So I received my second gtx 470 the other day and after a few driver updates and some overclocking I was ready to see what my rig could do. I was going to bench C3 but I had already played it maxed out and was impressed indeed but I was left wanting more. I immediately went over to crydev.net and downloaded the Maldo hd v4.0 mod and the blackfire 2 mod. Installed both and made sure I had DX11 enabled. OMG! All of the detailed textures presented in hi-res glory. The advanced lighting brought to you by blackfire made the textures and objects pop. I also loved the way the lens would crack or get scuffed as you were taking damage, really nice touch. All of this in 1080p.

So my argument is this, crysis 2 modded is better looking than crysis 3 vanilla. Crysis 2 may not contain some of the more subtle tech implemented in crysis 3 but you have to go looking for those. I.E tessellated vegetation. Also I was impressed with the amount of objects tessellated in crysis 2 over crysis 3. The character models do look better in C3 but I think the objects and environments look more detailed in C2. I really wish C3 had a mod sdk so we could see what maldo and blackfire could do with it. I'm not trying to start an argument here. These are my opinions based solely off of my experience with both games. Hats off to maldo and blackfire for a fantastic job done on a game that was left resembling a horrible console port with some tessellation.

Yeah, the Maldo hd v4.0 mod for Crysis 2 is awesome, definitely a must-have for playing Crysis 2.
But the Crysis 3 graphics and physics are more advanced; Crysis 3 pushes much more details and objects in the screen. In Comparison Crysis 2 feels a little sterile and empty.

I'll agree that C3 has better physics than C2 but that's it. The atmosphere is a little stale compared to C3 but I think that C2 has a better story and more detailed objects than C3. I saw way more detail in objects on C2 after the mods than in C3 vanilla thanks to the hi-res textures from maldo. Also there are far more objects in C2 where tessellation is noticeable whereas in C3 the use of tessellation was more subtle. Gamespot ( I could be wrong as to who did the video. Having a hard time finding at the moment.) did a comparison video of tess off and on on C3 and found that in most instances the effect was subtle. No one can deny that C3 is an absolutely gorgeous game but I think that because of maldo and blackfire C2 surpasses but only slightly.

crysis 2 graphics with maldo 4 HD better than crysis 3 on low? lol wut?

In my opinion, Crysis 3's graphics are better than Crysis 2's. I have, however, never used the Maldo textures, so this point is probably not very useful.

You're both right and wrong as both games are going for a slightly different feel/atmosphere.

There are a few people who insist that C1/Warhead looks better than Crysis 2 + MaldoHD (I'm going to call it C2Maldo) purely because the vast lush tropical setting and spectacular draw-distance is just so damn gorgeous and peaceful to look at...besides the angry Koreans.

I gave C2 another run-through after I got my GTX780, installed MaldoHD and it was really nice. But for me Crysis 3 on High (with Object Detail on Ultra, FXAA because I still want 60fps+) still looks better than C2Maldo.

Yes, if you're going to stick your face into the textures and examine them closely, then C2Maldo will win because that guy has taken time to define every pixel with his blood sweat and tears. In C3 you're most likely never going to find something as detailed as some of his concrete/road textures or that famous keypad.

But overall Crysis 3 is more technically advanced in every single aspect, can't really deny that.

Also C2's DX11 implementation has godawful optimization, it really was extremely rushed and aimed more at destroying framerates than making visual improvements. C3 has it beat there too.

In my opinion, Crysis 3's graphics are better than Crysis 2's. I have, however, never used the Maldo textures, so this point is probably not very useful.
I get it's purely an SP mod but still, how the hell haven't you used Maldo textures with your kind of graphics power. Well you can still try it, do a C2 speedrun with MaldoHD on lowest difficulty.
Pro tip: Scar will kill a CELL trooper at any distance with 1 bullet to the head, use single shot