Far Cry

UBI Soft's tech support has said that this "feature" extends to *all* of their PC titles. So fair warning, particularly to folks with laptops where DVD/CDRW drives came standard, ask before you buy. Perhaps if enough people have a problem with this flawed policy, UBI will smarten up. "Flawed" because limiting installs to drives without write capacity isn't going to slow a determined game cracker/pirate down, it's only going to prevent normal consumers from being able to install the game. Worse, they don't find out until they've opened the package and tried to install, which in some cases is enough to prevent a return and refund from the seller.

I'm certain this game deserves more than 1 star, and suspect it will see some good reviews from people who are able to install, but I can't give it more than a single. That's a commentary on UBI Soft and their "feature", not about the game itself.


Awesome graphics, solid gameplay, good fun   May 28, 2004
M. S. Hillis (San Francisco, CA)
54 out of 58 found this review helpful

I'm having great fun with this game despite running it on a mediocre system that can't run the game in full graphical flourish. I have a 2.0Ghz P4, 512Mb RAM and an ATI 9800 (the base model, not Pro or XT) card with 128Mb RAM. So it's decent but hardly cutting edge.

Despite the fact that of the eight customizable graphics settings, I have set four to "medium" and four to "low", the graphics are simply the best I've ever seen, on any game at any time. The sky looks absolutely real, the water has noticeable depth and shimmer, and the foliage is lush and crisp. The character models are great -- muscles bulge, clothing wrinkles, and blood sprays in a most vivid fasion. This game alone makes me want to shell out a few thousand for a bleeding-edge system.

The game play is quite solid first-person shooter fare. There are no huge breakthroughs, though there are nice details like a stamina meter for running and holding your breath. The weapons selection is nice -- enough variety to keep you interested but not so broad that there is much overlap. The voice acting is a model of over-the-top action cheesiness, and the bad guys shout their lines with such enthusiastic machismo that you have to laugh. Fun stuff.

The only gripe I have at this point is weak online play. Much of this is no doubt to my location in Asia, which leads to some horrible ping. But it seems I am not alone in thinking the multiplayer needs a bit of tweaking. I guess there is a patch coming out in June that will hopefully resolve some of these issues.

Bottom line: Top-notch job on graphics and setting inject fresh life into the FPS genre. Well worth it, even if your system has to make compromises.


a FAR CRY from the opposition, perhaps?   November 6, 2003
Paul Crimmins (United Kingdom)
53 out of 99 found this review helpful

My review is based on articles and interviews I have read along a viewing of the tech demo. Even so, it's worth a 5 for whetting my appetite with what it promises to offer.

There are many first person shooters, but Far Cry from CryTek strives to add gameplay elements which make it worth serious consideration.

The action takes place on the main island of Micronesia, although there are other smaller islands which you can swim to. You play Jack Carver who is forced out of his sun-drenched retirement to help out a female journalist. There are homicidal mercenaries out to stop you. That's the basic premise of the game.

The decision to set the game on a lush tropical island means that the game is not linear as in most shooters. You have complete freedom to move about and carry out your missions any way you deem fit. The player is in control, rather than being forced to complete missions in a set way. You are free to use your own discretion and to undertake missions using stealth tactics, all out assault, or a combination of the two depending on the circumstances you find yourself in.

Environments will range from jungle, to caves, as well as man made facilities.

The AI of the game was designed to "understand", and react to the environment. The enemy interacts with the environment just like you, and will use it for cover and to try take you down using tactics such as suppressive fire, outflanking, and/or calling reinforcements. Each enemy unit will react not only to your input, but also with the surrounding terrain in unique ways. In other words, the enemy knows as much as you about the arena you play in. Because of the non-linearity of the game (even though there is a progressive story line), the AI are NOT scripted. The beauty of this is that every time you play a section of the game the AI will respond in different ways so you never play out a scenario in exactly the same way.

My excitement was further increased with news of the Sandbox Editor which will be shipped with the game and is billed as the What You See is What You Play. According to an interview with the developers, it took only 3 days (!) for one of their new multiplayer developers to learn how to use the editor. You can build and edit terrain, drop in some AI units, then play test it through all with a few mouse clicks. Switching from game to editor will be a breeze (like in Operation Flashpoint) and ensure a formidable amount of Multiplayer maps will be developed soon after the game ships.

For programmmers who want to write their own scripted routines, the game uses the Lua programming language which allows you to write and embed your routines into the game without having to touch the game's original C++ code.

For modders, the news is also optimistic. The developers have stressed that everything in the game has been designed with the mod community in mind, and can be modded quite easily. They have mentioned releasing an SDK for the mod community either with, or shortly after, the game's release.

Weapons range from a P90 SMG, OICW, AG36, M4, Desert Eagle, down to a machete.

