Crysis: Warhead

Scroll down for a Crysis Review in the next post.

Crysis: Warhead is not so much a sequel, or even and expansion, it's actually more like a gigantic patch with lots of stellar (excuse me for using that word) DLC. Except that it's completely stand-alone, and too much of an improvement from the original game to be a patch.

You play as Sgt. 'Psycho' Sykes in a parallel story line to the first game, but on the other side of the island. Although the storyline isn't memorable, it's enough to propel you through the game with moderate interest. The game play is tuned to just short of perfection, improving AI and general game flow from the original. Two new weapons include the dual-wield able SMGs, which replace your standard pistols while packing an amazing punch at close range. The other weapon is another prototype that doesn't require a lock-on to fire, which is fun for killing everything on a level in around 3 mins. The suit still functions the same, with minor tuning, and most of the guns have better skins, along with the enemies and vehicles. Two new vehicles are fun, but you don't use them more than once. The campaign runs around 8 hours, without dying once or getting stuck anywhere.

The game itself is optimized ten-fold over the original one, it runs better and looks better at the same time, but when cranking it up to max it still takes a monster to run. Shadows are more shadow-y, and the anti-aliaising even looks better. Other than that though, it doesn't look much different from Crysis.

The balance issues from the original are also mostly resolved, which makes the game much more enjoyable. You won't find yourself doing try-and-die fifty times in a row.

If you bought it at the store, Warhead gives you Crysis: Wars for free, which is the multiplayer element. Unlike the last game's multiplayer, Wars is actually a great game. It's two new modes, team free-for-all and plain FFA are fun, but those get old after several plays. The old mode, Power Struggle is polished and improved to the point that it really works well, where as the original's multiplayer was lackluster and boring.

Warhead really is the game that Crysis should have been, and if Crytek is smart they'll give the original Crysis a makeover and release both games-in-one for $50, for people who didn't play the games the first time around.

9.3/10 for improved game play and graphics, new campaign style, good multiplayer, amazing price of $30, still takes a beast of a system to make it run well
What I'm playing: Mass Effect PC, Crysis: Wars, TF2
Games I'm into: L4D, Mirror's Edge

Crysis: The Complete Pack review!

Ah, Crysis. That game that your computer won't run. I hear it's all just flash, no real material, and that it's game play is uninteresting. Is that actually the case? Quite the contrary, actually, as Crysis and it's counterpart Crysis: Warhead deliver stunning visuals and exciting game play. I'll go over Crysis first.

Crysis puts you in the suit of a super soldier, on a mission to rescue archeologists on an tropical paradise. You fight Koreans with a squad of other super soldiers like you, although most of the time you're a lone wolf, so don't get me wrong; this is no tactical shooter. The suit you and your chumps are wearing has several different features, an armor mode, which lets you absorb more damage, a speed mode, which lets you move much faster, a strength mode, which lets you, well, be strong (to jump higher, and throw things farther), and a cloak mode, which renders you invisible for a limited amount of time. The effectiveness of these modes are all based around your suit energy level, which recharges moderately fast but also is spent as fast.

The gunplay in Crysis is somewhat different that most games, the guns feel heavier, more realistic, and all around more awesome. But that doesn't stop you from dying more than ever. The difficulty of the game waxes and wains, as sometimes you'll be able to breeze through enemies like a tank, other times you'll find that you have to try and die ten times before you complete an area.
Amazing physics and great visuals really complete the game, and I know you're saying "yeah, on your computer", but I have no dream machine, I was able to run everything on medium with a dual core 2.6 ghz, and nVidia 256mb 7600gt, and it looked great.
The story of the game is interesting enough to keep you captivated, and although it's not a very original idea, it's still fun. The game play ranges from person to person combat, stealth action, survival, jet flying, car chasing, massive tank skirmishes, sniper wars, and a number of other innovative mechanics.
My only complaint is that just as you get the hang of it, you're onto the next thing.
I finished the campaign in around ten hours, minus load times and reloads due to dying, around eight and a half hours. The experience is short and sweet, at worst; lackluster and frustrating, at best; pure genius. I hear there is a map editor somewhere in there too.

Check back for a complete Warhead review in several days.

8.6/10 for innovative game play, amazing graphics, map editor. Frustrating at times, un-original story, unbalanced combat.
What I'm playing: Crysis: Warhead, Mass Effect
Games I'm into: Left 4 Dead, FarCry 2

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

You know when you get 5 bucks for mowing the lawn or some other normally abnormal thing that you usually never do for money? And then you think, gee, this would buy me an Xbox Marketplace arcade game, or a Steam game. So you're browsing, you find some little games that catch your interest, then you go back and look at them all, and they all seem to suck. All but one of them suck. But you didn't know that, did you? That's why you bought an insanely priced milk-shake instead. (Or you deposited it into your bank accout, but who does that?) Rewind! You're surfing the games and you find a game called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Huh? Yep, you buy it and in five minutes you're playing it, and it's really hard and you can't even get past the third "target thing" flying at you till you die. This is exactly what I did. I bought it, I failed horrendously at it, and I gave it up. What a waste, eh? Yesterday, I booted it up for no reason what so ever, and tried my mouse at it...and I got a stunning score of 86,250. (Approxomately 85, 950 more than my previous high score) That's cool right? Maybe that four dollars wasn't a waste after all. If fact, it turns out to be totally cool! The intense panick of your play screen filling with nifty green shapes that evade your lasers and crowd you is really thrilling! And totally intense! So many close calls and dissapointing defeats mixed with retro sound effects and amazing visuals makes this my casual game of 2007. Yeah, I know, I'm REALLY late, but if you didn't pick this game up the first time you saw it, pick it up now. I's only four dollars on Steam and (correct me if I'm wrong) five dollars on Xbox Live Market Place. Trust me, it's worth it. It sucks at first, but once you figure out that you can move around (yeah, I didn't know till last evening) it's truly amazing. And it's beautiful. That's about it!


GEOMETRY WARS: RETRO EVOLVED: 10/10

Awarded for outstanding visuals, sound, and being a great arcade shooter-
Loshon's Casual Pick of the year. (So far)

What I'm playing: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Mass Effect for PC, Mirror's Edge