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FarCry Review
Chris Leyton
26/03/2004
Forget Half-Life2 and Doom3, FarCry from Crytek ushers in the next-generation of PC games...
Far Cry is finally here, and to be quite frankly honest, itās well been worth the wait. Set to usher in the next-generation of PC gaming, whilst Valve and id continue work on Half-Life 2 and Doom3; Far Cry is reason enough to warrant the investment in new graphics cards that many people are likely to need.
Assuming the role of Jack Carver, a freelance mariner who is left cursing the day a brash female reporter named Valerie offered him a huge wad of cash to take her to a mysterious island. Shortly after docking, Jack finds himself under attack from an unknown militia group swarming around the island.
With his boat destroyed, his money gone and Valerie suddenly disappearing, Jack now finds himself up against the odds, with nothing more then a pistol and his wits to surviveā¦
Naturally the main attraction lies with the visuals featured in FarCry; itās easy to get excited by graphics with the current state of hardware, however itās no exaggeration to say that FarCry is simply the most beautiful looking title youāll see this year. Sure Doom3 and Half Life 2 are both on an equal level, however the tropical location is just simply breathtaking compared to the darker styles of the aforementioned titles. The first moment you step outside and witness the islands, the lapping waves of the ocean, the dense vegetation and flocking parrots; well itās a moment that will certainly stick in your memory and leave you struggling to believe this is just a videogame.
Itās no surprise that youāll need a high-spec machine to get FarCry running at its most beautiful; weāve currently tested the game out on a number of platforms and have to say that youāll need at least a 2 GHz machine with a decent DirectX 9 enabled graphics card and 256MB RAM. Utilising their own proprietary PolyBump mapping techniques, little details such as the individual strands of woven fabrics on Jackās shirt can be made out during the cut-scenes just to give you an indication of the level of detail to expect in FarCry. The engine also does a fantastic job in terms of the overall lighting featured within the game, creating a completely natural and believable feel to the proceedings ā“ just take one look at the movies and screens featured alongside this review ā“ yes you need to upgrade now!!!
However thankfully FarCry isnāt just a one-trick pony and weāre glad to say that the actual game offers an immersive experience akin to the first time you played Half-Life, mixing up frantic action and tactical suspense ā“ first-person-shooter fans will find everything they want from this game. The AI in particular makes heavy use of the surrounding environment to their advantage, hiding in the dense vegetation and making convincing use of group behaviour such as attacking in formation and encircling you down the flanks. Although FarCry features a substantial amount of action, guns and explosions, it always pays to think about each situation ahead of you beforehand.
Progress from the beginning leads to a few heated gun exchanges just to get you into the mood; however itās entirely possible to take your time and attack with precision and stealth. Itās not long before youāre making your way over to the first enemy encampment (having taken a quick swim through the magnificent water) and time to observe two really neat aspects of FarCry.
As with many FPS currently in development, FarCry makes extensive use of advanced physics within the game; however much like Half-Life 2, this isnāt an entire gameworld based around physics, but instead what we like to call āreal-time physics at scripted momentsā. The first example sees you knocking away a bolt that is keeping a large canister at bay; having knocked the bolt away the canister can roll down the hill and crush any militia troops that get in the way. In addition to these scripted moments, the game makes impressive use of rag-doll physics for character animations, whilst explosions will throw nearby objects into the sky in a very realistic fashion. Virtually all of the objects that arenāt attached can be knocked over or pushed, creating some impressive effects during heated gun exchanges.
The encampment also provides your first opportunity to jump inside a jeep and take it for a spin around the island. Much like Halo and many games since, FarCry allows you to switch between first and third-person perspectives when controlling a vehicle, whilst a number of them contain weapons, allowing you to drive and shoot at the same time. FarCry contains a fairly impressive number of vehicles, however itās the range of them that is most striking; Jack can get his hands on a number of different jeep/trucks, whilst also trying his hand at hang-gliding and jumping aboard one of many boats to travel through the oceans. Sadly, although the game features a couple of helicopters Jack canāt actually take control of these, however you can always blow them up in spectacular fashion. If there was one criticism itās that the environments donāt provide much scope for exploration in vehicles and youāll find yourself having to stick to the roads; when the initial excitement dies down youāll find it far more practical to stay on your feet.
Without wanting to spoil the experience, the story progresses, twists and turns more times then a ballet-dancer on ice, takes many sources of inspiration and culminates in a James Bond inspired finale depicting a vision of hell. Itās no hype to say that we havenāt been as immersed in a story and PC title such as this since Half-Life was originally released; quite simply youāll find yourself completely hooked until youāve seen everything the game has to offer.
The game packs a surprising amount of hours inside, and will take most gamers between 15-20 hours to complete. More importantly thereās no point in the game where it feels as though the developers have padded things out just to increase the longevity. The game makes use of auto-save checkpoints (although QuickSave options are coming in a download) when you reach certain locations on the islands; in the main the game handles this surprisingly well, however there are a few occasions when checkpoints are few and far between and hence frustration can arise.
