‘Crysis Warhead’

‘Crysis Warhead’

(EA Games) for PC

Genre: Shooter

Rating: M

Grade: A

There’s little debate that “Crysis” was one of the top shooters for PCs last year. It was, don’t fight it and let’s move on. Fast on its heels is “Warhead,” a standalone expansion that packs all of the punch of the original but making some nice upgrades in the process to keep the overall experience feeling fresh.

This time around you play as Psycho Sykes, one of the minor characters from the original “Crysis.” Previous knowledge of the first game helps, but quickly you won’t be worrying so much about character development as you will keeping your British tail alive.

“Warhead’s” game-play mirrors the original game, with the upgrades coming from aspects like better vehicle driving, more advanced AI (from your friends as well as your enemies) and an overall sense of fear to survive one battle to the next. Tactics are certainly important, but this game was built for a guns-a-blazing attitude, and you are sufficiently rewarded for such insane behavior.

The original “Crysis” was best played on the most high-end of PCs, and “Warhead” fares the same. Much effort has gone into preserving the game if playing on a middle-of-the-road machine, so those who felt excluded should have no excuse not to rush out and add this game to their library.

‘Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway’

(Ubisoft) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Genre: Shooter Rating: M

Grade: B

Just when you think you can never enjoy another WWII shooter, “Hell’s Highway” comes along and makes traversing the same European locations enjoyable again.

The story is not that great, but then again, by now you’ve heard it a million times: a hard-scrabbled mish-mash of grunts band together to rid some locations of those evil Nazis. I’m not trying to belittle the real-life heroism, but merely poke fun at the never-ending story line that these games present. So don’t feel bad about ignoring the plot and skipping straight to the good stuff, which is the squad-based fighting.

You’ll lead a group of soldiers through varying locales, from open fields to factories and small Dutch towns, and what adds the thrills is how much you’ll rely on your mates. You will never be able to handle the onslaught of German troops on your own, so don’t even bother. Instead, send groups to flank and lay covering fire, and you’ll be rewarded with gunfights that sound and feel as real as any movie can deliver.

It’s a shame that when squad mates die they instantly re-spawn at the next checkpoint; having a system of picking up inexperienced gunners or hardened vets would be a nice way to vary the game-play. The visuals and controls are equally beautiful to view and easy to grasp. A cinematic camera provides fodder to enjoy with friends when you take someone down with sniper fire or toss a well-aimed grenade, though the gore is a bit much.

I’ve said before that the Pacific theater or some other battleground needs to be explored to keep this sub-genre interesting, but “Hell’s Highway” is surprisingly satisfying.

‘Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise’

(THQ) for DS

Genre: Simulation Rating: E

Grade: C+

Though it may not have the long-lasting fresh feeling the Xbox 360 version possessed, gamers won’t help but laugh and enjoy cultivating a garden that sprouts pinatas.

If you missed the original console version, little should scare you from giving this colorful goofy game a try. It’s like many virtual life simulations, but instead of building societies of people or cityscapes, your task is to attract vibrant and interesting pinatas to your garden. This is done by trial and error, because it’s all about finding the right mixture of plants and animals that will entice these cute little suckers to drop in for a visit.

There are lots of other ways to keep the pinatas happy, though you’ll have to figure that out yourself. But rest assured that it rarely gets boring, and the controls and visuals fit nicely into the DS system without anything being wasted or ignored. The pinatas themselves could look better, but the entire game is visually pleasing, and this is another great introductory game for those looking to ease into the life simulation realm.

—Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard