Far Cry

Rating:
Summary: Super Fun,Super Real!!
Review: This game is extremely fun,and you will be playing it four hours!

This is a FPS,but it uses real physics,which means objects
behave like in the real world. Overhead lamps swing,creating
swinging shadows. Boxes fall from shelves,while you shoot at enemies through wooden shelters. When shooting enemies in water,blood flows from
their bodies in swirling streams.

There is no one way to complete each mission,but many different ways. You can throw rocks,or shoot gasoline filled containers,to distract the enemy,along with an arsenal of powerful weapons you can use,while you sneak into camp,head quarters etc...

Maybe divide and conquer will work,if a head-on approach constantly gets you fragged.

The tropical graphcis,makes you feel like you are actually there,in the humid damp jungle and of course you got Surround sound dolby 5.1

Running Nvidia Geforce MX440,64MB video and CPU P4 with 512MB ram,I had no problem at all playing this game. Only slight lag,when I used the "night goggles".

Also,this game is also MULTIPLAYER using LAN or INTERNET,or you can play the campaign.

I think this is one of the best next generation games todate,and it will be a classic FPS.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe Game companies in the US should look at this...
Review: I just finished the full version of Far Cry, and have to say is WOW! No other game out there has held me so tight to a storyline since....Half-Life, and this one rivals it.

The graphics are intense and intricate all at the same time. The lighting is phenomenal, especially when shoothing at hanging lights. They swing and act like a real light source should! No other game out there has this level of detail, yet. The AI is pretty intense also, they work together and can surprise you nicely. The use of vehicle and mounted weapons is very nice.

One problem that I did have was the instillation of the game. It would not load beyond the 3rd disc, and this is evidently one of the problems being found. Very Frustrating! I ended up having to copy the CD's onto my hard drive and install them from there, which to my surprise, worked very nice. So, I did have quite a few headaches getting it installed, but trust me it was well worth it!

Also, the game is beautiful! Yes, I said beautiful, the landscapes, the structures, and the characters themselves. All this, and it ran nicely on a mid/low level system. Imagine that, a product that is awesome and it runs with low requirements. Whoa! Who could thought that it could happen!
(My System: AMD Athalon 1 GHz, 512 RAM, Radeon 9500 128mb, and Sound Blaster Audigy.)

The multiplayer is pretty good. Not the best I have played, but still fun. Nice use of vehicles and character classes.

All in all, I was very surprised by this game. It literally came out of nowhere. There was little press until release time. This game evidently came from Europe, and I hope is scares the US makers into working on their own products a little better.

And, yes it is a hard game. It is not meant to be one that you can just cruise through. It is meant to push you and drag you through the storyline. Also, there is a way to save your progress between save points. Check out the Far Cry website forums for it.

Hope this review helps someone in choosing this game. I know that I am pushing all my friends to try it and am going to be giving it as gifts.

Rating:
Summary: gotta admire the attention to detail
Review: Bought the full version and am approx. halfway thru the game.

PROS:
* excellent graphics and foliage modeling
* clever AI
* relatively non-linear freedom of action (despite what you may have read you don't have complete freedom to move everywhere on the islands....on many of the islands, if you attempt to travel around the backside of the island, an indestructable chopper will kill you)

CONS:
* Can't save your progress whenever you like (this can be really frustrating, especially when that last enemy on a level wastes you within site of a health pack or the next savepoint, however if you run the game in DEVMODE there is a semi-functional quick save/load key enabled...UBIsoft says this will be addressed in the next patch

* the game is maybe too hard (or more armor and health packs would be nice)..although I'm getting better at exploiting the weaknesses in the AI (lure 'em into an ambush)

* the AI isn't set up to react to sounds the way it should...a gunshot may alert the enemy from a kilometer away but not from the next room.

OVERALL: As is, this game rivals Operation Flashpoint as the best FPS ever IMO,...in time the modding community may make this an even better game

FROM THE BOX:
Supported Video Cards at Time of Release
NVIDIA GeForce 2/3/4/FX families (NVIDIA-based cards must have Forceware drivers 53.03; GeForce 2 and GeForce 4 MX cards do not support
all graphics features)
ATI Radeon 8500/9000 families (ATI Radeon 9500-9800 XT recommended; ATI-based cards must have Catalyst drivers 3.9
(laptop models of the listed cards are not fully supported)

These chipsets are the only ones that will run the game. Additional chipsets may be supported after release. For an up-to-date list of suppported chipsets visit the FAQ for this game at http:\\support.ubisoft.com

MY SYSTEM:
WinXP
P4 2.8c CPU on an Intel 865 based mobo with an 800mhz frontside bus
512mb DDR PC3200 SDRAM
Gigabyte brand ATI Radeon 9600XT video card

This game runs fine for me on the High settings (looks a bit nicer on the Very High settings but my framerate plunges if there is too much action in the area. Looks pretty decent on all low settings too.

