Hit the link for the full report on Crysis Warhead's performance, including more comparison shots of the three levels of graphical detail.

Crysis Warhead performance in-depth [TechSpot]

How Not To Make A Video Settings Menu [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Far Cry Movie Premieres Oct 2 in Germany [Big Download]

Complete news release is on the jump.

CRYSIS WARHEAD COMING TO STEAM

Latest from Legendary Studio Coming to Leading Online Platform

September 12, 2008 - Crytek and Valve today announced an agreement to bring Crysis Warhead® and Crysis® to Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world.

"The millions of gamers logging into Steam every week to play today's best PC games are going to love Crysis Warhead," said Avni Yerli, Managing Director at Crytek. "Crytek Hungary has done a terrific job creating this new experience while optimizing CryEngine 2, and we're looking forward to delivering it and the original Crysis as our first offerings on Steam."

"Crytek is one of the industry's great success stories, emerging new technology and talent," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "Crysis is one of today's leading PC franchises and delivering the original and Crysis Warhead via Steam is landmark for the platform."

The follow up to Crysis, one of the highest rated PC games of last year, Crysis Warhead will take players through the parallel story of Sergeant Michael 'Psycho' Sykes as he embarks on an intense, explosive adventure on the other side of the island. With waves of more challenging human and alien enemies to navigate through, players will once again be outfitted with the revolutionary Nanosuit and an arsenal of new weapons and vehicles to help Psycho complete his critical mission.Crysis Warhead will also come with Crysis Wars®, a tailor-made experience for multiplayer gamers, featuring three diverse match types and 21 maps.

Crysis Warhead and Crysis will be available for pre-purchase via Steam starting this weekend, and expected to be released in mid September. Both games are published by EA Partners. For more details, please visit www.steamgames.com and www.crysiswarhead.com.

Warhead PC [GameCyte]

- CPU: Intel Core Duo e7300 (@2.66GHz)
- GFX: Nvidia 9800GT
- RAM: 2GB

Bear in mind this isn't an official announcement, just some stuff reported by journo Chris Remo, who had a chance to check the machine out last week. The official word will come down later this week, and should be accompanied not only by the rest of the tech specs, but also some shots of the final exterior, since it's unknown whether the one pictured is the full retail model, or is just rocking the same hardware.

Oh, and you should check out the full piece below for some more peripheral stuff regarding the machine. Seems the PC is more than just a marketing gimmick, as it was used extensively in both the development and testing of Warhead.

The Remo Files: The Crysis Warhead PC Explained [GameSetWatch]

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista), Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista), AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or better

RAM: 1GB (1.5GB on Windows Vista)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better

VRAM: 256MB of Graphics Memory

Storage: 15GB

Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible

ODD: DVD-ROM

OS: Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Vista

DirectX: DX9.0c or DX10

Crysis Warhead [EA]

“We think Crysis Warhead is going to offer a tremendous experience to a wide range of gamers,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek. “Fans of Crysis are going to enjoy more of the open-ended gameplay, cutting-edge visuals and huge, epic battles from the first game, while also finally finding out what kind of havoc Psycho was wreaking on the other side of the island.

Right now you can pre-order Crysis Warhead from the EA Store for $24.95 - $5 off retail - or pick up both the original Crysis and the new title for $10 off. Be sure to check out GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley this Friday for the exclusive premiere of the new Crysis Warhead trailer, should you be so inclined.

EA and Crytek Set Deployment Date for Crysis Warhead
Find Out if You Are ‘Psycho’ Enough This September

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Crytek GmbH announced today that Crysis Warhead®, the pulse-racing new installment of the Crysis® universe, will ship to retail stores in North America on September 16th and in Europe on September 12th. Beginning today, gamers can pre-order Crysis Warhead at the EA Store (www.eastore.com/crysiswarhead) for only $24.95; $5 less than the full retail price, or receive $10 off when purchasing both Crysis Warhead and Crysis. Crysis Warhead recently recognized by IGN PC as being the Best First Person Shooter and showcasing the Best Graphics Technology of E3 2008.

“We think Crysis Warhead is going to offer a tremendous experience to a wide range of gamers,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek. “Fans of Crysis are going to enjoy more of the open-ended gameplay, cutting-edge visuals and huge, epic battles from the first game, while also finally finding out what kind of havoc Psycho was wreaking on the other side of the island.

