Far Cry

The Good
The graphics are stunning. There is an extremely long draw distance for every exterior environment, yet the coding (i'm assuming) is tight enough that the incredible graphics that characterize this game don't require a godly rig to enjoy. I play on a middling-range athlon XP with a 7200/8meg HD (this upgrade seemed to make a huge difference) yet I am able to enjoy it on 1024 with high graphic detail. Character models are cutting edge as are the shading and light effects. Explosions are decent. The physics engine is also top of the line and is far more realistic than other attempts at such an engine. The sound in the game is overall quite good, though not as good as the graphics are. The gun sounds are particularly fitting. I'd argue they're the best gun sound effects I've heard. The music fits well both in the low-paced and "alert" modes. I had some minor technical issues with voice vs overall sound levels, as you can't control this in game, but it works well enough. The voice acting is good if at times the main character seems a bit canned. It's good enough. The conversations held by enemies are humorous and frequent. The gameplay is superb. I know a great many people enjoyed the single player in Halo, but I feel that far cry is much more well implemented. The prone and crouch positions have expected effects on accuracy. You can also right-click to bring up the iron-sights of each weapon. Stealth is somewhat lacking in this game, but it's not that type of game. That said, it is very easy to disappear into the jungle and take people out somewhat surreptitously. There is a "stealth meter" on your HUD, and if you use the binoculars (most useful game binoculars in any game, ever) you actualy get little spots on your "radar" that indicate whether an enemy is on to you, looking for you, etc. Regardless of the lack of focus on stealth, the gameplay is still incredible. It's a 3-d shooter, so you get what you'd expect, but it never feels dull. The environments you find your character in are dynamic and interesting throughout. The AI is great. Perhaps not as relentless as in Halo, but it's clear that the enemies are working together. They throw grenades and converge on your position in an intelligent manner as well. Overall, it's far above par and the comparison to halo is not accidental. The story is reminiscent of Half-life. It's one of those stories that starts simple and gets more complex as you run through it. this is common in action games, but there are very few (half-life and the original deux ex are my reference group) games that take you on a ride as you play through. The story is compelling enough to keep one interested, but not so omnipresent to distract from the task at hand.

The Bad
My only complaints about this game are minor. the lack of detail on items found in the game. Ammo boxes, weapons, etc, are uniformly undecorated. Another minor complaint is the, at times, flat voice acting. Truly, the weakness are entirely eclipsed by the strengths.

The Bottom Line
For those who enjoy 3-d shooters, this is a must-play. I prefer it over any strictly-action 3-d shooter I've ever played, including Halo or the WW2 ilk.

The Good
This game makes for one long adventurous episode that takes persistence and good shooting to get through. It's nice that you improvise your own path and route to the objective and use the scenery for cover as you try to outflank your opponents.You also have the option to avoid enemies altogether. The binoculars and night vision goggles are particularly useful for stealth and dealing with hidden enemies. Even Valerie does her fair share of combat by your side.

Weapon variety is well-balanced, you'll want the scoped weapons for sure but its only worth having one weapon with the same ammo. Don't bother with the machete, as it doesn't get the job done good. When you're low on one type of ammo, just switch another type of gun. You can also sort your guns to correspond from 1 to 4, though it would have been nice to do it without having to drop the guns, then pick them up again.

The Bad
The controls can be problematic at times because there are so many buttons to press that you end up pressing the wrong one by accident in the middle of a fierce fight, costing armour or even health. If your moves could have tighter controls like crouch and prone using the same button dependent on tapping and pressing, then it would have worked better.

Gameplay mechanics also have a few issues. Traversing on steep ground leaves you no room to jump or run to safety, especially when the stamina runs out. Jack Carver is so sensitive to fall damage that you lose more health than you ought to. In some missions you'll have trouble knowing where to go to reach the objective and have a long walk unless you happen to commandeer a vehicle. Also checkpoints are sometime spread far or autosave when you prefer not to. Manual saving is preferable. If you familiarise yourself with the levels, items and enemies, the issues won't crop up at inconvenient moments.

