Far Cry Hands-On

Enemies will respond to noise if you misstep while sneaking. Almost immediately, they will call for backup if they are badly wounded or if you thin their numbers to a degree that they no longer overwhelm you. On a level with many small islands scattered about and boats patrolling the harbor, our hero engaged 4 mercs. He brought 2 of them down - one merc ran to the right while laying down covering fire so his partner could make a hasty retreat. As his buddy ran away, he shot a bright white flare into the sky. Mowing both the mercs down, we observed boats in the harbor converging on our little island. We had to high tail it inside the Quonset hut to get cover from their heavy machine guns mounted on the prow of the boats. Pinned down and helpless, our hero was eventually blown away. Also, the enemy will make use of heavier firepower lying around the map - they can mount machine gun nests or use vehicles to gain quick advantage in combat (i.e. speed of firepower). Judging from the behavior of enemies in this build, it's safe to say that the game needs a bit more tweaking. For example, sometimes the AI gets tied up on items on the map... err... they'll probably fix that one.

The maps are designed extremely well. As we've emphasized before, all areas are setup in a way that allows players to take multiple paths towards their goal. In the first mission I kept getting killed using the standard approach so I opted for another side of the island to land on, then crept up and tried to tackle the enemies from their flank. This seemed to work for me until I realized I had alerted some mercs on another island on my way in and they came up behind me and put a bullet into my skull. I had to reload and try to refine my plan yet again.

The game became more interesting as we progressed. Another impressive level, entitled "Carrier," showcased an excellent way of using the environment to your advantage in situation when you are overrun by enemies. Huddled in a rather nasty situation and single-handed, your character is required to ward off baddies, while reinforcements are hurrying across bridges in his direction. Without any difficulties, you shoot at the dangling ropes, thereby putting the bridges out of commission. Far Cry allows players to employ different kinds of combat tactics, by using the environment. This particular maneuver allows for a breathing space. Just run quickly towards the nearest machine gun, mount it, and let her rip! The mercs won't know what hit 'em.

Another interesting map is called "Research." Entering the research facility, we discerned a wide range of enemy sentries completely different from those in the demo. There players will encounter mean-looking scientists, evil workers, core engineers, and five different types of mutant-like creatures that are quicker and a lot smarter than the average mercenary you meet on the coastline. These dudes differ in size and pack various types of weapons. Of course, they'll be using other means of attack, but we'd rather you found such details out for yourselves when the final version surfaces.

The game is very stingy with health kits and when you do find one, it only heals about 1/5th to 1/4th of your health. This wasn't a bother. It made the game more enjoyable because it forces you to think more about your tactics rather than just run and gun. Although this is an incomplete version of the game, we were still troubled with a few facts. At present, the game uses a checkpoint save system. Basically, you have to reach a certain point on the map and then your game is saved (like in the public demo). If you die, you have to restart from one of these save points. As we have seen in the past, this system can be quite frustrating. Many times I would almost be to the next check point when I was taken out. That meant all the progress I had made was gone and I had to redo the entire sections. A tad frustrating, I'd say. Although it does add a sense of urgency and danger to the mission you are in, it also brings the fun to a crashing halt when you realize you have to do everything again and again til you get it right.

Weapons run the gamut from a large knife to silenced MP5s, sniper rifles with high powered scopes and rocket launchers. Since you can only carry 4 weapons at a time, you are forced to make difficult choices at times. Most weapons have an alternate fire mode, as do most vehicles that have mounted weapons. Alternate fire can include grenades, missiles, or a reduction in the number of rounds fired when the trigger is depressed. Every weapon can be sighted down the barrel to help improve the aim.

At this point we were more than thrilled with the game. Still, there are few issues we'd like to see removed before Far Cry is exposed to the hungry masses: slight improvements in the AI and a change to the save system. Well, that's about it really. In spite of these potential mishaps, Far Cry is an immensely fun first-person shooter even at this stage of its development cycle. With Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 out of the way, Far Cry has a fair shot of gaining a prefect headstart before these two giants begin mowing down the competition.