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You are Jack Carver, a former Ocean Patrol officer who spends his day carrying travelers and small cargo across the South Pacific. One day, you encounter an attractive journalist who hires you to join her on a second-long Japanese shipwreck on an uncharted island in Micronesia. But before too long, the mercenary kills your ship, and your escort disappears. So, you head off on a search to save her from her captors and figure out what's really going on on this strange island.
The first thing you'll note in Far Cry is the utter enormity of the world you're plunged into. The island is vast, and distances allow you to see extremely far away at any given moment. Using your binoculars and you'll be able to pick up enemies, say, standing on the beach and talking over half a mile away. Approach the enemy camp to see the mercenary manning machine guns, target shooting, and all manner of stuff that contribute to the sense of realism. Occasionally, helicopters will pass overhead, patrol boats will zoom in and jeeps will drive down the roads, leading to the fact that this island is continually busy.
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Like Halo, only a small number of weapons can be carried at once, in this case, four (plus grenades). This brings another aspect of planning to the game, forcing you to consider the pros and cons of each weapon to decide whether you need it. The guns are reliable and based on real-life versions, such as the M4 assault rifle and the MP5 submachine gun. Besides holding weapons, you can also drive most of the vehicles on the island. The game can lead you to a number of different worlds during its 20+ hours of gameplay. You're going to fight your way around the island itself, end up in the ruins of a Japanese warship, and you're going through subterranean caverns and even a volcano.
But one of the best things about Far Cry is the awesome AI. This is one of the best unscripted AI ever put into a game. Enemies are responding in real-time, reacting to your acts, and choosing the smartest route possible. For eg, if they're alone, instead of fighting you, they're going to run to nearby radio and call for backup. If they are in a group, they will suppress you and then attempt to kill you by using real-life tactics. If you find that one of the members of the party is shouting out directives to the others, and if you cut it out, the group will be forced to rework its plan.
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As I said earlier, Far Cry has some of the finest graphics you've seen on your PC. Crytek's CryEngine pulls out all the stops using Pixel Coloring, realistic lighting, and shadows, and bump mapping to their fullest potential, bringing the game to life. The settings are fantastic; the character models are unsurpassed in-depth and very realistically animated. The arms look fantastic, and they've got all sorts of great little features that add to the realism. For example, when you carry a sniper rifle, you can see things in the foreground through the lens, which is a fantastic impact.
The sound effects are really strong. This is particularly appropriate since the sound factors in the game are very strong because you have to focus on stealth and quiet in order to get a drop on your opponents. The game is delivered in Dolby Digital 5.1, enabling the gameplay to be much more enjoyable if you have the right sound system. The music is fitting for the game, and it's essentially what you'd hear in an action movie with similar content. However, the voice acting and dialog is a little too cheesy. Far Cry is a gem, a game that blends an impressive technical presentation with some of the finest single-player FPS gameplay in a long time.
@kentzz001
Top first person shooter game of its time for sure
Agreed.