All the respectable object physics from Crysis replicate to the console versions. Bags and tires float. Metal grocery carts don't. You can interact with most stuff, though mostly for fun. Copy machines pretend to copy. Printers pretend to print. Phones play error tones. Tourist viewfinders actually zoom on landmarks, and your suit apparently waives the fee.
The new ledge-grab feature helps you move around and makes you feel more connected to the environment. Stand next to a platform, say a crate or shipping container, and jump--if it's not too high, you'll grab the edge and scramble over. The "connected" theme carries over to cover, too. If you pull up against a low wall while crouching, you'll "stick" to cover, with the option to pull a trigger and peek over, or if you're against a corner, around.
Most of the opening level plays like hide and seek, or tag with bullets, working you through suit functions and showing you how enemies work in teams, radioing after each other, Metal Gear-style. The enemies I'm fighting--they looks like SWAT teams, but I'm still not sure--scan all angles constantly and spot me unless I'm truly hidden. And they move. Most don't wake up then go back to sleep, or follow patrols loops. They stick their noses into everything, and if you rile them up, they come after you, probing and perusing, wending their way between tents, fences, sandbags, sandbag walls, fountains, and the odd New York City tree. The only glitch I've noticed was one poor fool caught against a slightly raised hallway/room divider, stuck in "infinite walk mode," and--along with his buddy--utterly oblivious to the weirdness.
My only serious quibble so far: Vehicles apparently have just two speeds: Stop, and "go really, really fast," which makes driving with any accuracy a major pain. Why you can't modulate incrementally by applying more or less pressure to the gamepad triggers, I couldn't tell you.
Alright, that's me out of things to say. Well, almost: So far it's just as clever, beautiful, punishing, and exhilarating as the original was at its outset. Whether it'll close as strongly and rectify Crysis's terminal shortcomings, well, one thing at a time.