by: John Olin

October 13, 2005

Multiplayer is what gives the game even more replay, but at the same time it can make it extremely frustrating. You have chaos (deathmatch), team chaos (team deathmatch, Steal the Sample (capture the flag), and a mode like Halo 2’s juggernaut called Preadator, where one or more players have the Instinct abilities on the entire time of the match, and are against the other players. When you are doing this, there is one point where you the people against the Predator must sound an alarm and therefore you win. Through all this you are given big, creative levels with plenty of ATVs and jeeps to get around in. You also have mines, grenades, and so on like you would have in the campaign. Unless playing Predator however you do not have the Instinct powers. Now there are a few things wrong with the multiplayer. The first and most obvious is the extremely bad lag you get sometimes. Players will jump around so much, even if you shot a guy in the head with a sniper three times he could still be fine, and somehow from twenty feet away take you down. You might not even be dead and respawned, but the game gives you the message that the player killed you. People playing the game already know that lag can mess the game up, and like in Halo 2 they are exploiting it. The way the games are sorted can be confusing also, with using symbols instead of the actual names of the rounds. You also can’t see the status of each round, so you could just go into a match and it has already started.

There are also minor balance issues with team games, and how parts of the game are setup. When someone does become Predator it isn’t impossible to kill them but when playing Steal the Sample, if they get the sample and are running 4x faster than you and can kill you with one swipe at the same time, it becomes difficult. You eventually find people hiding and crouching around the Instinct power-up so when it comes back (and when it comes back a sound goes off to let everyone know) they quickly pick it up. Still the multiplayer is great as long as you don’t have to many people in one match, and you actually find yourself thinking about strategy a lot more than you would think.

Another aspect of the game that I commend the developers on is the level editor. Most recently Xbox shooters have been getting these features, with Pariah coming to mind. The level editor is pretty nice, but it takes a lot of getting used to. I think the developers could have done a better job implementing the feature into online play however. Even with my T1 connection, it could take forever for me to load a player created map and even after that, the map might not be up to par. It would have been nice if there was someway to see these maps from above, or have the ability to let players rate maps, and that have the top rated maps up for download. Then again this goes along with the somewhat sloppily executed online play within the game.

Visually the game stands out amongst nearly all other Xbox titles. When you first begin the game you are treated to extremely realistic blue, tropical water, and lush forestry. The visuals effects the game in a way Halo 2 never could dream. Imagine crouching down in the bushes, with tons of detailed grass, shrubbery, and being two-feet in front of your enemy and they can’t even see you. The models of each character are very well modeled also, with great clarity and characteristics. Some of the basic models, such as the soldiers can get repetitive but they do vary in color, and uniform. The explosions and particle effects in the game are done well, with a great sense of realism that very few games can duplicate. The weather effects, such as the sun looming over a rocky edge, or the blinding light of thunder during a storm, or the eerie glow of the moon just immerse you further into the title. The game also has a great variety in levels, taking you from tropical forest, marshes, spooky woods, sewers, mines, heat parched lands, and more.

The sound in the game is interesting because it reminds me of movies like Jurassic Park and games like Silent Hill, mixed in with a World War II movie or game. The sound like the visuals, also help guide you through the game. Say you are in the brush ducked down and you hear voices from one side, as you get closer they get louder, so you are guiding yourself through sound. The environment talks to you as well, as you hear the chirp and screams of the wildlife around you, and then all of a sudden those noises get louder and you see crazy little dinosaur reptiles come at you. The sound of your breathing is also pretty impressive, and helps intensify the game even when nothing is going on. You get a good variety of sound from the various weapons and plenty of chaos with fire fights thanks to the great sound as well. The music plays an integral part in the more tense moments as it cues right when you need it, or cues at certain points to hint there is something on the horizon to be cautious about. The ony think I didn’t like about the sound is sometimes there is to much, and the sounds of people talking, fire fights, and music clash and come out sounding horrible.

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10 9 8 8 7 8.3

Far Cry Instincts is one of those games that we have been seeing on the Xbox this year that makes us ponder—do we really need a new Xbox? The game is wonderfully presented, with a great campaign mode, awesome visuals, and good sound. You also have a map editor, along with plenty of features and technology that takes advantage of the Xbox. The only thing keeping this game from a perfect rating is the sometimes-questionable AI, and the extremely laggy online play. Other than that I highly recommend you pick this title up, especially if you are an FPS fanatic.

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