The game-play is very intense and more battle oriented than the original. Often you barely have enough time to shoot all the enemies and there's more ammunition available than you can possibly use. Of course you can also use stealth approach, but the main character is nicknamed "Psycho" for a reason.
There are a few new weapons and vehicles to use and the nanosuit is just as fun to use as in the first installment. The plot is average.
Those who were disappointed by the final boss fight in the original will not be disappointed here.
Crysis: Warhead has a pretty rough start - it's one of the uglier FPSs I've played so far, and its level selection borders on the generic - a beach level, a train escort, etc, but it's beefed up enough and your character has enough interesting abilities that it eventually becomes an enjoyable bargain bin game.
Its story is underwhelming, the character's abilities underutilized, and the game is a breeze even on the maximum difficulty, but it seems like a good basis for a multiplayer experience.
For me, I've played it once, I'm not going to play it again.
Enemies are bullet sponges, AI either horrendous or can see you through solid objects, and early levels are a breeze. For most of the game all you have to do is avoid conflict and sprint from checkpoint to checkpoint.
During the train escort I ran alongside the train, jumping from side to side to avoid enemies, instead of engaging them like the game told me to. In segments where the train stopped and I had to man a machine gun to protect it, I simply camped and waited for the game to continue.
If you go the route chosen for you by the game's creators, you'll encounter dozens of enemies. Take shortcuts, and this game is a breeze. You barely need to pick up weapons, and your health replenishes.
You have a special suit that can allow you to become invisible, jump past high obstacles, fall from heights without a scratch, run really fast and more.
It's very easy to become invisible, and reach an objective without engaging a single enemy, or simply infiltrate an enemy base, and shoot the troops point blank.
There are some nice weapons, but you get so many, they get lost in the shuffle. There are also interesting vehicles, but they need to be enjoyed in a different setting - during combat they're an easy target for your enemies.
My only major gripe is that sometimes the scope on the guns seems to be off, making you miss an enemy by a mile.
Small confined levels, with progression and events set in stone. A 5 dollar game.
The game begins where the original Crysis left off and focuses on the alien invasion. It is much more streamlined though, with scripted events and less freedom to explore. It is short: 4-8 hours start to end.
Gameplay is unchanged: Combine your arsenal of weapons with unique powers like invisibility, extra damage, or extra armor to get an edge over your enemy. Once again you may drive vehicles and even tanks you find. The missions are a bit more varied this time around and ongoing alien attacks do provide a sense of urgency. However, the basic idea is still to smash things and kill people in spectacular ways.
The story behind the events of Crysis Warhead can be told in a few words: You are a one-man-army blessed with a prototype set of armor that gives you super human powers, and you must stop the aliens, and - for reasons I personally never found satisfying - the army of North Korea, while you are at it.
The narrative is a bit black-and-white: US good, Korea bad, Aliens super-bad with very little in between the extremes. In other words: If it moves, shoot it until it stops. The game doesn't get much deeper than that.
Crysis Warhead has some new friendly characters that you will meet. Unfortunately those characters remain a bit shallow, and scenes do at times border on cringe-territory. Despite the story's best efforts though, our protagonist basically remains the mindless killing machine with no past and few redeeming qualities that we all love and couldn't care less about. Not that we would expect "redeeming qualities" from a shooter, that is.
For what it is, Crysis Warhead is a fun shooter that provides good, mindless entertainment mixed with a little bit of story for when you need it. However, due to how incredibly short it is with just 4-8 hours of content, it is best to get it on a big discount.