At the same time, we designed Warhead to be more accessible for gamers new to the Crysis franchise. It is a game with a story that can stand on its own, it has been optimized to run better on a wider range of PCs, and we are introducing Crysis Wars®, a tailor-made experience for multiplayer gamers within the Crysis universe – all at a great value.”

Crysis Wars features three multiplayer modes, including TeamInstantAction, a new match type that mixes fast-paced action in a team-based environment, in addition to the insanely frenetic gameplay style of InstantAction and the hardcore team-based PowerStruggle, both of which return from Crysis. The game will include 21 maps, six new maps for TeamInstantAction and InstantAction, and one for PowerStruggle and Crytek will also have a support team dedicated to meeting the needs of the Crysis Wars community.

A brand new trailer for Crysis Warhead will premiere exclusively on “GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley” this Friday, August 15th on Spike TV (check your local listings) and will be available online at www.GameTrailers.com immediately following the show.

Crysis Warhead is a standalone title and does not require the original Crysis to play. The game has been rated ‘M’ for Mature by the ESRB and ‘16+’ by PEGI. For more information about the game, please visit the game’s new web site launching today at: www.crysiswarhead.com.

Said award-winning composer Inon Zur, “CRYSIS is one of the most interesting and challenging games I have scored to date so I am thrilled that it is going to be featured in Video Games Live. I’m very proud and honored to have my music played in this groundbreaking concert series."

The concert is to be held at the 7,000 seat Leipzig arena on Wednesday, August 20th. Not sure if McWhertor or I will be stopping by at this point, but in any case we'll be there in spirit. Or nearby drinking the local spirits. One of those.

WORLD PREMIERE OF CRYSIS TO BE PERFORMED AT VIDEO GAMES LIVE IN LEIPZIG

Performance to be held at 7,000 seat Leipzig Arena during Games Convention

LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 11, 2008 — Video Games Live and German based developer Crytek are pleased to announce the music from the multiple award winning PC blockbuster CRYSIS will make its world premiere on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at the 7,000 seat Leipzig Arena in Leipzig, Germany during the world renowned Games Convention. Recently the “Video Games Live – Volume One” album debuted on the Billboard charts at #10 and in week 2 of the release has climbed to #8 (SOURCE: Billboard Top 10)

Video Games Live is proud to be the official game concert of one of the biggest video game conventions in the world which received over 185,000 people from around the globe in 2007. In celebration of this special concert event, a powerful arrangement of tracks from the modern cinematic score composed by Inon Zur, will be featured for the first time and synchronized to exclusive video footage and state-of-the-art lighting and special effects.

Said award-winning composer Inon Zur, “CRYSIS is one of the most interesting and challenging games I have scored to date so I am thrilled that it is going to be featured in Video Games Live. I’m very proud and honored to have my music played in this groundbreaking concert series." Co-Creator and conductor of Video Games Live, Jack Wall added, “"When we debut a new segment in Video Games Live, it's always a thrill to perform it for the first time in the place where the game was originally created. Playing the world premiere of CRYSIS in Germany is something I am really looking forward to!"

For CRYSIS Inon Zur wrote a modern cinematic score that heightens the impact of the dramatic storyline, realistic environments and highly-evolved gameplay. His CRYSIS compositions feature sweeping themes, immersive setup pieces, intense action music, and "otherworldly" instrumental soundscapes performed by the orchestra to invoke the alien influences in the game.

The Leipzig Games Convention is an annual video game event in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Its concept was created by the German Federal Association for Entertainment Software amongst others. With 185,000+ visitors, 2,600 journalists and 368 exhibitors from 25 countries in 2007, the Games Convention rivals the Tokyo Game Show as the biggest games event in the world. By comparison, both the Leipzig and Tokyo shows, where gamers of all ages can visit the show floor, were three times the size of the trade-only 2006 E3 show in Los Angeles. The conference takes place in a sprawling modern complex of exhibition halls in Leipzig, Germany.

"What a great honor to be asked by the Leipzig Games Convention to be a part of their incredible convention", said game composer and co-creator of Video Games Live Tommy Tallarico. "We've received so many e-mails and requests over the years to bring our show to Germany, and to finally perform there in such a prominent and prestigious way is very special to us. We're really looking forward to exposing German audiences to our very unique presentation which will include many special guests from around the world.”

