Far Cry Instincts Evolution

"Evolution? Innapropriate title... More Like FCI: Slight Port..."

So as the box claims, this is the sequel to the greatest First Person Shooter last year. You figure, "Sequel to a near perfect game... Perfection!" right? Well you'd be incorrect. Because this game, at many instances, feels like little more than a shortly worked on port from Xbox to.... Xbox?!

Graphics: 10/10

It's Far Cry. Whether you're playing it on PC, Xbox, or 360 the graphics are going to be visually stunning and worth the purchase. However, most gamers don't buy simply based on graphics. The environments are still visually amazing, and somehow... improved. The terrain shadowing is still great, as are the other aspects. A noticable improvement is in the rendering of the players hands that was such a hotbutton issue for fans of the original Xbox installment. In short, aside from a few touchups visually, they're basically the same, though the Cutscenes are a lot better to look at.

Game Play: 7/10

The gameplay has taken a fall solely because of the lack of AI in the enemies now, and the simple fact that there is WAY to much assist and auto-aim(though these can be disabled). Though there are large improvements in the throwable items department with the addition of pipe-bombs and molotav cocktailes, it doesn't negate the fact that Story mode gameplay is made incredibly easy, thus taking away from one of the staples of the Far Cry franchise. However, props go to the programer that decided to make a gauge to measure your Feral Jumping.

Sound: 8/10

The Sound is still there. What else is there to say. I mean, there are a few more eery sound effects, however, not that noticable unless you play for a while. However, after playing the original Far Cry Instincts, it just feels repetative.

Story: 10/10

The story this time around is much more understandable, and thus better. Like the previous installment, there are pretty much three bodies at work here, and you have to go through the other two in order to survive. In this installment, though you don't feel for Carver as much, you're incredibly interested in what is going on around him because of interesting characters. Throw in the simple fact that, in reality, this story is one of the only two true reasons to play this game and you have a well-rounded improvement of a story that is fun to play and replay.

Multiplayer(Replay Value): 10/10

In reality, I would like for this score to extend past 10, because Multiplayer on Xbox live is amazing. Not only is it as fun as the previous installment, but with the smaller amount of people, you are capable of showing off your maps to multiple players. With a few additions to the Map Editor such as turrets, ziplines, and new vehicles, and the game begins to feel a little less like a port when you utilize them correctly. Unfortunately, the maps that come in the game aren't interesting at all, however, the user created maps, once again, allow you limitless maps to play.

Overall: 5/10

In short, aside from the new story and the fact that your user created maps will be played more than on the previous version, this game fills like little more than what was left out in Far Cry Instincts. In fact, one can argue that this game could've been a content download. However, because it maintains that basic properties of Far Cry Instincts, it still remains a good game, that is worth the cheap 30 dollar price tag.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/15/06