FarCry

[reflekt]

VERY well said. best quick review.

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Insomniak
I recognize this. I don't think Far Cry is bad per se, but it is decidedly average. There's nothing in that game that hasn't already been done extensively before aside from PS2.0

To me, it just felt like Joe Shooter...enemies...check...graphics....check....vehicles....check....Nothing new or innovative, and it didn't feel very polished either.

Yeah, the format is definitely one that has been done before. I think what makes FarCry new and intersting from a gaming standpoint was the fact that the environment was wide open. Most shooters I have played enclose you in a very bounded world. I'm sure there are boundaries to FarCry's levels, but in normal gameplay I never hit the 'edges' so the world seemed realistic to me. The cool part about that is that the game doesn't feel as linear as most.

Compare it to Max Payne 2 for instance (another really fun game). In Max Payne 2 the game play is very linear and it almost feels like you are being guided through a funhouse (I know, I know... there is one in the game) with the villans popping out at you at pre-determined spots. Once you shoot one, another pops up. With FarCry you can go straight into the fight and confront the enemies as they come, or you can double back around a cliff and pick off guys with the sniper rifle, or hop in a vehicle to gun them down or go around them. Doing any of these will cause the enemy to respond differently - set yourself up correctly and you can pick em off one at a time, go in with no thought or assessment of the situation and you will most likely get gunned down. This game takes patience and a bit of planning. You might have to stalk your enemy for a while as opposed to just gunning them down.

What exactly didn't you like about the demos? You make it sound as if the game is just too basic for you and didn't present a challenge. Or is it that you had your ass handed to you on a platter and got sick of getting fragged? Obvioulsy, you are entitled to your own opinion, I'm just curious and making conversation because I'm finished w/ FarCry and HL2 or D3 haven't come out.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
What exactly didn't you like about the demos? You make it sound as if the game is just too basic for you and didn't present a challenge. Or is it that you had your ass handed to you on a platter and got sick of getting fragged? Obvioulsy, you are entitled to your own opinion, I'm just curious and making conversation because I'm finished w/ FarCry and HL2 or D3 haven't come out.

It was just too easy and too done. Like, the enemies were not a challenge at all...most of the time I would pop around a corner, fire off a few shots, then duck back and snuff them each in turn as they came twaddling around said corner...people keep talking about how challenging the AI is, but I never had trouble clearing a level without taking so much as a single point of damage...and this is on hard...

Plus, none of the things you could do in real life were possiblein the game. If you were concealed in foliage an popped a guy, the enemies would immediately find you...it's not that simple in real life.

The levels weren't compelling. You need to get to this radio tower....great, another point A to point B mission. There was no reason to take advantage of the things the game offered, like cover and vehicles. Halo was so cool because the vehicles had reason. Does anyone recall the final level and that balls out run for your life? That's what makes gimmicks like vehicles cool - using them in plausible situations.


The guns were basic - the M16 might as well have been the MP5 except for the difference in clip size...

Truth be told, the thing that bugged me most was the "I've done this before" feeling. It felt alot like Half-Life ripped and stuffed in a tropical setting - but with bad voice acting. Like I said, it just felt like Joe Shooter....I'd done it all before, and I had no interest in doing it again. I want some fresh new dynamics, like the physics system in Half-Life 2, or STALKER's stats-free roleplaying system. I need innovation. Far Cry just didn't have it.

 

[nitromullet]

I guess we just have a difference of opinon. I felt that if Halo was a pretty medocre shooter, only rivaled by Serious Sam. The only thing it had going for it (when I played it) was that it was on the Xbox and cooperative game was fun. Aside from that, the weapons were boring, the vehicles annoying to control, and the levels were simply doing the same thing over and over again. I mean, the exact same thing. They just threw a bunch of guys at you, and you gunned them down until they were gone, next level: same thing. I will admit the end was an interesting twist though.

 

[Insomniak]

I liked Halo for a few reasons that mainly involved good polish. The radio speak and coordination of Master Chief with the other forces was well done, and no one can really argue that the in game cinematics were about as well done as could be. Let's not forget Halo came out about 2 years ago - we just got our sh*tty port recently.

