Far Cry

"The Best Game of Early 2004"

When i first heard about this, i thought it was just another FPS or somethin, so i didnt bother much with it. A few months later, I saw some early beta screenshots. I thought the game looked good so i found out more about it. I only wish i had known about it earlier.

Graphics: 9/10
Graphics arent THE most important thing in a game, but they do matter alot. The graphics here are amazing. This game makes sniping be like never before. In no other game can you see a tree through your scope that is over a mile away. The objects look superb and so do the weapons and vehicles. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect is that the characters look like they have been dipped into a pool of wax. They look a bit TOO shiny. The bullet holes look good though

Sounds: 10/10

The sound is excellent. The weapons sound mostly realistic except for a few. Its cool hearing the machete as it chops up your foes. It can also be a bit scary when you are alone and you hear a marc calling for backup, or when you hear a Trigen growling just around the corner and you are low on ammo.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay is excellent. There are many outdoor levels where you can see and shoot for over a mile. In FarCry, you can walk or drive anywhere you like on the islands. There is no set path like in many games. The game also has a mission editor capable of building maps so large and complex that not even today's best computers could handle them. The largest map 2048x2048, is too big to play on any computer today without horrible lag. But a 512x512 map which is pleanty of room, will play excellent on a big rig computer. Little computers or old ones may lag a bit on these maps though. The game has excellent levels, except for some of the last ones which are a bit hard and tedious. However, there are no stupid puzzles to solve or anything, its just that some of the monsters are hard to kill and can swarm you on harder difficulties. There are many weapons in the game such as the .357 Magnum, Jackhammer shotgun, .50 caliber sniper, OICW, silenced MP5, and M249 SAW. Vehicles incluse a Hummer, a couple different types of boats, a hang glider, a dune buggy, and a large transport truck.

FarCry is a great game and will continue to be great even after HalfLife 2 and Doom 3 are out. I highly recommend it for now, even if its just something to do until those games are released.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/04