IGN Hands On And Gameplay Videos - $30 Price Tag Confirmed

[Nightmare225]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/887/887185p1.html


I found the level to be a pretty much non-stop affair, quite a bit different from Crysis which has lulls and downtimes between large set-piece battles. In Warhead, you're propelled from one encounter to another. The game doesn't quite have the over-the-top intensity of Call of Duty, but it will still keep you on your toes. That, and the sandbox environments will have you constantly thinking, as you can change tactics and approaches on the fly. If the rest of Warhead is like this, it should be good news to those who felt that some of Crysis' passages were too linear.

And the best news is that even though Warhead is a full game, IGN has confirmed that it's going to have the price of an expansion pack. At E3, EA will reveal that Crysis Warhead will retail at $29.99. For that, you'll get a campaign that is, what we're told, slightly shorter than that of Crysis (your mileage may vary since you can spend a lot of time sneaking or exploring), as well as a multiplayer suite, though Crytek hasn't revealed any details or features regarding it. Crysis Warhead is scheduled to ship later this year.

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July 8, 2008 - A couple of weeks ago we got our first look at Crysis Warhead, the new game in the Crysis saga. Warhead isn't the sequel to last year's Crysis, but rather a stand-alone adventure that tells the story of Sergeant Michael "Psycho" Sykes, one of the secondary characters in Crysis. This is an offshoot game, so you don't need to own Crysis to enjoy it. Warhead promises to be much more action-packed than its predecessor, with larger and more intense battles. Recently I got the chance to get some play time with the E3 2008 build of Warhead to see how it's coming along. So sit back, read up, and check out the three gameplay movies of my experience below.

I played a level called Shore Leave, which is set very early in the campaign. If you played Crysis you know that Psycho disappears right before a huge tank battle, having been ordered by command to help out on another part of the island. Shore Leave takes place shortly after that, and it begins with one of Psycho's buddies, a fighter pilot, getting shot down and bailing out over North Korean positions. So Psycho has to rescue him, and then escort the pilot to safety.



Things start off on a stretch of road. The pilot is driving a light transport, and I started at the wheels of the new advanced scout vehicle -- sort of a lightly armored personnel carrier. Now, if you played Crysis you know there's a vehicle sequence in that game where you just man the machine gun while someone else drives. This caused some grumbling from players as it got away from Crysis' philosophy of being able to plot your own course, your own way. So in Warhead, you've got options. You can follow the pilot or you can bail out of your ASV and jump into the pilot's vehicle and man his machine gun. I stuck with keeping in my own vehicle since it had heavier firepower. That didn't mean I was stuck there, though. At any time I could come to a stop, jump out and engage the North Koreans on foot, jump into a new vehicle (if the one I was in was took too much damage), or jump into the pilot's vehicle and man the machine gun.

From playing only a little bit it's clear a lot of things blow up in Warhead. The ASV I started with had a nifty recoilless rifle (other ASVs sport other weapons, such as chain guns), but I could cause even greater destruction by blasting pieces of the environment. From explosive barrels to the gas tanks on trucks to the pump at a gas station, there's no lack of unstable elements. If you're in a hurry, you can just speed through each North Korean position, but if you want to have fun you can jump out and engage in sandbox battles against the opposition, taking advantage of these kind of volatile triggers.

The nanosuit powers are still the same. There's strength for being able to leap atop buildings or hurling heavy objects at someone, speed for moving faster, armor for better protection against taking damage, and cloak for invisibility, but Sykes feels a bit different than Nomad. Keep in mind I played a pre-alpha build of the game so this could easily change later in development, but Sykes' default speed and agility without speed mode turned on seem a bit more sluggish than Nomad's. This would be interesting if this was on purpose, as it actually makes speed mode more valuable. In Crysis you usually need speed in only a few instances, since Nomad's default speed is usually good enough in firefights. Warhead may make the decision between speed and armor much more daunting.



Throughout this entire drive sequence there's also plenty of stuff going on. North Korean fighter jets swoop low and drop bombs around you, or those persistent gunships show up. About halfway through the map (your objective is a North Korean submarine base) a VTOL transport touches down to recover the pilot, and you've got to help the Marines hold off incoming North Korean troops and vehicles. They come from two directions: the woods and the road. Using strength to hurl grenades long distances helps in this situation, but there are also a number of traps that you can set off, causing logs to roll downhill and flatten bad guys.

