Far Cry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the computer game. For the song by Rush, see Far Cry (song).

Far Cry

Developer(s)	Crytek
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Designer(s)	Crytek labs
Engine	CryENGINE
Latest version	1.4
Release date(s)	March 23, 2004 (NA)
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M) USK: Not free for minors PEGI: 16+ OFLC: MA15+
Platform(s)	Windows
Media	CD or DVD
System requirements	AMD Athlon or Pentium III 1 Gigahertz processor, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0b or higher, Windows 98SE/2000/XP (Only), DirectX 9.0b compatible sound card, 4x DVD or 16x CD ROM, HDD 4GB, 64MB DirectX 9.0b compatible graphics card, Broadband 64Kbps upstream (512 Kbps upstream for 8 players)

Far Cry is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004 for Windows. Far Cry sold 730,000 units within four months of release^[1]. The game's story follows an ex-Special Forces man named Jack Carver, who is stranded on a mysterious archipelago in Micronesia. He is searching for a female journalist he was escorting after she went missing when their sailboat was destroyed by mercenaries.

On April 8, 2004, Ubisoft announced Far Cry Instincts for the Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2 systems. Far Cry Instincts graphically resembles Far Cry, but is more of an attempt to remake the game to satisfy the console shooter community. The PS2 and GC ports were later cancelled because the systems were not powerful enough to support the game. Far Cry Instincts is now exclusive to Xbox and was released to wide acclaim on September 27, 2005, in North America. Another version, Far Cry Instincts: Predator is also available for the Xbox 360. On March 28, 2006, Ubisoft released a sequel, Far Cry Instincts: Evolution for the Xbox, which was met with less enthusiasm than the first version of Far Cry. A game based on the franchise has been announced as part of Ubisoft's launch lineup for the Wii (Far Cry Vengeance). In an interview with Ubisoft North America's president, it was revealed that the remote controller of the Wii will be used for many of the tasks assigned to buttons in previous iterations of the game, including driving vehicles, shooting, and running.[1] Far Cry 2 has been officially announced by Ubisoft, although it was supposed to be a secret until Ubisoft accidentally leaked information about the game. There are no known details except that it will not be developed by Crytek, but by Ubisoft themselves. No screenshots have been released, only concept art.^{[citation needed]}

1 Plot Summary
2 Graphics
3 Artificial intelligence
4 Gameplay
5 German release controversy
6 Criticisms
7 Vehicles
8 Multiplayer
- 8.1 Multiplayer classes
9 Level Editor
10 Game-to-film Adaptation
11 System Requirements
12 Weapons
13 References
14 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 Valerie Constantine to take her secretly to an uncharted island in Micronesia. After Val is safely delivered to the island, Jack's boat is suddenly attacked by mercenaries. Jack manages to escape but is stranded thousands of miles away from home. With his only friend lost somewhere in the depths of the jungle, he must now find his way back to civilization.

With the help of a man named Doyle, Jack travels across the various islands, battling mercenaries in search for Val. Through encounters with the Trigens (genetically altered beasts) and information from Doyle, Jack soon discovers that the island is part of an experiment involving genetic modification.

As the game progresses it becomes clear that the Trigens 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. Jack attempts to stop the helicopter and Val manages to escape. After swimming to shore, Val reveals that she is an undercover CIA agent and is investigating Krieger's operations. Val then suggests that the two of them split up in order to better investigate the islands.

After further exploration, Jack must again search for and rescue Val. This is made increasingly difficult as more Trigens have escaped, and have begun a revolt against the mercenaries on the island. As a result Krieger has called in elite mercenaries, and Jack must battle them to reach Val. After that 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.

After the Department of Defense has supposedly analyzed the situation, Jack and Val steal a tactical nuclear weapon Krieger had intended to use as a last resort in covering his tracks, should his projects be investigated. Jack seems uncomfortable about setting off a nuclear weapon, but Val assures him "its only a tactical nuke, just enough to take out the factory and the base. By the time it goes off we'll be upwind and out of range." Before entering the factory Doyle warns that the mutagen might infect them when the blast goes off, and advises them to take some antidote before arming the nuke. Inside the factory, he directs them to inject themselves with serum from a red box with a biohazard symbol on it. They do so and arm the nuke, unaware that the serum they took is not the antidote. The nuke detonates directly behind Jack and Val exiting the factory, leaving them unconscious.

While Jack and Val are unconscious, Krieger has visited the site, and abducted them. Jack wakes up on a helicopter with Krieger and Val, and is kicked off by an elite mercenary as Krieger says "survival of the fittest, good luck!" On the ground, he finds a rifle has been tossed out as well, with 10 bullets. The player, as Jack, now has to fight through the trigen infested area to rescue Val - for the third time - and escape the islands with his life. Upon reaching a mercenary weapons cache, Jack notices his arm is turning green. Doyle responds "The antidote should have been able to handle it, but the explosion could have saturated the air with mutagen. That's what happened to Dr. Krieger. He developed a serum to keep it from spreading, and he's still on the treatment." Jack is thus directed to find Krieger.

