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Far Cry: Instincts - Hands On Preview
Jon Wilcox
12/09/2005
Ubisoft takes us to Paradise in preparation of unleashes the beast on Xbox later this month...
Back in 2004, Ubisoft published the CryTek developed first-person shooter Far Cry on PC; noted for lush vegetation and expansive environments that wouldn't look out of place on a brochure for time-share, the game followed Jack Carver an ex-member of American US Special Forces searching for a missing female journalist kidnapped by a group of mercenaries on an otherwise idyllic tropical archipelago. Shortly after the release of the game, Ubisoft announced that work had started on bringing a version of Far Cry, to Xbox and later to PlayStation2 at their Montreal studios. Though eyebrows were raised about whether Sony's aging home console would be capable of handling some of the advanced technologies featured in Far Cry, it would take more than a year for Ubisoft to announce that 'Instincts' was to be released on Xbox only at the end of June 2005. By that time the game would already be more then six months overdue (Far Cry: Instincts was originally planned to be released by the end of 2004.)
Having only played through one of the multiplayer maps included in Far Cry: Instincts at Ubisoft's pre-E3 event in April and their inaugural Spotlight event in August, the clamour to engage in single-player Story mode thanks to our received closed preview build was incredibly welcome. Returning to the role of Jack Carver, voiced in Far Cry: Instincts by Blade actor Stephen Dorff, players will begin to follow a narrative broadly similar to the PC game although one main gameplay and narrative feature has been added at a certain point in the game - the instincts.
Following his capture at the hands of rogue Colonel Crowe at a certain point in the game, Carver is injected with a serum developed by Dr. Krieger, which begins to unlock some of the more primal traits under three main classes ā“ Feral Strength, Feral Sense, and Feral Speed. Feral Strength, as the name suggests, improves Jackās strength to enable him to punch through lighter materials such as gateways and Mercs that get in his way, as well as the ability to pick up and use mounted weapons. Three abilities are unlocked under the Feral Sense class based on sight, smell and hearing all of which enable Jack to track down his enemies even in the thick undergrowth of the Jacutan jungles. Finally Feral Speed improves Jackās speed of movement turning him into a rapid and vicious killer. Although the skills improve various aspects of the character, and therefore the gameplay - hunting down the enemy by following their bright orange scent brings a certain thrill to the hunt - they do come at a price, adrenaline. Carver's adrenaline does recover slowly, but it can be boosted in several different ways including stalking an enemy for a certain period, and consuming 'MRE' rations. Another side-effect of the serum is that Jack is able to replenish his health over time ā“ handy after engaging with a gang of Mercs with guns. The Feral abilities are systematically unlocked through the course of the game as Carver increasingly finds himself changing from the prey to the predator.
Besides the obvious effect on gameplay thanks to the integration of the Feral abilities, the team at Montreal has also added little tweaks and ideas to Far Cry: Instincts that help project the idea of FPS stealth such as the ability to make Carver crawl on his back underneath the huts used by the Mercs and shoot them through gaps in the floorboards. Swimming through the waters of the Jacutan archipelago is another way that if used properly can allow Carver to sneak up on an enemy, and for fans of vehicles in FPS titles, itās worth noting that players are also able to ride quad-bikes, Hummer-like 4x4s, hang gliders, inflatable power boats, and even use a zip-line to cross enemy encampments.
No self-respecting FPS title would be without a range of offensive weapons, and thereās no doubt that trigger-happy FPS players will also get a kick out of the range of munitions on show in the game, as well as the ability for Halo 2 style independent trigger dual-wielding. Ubi Montreal have added a range of new weapons into Instincts including several pistols from the high-fire rate Glock to the Army issue Beretta and the more substantial Desert Eagle. For fans of more close-quarter shooting Far Cry: Instincts also features a Shotgun, and the Sub-Machine Guns, Assault Rifles, and Machine Gun from the PC version all make their welcome return. Long distance assault fanatics will be pleased with the inclusion of not one, but two scoped rifles: a Recon Rifle with up to x7 magnification and a Sniper Rifle for up to x10 magnification that packs a punch strong enough to destroy the armoured vehicles in the game. Rocket Launchers, Mortar Launchers and Hand Grenades make up some of the more explosive firepower in the game and if players find themselves out of ammo then thereās always the good old Butterfly Knife for back-stabbing and good old slashingā¦
Also making an introduction to the world of Far Cry is the Trap System, which allows players to set up a range of traps (once learnt through the course of the game) and lure enemies into them thanks to the islands seemingly endless supply of rocks that can be thrown to attract the Mercās attention. Quickly switching to the traps inventory (via the black button) players can then set up traps by pulling the right trigger and then using the left trigger to throw the stones. It does take a bit of time to get the attention of the Mercs (a possible bug?) but itās worth it to see them fly across the jungle after being detonating a trap. The only trap available in the preview build was the āspring loadedā branch described above, though Crytek do promise that a range of traps will be unlocked throughout the characterās progress of the game.