After fending off the North Koreans and the Marines take the stranded pilot off of your hands, letting you get to work attacking the submarine base and getting aboard a North Korean sub. This last part can result in a huge battle, as the base is crawling with soldiers and a tank. Since this is a sandbox game, you have a number of ways of attacking the base. You can assault head-on through the front gates, or use strength to jump the fence or cloak to sneak through and so on. Not one for subtlety, I used speed to rush up to the fence and strength to leap over it, only to find myself face-to-face with an enemy tank. Speed rushed me to cover before it could engage me with its main gun, and I then used the trusty assault rifle to take out soldiers in my way.

Dealing with the tank is easy if you have a rocket launcher, but if you don't there's a new toy to play with: the AT mine. I grabbed one, cloaked, and walked out in the middle of the road. Placing the mine causes you to uncloak, which was perfect since that got the attention of the tank and it rolled toward the mine. I sat back to watch the fireworks only to see it miss the mine. I turned around to engage some North Koreans trying to sneak up on me (the AI of troops is really impressive), and as my back was turned I heard and felt a large explosion, as the tank had backed up over the mine. Other new toys I got to see included the nice automatic pistol (which can be dual wielded) as well as a grenade launcher.



At any point you can try and disengage and just haul over to the submarine, but true shooter fans will probably enjoy the mayhem. The large-scale battles of Crysis are some of the best moments of the game, like when you storm the village with the school or attack a helicopter base. This is just like that, but bigger, because there are soldiers everywhere. The nanosuit can be used to full advantage to maneuver or hide around the base.

I found the level to be a pretty much non-stop affair, quite a bit different from Crysis which has lulls and downtimes between large set-piece battles. In Warhead, you're propelled from one encounter to another. The game doesn't quite have the over-the-top intensity of Call of Duty, but it will still keep you on your toes. That, and the sandbox environments will have you constantly thinking, as you can change tactics and approaches on the fly. If the rest of Warhead is like this, it should be good news to those who felt that some of Crysis' passages were too linear.

And the best news is that even though Warhead is a full game, IGN has confirmed that it's going to have the price of an expansion pack. At E3, EA will reveal that Crysis Warhead will retail at $29.99. For that, you'll get a campaign that is, what we're told, slightly shorter than that of Crysis (your mileage may vary since you can spend a lot of time sneaking or exploring), as well as a multiplayer suite, though Crytek hasn't revealed any details or features regarding it. Crysis Warhead is scheduled to ship later this year.

http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14258182/crysis-warhead/videos/crysis_warhead_driving01.html

[David]

Is that a new hand gun I see? Yes it is!

Looks very action packed, but considering they are just random clips we can't immediately assume it will be like this throughout the entire levels. You could get similar footage like this from just playing the standard Crysis if you are allowed to capture random glimps of the level and not the entire thing. but due to the time in which this was taken place in Crysis, it is most likely.

And brilliant, the pricing has been confirmed.

Regardless, it looks promising. Really like the new features introduced. Thanks for sharing.

EDIT: Please refrain from using full caps text in the title from now on tho.

[ThMage]

Wow, great find.  Thanks dude!

[Perfect Code]

Still disappointed with the graphics we have see thus far in the videos. I want to see the screen shots graphics in a video!

[|Rob|]

Still disappointed with the graphics we have see thus far in the videos. I want to see the screen shots graphics in a video!

i think thats just the very plain TODs that Crytek insist on using in their maps.  Dont worry ill create a more vibrant Tod to use with Warhead..

also that new pistol thing looks all wrong imo..
it looks way to big in the characters hands.

[Perfect Code]

That doesnt even look like a pistol. Looks more like an SMG. Carries 41 bullets in one clip and the guy had it on single shot. Def not a pistol.

[Crabman]

It's not a pistol... but I agree with Docuhe, it doesn't look right.

[Perfect Code]

It doesn't look right because he needs another SMG in the other hand! Yarrg!

[Smartino]

It's not a pistol... but I agree with Docuhe, it doesn't look right.

It is, it's called an automatic pistol.