The Bottom Line
This game sports a few reminders and similarities to the first Red Faction game albeit taking place in the modern times on Earth. The lush graphics, solid sounds and music, packed missions, great gameplay and intriguing storyline make for a fabulous FPS game. You can let the problem with the controls and mechanics slide. This game got a remake and a film and it is this title we have to thank for the equally appealing sequels that follow. If you've never played the Far Cry series before, try this one first. If you're accustomed to the later titles, take a nostalgic trip on this one.

The Good
I've played Far Cry solidly for several months. Finishing the game on multiple difficulty levels and also playing quite a bit of multi-player. With Half-life 2's release a few days ago (a game that I have just finished) and Doom 3 a couple of months ago, I can say that Far Cry is definitely the most innovative of these three games. Far Cry pushes the FPS genre much like the original Half-life did years ago. And here's why...

Far Cry (for the uninitiated) takes place on an island somewhere out to sea. You play Jack Carver who has been stranded on the island with a bunch of terrorists. You must escape using a combination of stealth and firepower and while doing so uncover a rapidly thickening plot!

Far Cry is powered by the Cry-Engine, Crytek's new graphics engine which is capable of rendering huge outdoor environments in great detail, but also adept and rendering closed interior environments. It's fully integrated with a great physics engine and all in all the world that you inhabit is completely believable. The graphics speak for themselves, and basically, if you can see it, you can go there. This game (like the GTA series) is all about freedom. Every mission is non-linear, and each scenario generally has two or more ways of approaching it.

The story while being linear is not linear within each mission (and missions are very long). While certain objectives must be achieved, the way to complete them is not set and I can guarantee that your second trip through Far Cry will be completely different to your first. This is a sharp contrast to a game like "Half-life 2" where every section is clearly mapped out from A to B to C. In Half-life you are asking yourself "what does the game want me to do next?", in Far Cry you are asking yourself "how can I approach this objective the best?".

For example you might opt for stealth, you might create a diversion, you might find a secret path or tunnel, you might find a boat or car, or just run in with guns blazing. The possibilities are pretty much the same as you'd have in real life - and that's the hook.

The game engine also incorporates some pretty special AI. Playing on the easiest difficulty doesn't allow you to truly appreciate how good the AI is. On harder difficulties the enemies operate in teams much like a real group of terrorists, yelling out to each other - "FLANK LEFT!" or "I'LL GO GET HELP!". They really make an effort to surround and distract you. A pair of them might divert your attention from one direction, while another pair might circle around from two directions to come at you from behind. Or if outnumbered they might jump into an available jeep to drive to get reinforcements. It's great because they don't communicate telepathically - it's REAL.

A final thing worth a mention, and a feature I wish could be implemented in more games, is Far Cry's music system. This system picks up on events in the game and dynamically mixes a custom musical score. The effect is seamless and you only notice it if you focus on it, which is exactly the effect that music should have. Far Cry isn't the first game to have a feature like this, but it's without any doubt the best implementation I've ever heard. It really is that good!

The Bad
There are a number of problems with the game however, that do it a dis-service. I've already mentioned how great the AI is, however it is a little buggy. At some points you may find a bad guy that is basically "asleep", i.e. he should be able to see you, but just stands there. Clearly this isn't meant to happen, but when it does, it ruins the whole illusion.

Also, this is a very difficult game by comparison to other shooters. As a rough benchmark, I finished Half-life 2 on medium difficulty only one day after its release. It took me a week to finish Far Cry on it's easiest setting. Far Cry's savepoint system is very good and doesn't frustrate, however it's difficulty problems come from a somewhat bumpy difficulty ramp, with some very hard parts in early parts of the game. I'm sure this has choked off many players, who would simply give up. The final missions are EXTREMELY hard, and can get very frustrating for players that rely on tactics over reflexes. I can't help but feel that Crytek dropped the ball at the end there. It's not terrible, but not strong either.

The only other thing is that the dialog and voice acting, while being tongue in cheek does feel a bit forced and corny even given it's tone in many places. The story development and direction in general is quite amateur compared with other games. It seems like the game isn't sure whether it wants to be Duke Nukem or System Shock, and finds an uncomfortable middle ground.

The Bottom Line
Not to be missed, worth the effort... this is the way forward.