I recently picked up a new graphics card from Sam's. While the card hasn't impressed me that much, the pack-in game, Far Cry, was certainly a good investment. In a market saturated with FPS and various forms of Half-Life and Doom, it's nice to find a game willing to borrow the best and innovate on the rest. While I wouldn't go so far as to call this game "original," it at least improves upon a few conventions that always bothered me in other FPSs.

Probably the best part of Far Cry is its nice combination of stealth and speed. There are very few situations where the player can't use strategy to get the edge in a battle. The player can usually decide which enemies are worth engaging and which are better to just slip past. There is also significant weapons and ammo management--is it worth a sniper rifle bullet to take out that grunt? Also, for much of the game, you are actually engaging two mutual enemies, which helps to take the heat off and lends itself to more dynamic strategies. In short, this is an FPS that actually encourages thought.

Unfortunately, there are a few battles where this isn't true--which inflates the game's difficulty significantly. There are at least two battles that are almost impossible and will require dozens and dozens of replays to get through. What it amounts to is memorizing the locations of pre-placed enemies, then zooming in and shooting them like a row of ducks before anyone has a chance to kill you. If you're even a few seconds off, you will die almost instantly. Of course, such spots totally shatter any suspension of disbelief and force the player into a strictly "arcade" mode. For my part, I could've done without these "timed precision drills," but the rest of the game makes up for it.

By far the strongest aspect of Far Cry is its game world. Unlike most FPSs, this one takes place mostly outside. Enemies are usually clustered together nicely, and I felt compelled to explore areas thoroughly and replay battles from different vantage points. There are also several vehicles available to help you explore these vast areas, including two boats for river travel. In short, it's almost like taking a really fun "roughing it" kind of tropical vacation. Compared to a claustrophobic game like Doom 3, Far Cry is a very welcome change.

In other aspects, Far Cry is more like its cousins. There's nothing really special here about the weapons or accessories. Likewise, the story seems pieced together from Quake, Doom, and Half-Life. The NPCs and enemies are flat, though it is possible at times to hear snatches of conversation that is somewhat entertaining (if not exactly imaginative). I always wonder--do mercenaries and soldiers ever talk about anything non-battle related? I thought FEAR added realism by having the NPCs have more realistic conversations.

In short, Far Cry isn't great, but it's good.

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