Crysis Warhead Review

Warhead is a fantastic stand-alone expansion to a superb shooter, and should be played by anyone who likes games with guns.

The Good

·                                 The action is focused and intense   

·                                 Amazing visuals that look–and run–better than before   

·                                 Improved AI makes fighting aliens more fun   

·                                 Team Deathmatch has been added, along with a number of great multiplayer maps.

The Bad

·                                 A little too linear at times   

·                                 A few remaining AI quirks.

All of the claims you may have heard that Crysis could only run on nuclear-powered supermachines were greatly exaggerated. But if for some reason you worry that this stand-alone companion to the ultragorgeous first-person shooter will bring your PC to its knees, you should know that it’s highly scalable and ran smoothly on a number of machines during our testing. It also looks better, with clear attention given to the game’s artistic sensibilities and the lusher, denser environments. But rest assured, developer Crytek has enhanced more than just the graphics engine. Vehicles are more fun to drive, firefights are more intense and focused, and aliens do more than just float around you. More emphasis on the open-ended environments would have been welcome, but a more exciting (though shorter) campaign, a new multiplayer mode, and a whole bunch of new maps make Crysis Warhead an excellent expansion to one of last year’s best shooters.

These big boys are back, and will still give you a chill. Literally.

If you didn’t play Crysis, Warhead’s story may be initially confusing, given that you hit the ground running with little exposition. You play as Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes, the brash Brit who was a bit player in the original game. Psycho tends to play by his own rules, always willing to ignore orders and jump into the fray if that’s what the situation requires. The story runs parallel to the events of Crysis, though his strident attitude–and a dramatic cutscene near the end of the game–definitely make this Psycho’s tale, even if the actual plot remains the same. In any case, you and your US Special Forces team are investigating a tropical island besieged by North Korean invaders. However, your greatest menace comes in the form of aggressive aliens that turn the luxuriant jungles and glowing beaches into a frozen wasteland. You and your teammates, clad in nanosuits that grant you special abilities such as super strength, temporary cloaking, super speed, and additional armor, confront both threats across a variety of large environments.

Psycho’s brazen confidence does more than just establish a gutsy protagonist: It sets the stage for a more focused and intense series of battles that keep the pace moving more smoothly than before. Warhead still offers some of the same kind of sandbox levels, but thoughtful enemy placement and map bottlenecks keep downtime to a minimum. You can approach assaults on beachfronts and Korean encampments in a number of ways, so if you’re a stealth enthusiast, you can employ your suit’s cloak setting and sneak in, or attach a silencer to your sniper rifle and take out your human foes from a distance. If you would rather employ hit-and-run tactics, you can jump into the heat of battle, cause a ruckus, and use your suit’s speed function to zoom away. However, Warhead is clearly focused on the guns-blazing approach, gently nudging you into full-on encounters with its mission objectives, character dialogue, and level design. When you reach primary and secondary destinations, you’ll get besieged by large numbers of enemies, both human and (later on) alien. Given that human foes also don nanosuits, they’re not necessarily quick to fall; as a result, these sequences are exciting and challenging, and you’ll need to use your suit abilities and cover opportunities to your advantage. The easily triggered explosions of enemy vehicles and hazardous barrels further intensify these pockets of activity.

A number of set-piece battles confirm this slight shift toward action-packed mayhem. Your first encounter with a hulking alien war machine may not have the same impact as a similar one in Crysis, but it happens earlier than you’d expect, and it establishes the alien presence with adrenaline-fueled drama. That battle is a wonder, as is a later defensive mission that has you fending off a series of aliens, and requires you to shift focus frequently and use every weapon in your inventory. Another great sequence is a train level that, at first, seems much like similar sequences in a number of other shooters. You can stay on the train and use turrets to gun down the opposition, as expected–but you can also jump off and engage the opposition at any time, giving even this near-cliche sequence plenty of replay value. A linear journey through an underground mine is the obvious misstep in regard to level design, given that it never so much as hints at the open-ended action that makes Warhead a superb shooter.

