Far Cry (PC) Review

I finished this game on Thursday, May 1, 2008, 9:31:00 PM. This review was first published on GameSpot on July 26, 2008.

When almost the entire PC gaming industry is waiting for the release of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, Far Cry comes out of nowhere to compete against these giants. This game put German developers CryTek on the map.

Far Cry is a first person shooter set on a tropical island. The player assumes the role of Jack Craver, who is hired to sail a woman named Valarie around the pacific. The situation goes completely wrong when the ship is attacked, and Valarie is kidnapped. It’s now your job to rescue her and get away from the island.

The first thing that comes to your mind about Far Cry is the graphics. If you have the hardware, then you will be treated to some excellent visuals. The islands are beautifully created and the water effects are superb.

The game offers some panoramic views over cliffs and waterfalls. I cannot count the number of times I spent gazing over the horizon at the beautiful scenery. Some of the indoor levels are extremely well done too. The shadows help make in making them very creepy at times; it’s very immersive that way.

The environment for most part is very open, and it gives you a feeling of freedom, although the game is fairly linear. However, it does not restrict you to take a single route to your objective. There are often multiple ways to accomplish the goals on the islands and some routes can be easier than the others.

The action is very intense throughout, because even on Normal settings the game is quite hard. It’s not advisable to attack in the open, you are often required to take cover and move carefully. The game does have a little bit of a stealth factor, but the slightest bit of a noise is enough to alert everyone on the island.

I thought this could have been implemented better. Going through the forest generally provides some good cover, but not for long. You only need to make a small commotion to alert everyone – it’s almost as if there is a marker pointing right to your location.

There are a variety of enemies to deal with, both human kind and the mutated kind. The humans tend to take cover and shoot through the forest. This usually means waiting for the right moment to attack. Headshots become essential to conserve ammo and deliver a deadly blow. The mutants tend to jump at you and can kill very easily.

You also get to drive plenty of vehicles such as boats and jeeps, and for the first time that I have seen in games, you have a hand glider to use. I thought this was really well done. I enjoyed jumping off a huge cliff with a hand glider and falling slowly into the water.

The audio provides a good experience for those with a good sound system. The sounds effects are excellent, and the weapons sound realistic. Each scenario has its own sounds; the jungle has the chirping sounds of birds, and the indoor sound effects such as hissing of steam through pipes contribute heavily to the atmosphere of the game.

Although visually the game is almost perfect, there are a few gameplay glitches that keep showing every now and then, such as erratic enemy behavior – they sometimes tend to get stuck into walls or bounce about in water; and a certain level glitch which will prevent progress. Updating the game will solve this problem.

The game is fairly long, and provides 20-30 hours of gameplay, which is quite unusual for most shooters, which tend to be shorter. Given the aggressive AI and the checkpoint system, it’s almost certain to take as long to finish this game.

+Excellent graphics
+ Beautiful environment
+ Great level design
+ Plenty of vehicles to use

- Hard!
- Checkpoint system
- Technical glitches

Verdict - Must Play!