Today at Fine Art we're looking at the work of Daniel Rizea, who in the last few years has provided art for games like Crysis, Crysis 2 and Crytek's upcoming fantasy title Ryse.

Rizea hasn't always been at the PC powerhouse; he got his start at Ubisoft, where he worked on Blazing Angels, Silent Hunter IV and Hawx.

We've showcased some Crysis 2 concept art here before, the work of two of Crytek's other artists, Dennis Chan and Viktor Jonsson; to see that stuff, which consists mostly of environmental designs (these being a mix of scenery, characters and vehicles), head here.

Meanwhile, you can check out Rizea's personal site below.

Concept Art [Daniel Rizea]

To see the larger pics in all their glory, either click the "expand" icon on the gallery screen or right click and "open link in new tab".

Good luck squeezing into your local comics shop this week. Plenty of strangers will probably be dropping in to pick up the new Spider-Man comic with the new Spider-Man in it. But squeeze on in, because there are some cool new comics out this week. And there are some good old ones available for legitimate digital download today as well.

Read on for some recommendations:

Comics You Should Consider Buying (from comics shops)

Batman: Knight of Vengeance #3 The penultimate issue of DC's summer crossover series Flashpoint may be shipping this week, but it might be overshadowed by the final issue of its Batman spin-off. The cover reiterates the shocking revelation of the last issue. Bruce is dead. Mom and dad are Batman and Joker. This series has been extraordinary so far.

DC Retroactive: The Flash, The 80s I've yet to read DC's Retroactive comics, each of which includes a new story created in an old style along with reprints of comics from the homaged era, but I've heard very good things about many of them. This Flash issue comes from writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Greg Larocque, who were responsible for a fun run on the series in the '80s. I'm looking forward to seeing their latest. There's also a Batman '80s issue out this week, by the creative team of Mike Barr and Jerry Bingham, the team behind classic '80s graphic novel Batman: Son of Demon.

Infinite #1 Robert Kirkman and Rob Liefeld's new series about time-traveling freedom fighters. Would you get it because it's written by the Walking Dead guy or because its drawn by the Youngblood guy (who supposedly has a few issues in the can and won't be late)?

Punisher #1 They're starting Punisher over again. This time, Greg Rucka's the writer. I loved his Gotham Central, but have not loved his Wonder Woman and Superman work. Punisher should be more his speed, if he can manage to tell stories that have endings, an omission in recent work of his that I've read.

Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 In this one, we find out who the new Spider-Man is, if the national news coverage hasn't already gotten the message through to you yet.

Walter Simonson's Mighty Thor: Artists Edition I'll let publisher IDW's official description for this $125 book do the talking: "Last year, IDW Publishing released the inaugural Artist's Edition book, printing the entire Rocketeer saga by Dave Stevens from the original art and at the same size it was drawn. The book was a smash hit and quickly sold out. This year, IDW Publishing, in cooperation with Marvel Comics, is pleased to offer the second book in the series: Walter Simonson's Thor: Artist's Edition! This collection will present Thor 337-340 and 360-362-Simonson's first story, followed by one of his favorite arcs. Thor #337 is one of the groundbreaking issues in modern comics, introducing the classic character, Beta Ray Bill. It was a runaway sellout when first released and it has only gained prominence with time. Simonson went on to write and draw approximately 40 issues of Thor and his legendary run on the title is an undisputed classic. All the pages in the Artist's Edition were scanned from Simonson's personal original art to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art-for instance, corrections and blue pencils. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board."

Comics With Video Game Connections (new this week in comics shops)

Batman: Arkham City #4 Official summary: "The miniseries that leads into the video game continues under the guidance of game writer Paul Dini. The gates swing shut on Arkham City, trapping small-time criminals and deadly Super-Villains behind its walls. As the prisoners struggle for survival, a rogue unit of Mayor Sharp's security force hunts down rival gang bosses The Joker and Two-Face. Not only must Batman save the lives of his greatest foes, he's got to fight his way through an army to do it!"

Crysis #3 Official summary: "The mysteries of Lingshan deepen as Prophet and the remnants of Raptor Team race to reach an extraction point on the far aside of the island. Their only route of escape-through the mountain stronghold of the alien creatures. What they find waiting for them there will shatter all their previous ideas about the Ceph threat and place them further from rescue than ever before."

