User Reviews (1 - 11 of 287)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

WARNING to all CDRW drive owners

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 225 / 294
Date: March 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Just a friendly warning to all CDR/CDRW/DVDR/DVDRW drive owners. UBI Soft as a "feature" on their PC software that prevents installation from any drive with write capacity. Why they feel that will slow down a game cracker, and why they don't mind blowing off an entire segment of the market, is entirely beyond me, but that's not the point here. Call UBI Soft tech support BEFORE buying this or any other PC game from them, and check to make sure whether or not you will be able to install. Software (such as Chessmaster 9000, to grab a random UBI product as an example) doesn't come with a warning on the box (in "some" cases, they claim -- I haven't found a single box that does), nor is there a warning on the Amazon product pages (short of reviews like this). One could speculate that they're perfectly happy to let people buy their software knowing some won't be able to install it, but I'll leave their motivation to give no warning to consumers to your imagination.

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.

Yawn

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 45
Date: August 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Far Cry" is another entry in the hype-over-substance market. Like a number of recently released games, the developers pat themselves on the back and call themselves "revolutionary" when they are just spitting out the same tired formula.

The major selling point for "Far Cry" is supposed to be its visuals; and to be fair, they are quite nice for screenshots. But when one gets inside the game, they will probably find that the graphics are neither significant to the gameplay or even consistent. Yes there are some nice, lush forests and the water looks good (for computer-generated water; it looks nothing like real water). But blended right in with these graphical niceties are the same old blocky object models, square rooms, and chunky character models. The rock/cave areas in particular look awful, with visible sharp edges and flat, lifeless textures. The aforementioned characters seem to not share lighting with the world, and in general are very polygonal (will we ever see real curves?). The whole thing doesn't work well together, and what the game ends up feeling like is a lazy amalgam of something old, something new.

Even the integration of the Havok physics engine feels half-done. For each shelf you can knock over there are ten flat-looking, boxy objects that you can't move or adjust. And again Havok is just window dressing. You can't significantly affect the gameplay with it. The biggest thing you can do is - if you are lucky - roll a big cylinder onto some guys or something similar. But usually the AI will just see you from 1000000 yards and rush at you, forcing you to resort to the usual shooter tactics.

The physics are also poorly tuned. There appears to be no friction in this game world. Shoot a guy on a hillside and he will slide down, gaining speed, until he gets stuck somewhere. When you are driving a car it will drift backwards down the hill unless you keep pressing forward. Car driving is pure frustration - the camera is so twitchy and sensitive that it is very hard to steer the car at all. I don't understand why people have to keep reinventing this kind of stuff - it's been done well in a number of games. There's no shame in mimicking a system that works.

Even the vaunted AI is less than stellar. AI "hear" and "see" you so easily that it is impossible to avoid a firefight. Some of the cheats are obvious and irritating - for example, given the wide open vista it would be cool to be able to lay down in grass and snipe targets far off. But the AI seem to magically know where the shot came from and will very quickly converge on your position. And even on full auto these guys are excellent shots. I guess we should be thankful for the rampant cheating, because without it the AI is the same old stuff you've always seen. They blind rush you when you've got great strategic position, allowing you to pick them off one-by-one. They don't run from grenades, or dive low to avoid them.

Putting aside the visual so-called technological advancements, the gameplay itself is tedious, frustrating, and overall extremely boring. It is nothing more than another iteration of run forward on a linear path, shoot, find key, repeat ad nauseum. This game is so linear and scripted that it hardly feels as if the player needs be present. And at times the game world just contradicts itself. For example in many areas you are given control of a heavy jeep, with perhaps a rocket launcher. Yet you cannot get through the flimsy fence that's ahead of you without the keycard? The story made no impression on me whatsoever; I wasn't even sure why I was running forward half the time. Something about genetic experiments and evil, I'm sure.

I just don't think there's enough compelling, new stuff here to warrant buying this game. If I could do it over I wouldn't pay for it. Unfortunately there is no real channel for renting PC games, which means generally the PC consumer gets screwed.

A lot of people don't feel there's any problem with seeing the same shooter over and over. There is a statement attributed to John Carmack that basketball hasn't changed in over a hundred years, and people still play it; thus, there is no need to change video games to keep people interested. However the difference is that basketball is a very nuanced game, while an FPS shooter is not. And I'm tired of playing the same game over and over.

