Crysis Warhead Review

[DEATHMASTER]

I hope it looks as good as original crysis at those setting/performance.

 

[Blackthorn]

It looks and performs better according to all sources I've encountered, and official statements.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Now if they could only update the original with that (and I don't care how big the patch), I might consider buying it.

 

[Blackthorn]

That's also what I'm hoping. I really don't see why the wouldn't and couldn't, unless they've done an enormous overhaul of the entire engine, which I doubt.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Yeah, more people need to subscribe to that kind of business model. People that support previously released products for the win. Look at CD Projekt releasing Witcher Enhanced as a patch to people who bought it before... for instance.

 

[jverne]

why are you people complaining so much about crysis performance?

i've played it on a intel dual core and a geforce 8500gt on medium, except the more performance impacting settings were set to low (shadows, shaders). it was perfectly fine and pretty.

what's all the fuss about it?

 

[Gray Fox]

The game is all about shaders the other setting don't really matter and with low shaders it's basically full bright and looks like shit.

 

[Lucid]

People with 4 year old PCs want to play it, I guess.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

why are you people complaining so much about crysis performance?

i've played it on a intel dual core and a geforce 8500gt on medium, except the more performance impacting settings were set to low (shadows, shaders). it was perfectly fine and pretty.

what's all the fuss about it?

I turned everything on high but the shaders and shadow on low and got pretty good frames. I turn everything on low but shader and shadow on high, the game looks craploads better but it has an unplayable framerate. The game's visuals are simply composed of shaders and light.

 

[Tyguy]

i hope they increased bullet damage

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I barely realized that there was low body damage (except on aliens), mostly cause I just go for the head.

 

[Arrowhead]

i hope they increased bullet damage

They did with the multiplayer. That's for sure.

 

[MultiVaC]

One of the later patches for the original increased the bullet damage in SP. It's much better now.

 

[Ridge]

So, here is what I think...

Warhead starts a few hours after Nomad (character from Crysis) and the Marines take the harbor and blow up the ship...

Somehow Psycho (the character in Warhead) manages to watch the attack and then immediately is on the far side of the island for the rest of the game...

Gameplay seems weak...enemy AI is dumber on the same difficulty from Crysis. Its designed for weaker systems, and as a result you can watch trees and rocks appear 20-30ft in front of you on the default graphics...

Graphics, the settings are odd...there are several presets, which are:

Minimum - Self Explanatory
Mainstream - Low Medium
Gamer - High Medium
Enthusiast - High Setting

Apparently my rig is "Mainstream" :hmph:

Continuity of the gameplay is halfway decent...you start off right in the middle of a firefight, yet are safe enough to learn the controls without getting killed...but you can only go so far (15-20 minutes of gameplay) before you lose control and are put into a 3-4 minute cutscene.

On the other hand, its interesting to see the events of Crysis play out from a different perspective...you get to see the sphere form and the effects on the people caught within its borders...Driving vehicles is the same, except for now you get some cooler ones (you steal a PRK APC with a grenade launcher mounted on it and speed down a highway with a downed pilot blowing the hell out of everything in your path... Sometimes the path to take isnt as obvious as it probably should be...Im told I need to chase down a PRK general while in a hovercraft and there is no apparent way to get up the cliffside to follow him without abandoning your only means of transportation.

That is as far as Ive gotten....so a recap.

Good:
Same events, different perspective
Continues story with parts you didnt know of during Crysis
New vehicles, weapons and customizations

Bad:
Dumber AI
Some parts require intense planning while under mortal attack
Feels cheesy and tacked on

Ugly:
My computer is mainstream?! WTF!!!

My rig, FYI...

Intel Core 2duo E6400 2.13Ghz
4Gig PC-3200 DDR2
nVidia GeForce 9600GT 512mb
Western Digital 500Gb SATA
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

 

[giant384]

why on earth did this game get a high score???

are they just judging graphics still?

the story was shit in warhead.

 

[soulslicer]

1. Then change your settings duh, if Warhead cant seem to detect the optimum settings for you :|

2. Dumber AI? Are you kidding me, the AI is awesome.

3. What do you mean trees and rocks only appear 20ft to 30ft draw distance. It was good for me, probably because you set your settings low

4. Yeah, the story isn't good, but you actually expected it to be great? like after Crysis? Just play the game for the gameplay and graphics. You got a decent rig, and a badass gpu.

 

[giant384]

umm the crysis story was actually interesting, warhead didnt really go anywhere.

 

[Ridge]

Yeah I really enjoyed Crysis....great story, and it was nice to have time to breathe between battles....

In Warhead I drive a Jeep into a group of enemy soldiers, bail out and go hide in half a bush..***n out of cloak? No problem...sit there for a minute while it recharges, then turn it back on...

 

[Lobster]

If a game wants to go for a cheesy action story im fine with that, what annoyed me in Warhead, was the sudden 'bridge' scene that seemed to be trying to claw an emotional response from me, even though I had been given no reason to give a crap about those involved, it felt like it was trying to make some political statement, it was really random and silly.

The tools they give you in the gameplay are great, but the level design is quite eratic, somtimes it will give you loads of options but give you virtually no challenge or pay-off for using them, then it will randomly give you a maze of halo corridors and two weapons, then suddenly back into an against-the-clock rush across an open area with little choice but to blast at anything that moves.

Its still impressive to look at, and these are just my opinions, the rest just all feels a little disjointed to me.

 

[Ridge]

Honestly, had I been Psycho during the bridge scene, I'd have just let him fall...it was what, 50ft? Hundreds, maybe thousands had already died at that point...what was one more?