DC Universe Online Legends #13 Official summary: "Superman's power fluctuations are out of control, and while he's battling everyone around him in a mass of confusion, a surprising figure tries to intervene! But can anyone - or anything - stop an enraged Kryptonian?"

And Over On The iPad/iPhone/Droid/WebBrowser…

The ComiXology Comics app and website offer a fresh batch of new and old digital comics this week (though beware that Marvel doesn't offer comics on all of the services' platforms). Highlights this week include the first few issues of Batman: Shadow of the Bat, for '90s Batman readers nostalgic for vintage Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, a few Mike Barr and Alan Davis issues of Detective Comics, the full six issues of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Hulk: Gray, and the 12-issue Jim Kreuger and Alex Ross series Universe X (anyone want to vouch for that one?). Plus, they added a pile of Superman comics over the weekend, including the first several issues of Action Comics, circa 1938, and the six issue Man of Steel mini-series by John Byrne that rebooted the character (and made me a lifelong comics reader) in 1986.

Best Comics I Read Last Week

Secret Avengers #15. This was the best of a small stack of comics I managed to read in the last week. I've been distracted by other stuff and haven't read enough comics!. So, take this as a good one, not a great one. What it is is a done-in-one story about super agent Black Widow arguing with the staff of a tabloid news website about their report that Captain America's death was not real. Seriously. That's what it is about. It's unusual and not the most natural of stories, but the conversation goes in interesting directions. It's a good, fresh take on super-hero deaths, a tonally fitting follow-up to the previous issue's one-issue take on the death of regular people during super-hero battles.

Tell me what you're reading this week and which great comics I'm missing.

There are new comics in comic shops and available for download on many of your favorite digital devices (no, not your microwave) every Wednesday. I have recommendations for you. One of them is a limited time offer... for a digital comic. Go figure.

Comics You Should Consider Buying (from comics shops)

American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 American vampire hunters go to Romania to find a cure for vampirism and not get killed by Nazis. The first issue of this mini-series was excellent.

Captain America #1 They're re-starting Captain America. Official summary: ""Bestselling Cap writer Ed Brubaker and superstar artist Steve McNiven bring you the next huge chapter in Steve Rogers life, and it's a perfect jumping-on point for fans of the Cap movie. A funeral for a fallen friend turns into a race against time as the original Captain America makes his explosive return!"

DC Comics Presents: Batman Gotham Noir #1: This $8 comic contains an old Batman story by the aforementioned writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips, whose sharp, tense Sleeper, Criminal and Incognito series have been some of the best gritty crime comics published in recent years. Their comics aren't flashy but they are consistently very good.

FF #7 I've been enjoying this new take on the Fantastic Four a lot, but I don't know the group's history, so you tell me why this official summary is meaningful: "The Return of the King. Black Bolt is back and is determined to reclaim his throne."

Green Lantern #67 Belatedly, the War of the Green Lanterns cross-over concludes with this issue, with some sort of status-quo changer. Speculation's been that Green Lantern Hal Jordan dies or becomes a Guardian of the Universe. We'll see…

Red Wing #1 A new series from Jonathan Hickman, writer of Marvel's stellar FF series. Official summary: "To stay alive in the future, the best fighter pilots in the world not only have to perfect their skills and master their aircraft, they also have to know how to travel through time. Brought to you by award winning writer Jonathan Hickman and possibly the best new talent of the year, Nick Pitarra, the Red Wing is the story of the greatest battle in the history of the history of three worlds.

X-Men: Schism One of my favorite super-hero comics writers, Jason Aaron, begins his X-Men run with this. Official summary: ""The X-Men event of the decade starts here! It's never been a more dangerous time to be a mutant. Even with their numbers at a record low, the world refuses to trust mutantkind…and after a mutant-triggered international incident, anti-mutant hatred hits new heights. Of course it's at this moment, when the mutant race needs most to stand together, that a split begins that will tear apart the very foundation of the X-Men. From superstar writer and Marvel Architect Jason Aaron and a full roster of comics' top artists, this is an X-tale that will reverberate for years to come!"

Comics With Video Game Connections (new this week in comics shops)

Crysis 2 Official summary: "Trapped on the Lingshan islands in the South Pacific, Prophet and the survivors of Raptor Team are on the move, trying to stay one step ahead of the alien invaders awoken by the North Koreans. While hiding, Prophet reveals the details of his last mission in Columbia, how he came to meet the mysterious Jacob Hargreave, and how their mission on Lingshan may hold the key to mankind's survival."

