Far Cry: Instincts Review

It may have been delayed by a year and cancelled on PlayStation2, but at last, Far Cry: Instincts is unleashed on Xbox. With the integration of 'Feral' abilities that move Instincts away from the original PC hit, multiplayer action, and a Map Editor, the game certainly seems to promise to use the PC version as a platform to build on. Early this month we took a look at a preview build of the game, which gave us a taste of things to come though there were several elements that needed to be improved and tweaked. So with the final version fitting snugly into our Xbox, whatâ??s the final verdict on Far Cry: Instincts?

Stuck on a tropical archipelago infested with gun-toting Mercenaries, Jack Carver sets out to find the location of a travel journalist called Val, who disappears just before Merc piloted gunships blows Carverâ??s boat to splinters. Though he survives early run-ins with his â??predatorsâ??, Carver is captured and tested upon with a serum that progressively unlocks so-called â??Feral abilitiesâ?? â?“ now he becomes the predator. Set across a number of environments on the archipelago, Carverâ??s only hope of becoming truly human again rests with finding Val and mysterious insider known as Doyle.

Though the game is loosely based on the PC original (at least the idea of a Jack Carver and a journalist called Valerie fighting their way off a Merc filled tropical archipelago), the main additions to Far Cry on Xbox are the integrated Feral abilities â?“ the â??Instinctsâ?? of the title. Three feral ability classes are available in the game: Feral Strength, Feral Sense, and Feral Speed, which are unlocked systematically as the player progresses through the archipelagoâ??s environments. Feral Sense breaks down further into Sight, Smell, and Sound with Carver developing the ability to follow the scent of the enemies through the undergrowth enabling him to hunt them down, and even see in the dark. Feral Strength, which enables Jack to tear enemies to shreds is probably the closest to Halo 2â??s energy sword since it relies on the reticule locking onto a Merc before players leap towards the target in one bound. Enemy camps are embedded with an alarm system that disorientates Carver, though these can be punched out or shot making Feral Hearing the most negative of Feral abilities. The ability to execute Carverâ??s new found skills relies on adrenaline, which is metered at the bottom of the HUD. Though it can be replenished by tracking and killing enemies, a quicker way is by picking the many adrenaline packs spread throughout the enemy camps.

All of the Feral abilities add a deeper level of gameplay to the title, adding a facet that allows players to decide on the best course of attack: use munitions or bare hands though itâ??s not wise to go up against a large group of militia with only Carverâ??s Feral skills and expect to survive.

Guns and other weapons of course are an important feature of any FPS, and can even prove to be a gamebreaker, a source of condemnation for disappointed fans â?“ more often or not the power of the weapons (or the lack of) is singled out. Any concerns about the weapons in Far Cry: Instincts can be cleared up right here as the various pistols, SMGs, Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles, and of the course the FPS fan favourite, the Shotgun, are powerful and very satisfying. Independent trigger duel-wielding does feature in the game, with silenced pistols particularly deadly if used correctly, and the Sniper Rifles proving to be exceptionally accurate across long distances. Whilst itâ??s certainly not a game for the trigger-happy, Far Cry: Instincts is far from being an ammunition starved world, and the Feral abilities will always make up for any lack of bullets in the short term.

As well as weapons and primitive abilities, Carver is also armed with a trusty knife (handy for stabbing unassuming enemies in the back) and a series of traps, which he can lure Merc into thanks to a seemingly endless supply of stones to throw. Sneaking through the undergrowth, Carver can brutally attack his â??preyâ?? quickly and fatally with the knife with a flowing action between primary and melee attacks rarely seen in an FPS. The idea of setting a series of traps and luring enemies into their range certainly sounded appealing even before we first got our hands on the game, offering players the choice of fighting in the open and gunning down a wave of opponents or playing the stealth game and taking the Merc down one by one. During the preview build of the game, luring an enemy proved to be quite difficult, and despite the number of stones thrown at them it seemed to be far easier to sneak up to them and stab them in the back. At the time, we hoped that the development team would have streamlined the process, but it seems that the enemy AI in Far Cry: Instincts isnâ??t quite as advanced as it needed to be to fully realise what is after all, a pretty cool idea. The result is that the trap system feels more like a gimmick, and ultimately disappointing.

