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Awesome Graphics Demo...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: May 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

...but the game has to be one of the most frustrating first person shooters ever created.

First things first: The graphics engine is awesome. This is easily the most beautiful game world ever created. This is true for indoor scenarios, but the engine is especially good with tropical outdoor scenarios.

Unfortunately, the save-game system is the worst I have encountered in a long time. Not only is your only option to auto-save at check points (which are few and far between and also inconsistant), but the game sometimes even ends up saving just before you get hit by a bullet. And you guessed it: Once you load the game, the bullet is right there again, hitting you in the face. Argh! (I read that there is a bug that fixes this problem, but I have not seen that available anywhere... V1.1 seems to have the same problem...)

Can it be so hard to create a FPS game that is fun to play, simply by allowing me to progress through the game smoothly? This is now the second game within a very short period of time that I bought an UbiSoft game that was truely fantastic, but was made completely frustrating and useless by its save-game feature (XIII being the other).

But perhaps I am asking too much if I expect some fun to come in the same box as great graphics...

PS: I have now modified the game myself, adding a quick-save key (which can be done using configuration files and some minor scripting). This makes the game a little better. However, once I did this, I realized that there are many other things wrong with this game. I can not count the number of times where I entered a room and was immediately killed without even knowing what hit me. I often had to enter the same room 4 or 5 times before I could even figure out what was going on!

At other times, I would have to approach the same enemy multiple times and even though I knew what was coming and already aimed at the right spot before things happened, I was still killed again and again. How one would get through these scenes without a save game feature is completely beyond me. Sure, I did not play on the easiest setting, but still! I have played through all of Doom 3 without having been killed once where I thought it wasn't my own fault. In Far Cry, this happend all the time!

And then there were times where the level design was just so sloppy that I could not move on. A few times I tried to swim through a pond, just to realize that I could not get out of it because the banks were to steep. At other times, I set off a huge explosion that threw crates around so they would block the next door, and I could not move them out of the way. Now just imagine you die because of that kind of nosense and there is no save feature!

At other times, I tried to shoot mosters with a clear line of sight, but the collision detection is so sloppy that I kept firing into an invisible wall. As soon as I moved a few pixels though, the monster would kill me before I was able to fire off another shot (and it takes several shots to kill those monsters). I am not sure why this is such a problem?!? It seems that the FarCry developers can do perfect per-pixel lighting, but on the other hand, they can not even do rough per-vertex collision detection and instead use a bounding box? Hard to believe, but for a good number of on-screen objects, this seems to be the case.

This game is a good example for a game that sells because of its graphics. The graphics are awesome, but the rest of the game is a disaster! Put a different/average graphics front end on this, and people would hate this game! Game design wise, this is completely unacceptable. Still, the graphics are worth seeing, especially outdoor scenarios. You can see that in the free demos though.

Most IRRITATING game I've had the misfortune to play.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 22 / 45
Date: July 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

1)The supposedly ground-breaking graphics really are not. And while they are pretty for awhile, the primary view is the same tropical island over and over. The water is nice and there are alot of plants, but Gothic 2 was almost as nice, and alot more diverse, not just running around shooting constantly.

2)The supposedly ground-breaking AI is not. Apparantly giving the enemy the ability to cheat is considered revolutionary AI now. Enemy forces can be engaged in life-and-death deafening combat with monsters, and you quietly poke your toe out in the darkness around a corner where they can't even see you, and one of them will yell There He Is!! and run to find you and shoot you in the eye with expert marksmanship from 100 yards away. And if he happens to miss, he'll hop around non-stop like a jack-rabbit on caffeine still shooting at you expertly, but if you try to draw a bead on someone you can't move at all. This is AI??

3) The control of vehicles is the worst driving I've ever seen in a computer game. Even if you aren't being pursued, get used to driving off cliffs completely on accident, or having your vehicle start rolling away downhill if you don't keep it in motion. You don't even see hands on the steering wheel, I guess it turns by thought-control?

4) The outdated Checkpoint save feature was apparently meant to make the game seem longer by forcing you to continuously replay the same obnoxiously difficult parts over and over, rather than allowing you to save the game where ever you want.

5) The lack of user-chosen save-games is made even more frustrating by the ridiculously hard trial-and-error difficulty, even on the easiest settings.

I for one bought this game to have fun, not to be deliberately frustrated by checkpoints, AI that cheats, poor vehicle control, and ridiculous difficulty. Having to replay entire segments over and over and over to have a chance at surviving them is not fun, and the eye-candy does not compensate for that.

I also bought this game because I heard it being touted as revolutionary. The only thing revolutionary is the level to which it has taken irritatingness in games. Beyond that, its pretty enough, but just another shooter.

