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 | Far Cry: Instincts Xbox Crytech/Ubisoft  When 'Far Cry' hit the PC game market it caused quite a stir, coming out of nowhere ahead of the eagerly awaited 'Half Life 2' and 'Doom 3'. Visually it blew away most other games on the market at that time with an amazing array of lighting, bump mapping and long draw distance. It also delivered an extraordinary single player game; in part because of the story, but mostly through very advanced enemy AI routines that make the game incredibly satisfying to play through more than once. Happily, 'Far Cry: Instincts' is one of the finest Xbox shooters available. It has an intense gameplay that evolves as you play, coupled with the astonishing beauty of the islands and scenery and offset by the creepiness of the jungle as things leap and hop in the periphery of your vision. As the music ramps up you'll find yourself gripping the controller tightly, waiting for something to leap out of nowhere; and when it does, you'll find it satisfying to blast the crap out of. The story takes place on a small tropical island where you're Jack Carver, ex-marine (what else?) and now taxi boat operator. When the game opens you are escorting a mysterious journalist around the archipelago. She borrows your jet ski for a joyride, promptly vanishes and you're immediately set upon by choppers who waste your boat. From here you become entangled in a web of mercenaries, mad scientists and mutant experiments. This is the standard shooter portion of the game, containing elements of action and stealth. During this portion you are hunted like an animal but you have a range of contemporary weapons at your disposal as well as jeeps, boats, 4-wheel bikes and hovercraft. However, unlike the PC game, as you progress, you develop animal-like heightened senses and a powerful, brutal jump attack: as your instincts develop you become the predator, making the game into something entirely different. Obviously some things had to change for the reduced memory of the Xbox. Luckily the guys at Crytech worked diligently at re-making the game from the ground up and while some textures look a bit off close up, overall the game still looks stunning. The game play has also been modified to suit a console gamer, leading you down a more direct route to each objective. Although 'Far Cry' on PC was very adept at keeping you on track, it was easy to get lost in the wide-roaming vistas. '...Instincts' minimises the backtracking, but without forcing it down your throat. However, one disappointment is that the AI isn't that smart, but there is an incredible amount of it and gun battles can become very fierce. The distance between the checkpoint saves is another annoying issue. However, its drawbacks are overcome by the beauty of the game coupled with many long hours of single player gameplay. Although you may have developed shooter overload (and it's easy to do on Xbox) 'Far Cry: Instincts' is one shooter you shouldn't miss.  | |
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