Crytek GmbH ("Crytek") creators of the multi-award winning first person shooter Far Cry®, and the recent blockbuster hit Crysis®, awarded best PC Game of both E3 2007 and the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention, and awarded Best Technology at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards, is an interactive entertainment development company with its headquarters located in Frankfurt Main, Germany and additional studios in Kiev, Ukraine, Budapest, Hungary and Sofia in Bulgaria. Crytek is dedicated to creating exceptionally high quality video games for the PC and next-generation consoles, powered by their proprietary cutting edge 3D-Game-Technology CryENGINE®2.

The CRYSIS Original Soundtrack is available on CD from Sumthing Else Music Works and for digital download from iTunes and Sumthing Digital. VIDEO GAMES LIVE - VOLUME ONE is currently available wherever music is sold including retail outlets, iTunes, Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

For more information on the composer Inon Zur please visit his official website www.inonzur.com.

This is a brilliant idea. I've always felt that PC manufacturers were missing out by not marketing directly to gamers. I'm not talking high-end, higher-priced dedicated gaming systems here. Just a PC with a sticker on it that lists the games it will run out of the box - kind of like how console packaging shows popular titles available on that system. I wish EA the best of luck. Perhaps they'll start a trend!

EA wants to sell you a PC [Chris Remo's Remowned via Destructoid]

Not that we were expecting the Crysis series to be turned on its head, but Crysis Warhead looks perhaps a bit too familiar. Maybe we're reading a bit too much into this action packed teaser trailer for the EA published shooter and, no, it's not a proper sequel and maybe Crytek has already spoiled us with the gorgeous original, but I can't shake the feeling of deja vu.

Crysis Warhead HD [GameTrailers]

It's crazy how the ratio between sales to piracy is probably 1 to 15 to 1 to 20 right now. For one sale there are 15 to 20 pirates and pirate versions, and that's a big shame for the PC industry. I hope with Warhead I hope we improve the situation, but at the same time it may have an impact on [our] PC exclusivity in the future.

Yerli goes on to say that if a game isn't an online multiplayer game, it's up for grabs to piraters, and for that reason the company is spending development effort making Crysis: Warhead more difficult to crack. But if it doesn't pan out, and PC games continue to be pirated at the 15:1 ratio he offers, it's going to affect Crysis' development strategy in the future. "We would only consider full PC exclusives — if the situation continues like this or gets worse — I think we would only consider PC exclusive titles that are either online or multiplayer and no more single-player," Yerli says.

So I guess the message is: PC gamers, stop pirating and start snitching on your friends if you want more exclusives out of Crytek. And to show he's serious, he also tells IGN they're working on a non-Crysis console game.

Cevat Yerli Q&A [IGN]

Cevat goes on to say that the performance tweaks included in Warhead can eventually be applied to Crysis via patches, but don't go digging out that sad little game disc just yet. The profound changes won't be easy to implement, and Crytek is dedicating their resources to completing the follow-up before any tweaks to the original are addressed.

Crysis Warhead läuft auf einem 400-Euro-PC - In der High-Konfiguration! [PCGames.DE Via Voodoo Extreme]

Crytek is currently working on something for the PlayStation 3, which has been rumored to be an "enhanced" version of Crysis, that may also be multi-platform. Whether that's a PSP spin-off or something totally new altogether, we'll have to wait to find out.

PSP Programmer [Crytek - thanks, Andrew & EN!]

“We were very pleased with the reception of Crysis from both gamers and media after our launch last year,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek. “That being said, one of the key principles of our studio is to always raise the bar. With Warhead, we are focusing on refining our storytelling and game performance, while also delivering more of the visually stunning graphics and immersive, free-roaming gameplay everyone loved in Crysis.”

The game is the first to be developed at Crytek's new Budapest Studio using an enhanced version of the CryENGINE 2 tech. Hit the jump for the full release!

EA and Crytek Announce Development of Crysis Warhead
The Next Installment of One of the Highest Rated Games of 2007 Blasts Its Way Onto PCs This Fall

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Maximum freedom, maximum explosions and maximum Psycho! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and award-winning independent studio Crytek today announced Crysis Warhead® – the parallel story to Crysis, one of the most critically-acclaimed first person shooters and PC games of 2007. Shipping exclusively for the PC this fall, Crysis Warhead is the first title to be developed at Crytek’s Budapest studio, and is built on a new, enhanced and optimized version of Crytek’s CryENGINE® 2 technology.

“We were very pleased with the reception of Crysis from both gamers and media after our launch last year,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek. “That being said, one of the key principles of our studio is to always raise the bar. With Warhead, we are focusing on refining our storytelling and game performance, while also delivering more of the visually stunning graphics and immersive, free-roaming gameplay everyone loved in Crysis.”

