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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Far Cry (and Far Cry: Instincts)

  
 
All Acting Regiment
19:36 / 24.11.05
So, Far Cry- a next generation first-person shooter that actually lives up to that name. I've been playing the PC version, has anyone tried the Xbox one?

You're in the jungle, you've lost your friend and horribly intelligent enemies are there- with guns.

You can only carry four of a possible six weapons, all of which take different ammunition types, so you have to pick and choose. You find a sniper rifle- hmm, it might come in useful shortly- should I throw away my missile launcher?

Speaking of sniper rifles, this game lets you aim properly. A right click either zooms you in a little, or if you're using some better gear, gives you a head up display with trackers and a cross hair. The sniper rifle being a particularly well implemented piece of kit in this respect.

You get to buzz around this not-so-paradisical island on buggies, jeeps, hang-gliders and boats and it's realistic there too- you can run people over in a jeep, for example, but if they shoot you in the fuel tank or if you head off road you'll be in a spot of bother.

I'll give some examples of particularly entertaining killings from the first level (so not much, but still a bit *SPOILERISHHHHH!!!!!*) and then let you join in the discussion.

A particularly memorable bit was fairly near the start. There was a small camp I had to get through, and between me and it was a girder tower full of nasties who could easily have picked me off, as well as a second tower off to one side. So I had to scurry east through dense foliage, scramble up that tower, distract the occupant with a stone then quickly kill him, and then get a few shots in from up there.

Of course, once they'd seen one of their mates step toward the tower and get killed, the enemies weren't having any of it. So I had to distract them with thrown rocks and pick them off as they ran that direction. There was no easy pattern, though.

A second good bit was when I'd been working my way up through a beached WW2 Japanese aircraft carrier. I had to get to the top deck to get this little dinghy to escape- I could see it chained up far above me form outside.

Thing was, they were swarming around the top deck and everytime I poked my head up it got shot off. And then a helicopter swooped in. How did I deal with this?

By going non-linear, that's how! Fuck yeah! Shimmied down to the lower deck, threw a rock, the chopper followed me, I darted between funnels and collumns popping off little bursts of fire until I brought it down in flames.

But even that still left nasty odds above decks. So I jumped ship, and went round the side, wondering what to do. I idly aimed and shot at the chains holding the dinghy above me- and snap, they broke! Real physics- the boat fell down into the water and I hopped in.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
22:09 / 24.11.05
I have yet to play Half-Life 2, but that said, Far Cry is the best FPS I've ever played. Physics? Great. AI? Fucking phenomenal (F.E.A.R. is the only game I've played since which made me think "fucking hell! These bastards are as clever as the merc in Far Cry!") Graphics? Utterly, utterly gorgeous. My only criticism of it, really, is that about a third of the way through you get a whole bunch of levels in bunkers and tunnels. They're great, but, y'know, bunkers and tunnels aren't that impressive, when you know you've got a graphics engine working overtime to give you such glorious sun-drenched islands. (Though when you come out of the bunkers into the middle of an enormous three-way battle, with the wide open spaces but AT NIGHT, with the rockets' red glare lighting up the sky like Guy Fawkes'... it's wonderful).

More later, when I've thought of it, but that's my opinion of the game.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
00:14 / 25.11.05
Heh. I've had what could charitably be called 'unfortunate' experiences with the Xbox game, which have been enough to put me off playing it ever again and which I've moaned about at length to other people.

The first proper session of play I put into it, I was confronted by bugs at every corner. An invicible enemy who I eventually gave up trying to kill and just ran over in a quad bike, which caused him to end up standing on its windshield for the rest of the time I was driving it around, repeatedly trotting out the one same vocal sample. A bulding that I managed to get into by driving said quad bike into one of its walls, which then glitched out of existence. An automatic save point that kicked in just as I was falling to my doom, making the save file worthless and forcing me to start the entire lefvel over again.

Even when it wasn't throwing its lack of adequate testing in my face, I still wasn't getting a huge amount of enjoyment from it. There's a level in Halo 2 that you can complete simply by jumping into a vehicle and racing through it to the end, without ever having to pause for breath, and what I played of Instincts was full of that kind of thing.