Halo wasn't new or overly fresh when it arrived either (although it was the first shooter to make what I would call extensive use of vehicles), but everything about it seemed polished and fleshed out, and there were a few new small things that I really liked (two weapon limit, the melee attack in close - esp. the melee attack. The FPS genre has been begging for that, and I think it should be on the checklist for any FPS from here on out.).

I don't own a copy of Halo - I played it on the roommates neutered compu...er, Xbox, but what I saw was well done. It wasn't as good as the gaming press said - they were just amazed that a decent shooter had finally been released on the console (as opposed to here on the PC, where we've been enjoying good shooter for roughly a decade). I can respect that Halo introduced a few new things even if it was still true to it's shooter roots. But I haven't seen anything comparably new in Far Cry that's caught my interest. I dunno....maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

I mean, nonlinear is good, but after Deus Ex, I still feel rather limited in my options in FC. Either shoot or sneak....pick one....

 

[ikickpigeons]

I like Farcry better cuz the AI was amazing and obviously the graphics are better, thats my two cents.

 

[Schadenfroh]

looked pretty, but i did not like the game itself, or at least the demo, but hell, i dont even like UT2004, i only can play masters of orion 2 and desertcombat

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Insomniak
Benchmark. Very nice engine, but the gameplay is old and tired.

 

[VIAN]

haven't played it yet, but will do in 2 weeks.

 

[zodder]

Absolutely awesome. Between the AI, the need for stealth at times instead of just blasting away, and the open world, I personally think it's the best FPS since HL.

 

[sep]

Single player is great. Multiplayer is okay. Yes, this game will stress your hardware?

 

[stardust]

People, play this game on REALISTIC mode and then comment on AI I'd say those bots were superhuman.. took me quite a bit of time to beat single levels and now I'm stuck in catacombs mission..where more than 23235234234 mutants run at you from all directions... in dark dark closed areas....

 

[Gurck]

Far Cry = most fun I've had since Half Life. FYI I don't much like multiplayer gaming. Single player games with fun gameplay and storylines are my thing.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I think the comment made about goign through the level on hard and not taking a single point of dmg is a bit of stretching the truth. I mean come on.... that is near impossible. Maybe on 1 or 2 levels i could see it but the way it was put made it seem like every level.

Id say that the best FPS games ever are in this order.

1.Doom series-Legendary
2.Half Life and Duke Nukem, Unreal series-Unbelievable changed the industry but not revolutionized.
3.Far Cry, Wolfenstein, Spear Of Destiny, Quake Series (lol remember that game good times good times- the excellent shooters who didn't revolutionize but did change the industry.
\/
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??. Duken Nukem {is taking} forever- Uh... yeah its just sorta play by ear sorta thing.

Far Cry is definately good and definately is an excellent shooter but lets be real here, it definately didn't revolutionize gaming like Doom or Half Life.

-Kevin

 

[1ManArmY]

It was an unexpected surprise game that made me forget about HL2 abd Doom III at least for a while. The games crytek engine is quite impresive and it pushes video cards to show what there made of.

 

[KevinH]

To whoever said the AI is dumb and shoots at rocks...wow. I don't know what version you were playing but the AI on the copy of far cry I have is probably the smartest AI in any fps to date.

Halo!? Halo!? To each his own I guess, but walking around in molasses isn't my idea of fun.

 

[ss284]

Originally posted by: nick1985
good graphics, crappy story.

so-so game. period.

Agreed.

Though I did enjoy the suspense created by walking around a dark laboratory with those huge headcrab things killing you in two hits even with full armor.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Guys just out of curiosity i have only played the demo. So it didn't have the patch running for it. Does the patch significantly improve performance and stuff on Nvidia hardware. Im running a 5900XT. But dont negate my post though lol... my cousin has it and i have played through some of it.

-Kevin

 

[otispunkmeyer]

havent really got in to this game........sure they did good with the graphics....but they did so much that it still doesnt look really........everythings to shiney n clean.....n plastic-y. n everyones goin on bout its SM 2 and SM 3 effects when most of the game still employs PS and VS 1.x it only uses PS2 for lights or sumthing.........but having said that i think its a great tech demo, things sure look good with the displacement maps and HDR

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: somekid617
the game is hard with everyone knowing ur there....i played the demo and easy and las soon as i got on the beach, about 10 people were shooting/nading me, i died really fast...I ONLY HAD A FRIGGIN PISTOL! how u supposed to take out 20 gusy with Ak,s Assult rifles, and nades with a blade and a pistol!!

