When the suit's energy is depleted, no modes can be used and the player is more vulnerable to damage before the suit recharges. The player is also capable of selecting various modes in Nomad's military ' Nanosuit' which draws power from the suit's energy. The player's weapons can be customized without pausing the flow of time, for example changing firing modes, changing scopes or adding sound suppressors.

The player controls a US Army Delta Force operator codenamed Nomad. As with Crytek's previous game Far Cry, Crysis is an open-ended first-person shooter game with many ways to meet objectives.