"Far Cry : Great engine, mulled by dull game play"

Perhaps it has been all the years of gaming but I found Far Cry's single player campaign to be thematically dull, but absolutely amazing in detail, and execution.

The Cryengine is superb in delivering unparalled grahpical ability, as well as a robust physics engine. Rag doll physics in this game were amusing, but ok at most. The water is currently the best I have seen in a game. The fact that explosive weapons couldn't ''gib'' an enemy was sort of a let down... the large maps and foilage made for a unique experience, one that I have never encountered to this degree in any game. The ability to scan extremely long distances was amazing. The seamless transition between a large outdoor area to indoor areas was very pleasant, something other engines had previosly masked by load sequences. The interior sections were very well done. One notable feature are the lamps in the indoor section, which sway and as a result the light that the lamp casts also swings wildly around the room.

Far Cry is demanding on system hardware requirments but for a good reason. Developers can only improve and make effecient of obsolete hardware for so long until a peak is reached, and Far Cry paves road for the new generation of games exploiting the power of the newest hardware. Far Cry does however, is very flexible in allowing the user to set the detail settings to something that their hardware is comfortable with.

The multiplayer in Far Cry is typical, but nonetheless raises the bar on multiplayer gaming because of the revolutionary Cryengine. Give it sometime for the modding community to come up with something that will make Far Cry's multiplayer something that everybody will want to experience.

Far Cry's single player campaign is cliche, and features nothing ground breaking in terms of storyline. What it does do very well is show off the abilities of the Cryengine. I would say its safe to bet that what is showcased in the single player campaign is only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to what the Cryengine can do. The single player consists of getting from point to point and finding key cards. The ending appropriately compliments the monotonous campaign.

The difficulty of Far Cry's single player campaign however is astonishing. The A.I. seems to forget where you are quickly at times, and at times they seem to be able to pinpoint you from afar.

The weapons in Far Cry are well balanced in the single player campaign. However, things get a little different in multiplayer mode. In smaller games the binoculars seem to give an unrulely advantage against those who don't have the binoculars yet, but tough luck right? The rocket launcher is probably the most abused weapon in multiplayer, especially in Assault mode for obvious reasons.

Multiplayer consists of your typical free for all death match, team death match and Assault. The assault mode played with a large group of players is very fun when things are going smoothly.

This games future, like many games lie in the mods that are released for the game. And the cryengine has alot of potential to be a winner, time will tell.

Graphics - 100%
Sounds - 100%
Game Engine - 100%
Single player - 70%
Multiplayer - 70%

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/04