It’s not easy being a gamer these days, with major releases following each other so close they’re tripping on the backs of their own shoes. Console fans and PC gamers alike know that we’re only weeks away from the retail release of Crysis 2, the successor to the PC shooter that became famous for pushing even the most robust hardware to the breaking point. Unfortunately, the wait is already over for thousands as an unfinished developer-build of the game was leaked onto several torrent sites earlier this week.

While some people took advantage of piracy to avoid dishing out any money to developer Crytek Studios, true fans aren’t just lining up to get their hands on the game, but to show the developer how hard work should be rewarded. Video of the first 25 minutes of the game have made its way online, and we can tell you that it’s more than enough to prove that the game is more than worth the retail price tag.

The story is truly a depressing one, and the ugliest side of piracy in today’s digital marketplace. Piracy is becoming more and more rampant in all forms of media, but the effect it can have on a game studio can’t be understated. When a game makes its way onto hard drives via a torrent site as opposed to a purchased disc, the crime is anything but victimless.

Gamers are fans and enthusiasts before anything else, and Crysis 2’s publisher Electronic Arts communicated to Kotaku that they are more disappointed by the news than angry:

Support is the operative word, and games without a ‘Call of Duty’ or ‘Halo’ in the title can use all the consumer backing they can get.

“Crytek has been alerted that an early incomplete, unfinished build of Crysis 2 has appeared on Torrent sites…Crytek and EA are deeply disappointed by the news. We encourage fans to support the game and the development team by waiting and purchasing the final, polished game on March 22.”

Rather than dwell on the matter, we thought we would use the foul play of a few to a better end. The first 25 minutes of Crysis 2’s main campaign have been leaked, so we’ll let you decide whether it’s worth waiting for.

Take a look for yourself, but be warned, here be spoilers:

Aside from some fairly huge story reveals, the video shows that the developers are definitely doing their best to bring the incredible sci-fi technology of the series fully into a real-world setting. The first glimpses of the Nanosuit 2 are enough to get even the unfamiliar interested in taking it for a spin, and uncloaking for themselves.

Hopefully the PC community will prove themselves honourable, and hold to their previously boasted faith in Crytek and their roots in PC gaming. It was the PC crowd’s voicing of their sentiments that led Crytek to confirm that they wouldn’t be left out of the game’s multiplayer demo.

Now is the chance for PC gamers to show that their claims of superiority over console technology are as reliable as their superior support of quality IP.

Hopefully those who did get their hands on an illegal copy of the game did so just to get a sneak peek, and still plan on supporting the development team next month. It would be a shame if one of the most loved PC properties was sabotaged by the very market that they had initially catered to.

We’ll hope for the best, and the above video is proof positive that the wait will be more than worth it.

Crysis 2 will be making its way onto the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC on March 22, 2011.

Source: Kotaku