[|Rob|]

ok pistol, SMG whatever, the point is it looks really stupid.
i wouldnt use that gun just out of the principle that it looks ridiculous, i wouldnt want to be caught dead with that thing on a battlefield.  All the koreans would just laugh at you

[UltimaRage]

It's a real gun -  I don't see how it 'doesn't look right'...

Anyways- great stuff. Looks EXCELLENT.

[Fence Jumper]

OOOOO! im starting to get more excited about this game!

[xbx-117]

It looks pretty good, the pistol does look weird, but not unbearable.

Haha, every time I see one of those red cans explode next to a wall I keep thinking part of the wall is going to blow up like in Battlefield: Bad Company.

[ThMage]

It looks pretty good, the pistol does look weird, but not unbearable.

Haha, every time I see one of those red cans explode next to a wall I keep thinking part of the wall is going to blow up like in Battlefield: Bad Company.

It's not a pistol.  It's an AY-69. 

Technical Specification

Magazine capacity: 40

Bullet type: AY-69 special bullets

Fire modes: Can be dual wielded (right button fires right weapon, left button fires left weapon)

Description:
The AY-69 is a close combat weapon with high damage output on short range. Due to its high fire rate but low accuracy its preferred operational areas are urban environments and inside buildings. Once picked up the weapon replaces the SOCOM hand gun by allocating the first weapon slot in the players’ inventory.

The AY-69 In Action:

But yes, it does look pretty weird.  Personally, I don't even want to use it.  I like pistols, especially dual-wield, so I'll probably stick to that.

[Crabman]

The actual gun looks fine, just how it looks in your hand. Theres something that just doesn't look right.

[VV]

ok pistol, SMG whatever, the point is it looks really stupid.
i wouldnt use that gun just out of the principle that it looks ridiculous, i wouldnt want to be caught dead with that thing on a battlefield.  All the koreans would just laugh at you

I can picture it:

Korean 1: Oh no...nanosuit dudes!

Korean 2:Wait what is he holding?

Korean 3: A Machine pistol?

Korean 4: What a noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHA!

Psycho: I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

[Abaddon]

ok pistol, SMG whatever, the point is it looks really stupid.
i wouldnt use that gun just out of the principle that it looks ridiculous, i wouldnt want to be caught dead with that thing on a battlefield.  All the koreans would just laugh at you

I can picture it:

Korean 1: Oh no...nanosuit dudes!

Korean 2:Wait what is he holding?

Korean 3: A Machine pistol?

Korean 4: What a noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHA!

Psycho: I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

Hahah wowww I kinda laughed at that

[Kwisatz Haderach]

ok pistol, SMG whatever, the point is it looks really stupid.
i wouldnt use that gun just out of the principle that it looks ridiculous, i wouldnt want to be caught dead with that thing on a battlefield.  All the koreans would just laugh at you

I can picture it:

Korean 1: Oh no...nanosuit dudes!

Korean 2:Wait what is he holding?

Korean 3: A Machine pistol?

Korean 4: What a noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHA!

Psycho: I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

I think Psycho should read more like this.


Korean 1: Oh no...nanosuit dudes!

Korean 2:Wait what is he holding?

Korean 3: A Machine pistol?

Korean 4: What a noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHA!

Pyscho:  Ah sh!t, why the hell are you laughing.  Ah dammit, I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

[UltimaRage]

You messed up the Korean - English dialect.


Korean 1: Oh no...nano dude!

Korean 2:Wait what he holding?

Korean 3: He have funny gun!

Korean 4: What  noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHALOLZORZ!

Pyscho:  Ah sh!t, why the hell are you laughing.  Ah dammit, I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

[Abaddon]

You messed up the Korean - English dialect.


Korean 1: Oh no...nano dude!

Korean 2:Wait what he holding?

Korean 3: He hav funny gun!

Korean 4: What  noob!

Korean 1-4: HAHAHAHALOLZORZ!

Pyscho:  Ah sh!t, why the hell are you laughing.  Ah dammit, I knew I should have taken that Fy71.

You messed up Korean accent:

Korean 1: Oh no...nano tude!

Korean 2:Waih... Whaddhy howding?

Korean 3: He heve fanny gan!

Korean 4: Whad a nub!

Korean 1-4: Ehehehahaheha....heh...haha..!