Crytek's Expansion Has Changes for the Better

Title: Crysis Warhead
Platform: PC
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Crytek
ESRB Rating: M for Mature

It's surprising to think that it's already been close to a year since the original Crysis hit store shelves. Upon release, Crysis was graced with great reviews and plenty of fanfare but was extremely taxing on even high-end PC gaming rigs. The highly anticipated PC game even sparked controversy when initial sales reports put the game at just 86,000 copies sold in its first month (not long after that, Electronic Arts countered with a "one million copies sold" press statement). And of course several months later, Crytek publicly stated that piracy was impacting the sales and success of Crysis, which spurred even more waves in the gaming community.

Even with all of the great reviews and the pre-release buzz out there, Crysis never quite reached the level of popularity that was expected of such a high profile PC game. With that said, I was one of the last people to think that Crysis would see any sort of direct PC expansion, let alone one that didn't require the original game. I figured that with slow sales and public statements regarding piracy, plus a multiplayer community that never really seemed to take off, the next time gamers would see Crysis would be on a console. Color me surprised, but Crytek really came through for PC gamers with their latest product: Crysis Warhead.

Crysis Warhead is literally an expansion pack that stands on its own. It does not require the original Crysis in any way, but it offers nearly as much content, if not more than the original. On the single-player side, Crysis Warhead features a single-player campaign with respectable length and a high level of polish and design behind it, although it falls slightly short in length compared to the original. Crysis Warhead offers a greatly expanded multiplayer side, which actually comes on a separate disc and requires its own installation. The sometimes misunderstood "Power Struggle" mode for the original Crysis multiplayer has been somewhat retuned to make it more friendly to newcomers, and it's a great enhancement. Additionally, there are now "Instant Action" deathmatch and team modes to be had, which opens up the series multiplayer beyond the vanilla deathmatch and team deathmatch modes.

When it comes to the single-player offering, Warhead can be finished in one sitting of somewhere between six and seven hours. The game takes place during the same events as Crysis but this time, players assume the role of Pyscho, Nomad's squad mate who becomes separated from the team on the other side of the South Pacific island. Psycho ends up having to deal with his own unique obstacles on the island. The initial 15 minutes of gameplay are dedicated to getting the player up to speed with controls, but after that the game tosses you right into a hell of a lot of epic action.

Crysis Warhead only features one new vehicle for players, but the single player campaign is full of intense action.

For the price of Crysis Warhead, the quality of the single-player campaign really surprised me. Warhead can be bought at most retailers for a mere $30 MSRP price tag, but the campaign is as polished as its predecessor's. In some aspects, Warhead even goes beyond Crysis; I felt that the cinematics were exceptional, especially in regards to animation, art, and detail of expressions. It was as if I was taking part in a movie - granted a very long one, but it was a very engrossing experience.

The characters themselves are well developed and very memorable, even those that are just there as placeholder grunts. Warhead presents a new villain for the Crysis series, and he and his crew definitely have personalities that are easy to hate. There's also an element of mystery regarding what the villain is up to, and it hangs in your face up to the very end. Your buddy Nomad is almost entirely separated from your local situation, so really the entire storyline is on a path of its own when compared to the original. It would have been easier for the design team to intermingle the two narratives, but the way that the story and missions are designed, it's obvious that Crytek wanted to offer as unique of an experience as possible.

The only minor beef that I have with the single-player campaign is the limited-use controllable vehicles. The heaviest vehicle you'll end up using is the standard armored personnel carrier (APC), while you'll have limited runs with the new heavily armored transport and spend the majority of time with stolen jeeps. If you're expecting clashes between armor or the chance to go off and have air battles with VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircrafts and helicopters, you'll be disappointed. Warhead manages to do fine without the heavier vehicles, though, and to make up for it you've got some cool rail encounters. Think trains with several mini-guns and cannons, and a whole lot of bad guys to deal with on the ground and in the air.

Crysis Warhead does feature two new weapons and a new vehicle, and they're welcome additions. The first of the new weapons is a mini sub-machinegun that can be paired up for dual-wield fun. They are customizable as well, and do damage comparable with the standard submachine gun. The second addition is the grenade launcher, which comes packed with two grenade types. The first is a standard frag grenade that does excellent damage to infantry, and decent damage to light vehicles. The second grenade type is an EMP type grenade, which can short out nanosuits and alien technology. Each grenade type can be loaded in groups of six, but are slow to do so. The new vehicle offered is a heavily armored transport vehicle which comes with either a mini-gun for infantry and light vehicle encounters, or a 20mm cannon for those heavier encounter days.

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