While not nearly as much of a realistic combat simulation as the Operation Flashpoint series, Far Cry excells in the fun factor. Throughout the game there are nice little touches and an attention to detail that will leave you smiling :-)

Rating:
Summary: Is this the future of 1st person shoot-em ups?
Review: It's been a while since I've played a 1st person shoot-em up and I've read the reviews on this game, heard that it was pretty good, made the wrong, decision and purchased it.

I think this game is terrible. If you haven't played a shoot-em-up in a while and decide to do so I highly recommend that you do not choose this game.

Here's why:
1. Handling: You use the mouse to look; w,s forward - backward: a,d left - right. Which seems alright but x is right below the s and x is used to switch from semi-automatic to automatic and this can get seriously aggravating in the heat of the fight. That is not to mention c to crouch, v prone and a bunch of other keys which for an unseasoned shoot-em-upper can be thouroughly annoying. Driving a vehicle is a complete joke - you have to reload the autosave countless times just to learn how to drive the vehicle.

2. Difficulty: Once again I'm not a seasoned shoot-em-up gamer and neither am I fan of the PC version of Splinter Cell - too many keys to do too little. This game is hard. You're thrown right into it from the start(give or take about two minutes). If you're anything like me you'll spend more time reloading the auto-saves then playing the game. It ruins the flow.

3. Dialogue and music: The dialogue and the music get extremely tedious and after a while bothersome. "Did you hear something?" is alright the first time, but after 100 times in the first 20 minutes of game time you want to unload a full load of ammo on the guy who did the voice-over.

On the positive side the game graphically is beautiful.

Maybe I'm just impatient. Maybe I should take Far Cry classes. I've only spent about 3-4 hours playing the game and haven't got very far. But my leisure time is too important too spend reloading a map so I can learn the gameplay.

Rating:
Summary: Far Cry is a "far cry" from being perfect
Review: I am only on level 6, but I will give some ipressions.

Graphics/Sound 9/10 Of course the "tropical island" environment helps. The graphics are very well done. Sound is solid.

Story/Characterization 6/10 Seen it all before. Nothing really original here.

Playability: 3/10 Issues with my ATI Radeon 9700 Pro card almost bring to the game to a halt.

Comments: The most intense part of the game is to see if I can make it to the next save point before the game freezes up. Today's play resulted in 11 freezes within a 80 minute period resulting in total reboots of the computer. I believe this is an unresolved issue with the ATI Radeon 9700 graphics card. Driver update and roll backs have not helped.

At this point, the game is almost completely unplayable. I have gone to the Far Cry official forum and there appears to be absolutely no resolve with this issue. I think I will stop at this point and wait for some type of patch or driver update that will address this.

This problem appears to affect many users and it's quite a shame that it is not being quickly resolved.

Overall Score 6/10

Rating:
Summary: Best FPS ever
Review: Wow - what graphics and action. Best FPS yet. Blows away Wolfenstein or Call of Duty. But you better get a great video card. It would not run on my Radeon 9000 Pro. I had to buy a 9800XT for $500 to run this game. Ouch. But its still worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Far Cry will hold you over until HL2 and Doom3 release!
Review: The game is very, very good on multiple levels. The image and sound quality is scalable, so your 3 year-old machine will *probably* be able to run it. Your brand-new machine that you have on order will run it well.

Some of the technology we've been waiting for in Half-Life2 and Doom3 is already being used in Far Cry.
The story is somewhat original, and the graphics, sound, and AI are pretty much on par with games yet-to-be-released.
Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Best Game of the Year
Review: Graphics matter. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a liar or has a really crappy computer that won't be able to run "Far Cry." Because these are some of the best graphics I have ever seen.

You play Jack Carver, a man with a past and a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, and therefore, a likely Jimmy Buffet fan. But hen like in all games Jack's peaceful, seafaring ways are interrupted by a gang of mercenaries with lots of weaponry. The beautiful woman who hired Jack to take her to a remote island in Micronesia is missing. And his boat has sunk.