No self-respecting FPS today would be without some sort of transport for the player to use and navigate the gameworld with, and Far Cry: Instincts is no exception with a raft of vehicles from quad bikes, Hummers, hovercraft, motorboats, gunboats, and even hangliders available to players. Though nowhere near as intuitive as the control system in Halo, probably due to Instinctsâ?? insistence that the player be kept in the first person when driving, the experience of riding through the dirt tracks and waterways of the archipelago is largely satisfactory though the main problem of free-aiming weapons whilst driving is easily confusing. However the vehicles reveal another frustrating feature, that is the inability for players to flip overturned quadbikes and the other lighter modes of transport; we donâ??t expect Carver to be able to right an overturned Hummer, even with his Feral strength, but a quad should be easy enoughâ?¦

From the moment players begin the game there is one outstanding feature that continues to awe throughout the game, and thatâ??s the visuals. Far Cry: Instincts is one of the most lush looking titles on Xbox, features expansive landscapes with strong draw distances and visual effects that bridge the generation gap between the current-gen console and the 360. One level in particular that stood out as a showcase for the visuals begins with the player using a hang-glider and flying through a water filled gorge; not only does the section cry out â??epicâ??, but itâ??s also a visual feast that makes players book a holiday in the tropics (sans Mercenaries, of course.) The greenery may pop into view along with some of the textures, but then again, so did Halo 2 so thatâ??s something that be overlooked, especially given the that the game is graphically stunning. Besides the detailed environments, Far Cry: Instincts features some really neat visual effects from the exploding barrels through to the visual interpretations of the Feral abilities that waft the scent of enemies through the gameworld making the premise believable.

Ironically Far Cry gets the little details such as water â??drainingâ?? from Carverâ??s eyes spot on; some of the visual effects are breathtaking and a testament to the development team at Montreal, and yet the game suffers from several deficiencies that yank the player out of any immersive experience cleverly crafted by the dev team. The earlier problem with the overturned vehicles is one such disappointment, and the level of enemy AI is another, with some glaring holes appearing throughout the game that emerge even if the player isnâ??t looking for them. Once again a quad bike figures in the scenario as Carver drives into an enemy mounted quad, flipping it in the process â?“ the enemy continues to ride his now flipped bike and revs its engine till it screams; at this point we put him out of his misery and capped himâ?¦

Besides the Single-Player mode, which certainly has the sort of narrative that youâ??d expect in a Uwe Boll movie (yes, Far Cry the movie will be in the multiplexes next year folks), Instincts offers gamers several Multiplayer modes that besides the highly intriguing Predator gametype, have been done in every FPS title since year dot. They may have been renamed Chaos, Team Chaos, and Steal the Sample but the gameplay is still very much Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag respectively. The aforementioned Predator mode is certainly one that will hope for a long life on Live with one player taking the role of predator (with all Feral abilities available), hunting down the other players armed with their various weapons. A wide-selection of maps are available in the game, but if they quickly wear thin, the Far Cry: Instincts allows gamers to make their own map, courtesy of the Map Editor.

Whilst the idea of a Map Editor is one very familiar to PC based FPS players, the introduction of such a feature is still very new on consoles, with Digital Extremesâ?? Pariah one of the first to offer it to Xbox gamers earlier in the year. Choosing from one of three terrains (Tropical, Jungle, and Swamp) and a â??Paintboxâ?? (Military, Ruins and Research), players are then presented with a flat bit of land that they can then mould to their desires. The editor has an incredible amount of attributes and levels of customisation from plant life, structures, land shaping, wildlife sounds, vehicles, weapons â?“ everything needed to build a unique multiplayer experience. Having said that itâ??s also a good way of creating the ultimate paradise of beachside huts and palm trees overlooking vistas of landforms â?“ in fact the only thing missing is the virtual bar! Players can decide upon the time of day and the level of fog on the map, which really adds a level of depth to any jungle based map before testing out their creation instantly with the press of a button. Once satisfied with their design, the map can then be uploaded onto Liveâ?¦