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Far Cry for Windows
- ESRB Descriptor: Blood Intense Violence
- ESRB Rating: M - (Mature)
- Publisher: Ubi Soft Entertainment
- Genre: Action Adventure
- Platform: Windows
- Game Series: Far Cry
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531
Introducing the next generation of 3d-shooters.
Pros
next-gen gfx engine, improved AI, less linearity, solid gameplay
Cons
lots of cliche, unbalanced multiplayer, be invisible in the bush.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A nice breath of air in the good ol' 3d shooter genre.
I'm glad Far Cry came out. Because unlike Doom III or Half Life 2, this game actually came out on time, and is without a doubt the first of a new line of next generation shooters. For that fact alone, I think it is a must own. So despite the slap together B-movie plot that combines elements of Jurassic Park, and Resident Evil, Far Cry is worth checking out.
Here's the breakdown.
You don't actually have to go that way. Yes, you actually go a different way.
Far Cry really breaks some mold over the linearity level design that most 3d-shooters of the past generation have tried to break but often fail. Far Cry actually makes the player feel like they have a lot of option of going another way. The levels are so massive that there are multiple ways to traverse them, and best of all multiple options to traverse with. The player has their options of hang gliders, boats, and humvees with mounted machine/rocket launchers. Although the game does make it clear that certain paths are more safe or easy to go through, it does not stop you from trying other ways.
Shooting watermelons was a big deal in MGS…well, Far Cry's got a fully featured physics engine.
Half-Life 2 was the game to boast early on about its physics engine. Doom III also demonstrated it in the E3 demo with zombies pushing over barrels as a scare tactic. Far Cry lets you see physics in action way before the release date of those two highly anticipated games. The physics isn't quite so interactive, but shooting chains will cause them to snap and fall, bodies will stack up rather than melding into each other, and explosive barrels actually send bodies and objects flying in all directions. There aren't too many chances to utilize the physics engine, but players will notice, it's all there, and the subtle detail adds a new level of realism to the game.
Evolution of the AI, no more camping next to doors.
One thing that bothered me about Max Payne games was the fact that the AI was stupid beyond belief. Go into a room with 12 guys, fire a bullet, run back to the room you came from, and camp next to the door. When the enemies walk in, hit bullet time, boom boom, and they all die. This strategy works for nearly all 3d-shooters. When AI gets activated, it tends to automatically attempt to hunt down the player, and will often as a result, run blindly through doorways.
Unfortunately the same strategy still works in Far Cry, but they definitely have improved upon the AI, so that it is not quite as easy as it used to be. If you were to camp in a doorway, in Far Cry, enemies will try to flank you, they will send one guy another way, and another guy the opposite way so that if you crouch facing one direction too long, you might get hit by the enemy who has taken their time to walk all the way around to find you. Also, doorways are not made so that only one bad guy can run through. Multiple enemies will try to storm you if you are camping, making it more difficult to just quietly sit and pick out enemies. The AI is quite impressive as a result; you will find teams of marines with various weapons attacking from multiple directions at very odd intervals to throw you off. With Far Cry, 3d shooter AI has been raised a notch.
It's the little things that add up to make Far Cry amazing…
Far Cry starts off as a kind of standard shooter, you find yourself on an island fighting groups of mercenaries as you try to get off. However, then you discover this plot about genetic projects and it sort of goes into a kind of Doom/Resident Evil/Jurassic Park world where there are not just mercenaries and special forces trying to kill you for knowing the secrets of the island, but also genetic mutations with rocket launchers built into their chests wandering around. The best part is that the two sides even fight each other throughout the game and may ignore you completely for certain levels. The effect is the feeling of a true battlefield, as AI goes against AI. After they've eliminated each other however, they will turn on you, so there is a careful balance to play in who you pick off.
Other cool features include the sheer detail put into each level of the game. The graphics are gorgeous, there is a lot of 3d texture mapping, complicated lighting and so on. The game is a full demonstration of what a next-generation shooter should look like. Despite the seemingly simple jungle habitat, the game also lets you explore a number of science facilities that resemble Jurassic Park, a partly sunken ship, and some high tech storage facilities. One especially nice area of the game involves fighting special forces troops fully decked out in night vision and scoped rifles in a large hanger filled with crates. Reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid, Far Cry takes lots of cool ideas from many games and movie scenes.
