• Developers: Crytek
  
• Publishers: Electronic Arts
  
• Initial release: Sept 2008
  
• Genre: Action, FPS, Standalone Add-on
  
• #Worth/NotWorth: #Worth

Crysis Warhead is a standalone add-on or more accurately an addendum from a different perspective than that of Nomad from the first game. Warhead begins and takes place during the latter half of Crysis 1, roughly before the mission “Ascension”. You play as Michael Sykes better known as “Psycho”.

It's got all the bells and whistles that Nomad's nanosuit had as well as the tactical options afforded by weapon modifications. It feels slightly more limited in map design and has trigger points that pull you out of the action more often which isn't ideal.

Also the novelty of having such tactical options available are less enticing when the AI is for lack of a better word, abhorrent, in most cases. I once had about 9 enemies huddle into an alley behind a building just waiting to get ambushed. I also had an instance where I went into a building to complete a objective, completed that objective and proceeded to grab supplies from a nearby weapon cache only to turn around to find all the enemies had just now spawned into the building I just had infiltrated. It wasn't really an issue though. More chances to experiment as playing around with dashing and strength jumps never really gets old.

THE GIST
This is a nice little standalone piece though I don't think it tells a very cohesive story to be honest should you not have played through Crysis 1. But to reiterate, I don't think that's the main draw. It's nice that it's there for some context. But really Crytek knows you're here to cloak shoot a gas tank off a hummer and watch the fire spread and pop the tires and proceed to have the jeep rip itself apart in a rather dramatic fashion.

Follow my curation for more

It's like an expansion pack to first Crysis. You get to play as Psycho and see things from his view. They've added new weapons, vehicles and new enemy types. Story is better than first Crysis if you ask me. Short, but more action. Graphics haven't changed a bit, still the same Crysis you know. So, if you liked the first Crysis, you'll like Warhead even more.

"I'm British you muppet."
-Psycho

Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone sequel of Crysis 1 that feels like an addon. Although it's only about half as long as Crysis 1 and smaller in scale, the game is still decent. While Crysis 1 took a nosedive when the alien were introduced, Warhead was smart enough and only used aliens sparsely, which is a good thing. Warhead is set during the events of Crysis 1 and would be very confusing if you haven't played the first game before.

+ open maps
+ A lot of human enemies
+ Crysis soundtrack
+ I really liked the train mission
+ Runs better than Crysis 1 for me.
+ You can modify your weapons.

- Long cutscenes that are cringyworthy
- Final map can be frustrating
- a bit too short for a stand-alone game
- Some sudden framerate drops during the last mission.
- It doesn't add much to the franchise.
- Lack of memorable scenes

I would recommend buying Crysis Warhead if you want to know what happened to Psycho when Nomad wasn't around or if you liked playing the predecessor: 7.5/10

A good expanison to a great game.

09-Aug-2016 : Finished main story
Equipment : MSI GT80-2QE Notebook

REVIEW :
Great graphics, mediocre gameplay, boring story and characters, short game. Crysis and Crysis Warhead maybe top action games back in 2007-2008, but for today, don't waste your time. Get newer action games instead.

CONCLUSION :
Recommended on sale price.

fun to cheat in

Crysis Warhead is a first person shooter, and is a standalone expansion top the original Crysis game. This was released in September 2008.

Warhead follows a side plot to the original story of "Psycho", an ally of the original protagonist, Nomad. You are thrown into challenges on the other side of the island at the same time as the original story. One change with the gameplay that Warhead brings, is the chance to customize your weapons, allowing you to put silencers, different sights on, and other additions such as flashlights. All of the weaponry which was in the first game is still present here, with the addition of a few new guns such as dual wielding SMGs which are absolutely bad-♥♥♥. We see the return of the super human style nanosuit too.

Warhead features a optimized version of the Cry Engine 2, but it still lacks 1080P resolutions which is a real shame. The game still looks really nice and blows alot of recently released titles out of the water graphically, even though it is almost eight years old now. The graphics menu has interesting options available, you are basically having to pick the style of gamer you are; you get pigeon holed into categories such as "gamer" or "enthusiast" for example - to me this really doesn't look good. I should be able to pick the graphics options with their regular choices, and not some predefined garbage categories which we see here. The lack of high resolutions slightly lets the game down. There is a hot-fix you can do by changing .ini file settings, but this also messes with frame rates, and lord knows what else.

The story is a complete stand alone to the original game, you can play this game first and still be none the wiser that their is a prequel to it. I really like the idea that all of this story is going on at the same time as the original though, it makes the plot seem even deeper than before.

Warhead has some well recorded voice acting, all be it a very generic English accent on the main character, but all of the other dialogue and sound effects are all very good.

This game has various difficulties, much like the original. Playing on Delta mode, which is the hardest, will certainly give you a well worthy challenge if you are an experienced Crysis/FPS player, stick to the lower difficulties if you just want to see the story as enemies and gameplay takes a significant drop in difficulty.

Warhead, much like Crysis 1, could sometimes be considered as an open world game. The levels which you are playing in, are absolutely huge. There are so many different methods of reaching the same location, that you can play this game exactly how you want it. I personally opted to try a more stealthy approach, and normally games don't really cater for different methods like that, but I was still able to experience everything the same. There are tons of little nuggets of extra story to find throughout each level too, from computers to checkout, to radio broadcasts of propaganda. Plenty of stuff to keep you looking in every building you come across.