“The best result of a partnership that we can ask for in the EA Partners program is when a world class independent studio like Crytek chooses to continue to work with us,” said David DeMartini, Vice President and Global General Manager, EA Partners. “Crysis was an amazing game and is going to be a blockbuster franchise. We could not be more excited to be working with Crytek to launch another hit with Crysis Warhead this year.”

In Crysis Warhead, players will don the Nanosuit of Sergeant Sykes, also known as ‘Psycho’, one of the most memorable characters from Crysis. More brash and aggressive than his Delta Force squadmate Nomad, players will experience Psycho’s parallel story during the events of the original game, finding that life on the other side of the island is even more intense and explosive than they ever could have imagined. Luckily, Psycho’s Nanosuit is just as capable and he’s equipped with an even bigger arsenal of fully customizable weapons and new vehicles, giving players access to the tools they need to dominate any situation. Aside from this new, exciting single player campaign, Crysis Warhead will also feature new multiplayer content. Stay tuned for more details this summer.

Crysis Warhead has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI. For more information about the game, please visit www.crysisthegame.com.

Is it one of the planned sequels to the original game? Perhaps a version of Crysis for consoles? A Broadway musical based on the events of the first game? I suppose they'll get around to letting us know when they damn well feel like it. Thanks to everyone who sent in the tip!

We are aware that this news will disappoint many of you, and we would like to apologize profusely. There is a good reason for this and we hope you understand when you hear more about the reasons why in the very, very near future.

That's awfully mysterious. Hopefully that "good reason" is genuinely a good reason, and there's nothing to worry about, because "we can't be arsed anymore" is not a "good reason".

So, What About Patch 1.3? [Crytek, via Blues News]

Very early on we knew that we wanted to go a completely different direction. Instead of going for the tropical island and trying to go for hyper realism, we changed the setting. First of all we wanted to have a really, really credible environment, but we didn't want to replicate anybody's vacation photos.

Probably smart. Who wants to play somebody's vacation photos anyway?

Far Cry 2 Different [Ubisoft] [Pic]

We expect the final outcome will result in games that look like they're running at high settings, or nearly high settings, on a PC.

...it won't be a straight conversion of the PC game. We understand PS3 Crysis will be an almost 50% new game, with many of the original games staff taken off PC Crysis months before release to begin to work on Crysis 2 and a port to PS3 that will include aspects of the sequel - but a new structure, environments, weapons and enemies will feature on PS3.

That's where my optimism for this thing ends. For starters, this doesn't sound like much of a "game". It sounds more like a controlled version of Second Life, what with it being called a "massively multiplayer virtual world" and with screenshots dedicated to...women's handbags and shoes. No, thanks.

My biggest beef, however, is with the name and setting. When I first heard of it last year, I got excited. See, I'm a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson's classic Mars trilogy, and just assumed that this would be an MMO based on his vision of a future, utopian Mars torn apart by war and big business. It's not. The developers have confirmed that despite also being set on a future, utopian Mars, and despite being called Blue Mars, it has nothing to do with Stanley Robinson's work. Disappointing.

This trailer for Uwe Boll's film adaptation of Far Cry is sure to put asses in movie theater seats. Snappy catchphrases in the making like "I haven't said anything about being simple" and the gleaming star power of Til Schweiger are going to go a long way to ensuring that Crytek's game becomes a massive blockbuster. Is it me or is there an out of place punch-in-the-face sound effect near the end?

Now we wonder if UT3—another anticipated PC title which also flopped in November '07—has made the same sort of comeback.

Crytek GnbH will be showing off their CryENGINE 2 and Sandbox 2 game editor on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 at this year's Game Developers Conference.

The company will also be showing how a computer that can be made for less than $600 can run their fully-optimized engine. I suspect that might, just might be because of their PC-crushing game Crysis. It will be interested to find out what sort of tweaks they did to the engine to get it to run on the 360 and PS3, and more importantly if they tweaked each version differently to help play to their individual strong suits.

Crytek to Feature Cross Platform CryENGINE®2 at GDC

Frankfurt, Germany, Jan 29 - Crytek GmbH will demonstrate their multi award winning CryENGINE® 2 game development middleware and their Sandbox 2TM game editor again at this year's Game Developer Conference on February 18 - 22 in San Francisco. First publicly shown at last year's conference, and recently released as the technology underlying their critically acclaimed PC game, Crysis, this year's engine will be shown for the first time running on multiple hardware platforms such as the PS3 and Xbox 360, to a select audience. In addition, there will be a public demonstration showing how well the fully optimized engine can perform on a budget PC which can be put together for around 600 dollars complete, including keyboard and mouse. Visitors will be able to see for themselves the extremely high quality that can be achieved on relatively inexpensive consumer hardware today using the CryENGINE® 2.

