Review: Far Cry

Far Cry

Platform: PC
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: Ubisoft
Players: 1 + Internet multiplayer

This is a next generation First Person Shooter. Although the basic game play is nothing new and the story line of scientifically enhanced mutant military experiments is laughingly unoriginal, the graphics are top of the line, as well as the physics engine that affects objects and characters in the game taking the next step toward realism. The locale is definitely different, as FarCry takes place on lush tropical islands (instead of the military or dungeon locations of most FPS games).

I definitely haven’t seen this level of detail put into environments before. The lighting effects are superior, having shadows that move and shift with light sources only adds to the deep, darkness of the tropical jungles. The birds chirp and bugs buzz by your eyes with realism and the music changes to fit the moods of the action seamlessly.

The AI is a step forward as well. Enemies go for backup, flank and surround you and have a certain degree of awareness to noise and line of sight (a meter constantly displays your visibility). If the enemy knows where you are, they will actively and strategically flush you out and hunt you down. And rarely do they ‘stand there and let you shoot them’, a problem which plagues most FPS computer AI. So while still not human smart, this is some of the better enemy strategy I’ve seen employed by a computer opponent. A fair grip of weapons are utilized, but nothing incredibly snazzy, mostly your standard assault rifles, sniper rifles, smg’s and the occasional rocket launcher. An array of vehicles make themselves useful and are easy to employ and operate but driving right up to enemies is usually a deathwish.

The best element of game play FarCry succeeds in is the need for stealth. The aforementioned visibility meter is essential for utilizing the tropical foliage for cover, as keeping a low profile is the only way to success. No ‘run and frag’ missions here. More like, sneak and exterminate. Thankfully, most levels are very open ended with large areas to maximize the best attack angles, making for multiple options on how to achieve the goal for each mission.

The actual game is huge with weeks worth of levels to wade through. Although it does get a bit of ‘same thing, different island’ after awhile, the new buzzers and bells on this FPS makes it an involved play and well worth your money.