They just seemed to have fucked up all of the things that owners of the PC game say made that version so good. The AI was borked - enemies running around like headless chickens, not noticing you walking right in front of them or plugging their buddies, or getting stuck in certain response states or areas of scenery. The freedom was ripped straight out - lush, freeform jungle replaced by thin corridors with green walls that you were forbidden from straying from.

Another specific example of a really shit bit of game design is when you first get your hands on the sniper rifle. You're on a high ledge and have to use it to protect an ally, below and in front of you, while she tries to make her way to safety by picking off the bad guys chasing her. After a few frustrating failed attempts, I decided to fuck it off and jump into the water dorectly below me, then run up to the baddies and take them on face-to-face. Only, I wasn't allowed to - as soon as I jumped from the ledge, her health bar was sucked dry, killing her and forcing me to reload my previous save. It was the developers saying, no, you're not allowed to think for yourself - try to find a solution to a situation other than the one that we've spelled out for you and we'll ensure that you're rewarded with the Game Over screen. That's a design decision that's the exact opposite of what we should be seeing in 2005. Breathtakingly stupid.

The one thing about Instincts that I did think was worthwhile was the level design tool they packaged with it. I spent a bit of time with that, building islands with peaks and troughs, placing a hang glider right at the top and then leaping off, snaking my way to the bottom. Recalled some of the best bits in Pilotwings 64. But then I realised that it made more sense just to play Pilotwings 64.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
10:55 / 25.11.05
Again, I'm glad I have a PC.

What do people think of the look and feel of the game? the mercenaries voices/appearances etc.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
11:27 / 25.11.05
I didn't have any buggy experiences with Instincts... strange. I thought it was a very different game, but I'd say that was a good thing. Instead of scaling down the original to fit the limitations of the Xbox, they created another game that, to me, played to its strengths. Especially when you get your hybrid powers later in the game. It was much more of a slam-bang action thing, and far more linear than the more cerebral Far Cry, but to its credit it didn't try to ape that, otherwise it would almost certainly have failed.

Although yes, the PC version was better, but I wouldn't write off Instincts in a million years.

The voice acting on Instincts is a bit better, too, though for me the ropy mercenary shouting was one of the highlights of FC. "I'm gonna shoot you in the face!!!" etc.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
12:09 / 25.11.05
Yeah, it looks like most people haven't encountered the same sort of bugs in Instincts that I did. I think I might have let the constrained freedom go if I hadn't had those problems right from the off.

It just seemed to me that the tropical island setting was totally wasted. There were clearly-marked brown footpaths that you were allowed to walk down, and that was it.
 
 
JohnnyDark
20:52 / 28.11.05
Yeah, FC is a beautiful-looking game which plays great and was really well put together - I think it was underrated at release given that it came out just when everyone was waiting on Doom3 and HL2. I've been known to stick it on just because the island is so sunny and pleasant... It has to be said that the story, despite all the spectacular Dr Moreau possibilities, is pretty pish.

Although I've really enjoyed it, it has now reached a point that most games seem to arrive at for me: let's stick in an insanely difficult level to *really* challenge the 14 year-olds out there who play games 8 hours a day. For my leisurely pace of game playing (I've been working thru FC for over a year - a month on, 2 months off, month on etc) I just never get good enough for this shit.

SPOILER






I've basically come out at that huge (communications?) building which is full of, get this, invisible, virtually indestructible critters. And also, they scare the shit out of me. Any tips?
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
15:02 / 01.12.05
I can't remember, exactly... I do remember it being bloody difficult, though.

(Slightly off-topic- if you're impressed by the AI in Far Cry, play F.E.A.R.! The motherfuckers dive through windows, throw furniture around to create cover... even refuse orders sometimes if they think they're gonna get killed- "Flank him!" "NO FUCKING WAY!!!" All on the fly. Fuckers.)
 
 
All Acting Regiment
15:54 / 01.12.05
I think you have to wait for them to start shooting you before they become visible. I find a single shotgun blast is enough to off one.