Quite simply put, Far Cry is your standard 3d-shooter in terms of weapons, vehicles and plot. However, it differentiates itself by successfully combining all the good points of Halo, Half Life and Rainbow Six stealth gameplay to create some rather well balanced gameplay.
However that's not say there aren't down sides.
Hide in a bush, and be invisible to the world.
When it took the idea of stealth jungle fighting, Far Cry went overboard with the bush. If you hide in bush, you can kill someone near point blank and the enemy will be totally clueless as to your location. They will send guys after you, but so long as you are in that bush, they will not find you until they literally step on you, and the mercenary utters "I'm gonna kill you" with his gun pointed at the back of your head. For that reason, hiding in a bush is the most superior strategy in the game, and is to be used at all times…and for that reason as well, it kind of is just plain ridiculous. If you don't hide in a bush, expect to die in a few minutes as the enemy will be on top of you nearly instantaneously.
B-Movie plot complete with stereotypes.
As I've mentioned earlier, Far Cry is a B-movie plot. It takes a bunch of overused ideas and just blends them together to make something decent, but not too great either. The characters in the game are made blatant stereotypes, there's the buxom CIA tough girl, you play the Duke Nukem gruffy voiced protagonist who doesn't seem to care and just wants to go home, but also has a natural desire to kill and blow up everything in your path. The bad guy is your standard greed motivated mad scientist bent on using genetics to create the ultimate soldier…and well, you should get the point by now.
Unbalanced multiplayer so far…
There is one thing Far Cry will not do, and that is become the next Counterstrike. Given the way the gameplay operates, try playing this game multiplayer and you find out some very simple things. Sniper rifle owns, and none of the weapons have the slightest sense of balance. Simply camp out in the jungle, keep an eye out and kill anything that comes along. Whether or not mods will improve this scenario down the line is a matter of debate, but I would predict most folks will flock over to Half-Life 2 and Doom III for their multiplayer fix.
Far Cry is overall though a very nice game. It will require some hefty specs to run decently. What sucks about the game as with most 3d shooters are the lack of a strong tough scary boss, and some minor issues with AI and plot. However, the flaws do not really hinder what Far Cry's goal was, and it was mainly to deliver a new, next-generation game with new technologies and new gameplay. Far Cry succeeds, and should be considered a game to pick up as gamers await the highly delayed sequels, Doom III and Half Life 2.
Here's the breakdown.
You don't actually have to go that way. Yes, you actually go a different way.
Far Cry really breaks some mold over the linearity level design that most 3d-shooters of the past generation have tried to break but often fail. Far Cry actually makes the player feel like they have a lot of option of going another way. The levels are so massive that there are multiple ways to traverse them, and best of all multiple options to traverse with. The player has their options of hang gliders, boats, and humvees with mounted machine/rocket launchers. Although the game does make it clear that certain paths are more safe or easy to go through, it does not stop you from trying other ways.
Shooting watermelons was a big deal in MGS…well, Far Cry's got a fully featured physics engine.
Half-Life 2 was the game to boast early on about its physics engine. Doom III also demonstrated it in the E3 demo with zombies pushing over barrels as a scare tactic. Far Cry lets you see physics in action way before the release date of those two highly anticipated games. The physics isn't quite so interactive, but shooting chains will cause them to snap and fall, bodies will stack up rather than melding into each other, and explosive barrels actually send bodies and objects flying in all directions. There aren't too many chances to utilize the physics engine, but players will notice, it's all there, and the subtle detail adds a new level of realism to the game.
Evolution of the AI, no more camping next to doors.
One thing that bothered me about Max Payne games was the fact that the AI was stupid beyond belief. Go into a room with 12 guys, fire a bullet, run back to the room you came from, and camp next to the door. When the enemies walk in, hit bullet time, boom boom, and they all die. This strategy works for nearly all 3d-shooters. When AI gets activated, it tends to automatically attempt to hunt down the player, and will often as a result, run blindly through doorways.