Better vehicle handling makes for better action.

If you played only that level, you also wouldn’t see the host of improvements that power the action, particularly the improvements to alien artificial intelligence. The general design means that these robotic rivals will occasionally still be floating around above you, but they have more obvious smarts now, and they find ways to pummel you with ice pellets while remaining just out of sight, staying on the move, and using cover more often. Human enemies also seem more aware of their surroundings, flank you more often, and activate their nanosuits’ armor to minimize damage. They also use the limited visibility that the jungle affords them quite well, hiding in brush to stay just out of sight. There are some remaining problems, particularly if you take potshots from a distance. Occasionally, the AI won’t react when you snipe at an enemy, and foes using turrets will sometimes let you walk right up behind them. On the whole, however, Warhead makes clear improvements over the original in this regard, which in turn makes for better combat overall.

Vehicles feel sturdy, which is just as well, because you’ll be driving them often, either to cover ground more quickly, or just to take pleasure in mowing down enemies with your mounted weapons. You can have a good deal of fun blazing a trail through the jungle while showering your foes with steel death, and the destructible environments further exaggerate the devastation. A scene in which you speed across the tundra in a hovercraft is done particularly well, offering a good sense of speed but pushing you into enemy hotbeds, giving you the chance to stop and fight or zip away with a quick glimpse of Koreans riddling aliens with bullets.

The improved vehicle handling is also noticeable on one of the new multiplayer maps, on which two teams battle in–and out of–the tanks and helicopters scattered about. This is good stuff, and it showcases Warhead’s new Team Instant Action mode, a mode noticeably missing from the original Crysis. It’s just good old Team Deathmatch, but it’s done well, and the maps are improvements on those of the original. Snipers are still a threat, but the size of the maps are better suited to deathmatch battles, and more thought and care seem to have gone into small but important factors, such as weapon-cache placements and player spawns. The Instant Action and Power Struggle modes are still accounted for, and many of the original maps return, offering a large suite of online options that make online Warhead combat more appealing than its predecessor. Note that unlike Crysis, the expansion requires the online component to be installed separately, and isn’t accessible from the single-player game.

Here they come! And this time, they don’t just aimlessly float above you.

Both online and off, Warhead is a beauty. As mentioned before, the game looks better than Crysis, and it runs better too. A test machine that struggled a bit to run the original at high settings ran Warhead smoothly with the same settings. Yet as much as you may have heard about Crysis’ technical prowess, you’ll still be impressed when you feast your eyes on the swaying vegetation, surging water, and expressive animations. Don’t overlook the improved art design, though, which surpasses the original’s oft-sterile look thanks to several striking vistas, such as one featuring an icy naval vessel stranded in the frozen tundra. The audio is almost as terrific. Various creaks and groans make heading down a narrow glacial pathway all the more harrowing, and weapons sound appropriately powerful. The voice acting is strong, and the understated soundtrack sets the right tone without ever getting in the way.

Warhead’s single-player campaign should take you no more than six hours or so to complete, but not only does it invite multiple play-throughs, it costs only $30–and doesn’t require you to own the original. In other words, there is no reason why anyone with a capable PC shouldn’t play Crysis Warhead. It’s more focused, it’s more intense, and though it doesn’t provide as much of the sandbox feel as Crysis veterans would wish for, it still delivers on every other front. Play this game.

 

Killzone 2

KILLZONE 2

Because so much of the gaming public’s attention is focused on scrutinizing every Killzone 2 screenshot to see whether the graphics will stack up to that infamous E3 2005 trailer, it’s all too easy to forget that it’s a real, honest-to-goodness game with a real, honest-to-goodness release date not far off. Sony recently reminded us of this by giving us the opportunity to play through the first six chapters of the campaign. What may not surprise you is that, yes, Killzone 2 is an absolute stunner in motion. But if you haven’t been following the progress of the game, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s also an intense and exciting experience with the potential to work alongside Resistance 2 to provide a serious one-two punch of PlayStation 3-exclusive shooters.