Me like the shotgun, by the way. It's kind of your best friend inside buildings. That and grenades.

Whenever I'm indoors I always wait at the corner of corridors and peep round. Always. That way you at least get an idea of what's coming. It's a great feature.

I'm still stuck on FUCK YEAH, SPOILERS FROM NOW ON! Crow the helicopter boss, so I've restarted the game, and what I'm really impressed by is that this time I've been able to do things completely differently- whole sections have played out faster or slower, or harder or easier, or quieter or louder, just because of different paths you can take.

As an example of this, I recently actually did the whole over-deck panic run of death on the aircraft carrier- it was amazing- whereas before I hid and sneaked.

When it gets to the sort of Ewok-village bit with the bunker and the Trigens (Krygens? meh) leaping through the trees and the walkway overhead, I'm just going to bomb round it in a jeep, whereas before I worked my way slowly and sniped. It was horrible and tense. Hit and run from now on, methinks.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
15:56 / 01.12.05
I've basically come out at that huge (communications?) building which is full of, get this, invisible, virtually indestructible critters. And also, they scare the shit out of me. Any tips?

Hmm...is that the bit where you're outside and there's a sort of enclosed bay, a fork lift truck and a helicopter, with a fatboy on the opposite shore, and a bunker with snipers in it on the road to your left?
 
 
All Acting Regiment
18:09 / 03.12.05
In the steam bit, how do yuo get over that one steaming panel to the doors beyond? Jump? Grr. I keep getting fried.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
21:20 / 03.12.05
It was ok, I found a switch.

This thread is starting to look like a strange stream of conciousness rant.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
15:51 / 06.12.05
I'm playing roughly ten games at the same time so I'm not sure how far along I am, but I'm headed towards the comm building, lots of screaming/exploding dudes running at me.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
19:38 / 06.12.05
Is that in a bombed out fortress, Mister Six? It's a tough section.
 
 
Mister Six, whom all the girls
01:31 / 07.12.05
Uhmmm... I just arrived in a jungle, it's dark and I got the ability to feral smell... which means I can now smell what my dog smells... pizza all over my clothes.

I'm such a slob.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
08:19 / 07.12.05
Also, you're playing Instincts, and I was thinking of the original one. So, uh.
 
 
JohnnyDark
17:51 / 17.12.05
Spoilers

Legba - sorry, missed yer response. Its the big, mostly-deserted Tower that you get to after doing some hang-gliding and then passing a little armed tower. You'd remember it as when-the-fuckers-first-go-invisible. Oh and its the original FC, not Instincts or whatever its called (is this worth a purchase BTW?). I suppose I'll just battle on using night-goggles but they scare the shit out of me when they jump out... And the bastards need about 3 shotgun blasts at whites-of-their-eyes range

As for the snipe carefully vs. death run thing - this is a dichotomy you can apply to most games I suppose. I find I tend to sneak/snipe quite a lot but hit certain parts where I death-run it thinking "I'll come back and do this without wasting every friggin bit of ammo I've got"... However,once I'm through and save-gamed I think "Fuck that - ever onward.." Ultimately, it's the scenery and the getting to the next bit that keeps me playing games.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
19:42 / 17.12.05
Soldier on, then, soldier on. Good luck and use the night vision goggles well.

I want to know if Stoatie's killed Crow yet.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
21:43 / 17.12.05
I haven't reinstalled it yet, tbh... I keep getting distracted by F.E.A.R. But I'm near the end of that now, I think.
 
 
Janean Patience
08:40 / 04.10.06
I'm surprisingly underwhelmed by Far Cry: Instincts. As a big FPS fan I was looking forward to it, and the PC original had been recommended to me. The setting is wonderful, atmospheric and pretty. It's just that the gameplay is rather irrelevant.

I tried stealthing it at first, armed only with a pistol, and kept getting caught and shot while I was lying on my belly. Occasionally I'd get under a hut and kill the occupant, then have to take out his mates in traditional run-gun mode. I decided to take a more full-on approach and found it pretty easy, losing health fast but finding plenty of medical packs. I've been in various vehicles, I've had a sniper rifle and rocket launcher, I've been shot full of lizard juice. Maybe a quarter into the game, I'm still encountering rudimentary camps full of men armed with submachine guns and taking them out with little effort.

