Far Cry: Instincts Review

The Story

I found the story a cross between Jurassic Park and The Island of Dr. Moreau. First, you play Jack Carver, a retired Navy commando giving an exploration tour of an obscure island with well-to-do tourists (hidden dinosaur island in Jurassic Park). With the Navy commando credo, “Never leave a man behind” repeatedly playing in his head, he sets out to rescue the sole survivor and get off the island. But there are secrets to unfold and Jack Carver gets caught up in the island and everything it has to offer, (The Island of Dr. Moreau, anyone?).

The Graphics

The colors are amazing. For a console game, it ranks right up there with anything else that is top-notch. The environments pop at you and the levels are just mammoth, giving testament to the programmers ability to include just about everything in a jungle-like atmosphere -- down to the single leaf on a large tree. One minor pick at the graphics, and this is just because it is noticeable (but keep in mind it’s rare), When you get close to some of the grass and trees and bushes, you will see some pixels, but you’ll be in stealth mode and not really paying attention to that.

Everyone thought, except Ubisoft Montreal of course, that the Xbox couldn’t handle Far Cry: Instincts because it didn’t have the processing power to push the game. Well, Ubisoft gave us a big ‘Take That’.

The Gameplay

Far Cry acts like almost all the first person shooters. You run around gathering weapons and shooting enemies. You’ve heard that before, right? There are only a couple of things different in Far Cry from every other FPS out there. You can set little traps that ensnare your enemies which makes taking them out easier so you don't waste ammo. There were a few points in the game where I thought I wouldn’t have enough to make it through a section, so I set some traps and breezed on through.

The second difference is that Jack Carver changes. Because the nature of the island is what Jack experiences, he experiences EVERYTHING the island has and is exposed to some strange experiment that gives him primal skills. This includes increased power, sight and speed. You can’t use them full force all the time. You have an adrenaline meter that depletes, but you can fill it back up with power-ups and stalking prey. You heard me right, you can actually stalk prey. One note with the new abilities is that you can see the scent trails left behind. What scent? Is it sweat? Natural smells? Or worse, is it gas?

The Controls

If you’ve played any other FPS shooter on the Xbox, then you’ll feel right at home with Far Cry. Frame rate is great, even with the sweet graphics, and moving Jack around the island is swift, especially when he gets his new abilities.

Controlling the vehicles got to be a problem, though. Not because of actually driving them, but driving AND shooting. The configuration used the left analog stick for speed direction. Push up to accelerate and right to turn right... on the same stick. The right analog did the shooting. I found it very difficult to drive and shoot with both analog sticks. I constantly found myself hitting things because I was paying more attention to the gun and where it was aimed and not the vehicle.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is just as fun as any other FPS. Far Cry gives up the standard Deathmatch, capture the flag, etc. One mode that is extremely fun to play is “Predator”. In Predator, one player is given all the animal abilities and goes after the other players, who’s goal is to take the Predator down. This can get intense because it plays like the single-player game in terms of suspense and stealth.

Also, Far Cry includes a multiplayer level-editor. I didn’t like it. It takes a lot of time to learn the menus and create an actual level. I’m sure with some patience I could make a decent one, but I quit after 30 minutes or so in order to play the actual game.

Thompson’s Two Cents

Get this game. Hands down one of the most beautiful shooters on the Xbox or any other console. A long single-player game gives the purchase value and the intensity of being surrounded by hidden monsters at nearly every turn of the game makes Far Cry: Instincts a must have for Xbox owners.

Dr. Moreau: “I have seen the devil in my microscope, and I have chained him.”