While Jack's past is revealed to him you facehuge environments, good AI, and functional stealth elements come together to highlight the game's best feature. There's never just one way to accomplish something. You can try to take the enemy head on, or wander the island in search of a hidden path. Or, you can initiate a confrontation with a couple of guards in the hopes of stealing their buggy with a mounted machine gun.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: Crying for more
Review: I'm usually not the type of person to play one game several times after beating it. As a matter a fact, this is the first game I have EVER played a second time, and Im sure when im done with my second time, ill be crying for more.

This is arguably the most innovative FPS ever, simply because of the scope of the enormous map (if you see it, you can get there)and choices you must make to survive. Its also important that any choice you make, isnt necessarily the wrong one. There are almost infinite ways to reach your goal. There are no load points, until you reach your mission objective (21 mission objectives in all with about 7 check-points each), which means you can go from one end of the island to the other (and ajoining isles) without a single load. Dont feel like hiking it, take a truck, boat or even a hang glider. Which ever way you choose, be ready for the enemy. They will try to flank you, they will sound alarms, they will call for reinforcements. Its your choice whether to run around guns blazing or take your time finding the best way to defeat them. This game simply molds to your playing style... your not forced to mold your playing style to the game. You dont have to shoot the enemy to kill them either.... hit them with a truck, shoot the chain on a hanging crate to crush them, shoot explosive barrels to blow them up, cut the ropes on a wood bridge to watch them fall to their death, or my personal favorite.... speed up to them in your truck aiming for an explosive barrel and bail out at the last minute to watch them fly in a blaze fire and shrapnel.

Lets now talk about graphics and sound. This is the first game ever to succede in creating a lush jungle enviornment to play in. The trees sway in the wind and the water looks so real youll want to take a swim with the fish. Dragonflies buzz close by as beatifully rendered birds fly overhead. The lighting and shadows are amazing. When indoors, shoot a hanging light and watch the lighting spray across the walls and floor... youll be amazad. If you take a few moments while in the middle of the jungle to just sit still... you can hear the wildlife all around... you might just forget youre playing a game. You'll be awestruck by the outdoors, and when playing indoors you may get a little creeped out, especially with some of the scripted events (ie Aliens -vs- Predator and Halflife style). I got so used to playing on the island, that when I had to play indoors... it felt very claustraphobic. An excellent mix of enviornments, however... the indoor missions are a bit more linear than the outdoor missions.

There are a few cons to this game, but dont let them discourage you. This is a MUST BUY game.

First, vehicle control can be aggrivating. Its damn near impossible to drive and shoot the mounted gun at the same time. I finally gave up and just started running people over, or jumping out of the vehicle when I met alot of resistance.

Secondly are some bugs which have been encountered, mostly having to do with video card and driver problems. This can cause your frame rate to drop drastically in the middle of gameplay. this is addressed and remedied by the free patch which ubisoft released for the game on their website. I suggest downloading it. You may also encounter imperfections in the video, like blocking or seeing grids within the map. If you encounter this problem, turn your shadow detail to medium and it will go away. Lastly is the game shutting down in the middle of gameplay. This has happend to me only three times... and I put in over 30 hours of gametime, perhaps not that big of a deal. At the moment, There is no known fix for this.

Vehicle control and video bugs caused some annoyances which is the only reason this game didnt get a 5 star rating. I still highly recommend this game to any fan of the genra. It will definitly hold you over until HALF LIFE 2 and DOOM 3 arrive.

I would like to finish by stating that I played the game the first time on a TI4400 128 NVIDIA card (a bit outdated). In order for smooth gameplay... everything had to be set on medium. I recently purchased a 5900 FX card and can play with everything set on HIGH to EXTRA HIGH (aside from shadow detail because of bug). It is definitly more enjoyable with a high end card, but can still be played and enjoyed with mid range cards too.

Rating:
Summary: BUYER BEWARE...
Review: I will honor this game with 4 stars, because Far Cry is a ground breaking, ambitious title.

I have nothing to say about this good game that hasn't already been said, but I must warn people that if you have virtual CD software installed on your PC, this game WILL NOT RUN. I have even heard that the game will refuse to run if you have CloneCD or CD packet writing software installed. This practice is unfair of Ubi-Soft, and while Far Cry will sell well, they have already lost a lot of business from people that run emulated games legally on Linux OS installs, city LAN cafes (they use virtual CD drives to prevent CD theft), and from people whom chose to exercise their consumer rights by NOT uninstalling software just to play a game.

I'd imagine that Ubi-Soft has a tech support nightmare going on right now because of the game's inability to run on computers with even INACTIVE daemon software installed. Soon, a patch could be released to remedy this, but until then, I'd advise people to be a little hesitant when purchasing Far Cry for $49. It's a good game, but you might get screwed.