Welcome to the world of Killzone 2. It’s a pretty one.

Whereas the first Killzone allowed you to play as a number of Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) members over the course of the game, Killzone 2 drops you into the shoes of a gruff soldier named Sev and keeps you there for its duration. Throughout the campaign, you’ll follow Sev and his similarly rough-and-tumble Alpha Squad buddies as they push deeper into the Helghast home planet in an opposite scenario of the invasion that occurred in the first game. Sev isn’t the most vocal guy in the world, but you’ll hear plenty of quips from teammates like jokester Dante Garza and the perpetually vulgar Rico Velasquez. Most of the story unfolds in the heat of battle via dialogue delivered from these squadmates, though occasional cutscenes give you fleeting glimpses of what’s going on deep within the Helghast quarters.

One thing becomes immediately apparent when you begin Killzone 2′s campaign: This is not an easy game. The first chapter, Corinth River–an area Sony has shown several times before–drops you right into a heated firefight with no shortage of heavily armed Helghast soldiers trying to take you out from scattered perches. It feels like every balcony, bridge, and window has a pair of glowing red Helghast eyes staring down at you. Starting you off like this seems like Killzone 2′s way of saying that running and gunning won’t cut it; you’re going to learn to be patient and deliberate with your targets, and you’re going to learn right away.

Popping out of cover is a necessary trick you’ll become quite familiar with.

To do this, you’ll need to become good friends with the game’s cover system. It’s a sticky cover mechanic where you pull L2 to snap right onto nearby walls or low barriers. From there, you have the standard move set that includes leaning into a doorway or popping up over a barricade, with the ability to look down your gun’s iron sights to help you get a bit more precise. What makes this system unique and challenging is that you remain in the first-person perspective at all times, so your vision is partially obscured as you stay out of harm’s way. In a third-person shooter you can see almost every target thanks to a wide camera, but here you’ll need to poke your head up fast and get to shooting even faster–making that initial moment when you leave cover that much more thrilling.

The cover system is less critical in close quarters when you don’t have Helghast soldiers trying to kill you from every which way. The second chapter in the campaign, Blood Meridian, trades in Corinth River’s expansive industrial shipping yards and warehouses in favor of tight urban alleyways. In this locale you can become a bit more mobile, charging through the narrow corridors with more close-quarters weaponry, such as shotguns, submachine guns, and your trusty infinite-ammo pistol. But before you get too comfortable, Killzone switches things up in the next chapter, Visari Square, by pitting you against a seemingly endless flood of Helghast in a series of prolonged standoffs. One of these is a small, desperate scuffle with you and two squadmates in a small alley trying to fend off incoming Helghast for 10 or so minutes. However, that’s quickly followed by a huge battle in a wide-open city square where you and dozens of newly reunited squadmates need to hold down the fort as Helghast foot soldiers, tanks, and walking piles of metal and Kevlar known as “heavies” come at you in wave after wave.

The fire effects, blood-splattered screen, and red enemy eyes really pop from the bleak gray backgrounds.

These two moments are a nice little microcosm of the way Killzone 2 keeps you guessing by sharply switching up the scale and intimacy of battles. Later chapters perform a similar trick by quickly altering the setting. The first few hours of the game will be spent running through demolished cities, but later you’ll find yourself in different locales like an elaborate Visari palace and a windswept mining town that wouldn’t feel entirely out of place in a Star Wars movie.

