Far Cry (video game)

Far Cry
Developer(s)	Crytek
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Director(s)	Cevat Yerli
Programmer(s)	Cevat Yerli Marco Corbetta
Artist(s)	Michael Khaimzon Raymond Leung David March
Writer(s)	Alexis Nolent
Composer(s)	Thomas Baertschi
Series	Far Cry
Engine	CryEngine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows NA: March 23, 2004 EU: March 26, 2004 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (Far Cry Classic) INT: February 11, 2014 EU: February 12, 2014
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Far Cry is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on March 23, 2004. It is the first installment in the Far Cry series, followed by 2008's Far Cry 2.

Set on a mysterious tropical archipelago, Far Cry follows ex-special forces soldier Jack Carver as he searches for a journalist he was escorting after she went missing when their boat was destroyed by mercenaries. The game is played from a first-person view and allows the player to use various weapons and tools as well as take advantage of their environments.

Upon release, Far Cry was critically acclaimed, with praise directed towards the game's visuals, gameplay, and freedom. The game was also a commercial success, selling over 730,000 units within four months of release.^[1] The success of Far Cry led to several stand-alone sequels developed by Ubisoft, as well as a remake for the Xbox and Xbox 360, Far Cry Instincts.

Gameplay

The tropical rain forest provides cover and concealment, of which the player and enemies can take advantage. Enemies react dynamically to the player's tactics and actions. If a lone mercenary spots a player, he occasionally runs for help, signaling reinforcements through use of flareguns. Enemies will work together to outmaneuver, outflank, surround, and provide suppressive fire, providing them a tactical advantage over the player, who, in turn, is able to spot and mark enemies on his minimap through use of special binoculars, which also grant the player the ability to listen to enemy conversations from afar, merely by pointing the binoculars in the direction of the enemies. Later in the gameplay, use of thermo binoculars can be used to locate the heat signatures of enemies, that would be otherwise concealed by foliage or darkness.

The environment includes land, water, indoor and outdoor structures, all during various times of the day. The player has the ability to jump, run, crouch and lie down, and look in just about every direction.

Sound plays an important part in the overall gameplay. For example, the general location of enemies can often be identified by hearing their footsteps or conversations.

Throughout the game, the player encounters a variety of weapons from which to choose, including automatic weapons and grenades.

Map features

The open maps allow the player to complete their objectives in several different manners. When outdoors, the player is usually presented with a fairly simple possible route to his objective, but this does not necessarily have to be used. The jungle of the maps tends to sprawl out in all directions, allowing players to achieve different angles for assaults, or even completely circumvent enemies (given enough time to manoeuvre). However, during the indoor sections of the game, level design tends to lose this attribute in favour of a more traditional linear gameplay.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer featured three different modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and 'Assault' - An attack/defend mode where one team must guard three bases and the other must capture them. Ubisoft closed the online servers in October 2015.^[2]

Synopsis

Setting

The game's story follows an ex special forces soldier stranded on a mysterious archipelago. He is searching for a journalist he was escorting after she went missing when their boat was destroyed by mercenaries. The game includes thematic elements relating to the dangers of weaponizing genetic engineering and the genocide of local islanders as can be seen by the deformed creatures created by a mad scientist named Krieger.

The terrain in Far Cry varies greatly. Set on a South Pacific archipelago, the landscape includes beaches, dense rain forests, towering canyons, mines, swamps, and even volcanic forests. Many of the interiors range from simple beach huts and army camps to elaborate complexes, an underground temple, and ultra-modern research labs. Several of these mazes use the remains of Japanese WWII-era fortifications and bunkers.

Plot

Jack Carver has left his mysterious and bitter past behind him and dropped out of society to run a boat-charter business in the South Pacific. He is hired by a woman named Val Cortez to take her secretly to an uncharted island in Micronesia. After Val takes off on her own with a jet ski, Jack's boat is blown apart by a rocket. With the help of a man named Doyle, Jack travels across the various islands, battling mysterious mercenaries in search for Val. Through encounters with Trigens (genetically altered beasts) and information from Doyle, Jack soon discovers that the island is part of an experiment involving genetic modification, funded by the genetic company Krieger Corp. and led by its CEO, Dr Krieger.

