FarCry Single Player Demo Reviewed! Overall Score: 8/10

FarCry Single Player Demo Reviewed! Overall Score: 8/10
Posted :: Apr 21, 2004 by Impact

Produced by UbiSoft

Friends and sites were raving about Far Cry, so we here at Absolute Insight just had to take a look. I must note: this game took me quite a long time to get up and running. I had problems with my graphics card and my power supply. This game will put a heavy strain on your computer. You have been warned.

When you start up the demo, you are sitting on a boat, about 30 yards off shore. At this point you hear someone talking to you across your radio. He tells you your mission, the plot of the game. But plot matters very little in a demo. What I really wanted to know was how does the game feel?

The game is like most other first person shooters: you can see your gun, some stats along the bottom of the screen, ammo count, life, etc. What really stuck out was the fact that the world was HUGE. Yes, I know, in other games there are gigantic levels, but there are few that you can see from one end to another. I thought this would cause extreme lag (large, open areas, normally do that), but I was pleasantly surprised to find no jumpy areas. I was disappointed by the control feel. It felt almost identical any other FPS (First Person Shooter).

What I did like was the fact that the game gives you a run through of many of the weapons and vehicles. Within the first 15 seconds of the game, you are driving a boat. After crashing it into land, I hopped off, shot 3-4 guards with pistols (difficulty was set on easy, so it wasn't tough), and jumped in a new boat. This boat had a machine gun on the back. Later on, after moving up the beach a slight bit, you are able to get your hands on a jeep with a machine gun on the back. I think I would have really enjoyed driving it around, if I could control it better. I ended up crashing into a tree within 30 seconds and had to walk the next mile or so on foot.

Like I said before, UbiSoft allows you to get acquainted to some of the weapons in the game. You start with nothing but a pistol and a machetti, but you soon have a whole arsenal. This includes grenades, an R-90, M-16, and a sniper rifle. By far my favorite was the sniper rifle, but I tended to use the M-16 more because the demo takes place on a tropical beach and the fighting is close and intense.

All in all the game was a blast until it crashed out on me after about 20 minutes. Like I said earlier, I had problems with the technical aspects of the game, but once in, I lost myself within. The graphics are stunning, the sound and controls average, but defiantly worth a download!

Screenshots

Huge open areas in the map made me cringe for the thought of lag, but I was pleasantly surprised..

Intense jungle warfare. This is what the demo is all about.

My favorite weapon by far, no chance of getting hurt...

I wouldn't have had to walk so far if I could drive better...

The models for enemies were pretty outstanding, judge for yourself!

Another huge open area, notice which way the boat is going.

For some reason the boat went the other way after a rain of fire from above!

A model close up, poor guy.

Rating on a scale of 1 (absolutely awful) to 10 (jaw-dropping)
Gameplay: 6/10
- Far Cry reminded me a lot of other games like Counter Strike and Battlefield Vietnam, I didn't see much that stood out here.
Graphics: 10/10
- Amazing graphics. That's all there is to it.
Sound: 8/10
- I was caught up in the game. That says a lot about the sound; it didn't stand out, but it did what it needed to.
Replayability: 8/10
- Being that the game crashed on me after (what I think to be) about half way though, I think I would love to play it again and find out what I missed at the end.
Overall Rating (Average): 8/10

Closing Comments
I enjoyed the demo. I would suggest you take a look at it. Although the 500mb download can look a little daunting, it's worth a look, if only to see spectacular graphics. As for buying the game, if you are a big fan of FPS I would definitely take it into consideration. Obviously the demo was only single-player, but if the multi-player is as fast and nice looking as the single, it might grab a 4.6-4.8 in my book; great graphics with good online support would be nice to have.