Like Paris Hilton - Beautiful but waaaayy too hard to win

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: August 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The best looking first person shooter to date, but by the middle of the game I went to a cheat site which I NEVER do
and went into god mode just to see what kept killing me. After I became invincible the game became no fun. Needs a quick save, takes forever to reload scenes and then you have to do them AGAIN to get to where you will surely die just like last time.

Best single player since Half-Life

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: April 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Totally beats my expectations, this is the game to get and is probley the best single player FPS experience since Half-Life.

Graphics and sound are only part of what makes this game so great. The AI is absolutely amazing and really do "work together" to hunt you down. There are so many things done right in this game, the few bugs it has won't even matter to you. The most stunning game visuals I've seen in years. Level design uses a wide bottleneck to allow multiple paths to the objective while ensuring story continuity. I can only hope other studio's follow this example.

A few multiplayer maps and modes are provided, but the games comes with the CryEngine Sandbox editor which is so easy to use it's just a matter of days before the first great user created maps appear. There's not alot of MP content out of the box, but the tools have been provided.

Vetern Gamers should play this game on "Challenging" or higher with "Auto ballance bot AI" checked for max enjoyment.

My system can run this game at ultra high settings, but I've taken some of them down to high just to make sure there's not even the slightest glitch in the massive firefights. I also threw an additional case fan on my video card to ensure no overheating. My system is an AMD 2800+ with 512 DDR400 and a Radeon 9800 PRO 256 Ultimate Edition. No overclocking and zero lag.

This game is a "must have" game. It's easily worth the cost and will provide you with some of the best gameplay. Highly recommended.

The Real Facts

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well, even though I have not finished, I am past half way done, I wanted to let people know what they are really in store for if they are considering buying it.
First the graphics. Up to this point in time, my system, P4 2.26, 512 ram, Radeon 9800 pro 128mb, has been able to run every game out there with all the graphics settings cranked way up. So I am used to very detailed objects, and such. Not with this game. I have all the settings at medium, except for water quality which is set to very high. Those are the default settings. The outdoor levels, the island graphics, the water, the trees, basically everything outside looks amazing. Very good even with the graphic settings at medium. Totally cool. However, the indoor levels, is like playing something from five years ago. It still looks pretty good, but in order to really get the incredible detail with the lighting and everything else the hype is all about, you will need a ridiculous machine. The read me file suggests a 3 ghz processor, and at least 1024mb ram. Just to see what it was like, I cranked the settings all the way up, and the detail was incredible. However, with my system it was not very playable. So, although it still does look real good, if you don't have the system, your not truly going see what this new technology can really do.
As far as the story, its used. Nothing original. Its different in its own way, but nothing new.
The gameplay is excellent. The game is about as non linear as a FPS can get. The outdoor missions leave you multiple ways to get to your objective. You can drive, take a boat, take the high road, take the low road, take the long way, sneak through jungle, dive off a cliff and swim, it really is cool. The AI is no worse then any other recent FPS. The gunfights are a lot of fun. I would have to say it is as good as Halo. The indoor missions also pretty good. Although more linear then the outdoor missions, they aren't too bad.
I have to say, this game has me hooked so bad, I'm contimplating building a new machine with a 3.4 ghz, and 2gb ram. It is also pretty long. I have got to be at least fifteen hours into, and I don't think I'm too close to finishing. Altogether, an excellent game, if you got the machine, very excellent.

An amazing game from someone who actually bought it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Unlike some folks who wrote their review based on a review, I bought this game a few days ago and wow. First it's packaged on 5 cds... so it took a while to install, which isn't a bad thing, it just made my anticipation continue to mount. The install went smoothly (albeit slowly) and then it was time to play - before I started it up tho, just to be sure, I searched for (and found) a patch for the game. Install the patch, it makes multiplayer a possibility.

I booted up the game for the first time and it runs its auto-config thing, detecting my hardware and whathave you to provide for me the best experience it can manage. Slightly dissappointed and slightly awed that my system only warrented an overall "Medium" across the board, I started it up.

Real quick - my system is a Athlon 2.1 Ghz processor, just overa gig of RAM, and a Radeon 9600XT for graphics.

Even with things set on Medium the game looked great. But how did it play?

Very well. The AI is everything that people said it was... these guys are smart and they are after your blood. You can go full assault if you like, but don't be suprised if they've set up an ambush for you because they heard you creeping earlier. They throw grenades if they THINK they know where you are but deem it too dangerous to assault, the react to your fire in ways other then rushing you. In fact, they're downright clever - I had one merc dash out in front of me, strafe sideways, shooting the whole time... meanwhile his buddy is creeping up on the right of me to lay down some lead.

Personal preferance note - the machete is way cool - finally a melee weapon in one of these games that makes sense... When you run up and whack someone with this vicious blade, odds are they're going to die in 2 hits, if not 1 solid one up top.

