The real crysis is finding a computer good enough to run it.

The real crysis is finding a computer good enough to run it.

A question to ponder: Why would Crytek choose a man like Sgt. Michael ‘Psycho’ Sykes, a grizzled, seen-it-all, macho Londoner to star in a game like Crysis: Warhead?

This is a game which takes aim at all the major flaws of the original Crysis and eliminates them with sniper-like precision.  Not enough action? Bang. Rubbish vehicles? Bang. A bizarre and disappointing shift from ‘only shooting at humans’ to ‘only shooting at aliens’ two-thirds of the way through? Bang.

Why would a man such as Sykes star in a game which, unlike the original Crysis with its crushingly dull protagonist, actually contains enough of a whiff of character development to give this RPG-loving reviewer’s heart a little lift? Sure, there isn’t much, but it’s there and it’s a step forward for a genre (that is, first person shooters starring large, power-armour clas muscle men) where all too often the developers forget the second word in the phrase ‘player character’.

Maybe it’s because, as he keeps telling us throughout this short-but-very-sweet standalone episode, he’s "British, you muppet." Or maybe it’s because Crytek have decided that he would be a supremely fun character for us to play as they grace us with a thrilling, visceral and above all memorable addition to their Crysis franchise. Other developers take note: look at Crytek, or look at Valve's Half-Life. We want short, cheap, yet high-quality games and we want them often. Just as brevity is the soul of wit in literature, it can equally be the soul of entertainment in computer games.

Of course, only by buying an enormous PC powered by the sacrifice of goats and the burning of terrible Tom Clancy novels will you see Warhead at its best, but then again, it’s Crysis. What did you expect? You muppet.