Ehhhh in the demo you get a sniper and a rifle.......

Great game, great AI reminds me of Soldier of Fortune II, well spend money

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Guys just out of curiosity i have only played the demo. So it didn't have the patch running for it. Does the patch significantly improve performance and stuff on Nvidia hardware. Im running a 5900XT. But dont negate my post though lol... my cousin has it and i have played through some of it.

-Kevin

What reso/settings are you trying to play it with? This game is phenomenally demanding on hardware, a 5900 will do a nice job, but there isn't a card in existence that will run it in 16x12 with full aa/af and very high settings. You have to find a balance...

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well i was playing it at 1024x768 with everything maxed out. However... no matter what i did AA would not max out! I set it to high and 10secs after i go back to the game and go back to the menu its back to medium. Also there was one other setting i couldn't max out... but i can tremember what it was... it wouldn't go on very high it would jump back down to like medium or high.

BTW: My FPS were ~30 while doing this so it was generally smoot. Kinda jumped a bit when i jerked the mouse for something though.

-Kevin

 

[Gurck]

hrm... well I know firsthand that nvidia cards (at least, the last two generations) aren't the best at aa/af, but are you setting aa/af using the thingy in your system tray or in-game? IIRC the far cry demo doesn't like to save your settings. Try 12x10 with all settings on v.high, or maybe 16x12 if your monitor can do it - with no aa/af. IMO it looks fantastic in 10x7 (if a little jaggy) with everything on v.high and no aa/af... but then I can't expect much more from my card.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Lol my monitor is a 19" but ehhh its like 9yrs old. Well to say the least it is noisy... yes my monitor. more oftenthan not it will do a really loud high pitched whine for like 30secs. Then it goes away. it wont even run 1280x1024 a 85hz refresh in games.

So if i increase the resollution hopefully i can decrease the AA and AF quality and still retain the same IQ. Ill have to try that.

-Kevin

 

[Brickster]

Originally posted by: Cerb
...I'm not just getting tired of FPS games...the Battlefield games and Far Cry (demo anyway, didn't want to waste money) just aren't that fun.

Battlefield games NOT THAT FUN???!!! What in the bajeezus are YOU talkin' about?

Dude, those games have controlled every fiber of my being for the last 2 years!

 

[Curley]

Originally posted by: stardust
People, play this game on REALISTIC mode and then comment on AI I'd say those bots were superhuman.. took me quite a bit of time to beat single levels and now I'm stuck in catacombs mission..where more than 23235234234 mutants run at you from all directions... in dark dark closed areas....

There are night vision goggles to see in the dark areas. As a matter of fact you have to use them on some of the bots because they are invisible to the naked eye. The night vision is call cryvision. You also have flash lights. The knife/machetti is the best weapon to kill the mutants in close combat.

Originally posted by: somekid617
the game is hard with everyone knowing ur there....i played the demo and easy and las soon as i got on the beach, about 10 people were shooting/nading me, i died really fast...I ONLY HAD A FRIGGIN PISTOL! how u supposed to take out 20 gusy with Ak,s Assult rifles, and nades with a blade and a pistol!!

I don't know what you mean, do you know that in First Person Shooters you can pick up the weapons of the dead guys, i.e., the P90, M16 of the dead guys? Also this is not an arcade game where you just point and shoot. Did you read the story line and strategy required to beat the game? How about running under the warf all the way to the boat, take the boat and kill the 10 or so guys with a machine gun and (alternate fire) rocket launcher?

I guess it is not a First Person Shooter in the real sense of the the Genre because single player games are not so strainght forward as multiplayer in which you just run and shoot.

If Artificial intelligence is kicking your butt, then don't blame the gameplay. This is the first game that I have played that the actions taken by the bots are diferrent every time you load the same level.

The gamers that have played FPS since Commander Keen and review these games are much more knowledgeable as to what a good FPS is than you or I. They have probably been playing and reviewing this Genre for as long or longer than the age of some of the gamers in this thread.

But, in the end it all comes down to personal preference. Call of Duty, Halo, etc.. are all good games. FarCry is just an unexpected hit while waiting for HL2 and Doom3 which could be a disappointment after FarCry.