Far Cry

"FPS like I've never played before. And thats a good thing"

I heard about Far Cry from Gamespot awhile back when I saw some screen shots. Those alone sold me the game. They featured lush jungle and incredibly detailed enemies and weapons. And I wasn't disappointed in the least bit. I hadn't heard of the Company Crytek before this, but I'll remember it for awhile. They really did a great job with this.

Story- 7/10
It's a nice story for an action First Person Shooter, since it sets you on a remote tropical island chain somewhere in the ocean. It involves you going up against countless foes and using many weapons and vehicles to accomplish your tasks. Practical FPS, but a good one at that. While it is set in a good place, and has good plot discoveries through the game, it lacks in the character department. I never really knew who the boss was until I met him, or what he was or what he did. And the boss that I did know wasn't one that I would fear or anything. In truth he sounded like an idiot.It just didn't feel right. And not to mention your character, Jack Carver, has the worst voice acting I've ever heard. But overall its a pretty good story.

Graphics/Environment- 9.5/10
This was phenomenal. Or, I should say, It can be. It really all depends upon your computer specs, and this is a very demanding game. But I just graded it on how good the graphics can be. Of course you can always tone down the graphics for a slower computer. The first time I was exposed to the island environment I almost cried. It's a combination of cramming the levels full of trees and vegetation with beaches, water, and camps along with great graphics that made this game so good. The water effects are great, you can watch the tide coming up the beach with foam and everything. The trees and plants look great and let you know that you're in a tropical island. The weapons, vehicles, and enemies all are good, and the ragdoll physics are another plus. The only reason it's not a perfect 10 is because of the indoor environments. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but nothing really great. With the insanely good outdoor environments, I felt the indoors needed to be a bit better. There was nothing that ever really made me admire it, it's pretty plain the through the whole game. But since you're usually outside anyway, it doesn't affect the game much.

Sound- 6/10
First of all, voice acting. It was pretty horrible in Far Cry. Your character, like I said before, sounds like an idiot. He's full of little comments that are supposed to be funny but just... aren't. The enemies sometimes sound pretty cool and menacing, but usually they have just as bad voices. It's pretty disheartening to be in the middle of a fierce battle and hear some slurred, idiotic voice yell "Im'a open a can 'o whoopass on you!". A nice feature is using binoculars. When you zoom in on a group of enemies, you can hear them talking about various things, usually you. And there's not much music in this game. If any. But the guns all sound nice and realistic and you can hear some sounds of the jungle. It's all a pretty mixed bag.

Physics- 10/10
This part was so great I had to make a section for it. Far Cry could very well have the best game engine of any game I've played. The enemy ragdoll physics work out great, they don't glitch and change position like in Soldier of Fortune 2. When you kill an enemy, the body reacts exactly how you would expect. When you shoot a corpse, it moves realistically, and a bloody bullet hole will appear where you shot. The only other game I've seen that in is The Chronicles of Riddick. The vehicles handle very nicely and realistically. They roll and explode with debris very nicely. The physics were simply awesome.

Gameplay- 9/10
I guess it's what you make of it. And thats actually the beauty of it. While this is a FPS, it leaves a considerable part of the game open for stealth. You can take advantage of the lush jungle and sneak around enemies, taking them out silently or bypassing them altogether. Cryteck even threw in a stealth gauge for you. It allows you to tell if an enemy is aware of your presence or not. Thats a great part of the game, doing what you want. If you want to go in machine guns blazing then go ahead. I was entertained for hours using Guerrilla hit and run tactics, hiding out in the jungle after an ambush. But it doesn't stop there. The enemy AI in Far Cry is amazing. They will launch counter attacks, flank you, send out searches, call for backup, or just run. Say if there are six mercenaries sitting at a camp, and you shoot at them. One will probably yell "I'll get backup!" And take off for a nearby base. Two will probably fire at your position, distracting you. While that's happening, the three others are flanking your sides, surrounding you. The first time I was put in a killbox and taken down like this, I was awed. The AI adds a whole level that was never there before in a game. I can't really find a particular bad part of the gameplay, but sometimes it just got a little repetitive indoors. In places you just had to go hallway to hallway, killing and killing. I would have liked some vents and alternate ways to go.

Play Time/Re-playability- 9/10
This is a fairly long game, considering it's a FPS. You can do the levels many different ways. And like I said, going Vietnam on your enemies and ambushing them can be fun for a long time. I played the fun levels many times, sometimes using only a machete for fun. And when you do get tired of playing the game, there's a great feature called 'CryEngine Sandbox'. It's an editing program that allows you to create your own levels and missions. As far as I can tell it's what the designers used to create the game. It's pretty complicated and time consuming, but I found it fun. If you also tire of that, there's still online play. I only played online for a short time, and I didn't really like it. And to add to all this, there's many mods coming out for Far Cry, and it gives you a simple window for easily selecting which one you want.

So:

Story- 7
Graphics/Environment- 9.5
Sound- 6
Physics- 10
Gameplay- 9
Replay Value- 9

Final- 9. There some bad parts but the good parts outweigh them.

Buy or Rent? Well if you can rent a computer game then go ahead. But otherwise buy it. It's a great game for anybody and you're seriously missing out if you don't try it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/04