Classic Game Review: Far Cry

The game which I'll be talking about and reviewing today is called Far Cry. You've probably heard of one of the sequels of the game and also probably played them. However, I think the original game really doesn't get the due credit which it deserves as I rarely hear anyone talk about it these days. Far Cry is a first person shooter game which was released back in 2004 for the PC, and later on received a remake which made it available to play on the original Xbox. The game was developed by Crytek and then published by Ubisoft, and managed to sell nearly 750k units in it's first 4 months which I think is pretty impressive, especially back in 2004. Obviously this success is what helped to bring so many sequels to the franchise, and you probably wouldn't have seen Far cry 3/4 had it not been for this game being so well received in it's day. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the game, which I'm assuming is a fair share of you, it puts us in the role of our protagonist Jack Carver. Jack is a former special forces operative who has made an effort to leave behind a gritty, bitter past by vanishing from society to run a charter boat company somewhere in the South Pacific. He's then hired by a woman named Valerie Constantine to go to an uncharted island. Things quickly go bananas, however, with Valerie taking off on a jet ski while your boat has been blown up, leaving you high and dry. So beings the start of our mercenary filled adventure. 

The story for this game in my opinion is very similar to what a cheesy 80's action move would show you, it's very shlocky in a way I suppose. I'd definitely say don't expect any depth or real substance to the storyline of the game, as you won't be finding that here. However, that isn't to say that it doesn't give a competent story to explain all of the carnage and mayhem that happens throughout. I'd just say don't expect a masterpiece of a story with this game, as it's main winning point is it's gameplay. 

The graphics for the game are quite pretty for the time it was released, even now after almost 15 years the game still actually looks pretty good. I personally found myself surprised that the game can still hold up to todays game standards with it's old age. But, even with those nice graphics the game doesn't seem all that unique or special at first. But, once you get a fair chunk of the way into the game, you start realizing that it's much more than what it seems on the surface. There is an incredible amount of freedom the player is given, but it's in a subtle way. 

Just to give an example of what I mean, pretty early on in the game you're given a somewhat simple sounding task, which is to steal a jeep from under some mercenary's. You'll find as you play that there's definitely multiple ways to get the job done, some less frustrating than others, like charging in head first thinking you'll just dispose of the enemies without an issue only to get utterly destroyed and have to redo it all again until you realize maybe it's time to check around the environment before losing your cool again. 

The game doesn't have a tutorial or any hints that pop up to hold your hand on figuring out alternative ways to finish your missions, which is something that I enjoy. I want to feel like I have room to think up tactics which I can make use of with the environment, I don't want the game clogging up my screen and making it feel hard to breath. Letting your game be more open to having the player experiment with routes for completion is a great idea, which I think more game devs really need to be doing these days. Instead of just having a typical run and gun approach like most FPS games do these days. 

Now, that's not to say that this game still doesn't have a linear goal set up where there are sections of the game that you'll have to follow along with. There are parts which you'll encounter time and time again that lack that open world feeling, though you still feel like you have at least somewhat of a choice on how you want to reach the goal of the mission. It'll really all depend at what you're doing at the game and the environment that you're currently in. Perhaps you'll find 3 or 4 ways to dispatch some mercenary guards when walking into a base, like activating a trap built into the surroundings, or letting lose creatures to attack them and do your bidding. The end result will be the same, but how you achieve it can be quite different. 

Now, even if this game didn't have a sense of open world and letting you have a choice in the matter, it would still be quite a good game which has a fair share going on for itself. A big thing that this game does a great job of is the enemy AI built into it. You'll be fighting mostly the same types of enemies throughout the game without much variety, however, the AI is beyond excellent with how it behaves and shows that it's actually intelligent and it wants to keep you on guard and vigilant. It's one of the few games where I actively thought that the AI was done extremely well and genuinely impressed me as I was playing. 

It doesn't even matter if you're fighting a grunt mercenary on the ground with a rifle and armor, or a mutated monster with some nasty claws and strength. Both types will respond with tactically intelligent responses to your actions in the game by using the environment and tools in the surroundings to their advantage, to try and flank you and out maneuver you.  If one of the human enemies notices a spot which was previously preoccupied by it's fellow comrade like in a vehicle or mounted gun, it will automatically run towards it knowing that it gets an edge at having more power than you. If you try to run and take cover in a building, then you can expect that building to be turned into swiss cheese pretty soon, as the enemy is unrelenting at times. 

It actually becomes something which adds to the replayability at first, as you'll find yourself inclined to wanting to know what the enemy AI is capable of each time you try something different. I found myself laughing a few times at ways which I died, and how smart the enemy AI could be. It basically got to the point every now and then where I didn't mind actually dying so I could come through the same area and try to attempt it in a different method. Again, the AI really was quite amazing for it's day, and still holds up quite well until even this day. 

Another aspect besides the enemy AI and the wonderful graphics which I found to be done well is the weapon system. The weapons available in this game come in a large multitude of different items, ranging from things like a machete, to the classic M4 rifle, all the way up to a minigun and a rocket launcher. There's many different options available to use if you're just wanting to try and do a run and gun style, and most of the firearm usage in the game works pretty darn well. 

Now, let's talk about this games major issue. As much as I like this game, it definitely has one flaw to it which is something that I feel should have been changed, which is the save system. Or, well, the lack thereof a save system really at all. This game relied entirely on checkpoints which were scattered throughout the campaign, which in itself isn't a bad thing. Checkpoints have become a very useful tool to use in video games over the recent years. The issue stems from the fact, however, that the game lacks any kind of manual save system. 

This means you lack any ability of choosing where you want your save point to be, and you'll have to keep starting in the same exact spot, even if it's a terrible one with you being attacked or inconvenienced as soon as you spawn each time. The good news though is that the game does a great job of picking and choosing where they drop these checkpoint systems, so you never really have to do a lot of backtracking to get to where you were when you died for the most part. Most of your deaths if you do die won't set you back too far, and although I wish there was a manual save system as well as the checkpoint one to help ensure this was lessened or didn't happen, it still does a good job on not driving you insane. 

Besides that, I can't really say I have any issues with the game and how it was designed. It's definitely one of my favorite action games made over the past 15-20 years, and the success it's spawned over the years seems well deserved. It definitely focuses on the gameplay over the story and narrative, which isn't a bad thing by any means. Since it's definitely one heck of an entertaining FPS game and still holds up to the test of time, surprisingly. 

So, would I recommend this game? Yes, I absolutely would. The story is about as memorable as a low budget 80's action film, but it's an absolutely fun game that provides plenty of entertainment with it's excellent gameplay, enemy AI, and open world sections which let you figure out how to solve problems with your own methods. There's plenty of great firefights strewn throughout, and it definitely has some good replayability. For anyone interested in a great FPS, this would definitely be for you! 

Thanks for checking out my review! Hope it's gotten you somewhat interested in this game at the very least! Normally, I try to make my reviews a bit longer which I'm sure some of you have noticed if you'd stumbled across my reviews the past few weeks. However, I have a bad sinus infection I'm trying to fight off right now and I'm running on no sleep for almost 36 hours. This is leaving me feel pretty awful and burnt out, so I may have shortened the review a bit just to ease up on driving myself mad. So, I just wanted to apologize for that in case anyone was hoping for a bit more of my opinions on the game. Anyways, thanks again!