As the game progresses, it becomes clear that the Trigens, who are running loose, are becoming too large a problem for the mercenaries to handle, and that the experiments are not limited to just primate mutations, but moved on to mutating mercenaries. When Jack finally catches up with Val, she is being taken to another area by a helicopter, stopped by Jack. After swimming to shore, Val reveals that she is an undercover CIA agent and is investigating Krieger’s operations.

After further exploration, Jack must again search for and rescue Val while the human Trigens have escaped and have begun a revolt against the mercenaries on the island. After rescuing Val, they split up again and reunite when Jack has killed the mercenary commander, Crowe. Information Crowe had with him indicates Krieger has a tactical nuke on the island, that he intended to use as a last resort in covering his tracks, should his projects be investigated.

After the Department of Defense has supposedly analyzed the situation, Jack and Val steal the nuclear weapon, despite Jack's protests. Before entering the factory, Doyle warns that the mutagen might infect them when the blast goes off, and advises them to take a mutagen-resistant serum before arming the nuke. Inside the factory, they do so and arm the nuke, which detonates directly behind Jack and Val as they exit the factory, leaving them unconscious.

While Jack and Val are unconscious, Krieger captures them before leaving to his main base in helicopter. Jack, kicked off the helicopter, has to fight through the Trigen-infested area to rescue Val and escape the islands with his life. Upon reaching a mercenary weapons cache, Jack notices his arm is turning green. Doyle responds that the mutagen concentration on the air might be too strong for the antidote, but Krieger is working on a cure in a laboratory nearby. Jack is thus directed to find Krieger, who injected himself with the mutagen but is ultimately defeated.

In his last breath, Krieger reveals that there is no cure for the mutagen. Doyle reveals the ‘antidote’ they took earlier was the very mutagen they were trying to protect themselves from and reveals that he plans to sell the mutagen formula on the black market before fleeing. After battling through a horde of Trigens, Jack catches up with Doyle and kills him. Jack then escapes just before the volcano, in which Krieger's main offices were located, erupts and both he and Val are cured from the mutagen and manage to sail off on a boat.

Development

Crytek developed a new game engine called CryEngine for Far Cry. Reportedly, the game was born out of a technology demo called X-Isle: Dinosaur Island made by Crytek to showcase the capabilities of the Nvidia GeForce 3. The game features relatively long view or draw distance, similar to Operation Flashpoint, but has a more advanced rendering system for vegetation. All of the level territory is accessible to the player without loading pauses. The game engine features seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor areas.

The release of the 1.3 patch saw the introduction of high-dynamic-range rendering in the CryEngine.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PC) 89.38%[3] (X360) 50.00%[4] (PS3) 45.00%[5] Metacritic (PC) 89/100[6] (X360) 58/100[7] Review scores Publication Score Edge 8/10[8] Eurogamer 8/10[9] Game Informer 9.25/10[10] GamePro [11] Game Revolution B+[12] GameSpot 9.2/10[13] GameSpy [14] GameZone 9.6/10[15] IGN 9.2/10[16] OXM 5/10[17] PC Gamer (US) 95%[18]

Far Cry received positive reviews from critics with PC version receiving significantly more praise than its console counterparts. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 89.38% and 89/100,^[3][6] the Xbox 360 version 50.00% and 58/100^[4][7] and the PlayStation 3 version 45.00%.^[5]

Awards

Far Cry received multiple awards in the German Developer Awards 2004:^[19]

Year	Place	Category
2004	1st	Best graphics
		Best level and game design
		Best full-priced game
	3rd	Best cutscenes
		Best story/lore

Sequels

On September 1, 2007, Ubisoft released a single player-only version of the game as ad-supported freeware on FilePlanet.^[20] According to Ubisoft, the offer is no longer available.

On April 8, 2004, Ubisoft announced Far Cry Instincts for the Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2 systems. Far Cry Instincts is not a direct port of the original, being designed specifically for consoles. The game uses a similar premise as the original PC version and same game engine, but by comparison, Instincts is less open-ended and more linear, due to the console's reduced processing power which prevents the full rendering of the PC version's vast islands and landscape. However, Instincts added new multiplayer modes, weapons, dual wielding and feral abilities, which is also added to the storyline. The PlayStation 2 and GameCube ports were later canceled. Far Cry Instincts was exclusive to the Xbox and was released to acclaim in North America on September 27, 2005.

