there are a few things this game does graphically that no other game to date has done (reasonably, anyway)
to name a couple things:
depth of field. this is hard to explain without a screenshot (there are Crysis screenshots online that you can look for that showcase this effect), but basically it makes the game look very cinematic (like a film), by sharpening the detail of things in focus, and blurring things that are not. it doesn't sound groundbreaking until you actually see it for yourself
volumetric lighting. this was touched on in a few games as of late (Doom 3 engine, Half-Life 2, FEAR), however the volumetric lighting in Crysis will utilize more DirectX 10 capabilities, as you can see in the video (everything in the environment casts it's own real-time shadow, and light refracts through bushes, onto yourself and everything around you. when you walk into a shaded area, you will feel like you're really in the shade)
environmental interaction. this game will allow more interaction with the surroundings than any other game that's available currently. if you listen to the guy in the video, he explains that everything in the game is capable of being destroyed or manipulated in some way and the items that are breakable are not "pre-broken", which means they aren't given pre-scripted "joints" that will break if you shoot, for example a tree. if you shoot the very top of a tree, only that part will break off.
other mentionables are the AI, supposedly this game will have the most advanced AI of any game currently available (which isn't saying a whole lot, as right now the AI in games hasn't really been all that great, even in games like FEAR and HL2)
anyway this game is going to be awesome but you're gonna need an insane system to play it, rumors are that the hardware used in that video was actually a custom built system (which probably includes a custom GPU by ATI, as they're helping with the development of the game)
current release date is scheduled for first quarter of 2007 :/
E3 2006 Trailer (Official):
http://www.gamershell.com/downloads..._trailer.zip&ts=1150675650&auth=jhtUmgwJLSbV.
My monitor stinks atm and i probably won't get to see its true beauty.
