Well, after finally building a rig capable of handling this game on High/Very High settings, I can finally give a fair review for these two games.
Please remember, this is all personal opinion.
I'll start with Crysis:
Storyline: The storyline in Crysis may follow the popular formula of mankind battling an alien aggressor, but I do appreciate the addition of some originality. Discovering the alien menace on earth is a bit of a switch, and much needed for the genre. In addition, having an opposing nation working against the player to claim the discovery as their own makes for a more interesting plot. The game may not be the most original I've ever seen, but it at least exercises a known formula to an extremely capable and entertaining level.
Rating: B+
Graphics: Crysis is known for being the best looking game on the market, and for the most part, it succeeds in living up to its name. While we've seen most of the technology in Crysis in other games, Crysis is truly the first to combine them all seamlessly to create a living and breathing world. The impressiveness factor of the graphics goes far beyond what is first apparent however. Looking at the gorgeous water from the surface, I was wholly impressed, but when I went below the surface, whole new levels of beauty were opened. The wildlife underwater is not as populated as I would have liked (occasional pods of fish and a shark that will quickly destroy you aren't enough), but the realism of ocean depth outshines that issue. The most impressive graphical feat I noticed underwater was the diffraction of the color spectrum visible on objects above water. Seeing the color spectrum enveloping the edges of objects just like real life was truly a sight to behold. Another fantastic graphical touch is the amount of realism in the vegetation. Seeing each individual blade of grass/leaves/etc flutter realistically in the wind is nothing short of stunning. The shaders in the game are done excellently as well, with each surface rendered realistically from any light source. I could go on and on about how wonderful the graphics are, but I must stop praising them and move onto the only detriments I can find about the visuals. For one, textures seem to suffer from a surprising amount of pop-in, regardless of my having 4GB of RAM and 512mb of VRAM. Secondly, the ice shader is less than outstanding in comparision to the rest of the game, which is unfortunate.
Overall though, the graphics are undeniably some of the best in gaming history.
Rating: A/A+
Sound: The sound design in this game is not as good as the graphics, but it is still quite good. The ambient sound is what makes the game and truly brings the player into the world. The sound of wind fluttering through the trees, hearing distant gunfire or roars, etc are all excellently mixed to provide a realistic sound environment. The dynamic sound effects such as explosions and gunfire are also rather well done, but not perfect. The explosions and gunfire don't quite sound as punchy as they should at times, which slightly brings down the realism. Then with the voice acting, it's a mixed bag. Some of the acting is fantastic (Psycho, korean soldiers), but unfortunately, some of the more prominant voices are not as impressive as I would have liked for a game of this caliber. Nomad's voice is your generic soldier, with a voice to fit. Prophet has decent voice acting, although some of it sounds a bit forced. Your other teammates early in the game had mediocre voice acting at best, especially Jester playing the stereotypical latina voice. Helena Rosenthal's voice strikes me as particularly grating, making any speech of her's rather hard to listen to. The rest of the cast performs capably, but nothing truly shines through.
Rating: B+/A-
Gameplay: Arguably the most important aspect of any game, the gameplay in Crysis is generally excellent. While some of the game is your generic first person shooter fare (running through areas shooting whatever moves), the game contains enough innovation and strategy to keep it interesting. The nanosuit is truly one of the greatest strategic aspects of the game, allowing the player to tackle the game differently every single time, and the artificial intelligence does a generally fantastic job of responding accordingly to your actions. That said, the AI is not without fault. There are many occasions where I will snipe a soldier standing right next to his buddy, and the other guy stands there while I line up my next shot. And then there are times where the Koreans are apparently all-knowing, and they will relentlessly track you down when it should be impossible. A great example of this are the helicopters. No matter how fast you run, no matter how long you stay underwater or stay cloaked, they always know exactly where you are, and will fire the split second you poke your head out, which is extremely annoying. The AI on the aliens isn't much different from the Korean's, and is actually somewhat dumbed down. The aliens generally will not hide from you, and will make suicidal runs that usually leave the player victorious. The bigger flying ones aren't much of a threat either.
The most unfortunate part of the gameplay is the "bosses." The first boss you fight is very much a pushover. Apparently the korean nanosuit doesn't do a good job. The second boss is fortunately more difficult, and it will take most users some skill to take the exosuit down. The final boss is an absolute disgrace however. Instead of innovating, Crysis unforunately took the lower path and decided to give the user a vastly overpowered weapon against a vastly underpowered enemy, resulting in an ending that was somewhat bittersweet. However, if you can look past the faults, I have mentioned, Crysis is enjoyable.
Rating: B
Overall, Crysis is a great game, well deserving of the ratings it has gotten on review sites. It's stellar graphics and sound, along with the interesting gameplay definitely present a great experience that anyone with a system who can run it should play.
Overall rating: A-/A
Now, moving onto Crysis Warhead.
I do not want to restate anything I said above, so this section will be shorter.
Storyline: Virtually the same as Crysis, just from a different perspective. The main plot of capturing one of the aliens takes over much of the game, but it isn't enough to really be new to players of the first game. That said, the storyline is easily just as good as the first, but it doesn't present enough new additions to keep it fresh.
Rating: B-
Graphics: The graphics in Warhead are very close to the same as Crysis, but the subtle differences are worth mention. For one, the detail on Psycho's nanosuit is absolutely outstanding. Secondly, the ice levels have recieved a major overhaul and have benefited greatly from this. The use of depth of field also seems improved here, lending more of a feeling of depth than the original. However, that's about where the differences stop.
Rating: A/A+
Sound: From my experience, the sound in Warhead was improved over Crysis. The voice acting of Pyscho, a favorite of mine in the original, is in full effect here. The actor brings a high level of convincing talent to the role, making Pyscho into a 3 dimensional person. The voice acting on the main villian is decent, but nothing too special. The added weapons have a nice punch to them, making them feel heavy and real in the world, and making them seem like they belonged there in Crysis.
Rating: A-
Gameplay: The gameplay is almost completely the same in Warhead, but the improved AI of the aliens is a welcome addition. The aliens will now use strategic elements such as cover, along with their healing buddies to systematically destroy you and/or your squad. Plus, those damn helicopters aren't as much of pain now.
Rating: B+/A-
Overall, Warhead is an improvement on the original, mostly in the sound and gameplay department. The main character is more enjoyable, the graphics are somewhat slicker, and the improved aliens are all much appreciated.
Overall: A
Well there you have it. Discuss if you want, but again, all of this is opinion, so don't argue that anything I have said here is fact.