On March 28, 2006, Ubisoft released a sequel, Far Cry Instincts: Evolution for the Xbox, which was met with less enthusiasm than the first versions of Far Cry. On the same day, for the Xbox 360, Far Cry Instincts: Predator was released, which essentially contains both Instincts and Evolution and can run in 720p or 1080i high-definition. Evolution includes a new single-player campaign, although it is considerably shorter than the campaign found in the original Far Cry Instincts. The storyline focuses on Jack Carver's work for a woman named Kade, which results in him being hunted by local governments due to a frame-up during a botched arms deal. Jack again meets up with Doyle, who is practicing damage control, and eventually must battle a native warrior named Semeru who possesses the same "feral abilities" as Jack.

A game based on the franchise was released as part of Ubisoft's launch lineup for the Wii (Far Cry Vengeance). In the Wii version, the Wii Remote is used for many of the tasks assigned to buttons in previous iterations of the game, including driving vehicles, shooting, and running.

On June 10, 2013, Ubisoft announced Far Cry Classic would come to XBLA as part of Microsoft's 2013 Summer Arcade releases.^[21] The game was delayed to February 12, 2014. Far Cry Classic is an HD remake for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is available as a standalone and part of a compilation called Far Cry: The Wild Expedition.^[22]

Sequels

In 2008, Far Cry 2 was released by Ubisoft, although it was not developed by Crytek, but by Ubisoft's Montreal studio.^[23] On June 6, 2011, Far Cry 3 was announced by Ubisoft at E3 2011 in Los Angeles, California. A demo of the game was also shown. A trailer was released on February 15, 2012, announcing a release date of September 7, 2012. The game was released on December 4, 2012. Far Cry 4 is an open world first-person shooter video game developed mainly by Ubisoft Montreal in conjunction with Ubisoft Red Storm, Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Kiev, published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game was released in November 2014.

Other media

On 2 October 2008, a movie based on the video game was released in Germany and later on 17 December 2008 in American theaters. A reboot is still currently planning.^[24]

References

1. "First quarter sales : million". Ubisoft. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
2. "Online services update". Ubisoft. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
3. "Far Cry for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
4. "Far Cry Classic for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
5. "Far Cry Classic for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
6. "Far Cry for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
7. "Far Cry Classic for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
8. Edge staff (April 2004). "Far Cry Review". Edge (135). Retrieved June 25, 2014.
9. Reed, Kristan (March 26, 2004). "Far Cry". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
10. Biessener, Adam (May 2004). "Far Cry". Game Informer (133): 105. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
11. Boba Fatt (March 22, 2004). "Far Cry Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
12. Sanders, Shawn (April 2, 2004). "Far Cry Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
13. Ocampo, Jason (March 23, 2004). "Far Cry Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
14. Accardo, Sal (April 12, 2004). "GameSpy: Far Cry". GameSpy. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
15. Hopper, Steven (April 23, 2004). "Far Cry Review - PC". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
16. McNamara, Tom (March 19, 2004). "Far Cry Review". IGN. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
17. "Far Cry Classic review". Official Xbox Magazine: 82. May 2014.
18. "Far Cry". PC Gamer: 62. June 2004.
19. "Der deutsche Entwicklerpreis 2004" [The German Developer Awards 2004] (in German). Aruba Events GmbH. Archived from the original on 29 November 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
20. Fileplanet Far Cry ad-supported release
21. Scammell, David (10 June 2013). "Far Cry Classic confirmed for Xbox 360". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media Ltd. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
22. Scammell, David (9 January 2014). "Far Cry Classic hits XBLA & PSN on Feb 12". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media Ltd. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
23. "Ubisoft announces Far Cry 2".
24. Ubisoft To Make Movies Based on ‘Watch Dogs,’ ‘Far Cry,’ ‘Rabbids’ (EXCLUSIVE)

External links

• Official website