Crysis warhead (PC) review

Monday, October 06, 2008 Author Danish Ahmed

Warhead's a clear demonstration that Crytek learned its lessons from Crysis. Since this is just an expansion-sized update, though, it makes us wonder what Crytek will do for its next full game.

If crysis was an unconscious homage to 1980s action movies -- filled with lo

ads of pyrotechnics, bloody military-versus-alien combat, and a serviceable story designed to maximize action while minimizing

thought -- then crysis warhead is the 1990s update to the action-movie formula. Filled with even more s

pectacular production values, a script that adds both self-referential humor and additional military

jargon, a sweeping score, and even more over-the-top combat scenarios, Warhead's essentially The Roc

k to Crysis' Predator.

This standalo

ne parallel-story expansion is also a pretty clear indicator that developer Crytek listened to feedback about the original Crysis -- Warh

ead is leaner, denser, and less linear than its predecessor. A typical scena

rio (the game features seven in total) resembles the universally beloved first half of Crysis; you're

tasked with simple objectives such as "blow this up" or "get to this point" and left to your own devices. Do you use your nanosuit

's cloaking ability to stealth it up, dash in and start gunning away, or turn on strength and start chucking barrels at fools? While Crysis turned into a l

inear affair during its tail end, Warhead wisely avoids that for the most part; with the exception of a

few sequences (some pretty contrived -- though ultimately painless -- missions through both an abandoned mine and a frozen aircraft carrier), pract

ically every mission does its best to let you play as you like. Even a mission revolving around a train

chase only requires that you keep up with the locomotive; you can choose to stay on the literal rail sequence on the train it

self, or you can hop off and make your own way via various vehicles.

Warhead's campaign moves briskly, clocking in at around four and a half hours (I started at 10

a.m. and finished by 3 p.m. -- even after taking a lunch break). The relentless pace translat

es into constant forward movement, whether it's to hurriedly reach an extraction point or keep up with a train or rendezvou

s with a Delta Force squad. Oftentimes, you finally resolve one skirmish o

nly to find yourself immediately stumbling onto another; you're never at a loss for something to blow up or shoot. While I generally appreciate this

expedient pacing, I also think it might be a bit too breakneck for players who prefer surveyi

ng the area and carefully planning their attacks.

Because you'r

e often caught up in the don't-stop-for-nothing pace between crazy action scenarios (such as a high-speed

chase in the snow, a Korean-versus-alien skirmish, or a last-stand def

ense against an alien onslaught) -- and because Warhead's general optimizations make it look and run

a bit better than Crysis -- I found myself overlooking some minor dings. For example, the

actual list of new "things" is somewhat paltry, amounting to some automatic pistols, new bu

llet and grenade types, and a grenade launcher for firearms -- while the new vehicles are essentially APCs with slightly tw

eaked guns. The environment, with a few eye-candy exceptions, feels recycled at times. While the Korean soldier

A.I. is tweaked (they're better at things like flanking and using their nanosuits), the aliens -- even

the new type that project energy shields for their comrades --

still tend to behave simplistically, opting to either bull-rush or circle above you. Conversely, while the visual of seeing fellow nanosuited soldiers fighti

ng alongside you against a huge alien exosuit is an awesome one, it belies the reality that your buddies don't use their suit

s as well as the Korean soldiers do -- opting instead to mostly shoot their guns over and over. Only twice in the entire campaign did I see a friendly Delta

use a nanosuit ability (using speed and cloak in separate inst

ances). Conceptually, the last encounter is pretty much the same as in Crysis -- the main difference being a smoo

ther framerate, a better superweapon, and a more open area in which to dodge the big bad's

attacks.

The separate Crysis Wars multiplayer component is what it is: tweaked ve

rsions of previous Crysis multiplayer modes, plus a team deathmatch mode. It's neither sufficiently awesome nor terrible en

ough to sway whatever opinion you might have of Crysis multiplayer. It either clicks, or it doesn't; I enjoyed myself in tea

m deathmatch, but I don't see it as quite the improvement that the single-player campaign received (though the deathmatch-s

pecific maps are pretty spiffy).

Warhead's a clear demonstration that Crytek learned its lessons from Crysis. Sure, it's still

got some troubling flaws, but they're not as big as Crysis' "this awesome sandbox game became a corridor shooter." If anything, sin

ce this is just an expansion-sized update, it makes me wonder what Crytek will do for its next full game.