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Minimum Req.: P3 1 GHz, 256MB RAM, Direct X 9.0b-comp. Nvidia or Ati (GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500)
Reviewed On: P4 2.5 GHz, 512 Meg RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

First-person shooter fans have a lot to be excited for. In the next few months, the big two are coming (Doom III and Half-Life 2, of course) and gamers everywhere are scrambling to get the last set of upgrades in their PCs before the two resource hogs hit the shelves. The hype around these two titles is enormous with both companies pushing back release dates while constantly releasing movies and screenshots in hopes of driving gamers crazy with anticipation. So when Crytek, a small developer house from Germany, quietly releases a game that delivers so much - from a fully-modifiable, beautiful game engine with full editing support; to a single player game that features 20+ hours of unique, intelligent, challenging play; to a multiplayer component that is somehow fresh and interesting - gamers sit up, stop watching last year's E3 Half-Life 2 video, and take notice.

Far Cry tells the story of a boat guide named Jack Carver. En route to a mysterious island with a journalist in tow, Jack's boat is blown up, stranding Jack in the middle of some shady dealings. But despite the opening cutscene and some other, rather short scenes here and there, most of the story in Far Cry takes place via Jack's two-way video radio with a fellow named Doyle. Doyle, as it seems, is a scientist on the island concerned with the going-ons and implores Jack for his help in stopping the activities and escaping the island intact. And that's when things start to get crazy…

You see, Far Cry utilizes a very open-ended approach to gameplay. From the opening minutes, this becomes apparent. Once Jack completes the in-game tutorial and gets out into the open, Doyle makes his introduction and gives Jack an objective that shows up via his HUD's compass/radar. How Jack gets there is up to the gamer. Does he march straight up to the resident mercenaries and start blasting? Does he crawl through the foliage and strategically take them down one at a time? Does he throw a rock to distract the guards and then swiftly run by? Or does he creep up to the dock, fire at a propane tank, and take out an entire squad with one bullet?

The beauty of Far Cry's design is that it gives gamers an objective and a starting point. How the gamer gets from point A to point B is completely up to whoever is playing and will even change from playthrough to playthrough. When playing through the demo of Far Cry, I relied on stealth as much as possible, using silenced guns and slow movement as much as possible. When playing the full version, I used my binoculars to spot enemies from afar, sniped at them, and then picked up the scraps with one of my close ranged assault rifles.

One of the reasons that Far Cry can be so successfully dynamic is through its wonderful AI. The first rule of Far Cry: if you can see an enemy, they can see you. The second rule: if they see you, all hell breaks loose. There are several different kinds of enemies in Far Cry - first we have the human mercs, who run the gamut from lowly cannon-fodder with nothing but a handgun and a jumpsuit to the higher-up special op units complete with full body armor and green berets. Most of the game is played fighting these mercs as Jack attempts to uncover the secrets of the island. However, a third mutant race is introduced about halfway through that are hostile towards both Jack and the mercs. (The Flood anyone?) Depending on what kind of enemy and how many, they respond differently in a battle. For instance, Jack sneaks up on a group of 5 mercs sitting around a stationary chain gun and chatting about the going-ons of the island. Jack decides he can clear out two with a grenade, and then mop up the leftovers with a little clever running and gunning. Once the first two go down, the other three soldiers split up. The two more elite units, fortified in armor, immediately head in opposite directions looking for cover and attempting to flank Jack while the third hauls up the closest hill to yell for reinforcements, giving Jack more to deal with then he initially planned for. However, in the indoor environments, the AI has a bit more difficult time. Without having areas to find cover or to flank on, they tend to be very predictable, and luring them one after another through a doorway to meet Mr. Shotgun is a pretty easy and reliable strategy.

As far as guns go, Far Cry takes a hint from Halo and limits the number of weapons Jack can carry to 4. If Jack wishes to obtain a new gun, but already has 4 in his inventory, players must simply drop one to automatically pick up the new one (again, Halo). The guns all hail from the realistic end of the spectrum and include a machete, a jackhammer shotgun, a M4, a rocket launcher, sniper rifle, the plastic gun: the OICW, and more. Furthermore, the game also uses Halo's off-hand grenade throw, letting players keep their current weapon equipped and still throw a grenade off, for maximum destruction capability - a feature every grenade-having FPS should include.

Graphically and aurally, Far Cry is the best thing we've seen in computer gaming thus far. There are only so many adjectives in the English language, and I'm afraid none of them are sufficient in describing the beauty of the lush tropics, sandy beaches, and cavernous catacombs - just look at the screenshots, they speak for themselves. If the graphics aren't enough to make a sell to the technophiles, let me talk up the audio as well. Ok first, the voices are good, if predictably campy; but it's not the voice acting that gets me. The use of atmospheric 5.1 audio is amazing. Even on headphones, every jungle sound, every footstep, gunshot, and water splash is heard in amazing detail from the proper direction with exact precision. If you hear a shot whiz by your head, from the Doppler sound of the bullet alone, you will be able to tell where the shooter's general location is. Sound becomes such an important facet in the game that players will find themselves turning off the game's wonderful music in order to better hear the beautiful subtleties of audio done right.

However, one area where Far Cry's design falls short is its save system. Once again, Far Cry takes a lesson from Halo, and rather than utilizing the much-debated quicksave feature, it opts for a checkpoint system. Once a certain point has been reached or an objective completed, the game automatically saves. No matter how many enemies are around, how low Jack's health is, or whether or not you want the game to save, it will. Undoubtedly, in the course of a game, this feature will leave players in some sort of low health, high enemy tight spot causing gamers to reload from the previous checkpoint. Well so what? From what I've said so far, replaying segments is anything but tedious. But here are the problems: 1) checkpoints are often very far apart, upwards of 15-20 minutes worth of play. 2) Far Cry is very, very hard. Although the game has five difficulty levels (Normal is second from the easiest), the game is incredibly difficult on all of them. Even on easy, players will find themselves in very difficult situations and battles, especially toward the end of the game. For replay reasons, this is great. It allows players to learn the best way to get through every given situation and creates some great bragging rights for those gamers who finish the game on Realistic (1 or 2 shots, and you're dead). But for casual gamers, it may be too much.

To further add to its value are the multiplayer modes and level editor. The multiplayer modes are nothing special and feature the staples: deathmatch and team deathmatch. But with one addition, the "Assault" mode which is an objective-based, team-based match reminiscent of similar modes offered in UT2k4 or RTCW. From my multiplayer experience, I can say that the reliance on camping and sniping is much higher than other titles, and may frustrate those used to the run 'n gun style of play.

The game's "Sandbox" editor is likely to be a much-lauded feature for the mod community. While not intuitive, the ability to construct geographically variable terrain on par with that seen in this title is undeniably attractive and sure to bring some added value in the form of mods down the road.

Overall: 8.5/10
Far Cry is a resounding achievement for the team at Crytek. A title that succeeds on every level, it is a testimony to good design and innovation in the industry. When a little development house sits up with a product like this, people take notice. Whether it's the unpredictable, intelligent AI; the gorgeous visual renditions of tropical islands and ominous caves; the nuanced sound; or the sheer amount of gameplay possibilities, Far Cry is a fantastic game by anyone's yardstick. But it's not perfect: the same AI that's a marvel in the jungle hits a stumbling block indoors, the poorly conceived save system is annoying at best, and the difficulty may be enough to frustrate casual gamers. But with all the things this game has in its favor, all the things it does right, and all the things that are yet to come, Far Cry isn't just a great game, it's a great experience.

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