Pokémon Black and White Vols. 1 & 2 Official summary: "Meet Pokémon trainers Black and White! White has a burgeoning career as a Trainer of performing Pokémon. Black is about to embark on a training journey to explore the Unova region and fill a Pokédex for Professor Juniper."

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Lost Suns #2 official summary: "There are dark secrets behind the treaty that brought peace to the galaxy and an end to the war between the Jedi of the Republic and the Sith Empire. Now, with rumors of the secrets spreading, the galaxy is afraid a new war may be beginning . . . Elite Republic spy Theron Shan has been assigned to find the old Jedi Master behind these rumors. Previously thought lost forever in Sith territory, Ngani Zho is back and more peculiar than before he left. Theron has his hands full with Zho, a troublesome thief, and the threatening Sith Knights who are also on Zho's trail!"

And Over On The iPad/iPhone/Droid/WebBrowser…

The ComiXology Comics app and website offer a fresh batch of new and old digital comics this week (though beware that Marvel doesn't offer comics on all of the services' platforms). Highlights this week include the first few issues of Todd McFarlane's 1990 Spider-Man series (but don't blame me if the writing isn't very good) and a bath of recent standalone ".1" issues from Marvel, the best of which were Wolverine #5.1 and Secret Avengers #12.1 (only one of those is about a birthday party for Wolverine). But the highlight and best value is the Planetary Digital Omnibus, which is a limited edition $25 collection of the great series' 27-issue run. The series is about a group of superpowered investigators whose tours through the world's oddest events had them intersecting with thinly-disguised versions of some of the most iconic moments in comics history. This is one of writer Warren Ellis' best comics, if not his best. The only problem here is that it's a limited edition which, of course, makes no sense for a digital product.

Best Comics I Read Last Week

I didn't read many comics last week and few of those were very good. I enjoyed the first two issues of Mystery Men, a Marvel mini-series about some new pulp Marvel heroes who fight crime in the 30s (a new issue is out today). I liked that latest issue of FF. But the best comic of the small batch that I read was Nick Spencer's Secret Avengers #14, which was a standalone story about the experiences of super-powered and non-super-powered people who see their loved ones killed on the battlefield. Well-paced, well-told, as Nick Spencer's comics almost always are. It's strong and one of the few cross-overs with the Fear Itself series that I've liked, but it's not essential.

Tell me what you're reading this week and which great comics I'm missing.

Electronic Arts has followed its claim that Steam "expelled" the EA-published Crysis 2 with an explanation that some EA games will not be available over Steam, the leading PC download service, because of a dispute over how they are patched and updated. This comes, of course, a month after EA opened Origin, its own digital download service.

"We always want to be sure we provide this content and service at the highest possible level of quality. To ensure this, any retailer can sell our games, but we take direct responsibility for providing patches, updates, additional content and other services to our players," wrote David DeMartini, Electronic Arts' senior vice president of global E-commerce. "Unfortunately, if we're not allowed to manage this experience directly and establish a relationship with you, it disrupts our ability to provide the support you expect and deserve."

DeMartini said that this arrangement was suitable in EA's partnerships with GameStop, Amazon "and other online retailers," but implied that it was unworkable "under extremely special circumstances," implying such circumstances were conditions set by Steam.

DeMartini added that, except under those circumstances "We offer our games to every major download service, including Amazon, Gamestop, and Steam."

In mid-June, Crysis 2 went missing from Steam, though it was available on other download services, including Origin. EA insisted that Steam's "business terms" forced Crysis 2's removal, adding that "Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis II from Steam." While unspecified at the time, taken with DeMartini's comments it sounds like a conflict over post-release support and its approval.

David DeMartini: At EA We Respect Consumer Choice ... Your Choice [Electronic Arts]

Crytek are the developers behind the original Far Cry, Crysis, Crysis 2 and the Cryengine. They could also, but for the grace of God, have been bought out by Microsoft.

IN an interview with Official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft's corporate vice-president Phil Spencer says "The first time we met with [Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli] and the team was around seven or eight years ago, and we started talking about what it'd mean for them to become first party."

"And it was a process of what do you guys want to do, what's unique for us, and they were just going to do Crysis, and they'd just come out of Far Cry, and we said we've probably got enough military future shooters, so go do that."

I think Microsoft do a good job on the console side of things, but since they don't do a good job on the PC gaming side of things, the world is a better place with that purchase not having taken place.