None of it seems satisfying. Oh, the occasional bit; setting a swathe of branch traps and forcing a patrol into them, sniping and sneaking my way around one of those above-water-on-stilts villages. Mostly, though, I've felt that I've not done any area particularly well but still left kind of unscathed. When I try clever stuff it's unrewarding. A stealth kill with my new feral abilities (at present just a powerful melee attack, very useful when everyone's armed) still alerts all the dead man's friends. If I run-and-gun it everyone heads obligingly out of cover and comes to get killed. There's never much of a challenge, and there's no joy in it. And I'm sick to death of huts. For a while there it looked like the settings were going to get more challenging. There was a two-storey building with windows. But no, we're back to huts and tents and sandbagged gun emplacements nobody bothers to use.

Currently I'm on the river, and I've just gone past a load of burning boats which suggests there are monsters on the island attacking Crowe's forces. Hope they enjoy it more than I have. Is there more variety coming? Is there any point carrying on, or will I still be killing army blokes with submachine guns on the final level?
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
12:42 / 04.10.06
I enjoyed Instincts, but it's best to put the original out of your mind- it's a very different game. The traps are a lot of fun, and some of the more ludicrous monsters (the exploding zombies, for example) are quite enjoyable. The two-player's a laugh, too.

What's the 360 one like?
 
 
Janean Patience
20:38 / 04.10.06
The music, too. I hate the music. Arrive at a new area, decide I'll sneak it a bit, and then a pumping and annoyingly repetitive guitar soundtrack kicks in which is completely innappropriate given that I'm trying to be silent and unnoticed. And that guitar doesn't shut up, not even when everyone's dead and I'm wandering around scooping up health and armour, making me feel like a dick who's put nothing but Metallica on his iPod.

That said, night has inexplicably fallen in the game, there are some new bad guys and it seems to be improving slightly. I've got a shotgun at least.
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
00:38 / 05.10.06
Crysis looks nice tho, eh?
 
 
The Strobe
08:45 / 05.10.06
360 version: rubbishy port with crappy graphics.

XBox one: doesn't get much better. I mean, it's all about the environment - there's an awesome bit in a huge valley, that lasts ages, and you can clamber down it (which takes yonks) or hang-glide down it, and that's awesome. But there aren't many enemy types - guys with new sorts of guns, mainly. There is ANOTHER KIND OF ENEMY but we can't talk about that without spoiler tags.

It's quite fun, but not much more. Some great moments, but yeah, I agree on the stupid soundtrack. Vehicle bits are fun, and stealth (bar the odd trap) completely overrated.
 
 
Janean Patience
07:58 / 26.10.06
Fuck Far Cry. Or more accurately, fuck Far Cry Instincts.

Paleface's advice actually helped with the game for a while. I stopped expecting so much from it and zipped through the rainforest and the mines without trying to be stealthy or clever. Left it for a bit and returned to it yesterday, at the top of the aforementioned valley. Something had gone wrong; every time I changed to my sniper rifle or fired it there was a nasty burst of white noise.

Still, I don't think I've ever played a game in as inviting an environment as that valley. Beautiful, lush, tropical, the little structures built by the enemy visible from the other side, crashed helicopter on the hillside. I got through it easy enough. Then more crackly interference began on the soundtrack. Something had gone wrong where there should have been music. I carried on. It got worse. At this point I was running through packs of bad guys just to get to a bit where the white noise stopped.

Got to SPOILER! a bit where I let some mutated pig thing out of a cage, and it killed me a couple of times. It would clearly take time and trouble to get past this bastard. The white noise was constant. And that's where my patience abruptly ran out; for me to work to play a game I was no longer enjoying, that had beautiful environments and graphics but no real playability, that conspicuously failed to live up to its potential and disappointed with every new level... it was too much.

As a final expression my contempt for the game I logged onto the map editor and created an island in the shape of an enormous cock and balls.
 
  
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