Far Cry (video game)

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 about in all directions. 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.

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 set of possible routes to his objective, but these do not necessarily have to be used. The jungle of the world tends to sprawl out in all directions, allowing players to achieve different angles for assaults, or even completely circumvent enemies (given enough time to maneuver). However, during the indoor sections of the game, level design tends to lose this attribute in favor of a more traditional, linear gameplay.

Crytek developed a 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.[2]

On June 10, 2013, Ubisoft announced Far Cry Classic would come to XBLA as part of Microsoft's 2013 Summer Arcade releases.[3] 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.[4]

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic PC: 89/100[5] X360: 58/100[6] Review scores Publication Score Edge 8/10[7] Eurogamer 8/10[8] Game Informer 9.25/10[9] GamePro [10] GameRevolution B+[11] GameSpot 9.2/10[12] GameSpy [13] GameZone 9.6/10[14] IGN 9.2/10[15] PC Gamer (US) 95%[16]

Far Cry received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[5]

Far Cry was a commercial success, with sales above 730,000 units after four months of release.[17] It received a "Gold" certification from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland for its performance through the end of June 2004. This indicated sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Switzerland and Austria.[18] In the United States, Far Cry sold 350,000 copies and earned $11 million for Crytek by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to declare it the country's 49th-best-selling computer game released since January 2000.[19] It also earned a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[20] for sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[21] In 2010, Crytek announced that the PC version of the game had sold over 2.5 million units overall.[22]

On April 8, 2004, Ubisoft announced Far Cry Instincts for the Xbox. 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.

In 2008, Far Cry 2 was released by Ubisoft, although it was not developed by Crytek, but by Ubisoft's Montreal studio.[24] Several more Far Cry sequels have been released by Ubisoft since.

On 2 October 2008, a film based on the video game was released in Germany and later on 17 December 2008 in American theaters. A reboot was planned in 2013.[25]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Far Cry (video game).

• Far Cry at MobyGames
• Far Cry at Crytek.com
• Official website via Internet Archive