A full playthrough of Crysis Warhead will take you just about five hours; depending on how you play. My first run through was a regular all gungho all guns blazing playthrough, which took me just about four hours to complete. My second run, which was my stealthy approach, took me quite a bit longer. Normally I don't get as much enjoyment out of my second run through a game, but I was able to get the same, and if not more enjoyment out of a second playthrough, I was able to see a different side to the game which I didn't see before in the regular playthrough, and the higher difficulties add a little bit more replay ability too.

As well as the aforementioned resolution issues I had. I did notice a little bit of screen tearing on the cut scenes. Turning on v-sync tanks the frame rate to sub 30, which is unacceptable. nVidia users can enable v-sync in their control panel but you will still get a bit of tearing sadly. I guess that's what you get from older direct 9 version of games when you are running more recent operating systems/direct x versions.

Crysis Warhead definitely stands the test of time when it comes to gameplay and story; it's hard to believe that this game is almost eight years old now. You wouldn't think so with the quality of the gameplay on show. It is a welcome addition to the Crysis franchise and one that should almost certainly be played by fans of the series, and just FPS fans in general. For the low price of £7,99, you will be getting a significant length story mode, with plenty of replay ability with a very fleshed out story line to boot.

Tom's Score Card
1) Stay away
2) Only recommended when on sale
3) Recommended
4) Highly recommended
5) This is a must play

If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up. You can also find more reviews over at http://www.completingthebackloggroup.com/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/17330/

If you can find my user review for the original Crysis I noted how the quality of its level design seems to fall off a cliff later in the campaign. A lot of other people will probably tell you this too. Warhead feels as if Crytek made it specifically to address that problem. It’s pretty much a more tightly-designed package of Crysis levels with a couple new weapons and vehicles.

If you were actually interested in what the original Crysis game’s story was about I don’t know what to say, but Warhead’s is slightly better. It’s kind of like the difference between Predator and The Rock respectively, the latter being slightly less cheesy, but still bombastic in its own way. Warhead follows Psycho (the British guy) and features a somewhat decently played-out character arc between him and a new supporting character. That’s all I think I can really say about it.

Aside from the original game’s suit powers, a new grenade launcher, EMP grenades which weaken nanosuit-equipped enemies (who are far more common in this expansion) but you as well, drivable APCs, and a couple new kinds of mounted gun, Warhead’s selling point is its superior level design compared to the original game. Luckily the level designers managed to stay strong throughout.

Crysis is a game that, behind its graphics, is hailed for open-ended mission design reminiscent of GoldenEye or Thief with huge maps. Ironically, almost all Warhead’s missions are pretty linear compared to the first game’s. But it manages to be linear without feeling like a Call of Duty-style corridor. It’s a very “wide” sort of linear.

The first mission ends with an open-ended base infiltration similar to some levels from Crysis, but after that everything is technically a straight line that still manages to give you a lot of options in how you play the game. The vehicle chase sequence immediately following that infiltration somehow doesn’t feel like a scripted event but instead simply has you follow a target within an open area. This is followed by what is, actually, a pretty well-done boss fight to contrast with the first game’s mediocre final boss. Afterwards there’s a section inside a battleship where Crytek actually manages to play some scripting tricks on you without automatically controlling the camera or putting you in a quick time event or anything. It’s almost more Half-Life 2 than Black Ops in this way. Warhead makes even its literal tunnels dynamic enough to let players have a say in how they tackle each combat situation, including a train section.

Visually, Warhead looks slightly better than the original Crysis but hasn’t had nearly as many mods made for it. Fortunately Crytek actually tried to optimize Warhead a bit so for most people the game should run better than Crysis. Warhead’s highest graphical features also aren’t locked behind DirectX 10.

Compared to the first Crysis, Warhead is kind of like the same meal with the same ingredients but prepared more diligently after the chef got some experience.

Also see my Crysis 1 Review (though it follows my old review format):

Crysis: Warhead was released in 2008 and serves as the stand-alone expansion to the 2007 hit game Crysis. (Famous for being one of the most technologically advanced video game in terms of graphical and visual fidelity back in 2007, but at the same time, infamous for making most, if not all, gaming PCs at that time obsolete.)

The player takes the role of former British SAS Sergeant Michael "Psycho" Sykes. He currently serves as a member of Raptor Team (a Spec Ops unit equipped with Nano Suits) who were sent to Lingshan Islands to investigate the presence of North Korean forces. The story takes place after Raptor Team is split up and Psycho is sent on a one-man mission to sabotage various North Korean targets and to capture and recover a mysterious container that the North Koreans are very eager to get their hands on. Discover a new side of the island and join in Psycho's action packed adventure that made some players during the first game wonder what he was doing while Nomad was waging a war as one-man army.

+ Better optimized to run with more systems than Crysis 1
+ Beautiful graphics and scenery
+ Good choice of main character but...(see CON #2)
+ Large pseudo-open world map but...(see CON #3)
+ Intense firefights and action packed gameplay
+ Added Multiplayer (Though I personally haven't played it)
+ Nice straight forward story that features another aspect of the Lingshen Island Incident
+ Chicken bullet secret DRM

- Very Short (3-4 hours played at the highest difficulty)
- Unimpressive voice acting from some of the cast
- World map is smaller than Crysis 1
- Not much re-playability
- Full price tag does not justify the short campaign. (May be the multiplayer holds it up but then again, I don't play multiplayer)

GOOD EXPANSION but I can only RECOMMEND this game if it's bought while on SALE or with the Maximum Edition (Crysis 1 and Warhead) or Crysis Collection (Crysis 1, Warhead and Crysis 2).

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http://store.steampowered.com/curator/6861651-Miyumi%27s-Review-Corner/

Amazing game , Beautiful graphics and a ♥♥♥♥ing good story.
When you get to the final cut scene , it'll leave you wanting more.