Similar to the earlier games in the Crysis series, Crysis 3 is a first-person shooter. Players take control of Prophet as he progresses through New York City to defeat the Ceph, a technologically advanced alien race. Throughout the game, players can slide, sprint, jump and crouch. When encountering enemies, players can defeat them by using guns or a compound bow, utilizing explosives like grenades and C4, or by performing a melee attack. Performing certain movements takes up energy from the Nanosuit, the armor worn by Prophet. Some abilities are not available for players to perform or utilize if the Nanosuit's energy is too low; they must wait until energy is refilled. As a result, players are tasked to manage the use of the energy. The game's artificial intelligence was updated allowing enemies to react more quickly to players' attacks. Enemies can take cover when attacked, and can employ strategy to assist and support each other against attacks.
The Nanosuit allows players to identify the threat level, and the weapons held by enemies. Players can tag enemies and items by enabling visor, and can spot enemies using Nano-Vision, which detects the heat of both enemies and allies. Levels are more open-ended than in Crysis 2. Players are given more freedom, and can choose a gameplay style based on direct confrontation, or a more discreet and stealthy approach, in order to deal with enemies and to complete their objectives. There is no definite way to beat the game's seven levels. Instead, players can take different alternate routes to reach their objectives.
Players can fight against enemies utilizing a wide array of gadgets and weapons, and by using the abilities granted by the Nanosuit. They can utilize an invisibility cloak to evade enemies, prevent themselves from being detected, or to perform silent takedowns. The nanosuit also has an armor mode, which reduces the amount of damage taken, in exchange for slower movement speed. New weapons are introduced in Crysis 3, such as a compound bow. Players can use the bow while in cloak mode. When using other firearms, the cloak is disrupted and can no longer function until it cools down. Arrows can be collected by players after use. Players can hack into enemies' technology, one of the game's new features. In addition, players can hack security codes, weapon boxes, Ceph technology, mines, lasers, and sentry turrets, which can all be used to fight against enemies. Players can also upgrade and customize their weapons and the Nanosuit. They can change the attachment and ammo types for their weapons. For instance, players can change between explosive arrows and electric arrows for their bow. The Nanosuit can be upgraded by collecting different suit upgrade modules scattered across the world. These upgrades can increase the suit's properties, and strengthen or unlock new abilities for players as they progress through the game.
Multiplayer
Gameplay remains similar when playing the multiplayer mode. Unlike the single-player campaign, when players sprint or boost their armor in the multiplayer modes, it does not use any nanosuit energy. There are 8 different modes, with a total of 12 available maps to play on. They are Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Crash Site / Spears, Capture the Relay / Extraction, Hunter, Assault, Cell Vs Rebel, Developers Choice, Maximum Team Deathmatch, and Maximum Deathmatch. Scattered throughout each map are special alien weapons with scarce ammo and can be picked up by players. Players also have a new passive ability called Rip and Throw, in which they interact with environmental objects to create obstacles for hostile players and tactical advantages for themselves.This interactibility with the environment was pushed heavily upon the team by their publisher, EA. A refined kill streak system is introduced in Crysis 3, allowing players to gain rewards by killing hostile players simultaneously while collecting their dog tag. This refined kill system involves collecting dog tags that are dropped by enemy players when killed. The perks gained from this vary from map to map. They are Maximum Radar, Swarmer, Gamma Burst, EMP, and Maximum Nanosuit, which reveals enemy players locations on the mini-map.
In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, a new multiplayer mode, the Hunter mode, is featured in the game. It is an asymmetrical multiplayer mode which pits two teams of players, playing as either hunters, or troopers from CELL, against each other. The three CELL classes are equipped with completely different weapons, and defeated troopers respawn as hunters and have to defeat their former teammates. Hunters are equipped with the nanosuit and infinite cloak, as well as the Hunter Bow, which allows the hunter to fire while they're cloaked. The hunters also have access to a Thermite Arrow tip, and the CELL have various explosives and weapons that change depending on class selected. The PC version of the game can accommodate up to 16 players, while the console versions can only support 12 players.