Crytek has "fallen in love with Kinect" - Microsoft Games Studio boss [OXM]

Today, the South Korea GRB (Game Rating Board) apparently approved Crysis for the Xbox 360. Crysis has not been released on the Xbox 360. It's a Windows-only title.

According to the Korea GRB, the game will be published by EA Korea. The rating page, which also went live today, specifically states the game is Crysis. Crysis 2 was already released in South Korea earlier this year. Does this all mean the Xbox 360 is getting a Crysis port?

Kotaku contacted EA and will update this post should the company comment.

Update: South Korean game site Inven apparently contacted EA Korea, who supposedly confirmed the Xbox 360 version of Crysis, adding that the release date was TBA.

MyCrysis • View topic - Rumor - Crysis for X360?! [MyCrysis, Thanks catmario1121!]

The first Crysis was tailored directly towards the glorious PC master race. So the fact the sequel pared back the hardware demands in favour of something that would run on a console did not go down well.

The game's reception reflects this, and has perhaps led to a reassessment of the decision, Crytek boss Cevat Yerli telling Gamasutra "Crysis 1's intention was, if I were to play it three years later, it looks great. And it does, actually, it fulfilled that. But it made it difficult for entry-level players. So with Crysis 2, we took a different direction, and it backfired a little bit."

Next week's DX11 upgrade, for instance, is being viewed by Crytek as an olive branch of sorts, Yerli adding "This is much more like a gift to the high-end community. And I think gamers will appreciate that. It lifts up Crysis 2 and gives a sneak peak of how PC gaming will evolve in the future, if you support a high-end preference."

It'll be interesting to see if in the future people are saying "but will it run Crysis 2?" like they said "but will it run Crysis?" Because I've got a feeling they might be saying "but will it run Battlefield 3?" instead.

Crytek's Expensive 'Gift' To Its High-End Players [Gamasutra]

If you can handle it, that is.

When first released earlier this year, Crysis 2 disappointed many hardcore PC gamers, who had hoped the game would, like the first Crysis, be something that could really make an expensive rig sing.

Instead, it shipped so pared back there were Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, and the PC edition didn't even support DirectX 10, let alone the more contemporary DirectX 11.

All that changes next week, when developers Crytek release a big patch for the game that brings full DirectX 11 support, along with new shadow effects, motion blur effects, improved water effects and a new high resolution texture pack.

If your PC can handle all that, the patch will go live next Monday, June 27.

Crysis 2 Patch 1.9 Notes [Crysis]

Crytek's CryEngine 3 technology, which we've seen most recently in the company's own Crysis 2, is the driving force behind a $57 million project from the US Army aimed at teaching its soldiers how to fight.

While virtual battlefields have long been a staple of military training, the new Dismounted Soldier Training System (DSTS) looks to blow previous efforts out of the water, using the latest in gaming tech to give soldiers one hell of a realistic video game experience training ground run.

The DSTS isn't a simple game played on a PC or console. It's a full virtual experience, with soldiers donning a vest and helmet (both lined with cameras, vibrators and sensors) and then standing on a 10x10 foot pad, which is also full of sensors.

This means the experience is almost fully motion-controlled, and instead of being projected on a screen, the program's visuals are displayed on a pair of virtual reality goggles attached to the soldier's helmet.

CryEngine 3 comes into it with its ability to model not just infantry combat but vehicle and aircraft controls as well, and also display wildly different terrain and weather conditions.

The DSTS is expected to go into service next year, with around 100 units available for training.

[via GamePro]

For about a year, Crytek has offered universities a free license to its CryEngine 3, the guts of this month's big release, Crysis 2. Since it made the offer more than 250 universities have asked for the code, the studio reports.

That's a pretty significant indicator of the mainstream utility of gaming code in a college classroom, if not of the mainstream presence of games design in their curricula.

"From its very first days, Crytek aimed to strongly support students and educators by sharing the CryEngine tools with universities," Avni Yerli, managing director at Crytek, said in a statement. "Thousands of students now have access to the same cutting-edge technology that the world's best developers are using for their ongoing projects. With our CryEngine 3 educational SDK we want to enable them to achieve their vision and create their very own innovation to become the next generation of developers."

You don't have to be a university department head or a bigtime developer to get your hands on Crysis' development tools. A modkit will release to all users sometime in early summer, Crytek has said.

Over 250 Universities Worldwide Signed Up For CryEngine 3 Educational License [Gamasutra]