Far Cry (video game)

Far Cry is a first-person shooter game developed by Crytek and published by Ubisoft. 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. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in March 2004 and for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 a decade later.

Far Cry
Developer(s)Crytek
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Director(s)Cevat Yerli
Producer(s)
  • Chris Natsuume
  • Jack Mamais
  • Richard Tsao
Programmer(s)
Artist(s)
  • Michael Khaimzon
  • Raymond Leung
  • Max Aristov
Writer(s)Alexis Nolent
Composer(s)Thomas Baertschi
SeriesFar Cry
EngineCryEngine 1 (PC)
Dunia Engine 2 (Classic)
Platform(s)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: March 23, 2004
  • EU: March 26, 2004
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • NA: February 11, 2014
  • EU: February 12, 2014
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Far Cry was praised for its visuals, gameplay, and freedom. The game was also a commercial success, selling over 730,000 units within four months of release and over 2.5 million units in its lifetime. The success of Far Cry led to several stand-alone sequels developed by Ubisoft, as well as remakes: Far Cry Instincts and Far Cry Instincts: Predator. A loose film adaptation was released in 2008.

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 their 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, 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 their 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.

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.[1]

Synopsis

Setting

The game's story follows an ex U.S. Army 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 Valerie Constantine 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 some of 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 have moved on to mutating humans (possibly mercenaries). When Jack finally catches up with Val, she is being taken to another area by a helicopter which is 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 (freed by Jack) 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, which he intends 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 a 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 has injected himself with the mutagen but is ultimately defeated.

With 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 are located, erupts. Both he and Val are cured from the mutagen and manage to sail off on a boat.

Development and release

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
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic89/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Edge8/10[6]
Eurogamer8/10[7]
Game Informer9.25/10[8]
GamePro[9]
GameRevolutionB+[10]
GameSpot9.2/10[11]
GameSpy[12]
GameZone9.6/10[13]
IGN9.2/10[14]
PC Gamer (US)95%[15]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] It also earned a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[19] for sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[20] In 2010, Crytek announced that the PC version of the game had sold over 2.5 million units overall.[21]

Awards

Far Cry received multiple awards in the German Developer Awards 2004:[22]

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

Legacy

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.[23] Several more Far Cry sequels have been released by Ubisoft since.

On October 2, 2008, a film based on the video game was released in Germany and later on December 17, 2008 in American theaters. A reboot was planned in 2013.[24]

gollark: I mean, I might look, but as I said, it's not really a topic I care much about.
gollark: I don't have anything *against* guns, and in fact I'd probably prefer looser restrictions than the UK has for FREEDOM™ reasons, but it just... never came up and I never cared much about their existence.
gollark: * maybe I saw one, I mean.
gollark: I mean, maybe in museums, I just didn't really pay attention.
gollark: Hunting rifle no, and I may not actually have ever seen one in person, bow and arrow yes, I said so.

References
  1. "Online services update". Ubisoft. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. Charlie Hall: The Story of Crytek: From X-Isle through Redemption, Polygon, July 11, 2013
  3. Scammell, David (June 10, 2013). "Far Cry Classic confirmed for Xbox 360". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media Ltd. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  4. Scammell, David (January 9, 2014). "Far Cry Classic hits XBLA & PSN on Feb 12". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media Ltd. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  5. "Far Cry for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  6. Edge staff (April 2004). "Far Cry Review". Edge (135). Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  7. Reed, Kristan (March 26, 2004). "Far Cry". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  8. Biessener, Adam (May 2004). "Far Cry". Game Informer (133): 105. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  9. 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.
  10. Sanders, Shawn (April 2, 2004). "Far Cry Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  11. Ocampo, Jason (March 23, 2004). "Far Cry Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  12. Accardo, Sal (April 12, 2004). "GameSpy: Far Cry". GameSpy. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  13. Hopper, Steven (April 23, 2004). "Far Cry Review - PC". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  14. McNamara, Tom (March 19, 2004). "Far Cry Review". IGN. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  15. "Far Cry". PC Gamer: 62. June 2004.
  16. "First Quarter Sales: €62.5 Million" (Press release). Ubisoft. July 27, 2004. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017.
  17. Pototzki, Tom (July 7, 2004). "VUD: Fünf Gold-Awards zum Halbjahr". GamesMarkt (in German). Archived from the original on November 30, 2018.
  18. Edge Staff (August 25, 2006). "The Top 100 PC Games of the 21st Century". Edge. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
  19. "ELSPA Sales Awards: Gold". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009.
  20. Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
  21. CryEngine 3 – the next generation of interactive entertainment and real-time 3d technologies
  22. "Der deutsche Entwicklerpreis 2004" [The German Developer Awards 2004] (in German). Aruba Events GmbH. Archived from the original on November 29, 2004. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  23. "Ubisoft announces Far Cry 2". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  24. Ubisoft To Make Movies Based on ‘Watch Dogs,’ ‘Far Cry,’ ‘Rabbids’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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