releasing PC games due to piracy. Meanwhile Crysis 2 is currently due to ship out on March 22.

Crysis 2 looks to ton down the graphical horsepower and make gameplay more of the focus, and we're perfectly fine with that. So is Crytek, it seems, as this trailer shows off more gameplay than you can shake a stick at. With sliding, sneaking, stomping, and shooting, it has all the S-related bases covered! Joking aside, it's a fine trailer set to Nine Inch Nails' song Just Like You Imagined. It's blood-pumping and exciting, and makes us actually intrigued to get our hands on the title. Of course, all the explosions and jumping around doesn't hurt either.

Download HD Crysis 2 'Be The Weapon' Trailer
Check out all Crysis 2 downloads

Last month Crytek made the surprise announcement that the developer was making a free-to-play first person shooter for the Asian market called Warface. Now a blurry YouTube video has the first gameplay footage from that title which is being developed by Crytek's South Korean studios.

The footage comes from a pre-alpha build of the game and while the video is a bit on the blurry side it does show some modern-day era military combat in what looks like a Middle Eastern village setting. There's apparently support for features like riot shields and remote detonated bombs if the video is any indication. The game, which uses CryEngine 3 (the same engine that's being used for Crytek's upcoming sci-fi shooter Crysis 2) does not yet have a launch date but it will be released in China via publisher Tencent Games. There is no indication if the game will be made available for Western audiences.

[Via Computer and Video Games]

Crysis 2 is the first game from developer Crytek that's being made at the same time for consoles as well as the PC. However, the developer still considers the PC to be superior for game development. Computer and Video Games quotes Crytek CEO Cervat Yerli as saying, "PC is easily a generation ahead right now."

He also feels that technically developers are reaching the limits of what they can do with consoles, saying, "You won't be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks." However he adds, "Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game."

Gallery: Crysis 2 Screenshots

Publisher City Interactive is apparently riding the sales success of its budget priced first person shooter Sniper: Ghost Warrior. Today the Germany-based developer announced that it will be licensing CryEngine 3, the graphics engine made by Crytek for its upcoming first person shooter Crysis 2.

The engine will be used to make two unnamed first person shooter titles over the next couple of years, according to City Interactive's press release. Crytek has been successful in signing a number of other developers to use CryEngine 3 over the past several months including deals with Illfonic, Ignition Entertainment and more.

[Via email press release]

In one of the most unexpected game announcements in recent memory, word has gotten out of a planned MMO game based on the late singer Michael Jackson. The game, titled Planet Michael, is scheduled for release in late 2011 and according to the game's press release will offer "an innovative, first-of-its-kind interactive gaming and social experience that truly celebrates Michael Jackson's extraordinary life as an artist and humanitarian."

The game itself will be a planet that's part of the Entropia Universe MMO that's developed by Mindark and uses Crytek's CryEngine 2 graphics engine. Gameplay details are still vague but the press release claims players of Planet Michael "will feel at home as they find themselves in places that seem familiar and yet unknown at the same time, and new generations will discover and experience Michael's life in a way never before imagined."

Lots of folks, us included, were not happy with the news that Crysis 2 would not be released by the end of 2010 as first announced. However the folks at developer Crytek have now given us a specific release date for the sci-fi shooter sequel. The title from publisher Electronic Arts will be out on March 22, 2011 in the US. Europeans wait a few more days before the game comes out across the pond on March 25, 2011.

And if that wasn't enough,the MyCrysis.com community page has just posted up the first multiplayer screenshot from Crysis 2. Crytek hasn't even talked about multiplayer options for the game yet so this is just the first glimpse of what we can expect.

One of our most anticipated PC games of 2010 won't be released in 2010 after all. In its newest financial results press release today, publisher Electronic Arts also put in a release schedule for its upcoming games. The schedule listed developer Crytek's upcoming sci-fi shooter sequel Crysis 2 as now coming out in the first calendar quarter of 2011 (EA's fourth quarter for its fiscal year).

The game was previously announced as coming out for the "holiday 2010" time period. No reason for the delay was mentioned for the game which will be the first title that will use Crytek's new CryEngine 3 technology.