Far Cry Instincts Predator

"NOT as bad as people say it is."

I'm a big fan of Far Cry for the PC. There's something so unique about a game that takes place on a tropical island, I'm surprised it hasn't been largely done before. Far Cry Instincts: Predator has received a lot of criticism for various things, but that doesn't make it a bad game. On the contrary; it IS one of the best games available for the 360, even though not THE best.

Story:

You are Jack Carver. Your boat has just been blown up and the women who you were hired by has disappeared. But not to worry, as Jack has a history of... being a badass. The short of it being, you're now stranded on an island with a whole load of hostile mercenaries, and a man named Doyle has enlisted your help - you help him sort out some bad guys, he'll help you get off the island alive. But all this gets complicated very quickly. The story is somewhat different from the PC version, kind've like an alternate timeline of events, but essentially remain the same... Until the whole special abilities part. Don't get me wrong though, the game is COMPLETELY different in its levels and gameplay.

Graphics: 7.5

Let's start visually. The game is GORGEOUS. A lot of work has gone into making this one seriously visual game. The water is crystal, the trees are abundant, and most of all it's just a pleasure to look at. The few small complaints I can honestly say I have are that the game does lag at times, not nearly as bad as it could do on a PC mind you, but the lag is sometimes noticeable. Annoying? Slightly. But this by no means detracts from anything at the end of the day. Also, for a next-gen system game I do think some graphics could be more polished, but when you take into account the abundance of objects on-screen some lag does make sense.

Gameplay: 8.0

This is where the game really shines. Cutscenes are brilliantly done in a first-person view; you literally see everything Jack sees, AS he does it. This works to make me feel really immersed in the game, as the cutscenes alone were just plain fun to watch. Otherwise, it's standard 1st-person shooting. You're one guy running around an island (or islands) trying to get out alive. Naturally, basically anything that isn't a rock is trying to kill you. You can only carry 3 guns at a time - small arms (pistols, desert eagles etc.), then the larger guns (shotgun, sub-machine guns etc.) and finally heavy arms (rocket launcher, sniper rifle etc.) I often found myself begging the game to provide a new type of weapon, as in the beginning you will play a long time with the first guns you find, before you find something new and exciting to kill with. Smaller guns can be dual-wielded, like submachine guns and pistols (shamefully not shotguns though).

Sometime through the game you will pick up Feral abilities; basically you can now punch REALLY hard, heal slowly, run really quickly and see enemies in what can be described as a "heat-vision/night-vision cross". These do really add to the gameplay as you're no longer restricted completely to "run and gun" gameplay. Vehicles also play a fun important part. Jet-ski's, 4x4's, hang-gliders... It's all useable. Some of the vehicle controls could have been a bit smoother, but the variety is well implemented.

The beginning gives you the choice between gunning everyone down in sight or playing it sneaky; set a branch-whip trap on a tree, throw a rock to draw your victim's attention... WHACK. But after getting found out repeatedly, you'll eventually just resort to plain shooting. After the first few hours, there's not really much choice, as there aren't good opportunities to be sneaky. Staying hidden seemed to depend on whether or not the AI felt like seeing me. Sometimes you can be REALLY close to someone and stay hidden; other times you'll be hidden but a guy at 100m will start shooting at you. Another trick is crawling underneath a hut, turning on your back, and shooting the guy through the floorboards - this just fizzled out after the first 2 hours as there were neither huts not floorboards to opportunistically shoot through! Did the developers just forget about this?

Sound: 7.5

Not much can be said about the sound. It's pretty standard actually. There are fun times when bad-guys will be off in the distance having a conversation, and you can listen in using your binoculars' microphone, but so many times this was completely drowned out by a nearby helicopter or guys blowing things up or... Otherwise, the voice-acting is good - not excellent, but good nonetheless, and the main character has attitude.

Replayability:

Once you've finished Instincts, you then unlock Evolutions which is basically like an add-on pack built in. While not as long as Instincts, it's long enough. The game is long, there's no doubt about it - not once did I feel like I was being cheated for length like some games. When I finished, it felt like an accomplishment. Right now, I feel like playing through a second time, but there's not really anything to be achieved by doing so. The game comes complete with a map-creator, so multiplayer can be so much fun. However, as I am not connected to Live! I can't comment on the effectiveness of the maps or of the multiplayer aspect, although it appears that multiplayer can be very laggy at times over Live!. But I'm talking from a complete single-player aspect.

Closing:

This game is GOOD. Don't listen to what other people say. While it may not be the best in everything it does, I never once lost interest in playing, in fact it's the first 360 game in a long time I was glued to from start to finish. Pick it up as a rental; if you like it an can't finish it in your alotted time, rent it again until you do. It's maybe even worth picking up as a purchase. Trust me: when you're running around a tropical island popping guys off through floorboards before hijacking a jetski for your escape, you'll know exactly what I mean. Okay, laggy multiplayer, slightly laggy single player, it hardly writes the game off.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/06