Now honestly, something just doesn't sound right when combining the words 'intelligent' and 'shooter'. No offense, but pretty much all shooters are more or less single minded. So is Far Cry different? Developer Crytek and publisher UbiSoft seem to think so. Well, let's see ...
TACTICAL SHOOTER
More similar to stealth action games like Thief and Splintercell, the player doesn't get very far without hiding from enemies and each action may have consequences. Though other stealth elements like hiding bodies etc. are mostly ignored in Far Cry.
So I guess Far Cry is closest to other tactical shooters like Ghost Recon, in a sense that you take out the enemy while accomplishing missions and try not to be discovered in order to survive. (Unlike the example though, Far Cry is the 'lone wolf' version and not team based at all.)
Far Cry is huge and comes on 5 CDs which all need to be installed on a hard drive before playing.
HIGHLIGHTS
'Unprecedented' AI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the major selling points for Far Cry. So called idle behavior gives characters a natural appearance and enemies don't just stand around like statues until triggered by some user action. What was a novelty at the beginning of 2004, it still is very similar to another game that was released at about the same time: Thief: Deadly Shadows. Both games are truly a far cry from 'dumb' shooters like DOOM III and Painkiller, which are excellent in their own rights but sure don't stand out with breathtaking AI.
Graphics: Another well known fact is the extreme distance the graphics engine allows to render detail that's unusual for those hardware requirements. On my system (P4, 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, ATI RADEON 9700Pro, WinXP SP2) the performance at 1280x1048 feels good even at maximum settings despite the vast foliage (vegetation) and special effects. A comparison to DOOM III falls short, as that 'monster' cheats with extremely dark rooms and confined areas in order to boast incredibly detailed objects and amazing effects like distortion by glass or heat, and smoke that looks almost real. Far Cry looks more conventional, but is still awe-inspiring with that incredible amount of foliage and the cool reflections. (Water effects don't reach the quality of Half-Life2 though. Beyond that, it's on par with most other good games of 2004.
Physics: Not everybody's favorite topic in school but a sweet thing in gaming -- at least since the amazing physics engine Havok2.0 (as seen in Painkiller and Half-Life2). Objects in the virtual world learned to behave like real ones in terms of effects of force and gravity on their motion. Far Cry stunned me when playing around and throwing different objects into the (mirror finish) water. One object sank while a wooden box ended up swimming. However, one more time Far Cry looses to Half-Life2 .
Interaction: Most computer games have objects made of 'Unobtainium' that cannot be harmed or moved no matter how hard you try. That's still true for the vegetation and buildings etc. in Far Cry. Vehicles have a basic damage model which fits the bill of the genre. Beyond physics, Far Cry allows a decent degree of interaction with most living things on this island (you can even shoot innocent fish or other animals and kill them if you desire, you sick @#$%^&*@). ;-)
Immersion: Graphics and sounds make it easy to pretend you're in the game. Voice acting is very good and the overall score quite decent too. The binocular also has voice tracking and allows spying on remote people and listening to their conversation. This is an important feature as that may disclose important facts to you.
Arsenal: Not only weapons can be found in great variety and efficiency, Far Cry also sports vehicles which are either land based or airborne. Most of them are required to accomplish certain tasks (like getting to another part of the island).
THE DARK SIDE
With all the hype there are a few things that surprised me as they were kind of basic but still either absent or poorly developed in Far Cry. Some of them are question of gaming philosophy, but still tickle me a little bit.
Game save: Big surprise to me as Far Cry only automatically saves at each checkpoint. No quicksave or named save is available at all! In 2004 this must be considered one of the worst PC games in this particular regard. Don't get me wrong, check points are okay but can be annoying in difficult situations. Worst case you're engaging into a battle right before running into a checkpoint and you will 'respawn' into that conflict or go back to the previous checkpoint. Or imagine to have just cleared out a whole camp and for some reason have to quit the game (i.e. because your spouse insists on using the computer - now). If you can't find a check point in time, you pretty much loose your progress. No match for the excellent game save in Call Of Duty or Half-Life2.
Objects: Sure you can shoot innocent animals, but strangely none of the weapons laying around disappear when picking up the ammunition. Realistic it may be, but it's confusing when the dash for ammunition replenishment turns into a guessing game whether I already picked that one up or not. Interaction w/ objects is average, and while you can kick boxes etc., you can't pick them up and throw for instance. (Note: most barrels w/ explosives in them -- according to the label -- appear to be 'empty' and don't blow up.)
Controls: Easy enough to get the game started, Far Cry provides many options which are specialized for different equipment and or actions. Beyond normal controls there is a lot of key strokes to remember if you wan to use binoculars, throw stones etc.. (More than in other games like Call of Duty anyway.) Controlling the vehicles feels a lot like Halo: Combat Evolved and doesn't really measure up to driving games but is good enough to fit into a game like this. (i.e. controlling a truck with WASD keys while looking around via mouse gets confusing quickly)
Stealth: is not the main focus of Far Cry but still required in order to succeed. Sometimes I wish it was better supported by the game as there is no possibility of picking up and hiding bodies, which in return are easily spotted by the games' AI and results in your discovery (a tough situation to be in). Further, there is very limited ways to take out enemies quietly (or even non-lethal).
A GENERAL THOUGHT
As I am killing mercenaries and try to save the life of my (virtual) love -- while discovering the secret of this island, my wife looked at me and wondered why do I enjoy killing 'people' that much. "But honey, I am really not ... I mean they are all 'bad' anyway!" On second thought, I spent most of 2004 killing bits and bytes in systematic order. Most recently DOOM III. Fortunately Far Cry requires to think a little bit while doing so, but she sure has a point when making me aware that most hyped games in the recent computer history are more or less training tools for 'super soldiers' and 'assassins'.
Hmmm, but ... er, I mean ... really ... it's not all bad ... or is it? Okay here is a deal, as long as I can distinguish between digital mercenaries and keep it out of real life I should be fine. Is anybody else thinking "Lawn Mower Man" right now? Well, I guess only if you're 'old' enough to remember the movie. ;-)
SUMMARY
I tried the Far Cry demo beginning of 2004 and decided to wait for it to drop below $30 in order to give it a try. Well that time has come and it turned out to be a good 'investment'. At the same time I was happy to not have paid the full price as other games in the same time period were good alternatives.
Far Cry impresses with an incredibly smart AI and good graphics. These are the main arguments for a spot in gaming history. The jungle is the most impressive vegetation I have seen in any game so far, animated and detailed. Even several months after its release, it's still an excellent game in that regard and slightly less demanding on your hardware than DOOM III.
On the negative side, of course it's not all gold and despite the hype there are a few glaring short-comings. The game save and the controls is what bothers me most. Then again, keep in mind that this may be only personal preference, and if you like console games, this may not apply.
Nevertheless, Far Cry is an experience in many ways and if you like the genre then you will like this game no matter what I say ... unless your computer is underpowered and turns this feast into molasses.
Forgive me if I didn't cover multiplayer, which supposedly is pretty good, but I just don't care much for slaughterfests without an interwoven story.
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