Graphics - STUNNING!! Amazing looking tropical island with an exceptionally large draw distance which creates a REALLY open feel when you're outdoors. The exterior terrain is lush and filled with trees, bushes, high grass... all these things you can use to help keep you hidden. And if you creep along in the tall stuff, you can sneak right on past your adversaries. I like that.

The graphics again are amazing and I'm not sure I can say enough good things about them. When you zoom up close on the merc you're about ready to peg with the sniper rifle, the level of detail... it's very very nice.

Overall - if you can't tell from the rest of the review, i thoroughly enjoy the game - with it's interesting storyline, it's amazing gameplay and phenomenal graphics... it is the best game, hands down, that i've purchased in some time.

It's not just an FPS game, actually it's an action movie!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Graphics, AI, music... what more can I say? Far Cry shows us the bright future of Crytek engine and its SFX engine. Someone who think it's "boring" maybe should just stop playing FPS games. I don't see enemies or those mutants across the room hit me with their hands, maybe someone should upgrade his video card. Rocket and hand are two totally different things. Checkpoint saving is one of many different kinds of saving methods. If someone doesnt like it or cant stand re-playing some parts of the game, then dont play Far Cry or HALO. Talkin about "getting killed so easily", that's not the problem of Jack Carver, or any programmers who made this game. Dude, you just suck! Stop using the incorrect point of view to judge a great game! Thank you.

Wonderful environment/effects, gameplay is average

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Far Cry is going to be one of those games where either you love it or you uninstall it the first week. I recently invested in a Dell XPS 600 and had no problem playing this game. Those gamers with less than 1GB of RAM may experience difficulty, as the graphics eat up memory. The outdoor environments are wide-scale and really cool during daylight scenes. A better description and screenshots can be found on the official UbiSoft website.

With that being said, I'll review some of the positive and negative aspects of this game.

PROS:

Interactive, beautiful environment that allows you to explore and find an inconspicuous path.

Wide variety of weapons, some with optional grenade launcher function. The sniper rifle is a godsend in some cases.

The ability to comandeer boats and vehicles, sometimes using them to wipe out a camp of enemies from afar.

Wonderful ambient, weapon and explosion sound effects. (Although the fact that all the CD players were playing the same dull drumbeat with no real music was unrealistic)

CONS:

Vehicle steering/control is horrible. There is no parking brake or transmission to hold the wheels in place, which is very fake in my opinion. So if you exit the vehicle on a hill, expect your transportation to drift away. Also the speedboats steer more like shopping carts than a vehicle with rudder controls.

The effects of firearms on your enemies is not real by any means. I don't care if someone has body armor on or not. You can't shoot someone ten times and expect them to run around like a track and field champ. Even if you shoot them in the legs they are fully mobile. Plus the energy transfer from a bullet to the human body still causes shock even if you have body armor on.

The AI in your enemies is getting a mixed review from me. On one hand, it is refreshing to see opponents who actually take cover and utilize teamwork and resources (air support, etc.) It becomes stupid when you can lay down in the bushes a half- mile away and enemies still spot you after using the sniper rifle. Plus you can drop a mercenary and his buddies will remain in the open view without taking cover. The voiceovers used in this game are too cheesy and lame to be realistic. I know that in the heat of battle you would hear a lot of the "F" and "S" words. Let's face it...if a live grenade lands at your feet unexpectedly, what would you say? With a Mature rating, the language in this game could have been more adult and more down to earth with a combat zone.

Finally, the game saving system can be frustrating. It utilizes checkpoints instead of being able to save your game anytime. This means after fighting the same people 200 times just to get to a new checkpoint, you may give up.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, this is a great game and it has high immersion value if you can overlook some of the flaws. The scenery and wide open environment make it worth a try. I would try to buy a used copy cheap just in case you don't like it or at least play it at a friend's house first. Good luck and happy gaming.

Almost, but not quite

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Ok, so let's start with what I do like so we can get that out of the way quickly. The graphics and settings are amazing. The islands are rendered beautifully with huge draw distances and lush foliage. The gun fights are actually pretty frantic and the vehicles can be cool at times. The game also has a pretty good length, one of the longest FPS games I have played in a while. There is a good selection of weapons, and you are limited to four different guns which can add a bit of strategy when you select what to take with you.

Now on to what I don't like. First, whose idea was it to put a checkpoint save system in this game? That person needs to be fired. Honestly, I can not think of a single pc game that has a good checkpoint save system. It would have been bearable if the checkpoint system was at least done well, and offered a generous amount of checkpoints. Instead, you get a bunch of checkpoints that mostly seem to be placed at random. At least they generally give you a checkpoint before a large firefight, usually. But there will be times where you will have to travel large distances over and over and over again.