Crysis
Developer(s)	Crytek Frankfurt
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts Valve Corporation (Steam)
Distributor(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Bernd Diemer (producer) Cevat Yerli (director) Sten Hubler (lead designer)[1]
Composer(s)	Inon Zur
Engine	CryEngine 2
Version	1.21 (March 6, 2008[2])
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	NA November 13, 2007 AUS November 15, 2007 EU November 16, 2007 NZ November 23, 2007
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: M[3] OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 16+
Media	DVD DL, Steam
System requirements	See Development section for requirements matrix
Input methods	Keyboard, mouse, & gamepad

Crysis uses a new engine—the CryEngine 2—that is the successor to Far Cry‘sCryEngine. CryEngine 2 is among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) framework of Windows Vista, but can also run using DirectX 9, both on Vista andWindows XP

Crysis was awarded a 98% in the PC Gamer U.S. Holiday 2007 issue, making it one of the highest rated games ever in PC Gamer, tying with Half-Life 2 and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.^[40] The UK edition of the magazine awarded the game 92%, describing the game as “A spectacular and beautiful sci-fi epic.” GameSpot awarded Crysis a score of 9.5 out of 10, describing it as “easily one of the greatest shooters ever made.”^[36] GameSpy gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stating that the suit powers were fun but also criticizing the multiplayer portion of the game for not having a team deathmatch.^[37]. X-Play gave it a 3 out of 5 on its “Holiday Buyer’s Guide” special episode, praising the graphics and physics, but criticized the steep hardware requirements as well as stating that the game is overhyped with average gameplay.^[42] GamePro honored Crysis with a score of 4.75 out of 5, saying it was “a great step forward for PC gaming,” but criticized the steep hardware requirements.^[35] IGN awarded it a 9.4 out of 10, hailing it as “one of the more entertaining ballistic showdowns in quite some time.”

The House of the Dead: Overkill

From the moment you turn on The House of the Dead: Overkill, it’s obvious that things are a little bit different than they used to be. Developer Headstrong Games has crafted a grimier, grungier, grainier game that from the ground up embraces its inherent cheesiness yet still pays homage to its predecessors. Overkill reinvents the aging shooter series for the better with an over-the-top grindhouse theme that resonates in its every aspect, from the hilarious story to the fantastic vintage soundtrack.

When rookie AMS Special Agent G, who originally appeared in the first House of the Dead game of which Overkill is a prequel to, is forced to team up with loudmouthed ladies’ man Isaac Washington, a Bayou City detective on a quest for revenge, blood, brains, and bodies fly. The two curse and shoot their way through endless zombies–we mean mutants–as they chase after nefarious crime lord Papa Caesar, the man responsible for the outbreak. Along the way, you’ll encounter the aptly named Varla Guns, an ex-stripper with her own vendetta against the sinister villain, and blast your way through wave after wave of hilarious and terrifying mutants, including hobos, football players, rednecks, backflipping clowns, nurses, and more.

 

Mutant clowns are pretty much the most frightening thing ever.

 

As is typical with light-gun games, the action is entirely on rails, so you don’t have any real control over your path through the mutant-infested backwaters of Bayou City. You do, however, have some peripheral vision if you move your crosshairs near the edge of the screen, which helps you to pick up power-ups like grenades, health kits, golden brain collectibles, and the coveted “slow mo-fo mode,” which slows time down to a crawl for maximum carnage. Each of the linear missions takes place in a specific set piece that has been cast in the grindhouse theme, from hospitals to carnivals to plantation houses, and at the end of each you’ll duke it out with a freakishly large supermutant in a battle to the death. Throughout the game, you’ll be treated to the hilarious hijinks of the at-odds duo of mutant mutilators G and Washington in the intentionally poorly edited cutscenes that bookmark each mission.

The degree of difficulty ranges from level to level but is more often than not ridiculously easy, especially if you’ve got the help of a friend thanks to the two-player co-op mode, which is very nicely set up so that a partner can join at any time. Most enemies fall to your firepower in only a few shots, and even the bosses are huge pushovers once you learn their simple and predictable patterns. Thankfully, there is plenty more to do than shoot mutants: You can purchase or upgrade weapons for more firepower or variety by spending the hard-earned cash from your missions, you can play three minigames that support up to four players, and you can earn a number of achievements by performing feats such as completing a mission with an accuracy rating of over 70 percent to unlock new bonuses like concept art. You can even unlock director’s cut versions of all of the levels, which are made longer by restoring “previously deleted scenes” and made more difficult by including larger quantities of (slightly) more durable enemies and limiting the number of continues.

