Far Cry®

And by that, I mean that it bears all of the hallmarks shared by some of the later games made by this developer. It was a visual powerhouse at the time of its release, it had an intriguing premise and gameplay that was fun in the first few levels... but then about halfway through the campaign, it just fell off the cliff and turned into a complete mess. In Crysis, it was the annoying snow level, and in Far Cry it's the appearance of mutants that can either leap at you from 50 feet away and kill you in one swipe, or gun you down from the other side of the level. At this point, I've played this game enough to sort of adjust to its level of crappiness when it comes to dealing with mutants, and I was surprised at how easily I was able to breeze through it on my most recent playthrough. But I wouldn't count that as a sign that it's a good game - that was just me having a lot of practice with it so I'm not the least bit surprised whenever someone who never played this game before picks it up and eventually gets frustrated with it. Another thing that I noticed during this playthrough is just how dumb the human enemy AI is. Very often I will be picking dudes off like ducks and their comrades will just stand around trying to figure out what happened to their friend before I inevitably put a bullet in their skull too. The instances of them doing something incredibly dumb are numerous and the only challenge comes from their inhuman accuracy once they finally spot you and figure out that they should probably start shooting at you. In general, it's not a bad game and the open-ended nature of the levels is certainly one of its most unique selling points as far as the gameplay goes. But it's just a mediocre shooter that didn't age very well and it's obvious today that graphics were its strongest element at the time.

Sill one of the best FPS with great graphics. Runs perfect on Windows 10 in 4k with Xbox controller (Xpadder)! At its time it had the best graphics and was ahead of all games. Far Cry 1 is way better then the othe Far Cry games. The gameplay is also more challenging than newer games. You fall asleep playing the new Far Cry games because it's so easy. Simply a great game and one of my favorite games.

Since Far Cry is well-known, no point to going into great detail. CryTek can render vast outdoor areas that impress, there’s a thought-out roster of weapons coupled with good gunplay, movement feels alright except for low stamina, and the AI is passable. All the basics are covered and they work well for the most part. I think much of the dislike comes from the clash of two different play styles. The game releases the player in the middle of the jungle, giving free reign to reach your objectives as you see fit. Dare going in guns blazing, or do some flanking and take out patrols one by one with the MP5SD? Can do both and more. As in Crysis 2007 (this game was a prototype for), these levels are never truly open but have sufficient freedom of maneuver to stimulate the player’s creativity and problem-solving skills. Perhaps Linear Lite Sandbox would be the proper term. Then the tone of the game shifts abruptly and dramatically once mutants are introduced to the story. Suddenly, it's a corridor FPS with survival horror atmosphere and level design. Supplies are getting scarcer, and even the most basic of mutants can run up and kill you in one of two swipes despite full body armor and everything. And there’s lots of them and that’s only the baby variety too! When judged on their own merit, both components are at least acceptable. But in the same game, the same campaign? There’s glue holding it together but the bond is weak. Far Cry has other issues which are objectively a problem. Story and the voice acting are poor, vehicle physics are flaky, there are numerous instances of questionable level design and spiteful enemy placement, and rocket spam is just plain annoying. And this game is hard even on the lowest difficulty. Entirely reliant on health pickups, lowly grunts can take you out in seconds, and the going only gets tougher (a lot!) with mutants around. And without a little custom script you only get checkpoints.

Really? Who took this game seriously? It was quite obviously very tongue-in-cheek. Now Far Cry 2, that was VERY serious. This game? Not so much. That being said, this game is great. A lot of people said it dropped off around the halfway point, but I still thought it was great fun. Be warned, the difficulty curve is insane.

For the most part, Far Cry is a magnificent experience, only marred by a few inconsistencies in design philosophy. For the most part, this is a game about cat-and-mouse stalking through beautifully rendered jungles, and planning out your own unique approaches to objectives. However, there are a good number of moments where the game forgets this, and has you gunning through linear corridors or forces you into mandatory frustrating gunbattles. Still, when Far Cry works, it REALLY works, and manages to craft a compelling and memorable shooting experience. gameplay-wise, Far Cry is most famous for its emphasis on sandbox play, giving multiple ways to approach any given objective. Although this isn't really anything too unusual now (and wasn't even at the time), the way Crytek does this style of gameplay feels very good. Like in its successor Crysis, Far Cry really makes you FEEL like you have complete freedom, not just like you're choosing from a pre-defined list of solutions. But one other aspect that sets Far Cry apart from other sandbox games is that your character is NOT an all powerful force capable of executing any wild plan you happen to concoct. Blasting through an enemy camp with a machinegun is certainly a viable solution, but you'll find that using stealth in some capacity gives far better results. The more memorable parts of Far Cry are its deadly games of hide and seek, as surprisingly intelligent enemies work together to try and hunt you down in the game's dense jungles. Unfortunately, the firefights take place inside military bunkers and caverns as often as they do outside, and you'll find these levels to be significantly less engaging, and much more frustrating. Toward later parts of the game, you'll find that the intelligent AI and unforgiving damage are more of a frustration than a challenge. Graphically, Far Cry is beautiful. There's no other word for it. Although some textures show their age and the environments are disappointingly indestructible, there are enough sophisticated effects (including some limited dynamic lighting, god rays, light bloom, and texture detailing) and impressive vistas in this game to satisfy even the most curmudgeony of modern gamers. Story-wise, however, Far Cry is awful. The overarching plot is generic and unengaging, and apart from a fairly predictable twist near the end it doesn't really have anything in the way of momentum. On top of that, the scripting of cutscenes and character "banter" could have come straight from a bad SyFy channel movie. Voice acting isn't too bad--everything is enunciated properly, which is more than can be said for some titles--but neither is it very special. But in the grand scheme of things, this is not a game you play for its plot. This is a game you play for its unique and immersive style of FPS gameplay. And while it can be fairly hit-or-miss toward the later half of the game, Far Cry is overall a great experience that will provide you with a lot of entertainment for your $10.