"One of the most complete FPS games on the market"

We all know the history of Far Cry Instincts, so I won't go into detail. We all know how successful it was on the PC and how Ubisoft has created a console version of it. What I will discuss in this review, however, is how good this Xbox game is. I don't care about its roots.

The story of Far Cry Instincts follows Jack Carver, who once was at the military, but now he just commandeers his own boat transporting passengers from island to island in the Jacutan Archipelago. This fictional place is a tropical paradise with blue ocean, palm trees and sandy beaches. Jack's current passenger, however, is a bit suspicious. The woman becomes even more suspicious when a military helicopter attacks them and blows Jack's boat out of the water. Our hero has no choice but to swim to the nearest island and try to figure out what happened. The plot then will involve mystical experiments, mercenaries and secret agents - and of course lots of shooting.

GAMEPLAY: 8/10

Far Cry Instincts is a classic FPS at heart. You experience the whole game from the hero's point of view, never switching to a third person's view for a second. This creates a very important immersion factor that follows the game from beginning to end. The action is classic, too. You get weapons, you can dual-wield some of them, you walk through huge levels and shoot things - mainly people, thankfully (I'm fed up with monster shooting). What really makes Far Cry Instincts clearly distinguishable from other games in the genre is the setting. Never before had we the chance to play on a tropical island, with vibrant colors, dense foliage and colorful environments. What's more, you can drive a wide variety of vehicles, man mounted weapons and use stealthy tactics in the jungle as well. The levels are mostly linear, but they are so huge that they really feel open-ended, which is no small feat.

What's really great in this game is that the controls are rock solid. The different weapons really kick back and make a serious punch on the opponents. The aiming and control of the main character is solid, too, and this polished feeling can only be compared to the Halo series on the Xbox. Yes, it's that good. The vehicles are not an afterthought, either. They are a natural part of the game world, each one handles realistically, and each one makes the whole game a thousand times more exciting. There are some scenes where you can feel that you're right in the middle of an action movie, which can't be a bad thing.

The single-player campaign consists of 11 absolutely huge and long levels, each one can take about an hour or more to complete. Unfortunately you can't save anywhere, there's a checkpoint system and auto-saving only. Another issue with the gameplay is the enemy A.I. I don't consider it bad, like some other reviewers have. The A.I. is definitely decent, but don't mean as big a challenge as in some other shooters. There are no difficulty levels, and the game is quite easy to be honest.

The most important thing, however, is that Far Cry Instincts is absolutely fun to play, thanks to the amazingly good controls, the balanced weapons and the Hollywood movie-like action.

MULTIPLAYER: 7/10

System Link and Xbox Live are very well supported in this game. There are a couple of game modes to choose from, including the classics - deathmatch, capture the flag, team deathmatch, etc. The online portion of the game is quite good regarding performance, and the maps are good, too. Content download is also supported. I really miss some cooperative action, however. It would've been superb to play through the story mode together with a friend - sadly this option is missing from the game and hurts the multiplayer somewhat.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

If there's one thing that Far Cry Instincts will be remembered for, it's the graphics. This is clearly one of the most beautiful games on Xbox (and on any console for that matter). From the lighting effects to the lush jungles, weather effects and sharp textures, everything seems just perfect. The frame-rate is stable at 30 fps and to be honest, it never goes below that number - at least I haven't seen a hiccup so far. There is a great variety in the levels, too - from sandy beaches to tropical jungles, from day to night, from sunshine to downfall, from mines to military installations. Water effects are cool and there are so many little details that it's impossible to mention all of them. Every polygon model is well done, so the game looks so great it's even hard to believe it runs on an Xbox. How Ubisoft has done it remains their secret.

SOUND: 10/10

Another perfect category. This game has simply the best sound effects I've heard in a videogame. Apart from supporting Dolby Digital 5.1, absolutely everything sounds real. The weapons themselves are a joy to listen to, but you get different step sounds when walking across several types of terrain (grass, sand, wooden floor, you name it), the vehicles sound more realistic than in a racing game, and the voice acting isn't too bad either. Sure, it could've been better, but I doubt you'll hear a better overall sound package in an FPS.

The music plays a vital part in the game. Whenever action kicks in Hollywood-like music comes in to strengthen the atmosphere. It can be a little annoying at times, but most of the time it can increase tension, and make the experience much better. I salute to the people who got the sound of this game done - they've done an unprecedented work.

LONGEVITY: 7/10

Once the single-player mode is over, it can be played through again only for the beautiful levels and environments. But it can grow tiring. That's where the multiplayer comes in, which is very good, and thanks to an amazing feature, it could well be the next Halo 2 on the system. This feature is the map editor. Players have an extremely powerful, yet easy to use tool in their hands, and with a little effort and imagination (and much more time) they can create multiplayer maps that match or even surpass the originals. The only downside is that it's impossible to share the maps worldwide, only people who actually join a room where a custom map is used can download that very map. Nevertheless, this feature makes the whole game endure much better as time goes by.

OVERALL: 8/10

Far Cry Instincts can be considered as one of the best FPS games on the market today, including the PC and every console. It may not be revolutionary, but I'm sure many people would argue even with this statement. What makes the game so bloody great is the unparalleled graphics and sound, the powerful map editor and the polished package that this game represents overall. Oh, and it's fun to play, too! Everybody even with a remote interest in action games or shooters is advised to buy this immediately, because it's one of those games that will be remembered long after the Xbox's lifecycle has reached its end.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/05