Crysis Warhead (PC)

The biggest shooter of 2007 finally gets the polish it deserves.
10/2/2008 7:12 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 2

The byword of the military shooter in 2008 is "refinement." Rarely are gamers handed concepts that are genuinely new, but loads of pleasure yet remains in seeing something done significantly better than before. That's what Crysis Warhead is all about. The $30 standalone expansion to developer Crytek's visually stunning shooter Crysis improves just about every aspect of gameplay, from vehicle handling to alien artificial intelligence and the very behavior of the vaunted graphics engine.

In fact, while Warhead is a solid tangent off the main Crysis story arc, it works better as an affordable introduction to the franchise. The basic story presents that of the original from a different perspective -- Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes is set down on an island occupied by hostile North Korean forces, but all humans are soon under assault by an alien force that freezes the entire landscape. As Psycho, a walk-on character in the original game, players are clothed once again in a powered suit that can enhance strength, speed and defensive capabilities at will, or offer a cloaking mechanism to aid in flanking enemies.

The only impediment to pure enjoyment is that the story is presented with incredible brevity. The cut scenes don't offer much exposition, but the point of the short (five- to seven-hour) campaign is to parcel out action into many different doses. Not only is that accomplished, but it's done with more variation and player options than in the full game.

Cut apart Warhead like a 10th-grade dissection project and you'll find a simple structure: large set pieces as the major organs with slight connective tissue holding them all in line. Yes, the basic game progression is quite linear, but once within the operating theatre of any given set piece there are options aplenty. For example, just prior to the Big Freeze, Psycho will be tasked with infiltrating a harbor, nabbing some sensitive info, then boarding a submarine. The approach is heavily defended, as is the harbor, but there are ways to go in guns blasting, either on foot or by vehicle; to stealthily flank most of the resistance; or to use the suit's superhuman enhancements to achieve some tactical mixture.

None of what goes on in Warhead is innovative at all, but the action comes together quite well. Crytek went straight for some of the hoariest levels in the book: a descent into a mine, a ride on a train and a defensive setup against waves of enemies. And yet, thanks to a basic design directive that keeps many options open as often as possible, it rarely feels like yet another rehash of that level that was so much better in (for example) the original Call of Duty all those years ago.

Despite Psycho's near-impenetrable suit, there's plenty of tension, especially once enemy humans are similarly attired and discover their ability to run from EMP grenades that would destroy their defenses. Aliens, meanwhile, no longer float around aimlessly and are therefore much more of a threat. This time, the human AI flanks and pushes forward and back with more smarts and precision, and vehicles, while still feeling a bit slushy, handle much better. The only glaring flaw with the AI this time is that enemies get dumber the further away they are from Psycho, which means that snipers get more advantage than they should. (As an inveterate sniper, this particular fault glared out at me bright and often.)