Ty ArthurFar Cry
May 27th 2008 19:10
I've never been a real big fan of the shooter. While they tend to have the most stunning graphics of all the genres of games, that beauty seems only skin deep. Expecting anything out of a shooter except mindless entertainment and frequent giggles as objects explode is really asking for too much. So it was with some trepidation that I installed Far Cry on my PC at the urgings of some fellow gamers. I had just bought a slick new graphics card and thought "why not?", I needed to test the thing out anyway.
True to form, Far Cry had some of the most stunning graphics for its time, and it still manages to hold its own now that years have passed and more cutting edge graphical advancements have been made. The tropical island setting where the game takes place is rendered in painstaking detail. Each blade of grass, each leaf of the trees, each grain of sand, all there to be drooled over by the player who finds himself dying repeatedly because he was too busy staring at the scenery. The scope of the island is the biggest graphical selling point. If you trudge up to the top of a hill you can literally see for miles, making out structures, foliage, and even other islands.
The story is about as light and flimsy as you'd expect from a shooter, but it’s certainly not terrible. One Jack Carver, ex-special military something or other (it doesn't really matter why he's a master of every firearm and vehicle that can be found in the game) finds himself stalking through a tropical island chain looking for answers and trying not to get shot after he and the woman he was hired to port around are fired upon by unknown mercenaries. Some silly sci-fi mad scientist type stuff goes on towards the middle of the game which conveniently gives Jack some more interesting targets to shoot at just as the mercenaries are starting to get repetitive.
One of the most highly touted features of Far Cry was the artificial intelligence of the enemies. While it has been surpassed by newer games, the AI was simply the best for the time. Mercenaries would yell tactics and commands to each other, letting the others know where the player is hiding or advising to flank from opposite sides, all while moving from cover point to cover point and firing when a good shot is available. A less advertised but more intriguing feature is the use of the special goggles, which not only allow you to zoom in on a subject, but also amplifies sound in the direction you are facing. The sound amplification feature lets the player listen in on conversations between mercenaries or wait for the telltale sound of a boat or humvee passing by.
Despite my previous complaint about brainless explosions, Far Cry can be most fun when ignoring the advancement of the story and finding new ways to blow stuff up. Nearly every vehicle has some sort of rocket launcher or machine gun, and with the amazing water effects it can be quite addicting to just take the speed boat around the island launching rockets at anything that can be destroyed.
Far Cry is probably the best representation of the shooter genre from its time, and is highly recommended. There is a game about to be released that is inexplicably titled "Far Cry 2" for no apparent reason, as it has literally no connection whatsoever to the original. This is not an exaggeration - the game is being developed by a different studio, has a different game play mechanic, has none of the original characters and no connection to the original storyline, and does not take place on an island or a tropical setting. The only similarity is that they are both first person shooters. While Far Cry 2 might be a great game on its own merits, it’s a shame they tagged the Far Cry title on it, as it will likely find itself a horde of angry fans who were expecting a direct sequel.
| 84 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Tyronne
Music Times
Sydney Fun
Vintage Culture
Melbourne DiaryStar
Comment by jon
Orble News
Urban Hint
Blog Adviser
Jon's Bookmarks
Debate Battle
Orblepedia
Orble Notes
Sydney WeekendNotes
You may also need to add the email address admin -at- orblemail.com to your address book in order to receive Orble admin emails in the future.
Thanks,
Jon.
(Orble Admin)