Next, up is the AI. What's so bad about it you ask? Well, it cheats. There were many times when they actually spotted me through solid walls. They can also hear the slightest noise from a mile away, and instead of going to check out the sound, they usually go on full alert. The cheating AI makes the stealth aspect of the game completely useless. There is no point in trying to hide or be quiet with the slightest thing will set them off. There were times when I would creep around a corner and as soon as I peak out, I would get a rocket in my face, even though there was no way they could have possibly known I was there. The cheating AI and the checkpoint save system can make the game extremely frustrating. Not to mention the cheap mutants later in the game with rocket launchers for arms that can take you out in one or two hits, but take what seems like hundreds of shots themselves to take down. It doesn't help that they also usually throw half a dozen of them at you at a time, often in indoor levels where there is no where to maneuver.

Then there is the vehicle physics, or should I say lack of realistic physics. Jeeps and the like bounce around like crazy, making them almost impossible to control at high speeds. Then again, you won't get too much use out of them as you can't even take them off road much due to the amount of trees, rocks, and the rest that will get in your way.

Of course, that didn't make me quit the game, I felt compelled to play until the end (no thanks to the story, which is pretty bad). I think Robert Coffey said it pretty well when he said, "It would be so easy to dismiss Far Cry and the devastating effects of its save system as just another game disaster, but the truth is, the game does so many other things not just well but exceptionally, that you almost hate the game more because it could be so great." If only they had spent more time on the save system, and fixed the obvious cheating AI, the game could have been a lot more fun.

Would I recommend the game? Yeah, its pretty cheap now, but I would highly suggest that if you have an Xbox, pick up Far Cry: Instincts instead. From what I played in the demo, they fixed many of the PC games problems.

The best FPS of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Even though there are several good reviews already here, and this game is already a couple of years old, I still feel compelled to put my two cents in about my favorite game. I've played a number of other first person shooters, but no other game comes even close. In fact, I have trouble playing other FPS's now because they lack so many of the things that make Far Cry exceptional. This game is definitely not for everyone though. If you are more interested in shoot-em-up alien games like Doom, or story-driven puzzle solving shooters like Half Life, then you may not like Far Cry. If, however, you are like me, and prefer strategic, calculated shooters without too much fluff, then Far Cry is definitely the game for you.
So what makes Far Cry unique? On a large scale, the graphics, level design, and balance come to mind. I still have not seen a game with better overall graphics. The levels are huge and open-ended, giving you the freedom to plan your approach. This gives the game plenty of replayability - there are numerous effective strategies for each level - as well as enabling each individual player to use his or her own style. The game is hard, and it uses a checkpoint system, so there is little margin for error. Normally I'd like the option to quicksave, but in Far Cry the checkpoint system works very well. A quicksave system would ruin the open-endedness of the game. On the more difficult levels, exposing yourself to enemy fire spells rapid death. The game is as close to realistic in this regard as any I've seen. Even on the easiest level, however, Far Cry is no walk in the park. The AI is smart, and uses strategy. It doesn't just rush you blindly, unless the odds are in its favor. The first level is anything but a tutorial, and the action starts quickly. The game is long, but contrary to what another reviewer said, I have never found it to be repetitive, and I've replayed it twice. The levels are distinct, and each has its unique challenges.
This brings us to the gameplay - what separates Far Cry from every other shooter on the market. In may opinion, Far Cry is perfect in this aspect of the game. First of all, vehicles play an important role in the game. Unlike in many games, if you see something, you can use it. There are multiple boats, trucks, a hang-glider - even a forklift - and each has its place and its benefits. Then there is the weapons system. All of the guns in Far Cry are useful, and well balanced. You can carry four weapons, which again, to me, is the perfect number. Just enough to add variety, but not so many as to make the game totally unrealistic or so few that it becomes annoying. This brings me to the controls. This area is where Far Cry beats out every other FPS, in my opinion. You come equipped with binoculars, which track your enemies, and are essential component of gameplay. You have a stealth meter so you know when enemies are becoming aware of your movements. Instead of just always running, you will find yourself stealthily crouching to avoid enemies. And last, but definitely not least, you can crawl. I have no idea why this isn't implemented in more games. Crawling provides you with the most stealth, and steadies your aim considerably. Since there are only a few places in the game where you can run in with guns blazing and expect to stay alive, crawling is vital to your survival. You can lean and fire at the same time. I have also never seen these two combined in a game - I think all games should have this feature.
So, in conclusion, this is by far my favorite shooter, and if you like any of the same kinds of things I do, then you should buy this game immediately. Its only weakness is that it requires a fairly good system to run smoothly, and does have a number of large patches. If you like exploring beautiful environments, spending time planning your approach, and making full use of your range of controls on a regular basis, then I highly recommend this game. It is intricate and very challenging. Just writing this review makes me look forward to playing it a fourth time.

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