If you like the by-the-numbers, rote FPS formula, then you'll probably like "Far Cry". It doesn't stray from that formula one iota. But don't be fooled by the hype, there's nothing revolutionary here.

A FAR CRY FROM A NORMAL REVIEW

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 32
Date: March 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This review is most certainly going to warrant the "un-helpful" from the most avid, politically-correct reviewers, as they will most certainly see that this is not a review of Far Cry, and I of all people do not especially enjoy spotting those reviewers who have never even touched the games in which they are so unhappily ranting, however; the games today are asking for an all-out lawsuit in blatant misrepresentation. Fortunately for them, the least they will get are our reviews bringing the magic tricks into the light.

It seems as if the game developers, in amidst a chaos of illegal downloading and cd copying have sent a huge unnoticed cluster bomb in the way of those who are actually supporting their economic ventures - and is the unavailability to play their games the thanks we get? Absolutely.

I am very disappointed in the games that have been released throughout the last few years - not for the lack of creativity or poor design - but for the lack of a better guide for those who actually care about the quick buck of our beloved game makers. Remember that silly little NVIDIA-tag commercial that jumps into action right before you enter the game? It has that cheesy motto spread like butter right over the monitor screen: It says, "The way it's meant to be played." As much as I don't appreciate the trendiness this motto implies as a lackluster commercial for the games we have already bought into - it does make an interesting point referring to games in general - This F@&$in' game is actually meant to be PLAYED!? Shocking, is it not? Who would have thought?

Well, apparently not to the millions of people who bought into the game only to realize the game makers have withheld crucial information and they have thwarted the very people who they are attempting to sell the game to.

What in sin am I talking about? Misrepresentation.

You don't sell an electric saw that malfunctions in a basic electric outlet without warning the audience in bright bold letters, do you not? You will be sued for negligence.

Far Cry must be the exception in the eyes of the publishers/game makers. For instance, Far Cry will not work on CDR/CDRW/DVDR/DVDRW at all. This is a far crying shame, not because I can't play the game, but because I should have been warned before I tipped my dollar hand. Why can't we have a nice big sparkly label on the front of the box which clearly states that we can't play the game if we have the basic outlets?!

Game developers are starting to get the hang of not letting us in on their dirty little secrets - so they can make bank, and we get nothing in return except for a couple discs that will not install. And I know these are good games, but we must be warned about deviations for the basic hardware that our computers have, right?

Far cry is far from being the only one on this train wreck. Myst IV, has the same problem as Far cry, but for the DVD re-writable drives. I didn't run into THAT problem, but certainly there was no specific label that could be found. Is this the way we are supposed to treat our consumers?

Thief 3 and Deus Ex: Invisible War will not run on computers with the NVIDIA Graphics card. This is not an average problem that many will commonly run into due to the fact most people have a NVIDIA graphics card. These games don't need to include the NVIDIA cards, but they certainly need to include their audience in this decision - right? I want to see the nice gold label on the front of the box that says "Won't work with NVIDIA Cards." Save us the trouble, right?!

And then Half-life 2. The only single player game to come out with the required use of an internet nearest you. Yes, I see that ten font sentence on the bottom of the box now - but wouldn't it have been that much easier to warn everyone in advance? Even the magazine gamers that have played this game didn't happen to mention this - I expected much better. How the hell did they even play the game without noticing this? Unless, the publishers didn't mention that to them - but that's doubtful. Well, I've canceled my PC Gamer subscription - Amazon reviewers aren't as likely to pass up such details; we don't get paid for playing games or paid if our games do not work properly. Sure, they'll get away with it -because this information was included at the bottom of the box, but surely there was someone up in the big office warning everyone not to let this fart out into the open - and they should be ashamed.

These sloppy misrepresentations have alienated me as a gamer - and I for one will NOT buy a recently released game until I have looked into at least fifty of the reviews - because it is obvious the developers will continue to use this "Don't tell" policy. I suggest you consider doing the same thing - because refunds are hard to come by in the gaming world. Enjoy Far Cry - I have yet to play it.