Overkill features one of the best game soundtracks in recent years, and each mission has fantastic vintage-style themes, with guitar riffs that will stick with you long after you’ve set your Wii Remote down. Even better special remixes of the in-game songs are unlocked by completing missions, further endearing Overkill’s tunes into your heart. The voice acting is equally top-notch, and every character is fun and memorable, especially the overly dramatic narrator and Isaac Washington, who drops an F-bomb almost every other word. Though the frequency of the swearing may be a potential deal-breaker for some, it fits well into the overall theme of the game and adds more to the experience than it detracts from it.

 

PROTIP: To defeat the boss, shoot at it in the red circle until it dies.

 

The House of the Dead: Overkill shines as one of the best-looking games on the Wii thanks to its frequent and expert use of motion blur and grainy filters and its stylistic color palette. Mutants can also be shot to pieces and their limbs will fall or fly realistically, raising the gore factor and increasing the fun. Unfortunately, its wildly inconsistent frame rate puts a serious damper on the action, and less significant but still frustrating issues like mutant pop-in and clipping occur all the time. There’s also the occasional AI glitch to contend with as enemies sometimes get stuck on walls or other terrain.

Ultimately, The House of the Dead: Overkill is a breath of fresh air in a well-trod genre. It’s incredibly fun and entertaining despite its shortcomings. With a hilarious cast of heroes and villains, brilliant writing and voice acting, and some of the best visuals available on the system, Overkill is one game that no hardcore Wii and a penchant for over-the-top amounts of gore and swearing should miss.

God Of War III

God of War III was first discussed by Cory Barlog at a God of War II launch event.[4] He revealed that the game would run at full 1080p HD resolution, and the game would support Sixaxis tilt and vibration functions.[1] This was stated before the DualShock 3 controller was announced; therefore causing confusion as the Sixaxis controller did not support rumble. Barlog also expressed an interest in adding a cooperative mode “if we can do something unique with it”.[5] In 2007, God of War director David Jaffe stated that, “God of War explains, or ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths.” He has also stated that it will be “hell on earth” as the gods and the titans battle each other for domination. Though Jaffe and Barlog left Sony for other opportunities, they are still credited for the series and will possibly be involved in this installment. Jaffe has since expressed interest to be involved in development for God of War III.[6]
A teaser for God of War III appeared on the back of instruction manual of the retail version of God of War: Chains of Olympus, depicting the PlayStation 3 logo surrounded by the omega logo and stating below that the game is ‘coming soon’.[7] On July 15, 2008, a teaser trailer was shown at SCE’s E3 press conference.[8] It involves a monologue by Zeus regarding the rise to power of the Olympians and how their rule is now threatened. As Zeus urges his fellow gods to war, the scene cuts from the burning countryside around Mount Olympus to a ruined temple, upon which a shadowed Kratos stands. Zeus concludes his speech, saying “In the end, he will suffer! In the end, we will triumph! In the end…” at which point, Kratos cuts in with the game’s tagline “There will be only Chaos!”[8]
On December 14, 2008, another trailer premiered at the Spike Video Game Awards, this time depicting actual gameplay footage.[9] It opens with Kratos saying “My vengeance is everything.” Then the trailer proceeds with scenes of Kratos attacking groups of undead, bats, a cyclops, and what appears to be a centaur. The trailer shows Kratos wielding two massive, fiery gauntlet weapons. Kratos’ final words are “Everything must come to an end!”[10] The official God of War III trailer was released on February 13, 2009, entitled Fear Nothing. This trailer features Kratos running through a forest, which turns out to be Gaia’s back, fighting several enemies, including a centaur and the final enemy, a cyclops, and saying things that references that he fears nothing with the final line being “I fear, nothing.” [11] All three trailers that have been released can be downloaded free in either 720p or 1080p from the PlayStation Store.
On December 16, 2008, Sony claimed that God of War III will be the last in the franchise.[12] The script for the game is approximately 120 pages long

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