A short but sweet ride
After playing this game to the end I kind of felt what I felt with the first Crysis. This is pretty good, but I think some people won't judge it on its own rights. A game that relies heavily on graphics to make a name of itself is bound to have it weighed more than it should. Crysis Warhead, like the first game just to a lesser degree, is not just a pretty game, it's a pretty game that's also a great game.
What makes it so special are the nanosuit features. You can become invisible, have a boost on your shield, get stronger melee and better aim, run faster or make changes to your gun. Each have its own benefits and using them on the right moment is essential to do well. Advanced usage can be achieved by quickly going through them in the heat of action.
This is what basically sets Crysis apart from other FPSs, the way you interact with the world and enemies using your nanosuit will ultimately make the game for you. Focusing on action will require more shield, while stealthy styles benefit a lot more with invisibility. Speed-runners are bound to find great use of the running feature. Every interaction with the threats you face is made personal by how you approach them.
To make everything work out as it should a good AI is required and it's hard to complain on that department. Enemies will frequently search for you if they hear or see something. A visibility meter warns the player if the situation is turning into a mess. The game becomes especially good at higher difficulties where when and how you do thing will definitely affect the result.
It is true that this is a very brief campaign, but as the years have passed I learned to enjoy much more a 5-hour game that entertains fully during that time than a 30-hour game that just drags you on and on. It is brief, but with other difficulties you must take at least another go at it after everything is said and done.
The main character is not Nomad anymore but this time you can Psycho on a side-view on the events of the first game. The differences between Nomad and Psycho are quite clear, especially if you consider that probably the developers chose to tell the story a bit different. In the first game Nomad was a somewhat quiet person, not much of what was going on went through his voice lines. Psycho is much more talkative and some cutscenes take quite an emotional approach on him and the story.
Sure some scenes reveal a lot about the story, probably even more than the original, but the focus of the game is always action. The tasks you are asked to perform won't be too far apart, mostly assault, computer briefing, communication establishment, and so on.
Graphically it's one of the best looking games you'll ever play, and it should remain that way for a long time. Everything this game has to offer from a technical point of view is pristine, graphics, sound, controls. Unfortunately the player who only judge this game by technical aspects might not realize what a great game it is to play, and the engaging challenge it presents.
People shouldn't be misled by what general consensus makes of a game. Hype tells you that Crysis is a gameplay-like tech demo, they couldn't be more wrong. People might look at the graphics and play it just for them, maybe just to test their computers or have orgasms while looking at it. Newcomers on the PC world might give you this impression, but this game fits well on the PC not because of graphics, but because it's unique on how you can approach it.