Unfortunately the same strategy still works in Far Cry, but they definitely have improved upon the AI, so that it is not quite as easy as it used to be. If you were to camp in a doorway, in Far Cry, enemies will try to flank you, they will send one guy another way, and another guy the opposite way so that if you crouch facing one direction too long, you might get hit by the enemy who has taken their time to walk all the way around to find you. Also, doorways are not made so that only one bad guy can run through. Multiple enemies will try to storm you if you are camping, making it more difficult to just quietly sit and pick out enemies. The AI is quite impressive as a result; you will find teams of marines with various weapons attacking from multiple directions at very odd intervals to throw you off. With Far Cry, 3d shooter AI has been raised a notch.
It's the little things that add up to make Far Cry amazing…
Far Cry starts off as a kind of standard shooter, you find yourself on an island fighting groups of mercenaries as you try to get off. However, then you discover this plot about genetic projects and it sort of goes into a kind of Doom/Resident Evil/Jurassic Park world where there are not just mercenaries and special forces trying to kill you for knowing the secrets of the island, but also genetic mutations with rocket launchers built into their chests wandering around. The best part is that the two sides even fight each other throughout the game and may ignore you completely for certain levels. The effect is the feeling of a true battlefield, as AI goes against AI. After they've eliminated each other however, they will turn on you, so there is a careful balance to play in who you pick off.
Other cool features include the sheer detail put into each level of the game. The graphics are gorgeous, there is a lot of 3d texture mapping, complicated lighting and so on. The game is a full demonstration of what a next-generation shooter should look like. Despite the seemingly simple jungle habitat, the game also lets you explore a number of science facilities that resemble Jurassic Park, a partly sunken ship, and some high tech storage facilities. One especially nice area of the game involves fighting special forces troops fully decked out in night vision and scoped rifles in a large hanger filled with crates. Reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid, Far Cry takes lots of cool ideas from many games and movie scenes.
Quite simply put, Far Cry is your standard 3d-shooter in terms of weapons, vehicles and plot. However, it differentiates itself by successfully combining all the good points of Halo, Half Life and Rainbow Six stealth gameplay to create some rather well balanced gameplay.
However that's not say there aren't down sides.
Hide in a bush, and be invisible to the world.
When it took the idea of stealth jungle fighting, Far Cry went overboard with the bush. If you hide in bush, you can kill someone near point blank and the enemy will be totally clueless as to your location. They will send guys after you, but so long as you are in that bush, they will not find you until they literally step on you, and the mercenary utters "I'm gonna kill you" with his gun pointed at the back of your head. For that reason, hiding in a bush is the most superior strategy in the game, and is to be used at all times…and for that reason as well, it kind of is just plain ridiculous. If you don't hide in a bush, expect to die in a few minutes as the enemy will be on top of you nearly instantaneously.
B-Movie plot complete with stereotypes.
As I've mentioned earlier, Far Cry is a B-movie plot. It takes a bunch of overused ideas and just blends them together to make something decent, but not too great either. The characters in the game are made blatant stereotypes, there's the buxom CIA tough girl, you play the Duke Nukem gruffy voiced protagonist who doesn't seem to care and just wants to go home, but also has a natural desire to kill and blow up everything in your path. The bad guy is your standard greed motivated mad scientist bent on using genetics to create the ultimate soldier…and well, you should get the point by now.
Unbalanced multiplayer so far…
There is one thing Far Cry will not do, and that is become the next Counterstrike. Given the way the gameplay operates, try playing this game multiplayer and you find out some very simple things. Sniper rifle owns, and none of the weapons have the slightest sense of balance. Simply camp out in the jungle, keep an eye out and kill anything that comes along. Whether or not mods will improve this scenario down the line is a matter of debate, but I would predict most folks will flock over to Half-Life 2 and Doom III for their multiplayer fix.
Far Cry is overall though a very nice game. It will require some hefty specs to run decently. What sucks about the game as with most 3d shooters are the lack of a strong tough scary boss, and some minor issues with AI and plot. However, the flaws do not really hinder what Far Cry's goal was, and it was mainly to deliver a new, next-generation game with new technologies and new gameplay. Far Cry succeeds, and should be considered a game to pick up as gamers await the highly delayed sequels, Doom III and Half Life 2.