Cevat Yerli, Sten Hübler and Bernd Diemer will host a GDC session entitled "Crysis in the Making", providing a behind the scenes look at the challenges of developing Crysis and the CryENGINE® 2. Other highlights of the show will be various conference talks and discussions involving key Crytek technical staff including Chris Evans, Technical Art Lead, Tomas Neumann, Crytek's Audio Programmer, and Tiago Sousa, R&D Graphics Programmer.

In addition, Crytek will once again be hosting a series of public presentations at their booth #6611 in the North Hall, where the topics to be covered will range from live demonstrations of rapid level creation using the Sandbox 2 editor, working with the next generation features of the CryENGINE® 2 animation system, adding immersive sound and interactive music to your game, to a discussion of the overall CryENGINE® 2 design, graphical pipelines and overall architecture. These presentations will be lead by many of the leading members of the Crytek's game development and engine teams. For the first time, Crytek will also be joined at their booth by some of their many licensing partners, which will also show the CryENGINE® 2 being used for architectural visualizations and serious games applications. Seating for the presentations is on a first come, first served basis, and likely to fill quickly. Each of these presentations will repeat twice each day; no appointment is needed to attend.

Anyone wishing to make a private appointment to discuss licensing opportunities, or to arrange for a showing of the console versions of the engine, should make their request by emailing gdc2008@crytek.com, including details of who would me attending the meeting and the purpose of their requests. Meetings can also be arranged during the show by contacting the booth receptionist, provided a time slot is still available. As the time for meetings is quite limited and slots fill quickly, it's recommended to make booking requests as soon as possible.

We know that the company was on the hunt for a PS3 know-it-all in the Spring of last year, but the Crytek folks have been mum since. They probably didn't want any thunder stolen from the PC version, we're guessing.

PlayStation World now says that they're hearing the PS3 version of the very pretty shooter will come packed with extras, dubbing it Crysis 1.5. But what about that rumored Xbox 360 version, listed by certain retailers? The mag puts a damper on that possibility, claiming "technical reasons." Oh really? We're staying out of that one.

Consider it rumor, but given that Crytek hasn't exactly denied such a thing exists, even saying it's "possible", we're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll announce something soon.

Crysis: No need to panic... if you own a PS3 [GamesRadar]

[the escapist]

Their hardware plan follows.

CPU - Intel Core2Duo E6750
GPU - GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 650i Socket 775
PSU - 600W ATX12V
RAM - 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
HDD - SATA 250GB 7200RPM
DVD - 20x DVD±R Burner
Case - ATX Midi Tower Computer Case
OS - Microsoft Windows XP Home with SP2

A very quick price out of the above components totaled $875 at reasonable online retailer NewEgg, give or take a few choices, but I typically went for the cheapest option across the board and didn't include shipping or tax. I'm sure that more frugal, more experience component shoppers could do better.

The Crysis dev team captured a handful of videos of the machine in question tackling the game on "high" settings, all of which are available at the link below.

The Crysis Hardware Experiment [inCrysis via NeoGAF]

Crysis 1.1 patch performance with Multi-GPU testing [techspot]

Maximum Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008! [Crymod Forums]

While both of these games are likely to have followings for years to come, we can't help but to wonder if Crysis' "this game will melt your antiquated Earth computer" philosophy hurt its initial sales. As for UT3, not that many buyers could have been holding out for the PS3 version...so it's shocking to see the game have such a mediocre launch.

Crysis and UT3 show disappointing November sales volume [opposablethumbs]

This isn't a real-time representation of Crysis' physics engine, but it's a sublimely beautiful one. It explores the impact of tornadoes, trucks, planes and base jumping on a man (and his top hat) fashioned from hundreds, maybe thousands, of crates. Those interested in the technical details behind the clip can read more at the YouTube page.

Crysis - Mass Physics [YouTube]

My opinion on them in comparison to the PC is that I think the PC is always better. Because the PC you can do so many things with, and the console is just there for the gaming... You cannot create characters on a console — you can't run a 3D program from one, as far as I know. You can't play certain strategy games on a console well, like Total Annihilation for example, or at least I haven't seen one, I think it's limiting to certain types of games.