Vehicles can be driven in 1st or 3rd person view with the ability to fire weapons while driving. Jeeps, boats, HMMVs, and hang-gliders can be used by the player, and the AI will use vehicles to pursue you.

With huge terrains, vast draw distances of up to 2 kilometers, rag doll and real-time physics, an editor which appears to be simplicity itself, and an unscripted AI, next year looks promising for anyone willing - and daring - enough to take a relaxing (?) break in the lagoons, caves, and lush jungles of Far Cry's Micronesian Islands.

Two excellent interviews with the developers can be viewed at Game Zone and Avault.

For an impressive demo of the game go to Gamers Hell and download the 32Mb "tech demo". I'm sure you'll be impressed with what you see.


"Paradise Gone Wrong..." -- Everything Else is Right   April 8, 2004
John L. Maillard (Toms River, NJ USA)
26 out of 28 found this review helpful

Where to start, where to start? Well, first let me tell you that I am a huge FPS (first-person shooter) fan, whether it's mindless fragfests like Serious Sam or stealth-oriented action like Deus Ex or the Thief series. I've been waiting for the "next big thing" in FPS for quite some time, namely Half-Life 2, but I think the next big thing has arrived sooner than expected, and its name is Far Cry.

Let me get this out of the way before I go on: Unless your PC is is a stud monster with preferably 2.5 - 3.0 GHz processing speed, lots of RAM (1,000+), and a gaudy video card (Radeon 9800), you won't get the full effect from this game. Still, even on a mid-range system with graphics toned down to medium, you will be absolutely blown away. I know I was, and still am.

Using the supercool Crytek engine, Ubisoft has created a game that features sensational graphics, terrific AI, decent plot, and unusual locales, namely the Caribbean. Where this game stands out is its graphics engine, which lets you see for miles and offers an unparalleled setting ever seen in a computer game. But be warned: don't expect to just walk into huts on the sand and start blasting away at mercenaries. These guys are good, calling for cover and flanking you every chance they get. You'll have to think about how you're going to approach each mission, and even then, you'll be required to make quick adjustments, thanks to the assault jeep that just showed up right behind you or the gunship that is raining missles from the sky. No two missions are alike, as the AI learns as they go, adjusting to your moves and reacting accordingly. Terrific stuff.

The voices are a little over-the-top, which absolutely fits this very over-the-top game. The standard "mad scientist creates some monsters from human DNA" plot is a bit trite, but the presentation of the entire game makes up for it, with engaging cut scenes and terrific direction to your next objective. Overall, though, sounds lend a distinct feel to the game, as the birds chirp when you're outside on the island and waves lap against the shore, or your pinned underneath a palm tree with a chopper armed to the teeth sending death from above, the whup-whup-whup filling your ears as the world goes black.

Real-world weapons are at your disposal four at a time, and they do the job very nicely. Crouching and arming yourself with an MP90 in the islands has never been so much fun. And you can drive many, if not all, of the vehicles in the game, including jeeps, assault trucks, gunboats, and even hangliders, which is a nice change of pace from the usual duck-cover-shoot tasks involved with each mission.

Each mission is very well defined, but by no means is this game linear. You can get to the endpoint any way you want. If you want to take the whole guerilla army on headfirst, go right ahead. If you want to sneak around and shoot them from underneath the huts, you can do that too. Ubisoft has put the entire game in your hands, and it makes for some truly exciting, innovative gameplay. Some people will have a problem with the difficulty level and overall problems with getting it running at decent speed on a minimally equipped system, but look past this. Also, the auto-save system is a little annoying (no quick saves), forcing you to go through the same mission until you get it right and it reaches the next auto-save point.

Not since Half Life has a game been so immersive, so unique, and so rewarding in its gameplay. Far Cry presents PC gamers with a tough challenge that shouldn't be missed.


A good game...give it a try!   March 13, 2004
Andras J. Megyeri (NJ, United States)
25 out of 41 found this review helpful

I got the demo for this game, and it looks like the other "long awaited games" might have a competition.
Goodies:
-This game has awesome graphics (as you can tell from the single player demo)
-The enemy AI is good, they respond differently. For example if you rush in with a rocket launcher, a whole group of guards will try and take you down with machine guns etc. But you can just sneak up and stay undetected.
-The cars, jeeps are easy to controll
-You can play the sneaky one, or the 'run and just kill' kind of person. The grass, jungle is really good. And you can hide in it...the enemy won't notice!

Bad:?
-This computer game needs a real good computer upgrading. But just like halflife2 and doomIII.

I can't think of anything else. Give this game a try, it looks very good, and I recommend it for people who are waiting for HL2 or games like that. I hope you found this helping!
Aron