Does not work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 22
Date: March 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Will not work if you have a dvdr/rw or cdr/rw drive on your computer. How stupid is that? Very!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wasted $

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 33
Date: April 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Decided to give Far Cry a chance, now that I bought a new computer ... read the conflicting reports on compatibility ... even went to UBI Software to see the "issues" with the game ... best I could tell; if you have virtual copying software the game won't run = WRONG ... I contacted Customer support and was told: "Far Cry will not run on CD-RW or DVD-RW drives ... I will need to install a basic CD drive" ... wasted $17 and now I'm wondering if Splinter Cell: Pandora's Tomorrow will run ... I'm not jumping through video game company hoops to play their games ... I'll buy another FPS/RPG/RTS that works on my system "as it is" ... yes, a basic CD drive is cheap, but I'm physically disabled and not going to pay someone $50 to install a $20 part to play one game/one game company's product that cost $20(... I never pay $40-50 - I wait till the hype is over)

What on Earth?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 26
Date: January 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First off: this game could have been one of the best. It is exciting and has great graphics. The drawbacks are; the checkpoint game save. Here we have the designers going back a few decades when games had limited saves. I thought those days were over. Next, the AI can see you in the dark while you are laying on the ground surrounded by foliage. It's unreal. I was playing the right way, sneaking up on the AI. It was dark, I was on the ground and all of sudden "there he is" and you get killed only to have to go back to the last save and do it all over again. At level 5 I uninstalled the game and I believe I will mail it back and tell the designers to shove it where the sun don't shine. It's such a shame. This could have been one of the best. It's too frustrating.

Ok, but NO SAVE GAME

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 25
Date: April 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game looks awesome. Starts out fun, but has waypoint saves and NO SAVE GAME. Game companies need to remember that save games make them more fun, PC Players are not platform players. Game becomes a real pain and bore due to repeating same levels over and over to beat the waypoint. You will be forced to cheat to finish the game on the medium level because the NPCs just don't go down. Overall, a great game if you could same when you wanted to.

Is this the future of 1st person shoot-em ups?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 33
Date: April 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's been a while since I've played a 1st person shoot-em up and I've read the reviews on this game, heard that it was pretty good, made the wrong, decision and purchased it.

I think this game is terrible. If you haven't played a shoot-em-up in a while and decide to do so I highly recommend that you do not choose this game.

Here's why:
1. Handling: You use the mouse to look; w,s forward - backward: a,d left - right. Which seems alright but x is right below the s and x is used to switch from semi-automatic to automatic and this can get seriously aggravating in the heat of the fight. That is not to mention c to crouch, v prone and a bunch of other keys which for an unseasoned shoot-em-upper can be thouroughly annoying. Driving a vehicle is a complete joke - you have to reload the autosave countless times just to learn how to drive the vehicle.

2. Difficulty: Once again I'm not a seasoned shoot-em-up gamer and neither am I fan of the PC version of Splinter Cell - too many keys to do too little. This game is hard. You're thrown right into it from the start(give or take about two minutes). If you're anything like me you'll spend more time reloading the auto-saves then playing the game. It ruins the flow.

3. Dialogue and music: The dialogue and the music get extremely tedious and after a while bothersome. "Did you hear something?" is alright the first time, but after 100 times in the first 20 minutes of game time you want to unload a full load of ammo on the guy who did the voice-over.

On the positive side the game graphically is beautiful.

Maybe I'm just impatient. Maybe I should take Far Cry classes. I've only spent about 3-4 hours playing the game and haven't got very far. But my leisure time is too important too spend reloading a map so I can learn the gameplay.

Like Blowing My Nose On A Fifty Dollar Bill

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 16
Date: March 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I heard a lot of good things about this game. Bought it
and the video is so corrupted I can't play it. Went round and
round with Ubisoft who sent me a lot of boilerplate "help" like
"update your video card driver" and "download the latest patch".
Thank you Captain Obvious!! I have wasted hours trying to solve
this problem. From checking out Far Cry sites, the little
secret seems to be be this game won't run on certain hardware/
software combos. I'm running an AMD 64/3500+ 0n an A8V Mobo w/
a Gigabyte X800Xt Vid card. Why do Half Life2, MOH Pacific
Assault, BF1942, etc work great and not FC??? The customer
service is utterly useless. Software guys say it's a hardware
prob and vice versa. NOBODY should have to work this hard to get
a game to run. I gave up finally and I can't get my money back.
Buyer Beware! Ubi will never get another nickel from me!!!!!!!!

Very Very Very hard game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 49
Date: January 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this games is so heard to played!
beleave. I am HINDI!!!
SOOOOO pleaase dooonnnoot bought it is!
An indian guy!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions