Far Cry

1001 Video Games

The PC version of Far Cry appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

The game actually started out as a tech demo made by Crytek, to demonstrate the capabilities of Nvidia's (then) new graphics chip, the GeForce 3. Much like what happened with Serious Sam: The First Encounter, it then got turned into the complete game it is now.

German version

The German government agencies for the protection of children are not to be trifled with – a lesson that publisher UbiSoft learned the hard way with Far Cry.

Due to realistic violence, especially with regard to the ragdoll model of the enemies, the full English version of Far Cry was banned in Germany by the federal agency BPjM on April 2nd 2004, meaning that any kind of advertisement for this version is forbidden, and it may only be sold on request to persons aged 18 or older.

UbiSoft and developer Crytek had anticipated this, and created a special version of Far Cry for the German market – the usual procedure to abide by the strict German standards. In this version, ragdoll models were disabled. As expected, the modified version was rated “18+” by the USK, the official German rating board. Any game with a USK rating may only be sold to persons of the specified age group, but is protected from being banned. UbiSoft produced and shipped a large amount of copies of this German version, which hit stores on March 25th 2004.

At that time, the BPjM judgment on the English version was pending. The BPjM testers quickly found out what was already widely circulated in the Internet: Crytek had not physically removed the ragdoll model from the German Far Cry, they had just disabled it -- and every user could turn the feature back on with just a few simple modifications. This made the German version identical to the English one. Identical content is the one criterion that would allow the BPjM to ignore a USK rating and ban a game. That, however, had never happened.

Up to now. On April 2nd 2004, the BPjM banned the German version of Far Cry along with the English one, on accounts of identical content. From one day to the next, stores nationwide were no longer allowed to display the boxes of the most popular, extremely successful action game.

UbiSoft’s reaction was feverish, yet professional. As soon as word had spread that a ban was imminent, the company started the production of a new, non-modifiable German version to replace its now worthless predecessor. This second edition retained the USK rating “18+” and was distributed two weeks later, on April 15th. UbiSoft took back all copies of the previous version at its own cost.

The German second edition cover of Far Cry is easily recognizable by a big red box in the upper right corner containing the line “Deutsche Version” (German version). If you happen to own one of the banned first editions, you should probably hold on to it; over time, it may become a collector’s piece.

Graphics

The game allows you to set a way to render it, such as the bright "Paradise," the dim "Cold," or the cel-shaded "Cartoon."

Patch 1.3 of the game adds support for HDR lighting (high dynamic range lighting) on the new nVidia GeForce FX 6xxx line of graphics cards. Its inclusion makes Far Cry the first commercial game to support HDR lighting!

This feature increases visual quality in the game tremendously, improving the detail and dynamic range between light and dark, and simulating lens exposure effects between light and dark areas of the image.

The feature is not accessible from the game configuration screen, but must be enabled via the command line, console or config file. The feature is not available on ATI's competing generation of graphics cards due to the implementation/hardware limitations.

Mods

Far Cry fans have created an unofficial modification that adds a Capture the Flag multiplayer mode and comes with five new maps.

Far Cry seems to be on its way to become the most longevous game in history. Following the visual change that patch 1.3 meant by enabling HDR, two patches were released to bring the game up to the world of 64 bits. While they don't really take advantage of any 64-bit specific features, these patches do improve graphics even further, and they add a couple of new levels and some other stuff.

What, you didn't make the jump to 64-bit yet? Fret not. Most of those graphical enhancements are available for 32-bit users as well, via a little thing called the FC 64ecu to 32os conversion patch.

Movie

The game became a movie in 2008. The main character Jack Carver is played by Til Schweiger. Although it does not stick to the game's storyline, it cuts close with the setting and game elements. German investor Boll KG bought the rights to turn the game into a movie franchise in February 2004, a month before the game hit stores.

Patch 1.2

In July 2004, patch 1.2 was soon recalled after the release, due to unexpected behaviour on specific hardware configurations. There was no fix released afterwards. Users had to revert to 1.1 and then wait until October 2004 for a new patch (1.3).

Title

On May 28, 2002, developer Crytek changed the game’s name from X-Isle to Far Cry. The “X” was too allusive of Microsoft’s game console X-Box.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2004 – Biggest PC Surprise of the Year
• GameSpy
  • 2004 – #9 PC Game of the Year
  • 2004 – Special Achievement in Graphics Award (together with DOOM³)
• GameStar (Germany)
  • February 2005 - Best German PC Game in 2004 (Readers' Vote)
• Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2004 - Runner up to DOOM³ in the "PC Game of the Year" category
• PC Gamer
  • April 2005 - #18 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • issue 01/2005 - Best German Game in 2004

Information also contributed by -Chris, Dr. M. "Schadenfreude" Von Katze, MAT, piltdown man, Sciere, Tiebes80 and Zack Green