Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead is Crytek’s follow-up to the original game. It tells the same story as Crysis - North Koreans versus Americans amidst an alien invasion - but sees it through the eyes of a secondary character, leading to a wildly different experience. This new title explodes with action, rivaling the biggest summer action blockbusters. While it is, in many ways, an expansion of the first one, Warhead is a standalone game and doesn’t require the original in order to play.
Presentation
Crysis Warhead takes place in the same island as its highly acclaimed predecessor, featuring lush forests and gorgeous scenery, surrounded by crystal clear waters. The events, however, unfold on the other side of the island. Instead of Nomad, you now control British Sergeant Michael Sykes (Psycho), the more daring of the operatives who landed for the mission.
The protagonist’s code name alone should give you a hint of what the new game has in store - insane action! The opening scene sets the stage for Psycho’s version of Crysis as he leaps off cliffs, manhandles enemy soldiers and sneers at the face of danger. Warhead begins and ends the same way it did in Crysis - what separates the new title is how it all unfolds.
As with the original, the game’s visuals stand out well above everything else in the market. It offers amazing detail and rich graphics that truly help immerse you into the experience. In fact, Warhead’s graphics actually display an improvement over the original. The terrain is even more detailed and some effects are markedly improved. The use of third-person cut scenes in Warhead (as opposed to none in Crysis), lend it a more cinematic feel.
It bears taking note that over a year has passed since the original Crysis came out before Warhead, yet no game in the market has been able to even match the former’s visual delights - not until Warhead, that is.
Gameplay
It’s all about the battles in Warhead. While Crysis received criticism for being slow-paced at times, Warhead is pure action. There are few downtimes for Psycho as he goes from one fast-paced gun fight to another, with little in the way of rest. It may be nowhere near the insanity of COD4 but Warhead is extremely overloaded with incessant action nonetheless.
The Game features new weapons (six-shot grenade launcher, submachine guns) that are even more customizable than the original, although much of the available artillery remains the same. The nano suit remains your most powerful defensive and offensive tool, able to get you through impossible situations. It lets you, for instance, disappear in the middle of a chase, allowing you to escape unscathed. You can blast opponents from afar and use the suit’s super speed to rush to their side and finish them off.
Like the original, the levels are played sandbox-style, allowing you to make whatever you wish of each situation. The faster pace, however, may compel you to make faster decisions and attend to situations at hand, making creative solutions a secondary thought.
The enemy AI was definitely updated for Warhead. The aliens, for one, are definitely harder to fight, with many of your encounters overlapping with one another. They dart around from one area to the next, often leaving your strategy in the dust. No more linear battle sequences, either. Everything is fought in the sandbox. Korean army soldiers continue their pesky ways, ganging up on you when the timing is right and playing possum for an ambush.
As of the moment, sophisticated hacks the same level that we have for Crysis are not yet available. Soon though, expect similarly powerful implements that allow you take out enemies regardless of skill level. Possible hacks under development include aimbots (Vector and Hitbox), various auto-shooters (even ones that go through walls), ESP powers to identify enemies, friendlies and lethal objects in the vicinity, infinite ammo and stamina and many more.
Multiplayer
Crysis’ old multiplayer was, in many ways, a massive failure. It came with two modes - the first one (Instant Action) being too simple and the second one (Power Struggle) being too complex. Power Struggle, in particular, had too many rules, played too long and required too much thought. As a result, Crysis never got off the ground with a solid multiplayer base - unusual for a title lauded by many as the best action game of 2007.
This time, Crytek learns from their mistakes and outfits Warhead with Crysis Wars - a good, old-fashioned team-played deathmatch. All players can now don their nano suits during online play, making for very interesting dynamics. Strategy becomes of utmost concern when all your enemies are capable of super speed, reduced damage, cloaking and super strength just as much as you.
Various maps are available for the multiplayer mode with several more on the way. Most of the bundled maps, however, are infantry-only and pits a team of soldiers armed with nano suits against a similar group. Only one map came available with vehicles, making tanks, APCs and helicopters available for commandeering.
Unfortunately, though, Crysis Wars skipped shipping in with a persistent stats tracker, a feature available in most multiplayer shooters.
Does It Play Crysis?
Your PC may not play Crysis but it can probably play Warhead. Yes, the graphics in Warhead have been optimized for better performance, allowing PCs previously unable to make the shooter’s better settings work to play it at high levels.
Priced at $30, Warhead is a huge value. While the pricing may have to do with the fact that it uses much of the same story and technology as its predecessor, Warhead is really a new game all unto itself. Not only that, Crytek pretty much addressed every negative thing said about Crysis and fixed them in this action-packed, incredibly exciting title.
Source: Crysis Hacks
