Crysis Warhead
Review
Crysis Warhead delivers more action and bigger explosions
by Marko Susimetsä
reviewed on PC
Changed gameplay (cntd.)
Faster to kill enemies and more powerful nanosuit clearly indicate that the game is geared towards somewhat different kind of gaming style than the original was. Whereas in Crysis you were likely to sneak around and snipe your enemies from a distance, Crysis Warhead all but urges you to head right into the heat of battle and kick your enemies in the face. This feeling is supported by the music that has way more action-like beat to it than the score in Crysis had and the fact that enemies seem to be more numerous this time around.
Personally, I see this change turning the game into a more old-fashioned FPS title - you are no longer required to think of your actions before you act, since the more powerful nanosuit and easier to kill enemies make mad rush a viable battle tactic in every situation. Not something I necessarily like seeing in a sequel to the great Crysis.
What has not changed from the original is the usefulness of the weapons that you have at your disposal: grenades are still rarely needed and I could find no real use for the Claymore or anti-personnel mines. They certainly provide you with options of how you can carry out the missions, but, for me, they were just extra items to scroll through until I found the weapon I really wanted to use. And, as I said above, the enemies are easy enough to bring down with conventional weapons, even on Hard difficulty, to make grenades and mines unnecessary.
It is, however, a fresh change of pace to have your enemies throw special grenades at you that disrupt the functions of your nanosuit for a while - this actually makes you careful about trying to avoid grenades as the effect of this sort of grenade makes you a mere mortal for a while, and easy prey to your enemies. This is also one of the aspects that made me wish for more human vs. human action in the game.
Graphics and sounds
If you thought Crysis looked fabulous, Crysis Warhead is going to blow your socks off. Simply put, everything is prettier than it used to be. The engine, CryEngine 2, has been upgraded and this has made it possible for the developers to improve the graphics quality while at the same time make the game run on lower spec computers than the original did. Unlike in the original, the quality levels for graphics settings are called Minimum, Mainstream, Gamer and Enthusiast. On my system (WinXP, Core 2D 3.0GHZ, 4GB mem, GeForce 8800GT) I could play the game easily at the Gamer settings and 1680x1050 resolution without any noticeable stutter.
All in all, the explosions are bigger and more beautiful, the textures of the weapons are simply stunning and there are more pretty sceneries to be found. The sounds are also improved from the original and at least the female suit voice is different from the original (never used the male voice, so I cannot say anything about that – why anyone would want a man whispering in their ear is beyond me).
But is it fun?
When all the details are bigger and better than in the original, one question remains: is the full gaming experience as fun as it was in the original? Myself, I liked the non-alien fights more in the original than the alien settings in the endgame. Thus, for me, Crysis Warhead is a bit of a disappointment – the aliens arrive on the scene much too early, leaving only a handful of the beginning missions for good old-fashioned human vs. human action. Nevertheless, I find myself playing this game instead of the original (big surprise, since I've played Crysis through at least six times) and will probably play it through again on the hardest difficulty when I've finished it once on Hard. I'm not sure, however, that I'll play this through as many times as I did the original.
For any fan of the original, or FPS games in general, Crysis Warhead is a definite must-buy.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
