Far Cry is a game, apart from the quintessential Half-Life 2, used by PC gamers in an attempt to prove that the FPSs on the PC platform are better than on the Xbox. Unfortunately for those critics of the ‘box, Far Cry is soon to be released for our beloved console – with some added bells and whistles. I was fortunate enough to attend a recent advance playtest, of what is almost the full game, and it looks to be the last essential purchase of this generation.

Now that the PC has pretty much surpassed the Xbox, in terms of graphical ability, I was expecting Instincts to be missing a lot of the finesse shown in the presentation of the PC original. As a pleasant surprise, Ubisoft have managed to get as much detail as they could into the game, including high-resolution textures and water reflections. Individual models don’t look that great up close, but as most of the maps are dense with rainforest objects and buildings it seems to be a compromise made for performance. The game shows that the Xbox does have problems dealing with such large areas, which are free for you to explore; but as this game was developed for machines far surpassing the Xbox, the console has done rather well.

There are also still a couple of graphical glitches at this stage, most notably to do with clipping. As the areas that you will play in are quite literally littered with rocks, trees and other extraneous objects you’ll find yourself getting stuck every so often – which can really hamper your chances of survival in the midst of a firefight. There also wasn’t much in the way of particle effects during explosions, at least not to the extent that you’d expect from a FPS.

Far Cry Instincts isn’t all about the visuals however, in fact it’s definitely the gameplay that is the star of the show here. The single player mode offers a dark storyline based around the modification of human genetics to unleash the feral instincts within. Starting with Jack Carver, the protagonist voiced by Stephen Dorff, stranded on the Jacutan Archipelago, fighting for survival, to him becoming the predator – hunting his enemies with enhanced abilities. These enhanced, or ‘feral’ abilities are what’s new in the ‘Instincts’ version of Far Cry, and have changed the game for the better. There are four main abilities, Regeneration, Run, Sight and Strength. Regeneration, rather obviously, allows you to regain your health, Run blurs your surroundings as your sprint on all fours, Sight shows scent trails from your enemies and gives you a thermal vision at nights and Strength allows you to kill with a single uppercut and knock down metal doors. These aren’t infinitely available however, with each the use of each ability being detrimental to your Adrenaline. Adrenaline is gained by either stalking your enemies or by taking bullet hits – so both stealthy and gung-ho players are catered for. This swing from being the hunted to the hunter, makes the single player enjoyable to play and is an excellent companion to the multiplayer modes.

Far Cry Insticts Xbox Screenshot

There are, naturally, some gripes that I have with the game and although technical, they are still vital to the complete success of the game. The first is the look sensitivity, new in the latest build was the ability to set this to your preference. The game does seem to be too twitchy for many people however, with players spraying gunfire all over the shop, forcing settings of two or one – which can be sluggish when trying to turn quickly. There are also glitches with respect to damage detection, especially with melee attacks. Bullets will quite often fly past your head and torso, but somehow score a hit – with it being possible to get a headshot without the reticule square on the head (and that’s with a pistol). There also seems to be a delay from when you get hit by a melee attack, to whether you die or not. This can get incredibly annoying when you’ve been slashed by a knife, it looks like you’re okay and then you suddenly drop down dead. Hopefully these will be sorted out by the time the game is released however.

As with many FPSs, Far Cry: Instincts places a the majority of it’s strengths in multiplayer. This isn’t really due to anything that Instincts does particularly well, but the game just plays in such a refreshing way compared to everything else on Xbox. Weapons seem to be reasonably well balanced, and unless you’re packing a rocket launcher you’re unlikely to dominate with any one weapon for long. There are also a really quirky selection of vehicles, including a quad bikes, jet-skis and even hang gliders – which always make for some slightly comical getaways. There were four modes available to play so far, Chaos (a.k.a deathmatch), Team Chaos, the unfortunately named Steal the Sample and Predator: the cream of the crop. Steal the Sample takes a slightly more flexible form of capture the flag, where each team is trying to steal the other team’s sample. Holding the sample doesn’t hamper your abilities however, meaning that you can shoot and drive to get back to the base, which makes it a lot harder for campers to defend. In a rather interesting twist, you can also throw the sample to your teammates, meaning that you can snatch the sample and throw it to your mate in the humvee for a hasty retreat.

Far Cry Insticts Xbox Screenshot

The best mode, and the mode that’s going to keep everyone on Live until the 360 is released has got to be the Predator mode. The basic premise is that you have a team of mercenaries, who’s mission is to get to the other side of the map and power up a sonic alarm, by standing near it for 40 seconds. Tantamount to their plans however are the predators, usually numbering one or two, who must hunt down the mercenaries and are armed with P90s and most of the feral abilities. The predators have infinite lives, while the mercs have only one and can only be resurrected if a predator is fragged. This makes for some excellent gameplay, when the team of mercs can seem down and out and a few of them get resurrected, bringing the team back into the game.

Showing their dedication to multiplayer and Xbox Live, Ubisoft have included what is quite possibly the best map editor I’ve ever seen – especially on Xbox. Rather than in most games that attempt to try this, the Far Cry editor uses a brush system of applying terrain allowing relief from underwater to literally hundreds of metres above sea level. You can also add all the spawn points, flag/sample points, place vehicles, weapons, hundreds of greenery and building objects. What makes it great however is the ability to just jump into the map whenever you like by pressing back, allowing you to test for any bugs so, so easily. These can be shared over Live and played offline too, and at only 500kb on average you won’t be waiting hours to play your buddy’s new map.

Game Media - Screenshots

Far Cry Instincts Xbox Screenshot

Far Cry Instincts Xbox Screenshot

Far Cry Instincts Xbox Screenshot

Game Info and Resources

XBS Commentary - Our Thoughts

After some initial dislikes I formed about Far Cry: Instincts, mainly due to some twitchy controls and dodgy shot detection, I found that I’ve come to almost love the game after a day’s play. The Predator mode definitely had a part to play in this, especially after playing it for two hours straight and also the pure flexibility given to the player in Capture the Sample. The game had almost gone gold when I got the chance to play it, and as it is now I’ve got to recommend it as the last vital purchase for the aging Xbox.

Written by XBS Writer Ali Owen.

Filed under: Previews

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