Although the preview build was quite an old one there are one or two noticeable elements that need to be ironed out ahead of the release at the end of the month. The most obvious of these are the sometimes buggy movements of the enemy mercenaries. On several occasions Crowe's men were plodding through their walking animations but failed to actually move across the terrain, which as you'd expect did shatter the illusion of the game. The Mercs would also walk into various obstructions and continue with the walking motion - somewhat ironic given that the opening cinematic boasted about the enemy's higher AI that would make the characters flank Carver and lay down suppressing coverā¦
One or two bugs still linger in the audio department too with ambient environmental noises being dropped from the soundtrack inside buildings, including roofless wooden huts. Contrasting with that are the intruder alarms that continue to wail at the same volume hundreds of yards from the source - thankfully it does seem inevitable that the latter sound bug will have been put right between the preview build and the final retail version. Event triggered music is evident in the game, which also helps to build up the tension, and the Dorff's acting seems to add that extra bit of production value to the soundtrack.
Largely proving a solid, responsive and intuitive control system, taking control of the vehicles in Far Cry can be a little bit more tricky. Arguably the most responsive and solid control system for a vehicle in an FPS title is used in the Halo franchise; although people originally thought it a bit fiddly, the dual thumb-stick configuration works extremely well. In Far Cry: Instincts, the vehicular control system doesn't quite feel as focused, with the main problem for that being the use of the right stick to control a weapon, which leaves the ability to successfully steer the vehicle and independently move the cross-hair at the same time a highly developed skill indeed.
Away from the single-player mode, the game does offer a limited number of multiplayer gametypes, including the gameās own version of Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag (Chaos, Team Chaos and Steal the Sample respectively), the most intriguing is the Predator gamemode. With one Predator for every four Mercs, the aim of the game for the four Mercs is to cross the Predatorās territory to activate a ākill switch.ā All of the Feral skills are available to the Predator to use, which can respawn an infinite number of times, whilst Mercs are left waiting until the next time one of their colleagues take down the Feral player. It may not offer the wide range of gametypes that TimeSplitters may enjoy, but such an original mode will revitalise an otherwise tired line-up of standard Multiplayer modes.
If the game has a largely under whelming line-up of Multiplayer gametypes, then itās going to Far Cry: Instinctsā Map Editor that will offer Xbox owners extended play. Forget having to wait for the developers to create downloadable content (like certain other developers), CryTek has integrated an exceptional Map Editor that allows gamers the option to develop their very own tropical island of paradise and mayhem. Ease of use and an amazing variety of options available to the gamer look set to make the Map Editor a firm favourite of Far Cry: Instincts owners. The ability to jump into the map and test out your handy-work in the FPS view allows players to quickly work out the aspects of their creation that work and those little elements that need tweaking.
Far Cry: Instincts is one hell of a good-looking game with a level of detail rarely seen on any console of this generation (Resident Evil 4 on GameCube would be another). Lush plant life, white sands, clear blue seas ā“ it comes as a shame to have to wander around and kill people, there were times where we could have just watched out across the Jucatan sea and relaxed with an ice cold beer. What are we talking about? Itās all about the guns and the predatory gameplay ā“ if we wanted a vacation weād book one!!! Seriously though, this is a tremendous looking title thatās all the more impressive given the power of the Xbox; itās no wonder that the PS2 version was quietly dropped.