However, once Jack reaches and defeats Krieger the plot twists. Jack asks a dying Krieger where the antidote is, and Krieger responds "Who infected you? The mutagen can only be administered through sub-dermal injection. I wish I could take credit, but I had no time to prepare the serum. You should turn out to be a beautiful specimen. Give it another hour... much less for her [Val]." Doyle comes up on the nearby volumetric display and says "The old man was always one for melodrama. Too bad he had no head for business," and reveals the 'antidote' they took earlier was a trick. He also remarks that "Working for the government taught me that where there's a weapon, there's money to be made." Jack threatens Doyle, who refuses to give them the real antidote, and then leaves Val at a dock with a Falcon .357 (high-power handgun) to find Doyle.

After battling through a horde of Trigens angry at him for killing their "father" (Krieger - this is why Doyle needed Jack to kill Krieger), Jack catches up with Doyle and corners him. Doyle's last words were, "You don't understand. They sent me. They're all watching. They're always watching. You can't change this. You can't change the future," to which Jack replies, "Probably not, but I can make sure you're not a part of it!" and shoots Doyle, killing him. "Stupid bastard," Jack remarks.

Jack then escapes just before the volcano in which Krieger's main offices were located erupts, and both he and Val are cured of the mutagen. The offices were completely destroyed by the explosion and he and Val sails off on the boat. The ending cutscene shows Val looking at a thick folder of papers and two CDs tied together labelled "Project Far Cry".

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Graphics

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. Also, all of the level territory is accessible to the player without loading pauses. The game engine features seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor areas (for which slightly different lighting and rendering models are utilised).

Graphically, the game makes extensive use of pixel shaders. For example, water shaders are frequently used throughout the levels and have a significant effect on visual quality.

Character detail is also improved thanks to Crytek's Polybump normal mapping technology. These effects are used extensively in both indoor and outdoor levels.

The release of the 1.3 patch saw the introduction of HDR (High Dynamic Range) in the CryENGINE. It can only be enabled on a graphics card that supports Shader Model 3.0 and 64bit blending support.

[edit] Artificial intelligence

Human enemies in the game exhibit advanced artificial intelligence (AI), which can be favourably compared to other shooters (though its capabilities make minor glitches more apparent). The enemies are capable of navigating the large levels, using vehicles when necessary. They are frequently visible patrolling, chatting with each other (CryTek wrote a lot of humorous dialog for mercenaries that provides a backstory, showing how players' actions affect the archipelago population), idling, fishing, fixing equipment, etc. One mercenary was seen doing push ups. They can call for reinforcements and execute coordinated attacks, outflanking and surrounding the player.

The tropical jungle provides a lot of concealment and the game allows the player to use it to hide from the enemies. These enemies don't know the position of the player unless they see or hear him, but notably, they can remember his last known position and go there to investigate. On the other hand, the player is able to track the position of all enemies on an onscreen radar screen that are sighted and marked through the special binoculars found early in the game. Far Cry's AI is scripted, but not scripted to the point such that the enemies can only follow one path. Crytek had decided to make the AI as such because of the open environment of Far Cry. Over scripted AI would allow the player to pass easily by approaching from a path not covered in the script, messing up the enemies and letting the player move through the game with relative ease. With the AI that Crytek instead made, the enemies now react dynamically to the player's tactics and actions. For example, if the player was hiding in a bush and fired on a mercenary, the mercenary, unable to return fire because the player's position is not known, would crouch and quickly sneak towards cover.

AI movement area and cover are defined in the level design. Without this definition set by the designer the enemies are far less effective against the player. They will also not move as realistically as would otherwise be expected.

[edit] Gameplay

The game was notable for its open ended structure, providing a multitude of ways to complete a given objective. It incorporates a mix of arcade-like and realistic gameplay, forcing the player to effectively use cover while still allowing an upfront approach. For instance, there are no forced stealth segments and setting off an alarm would not result in mission failure.

The ragdoll physics were not limited to corpses. It is possible to throw rocks at either Valerie or mercenaries who have fallen into water and can't return fire. The rocks would knock them and make them move realistically according to the place the rock was thrown at. Dead fish also have ragdoll effects, slashing at one with a machete would make it fly around realistically. The boars also have similar effects.

However, Far Cry was criticised for being poorly balanced. The difficulty increased sharply in the later levels with the introduction of incredibly tough creatures created by the game's villain, causing many problems when combined with the game's "checkpoint" saving system, which eliminated manual saving. The increased difficulty required stealth and precision to even up the odds against the player, but many found being forced to replay the same sections over and over tedious or frustrating. The promised quicksave-update was never widely publicised, however it could be activated by bringing down the console (pressing ~), and typing "\save_game filename".

[edit] German release controversy

Although the game was developed by a German company, it was subject to one of the most heated controversies about video games in Germany. Upon release of the demo version in March 2004, the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien found the violence level of the game (including gore and ragdoll physics) to be too high even for adults and quickly indexed the demo. The full version had most of that violence edited out (e.g. removed ragdoll behaviour of corpses), nevertheless it received a "Not suitable under 18" rating. A storm of indignation broke out, however, when German gamers found out only days after the release, that a slight modification of some files in the game's directory brought back most of the original gore. The first issue of Far Cry was also indexed, and several weeks later a new version followed with the same censored content but without the possibility to revert the changes. This version (also rated "Not under 18") is now for sale and can be recognized by the note on the cover saying "Deutsche Version" (German version).

[edit] Criticisms

This section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!)
Any unsourced material that has been or is likely to be challenged may be removed at any time. This article has been tagged since January 2007.

Although the original Windows version was generally well-received, critics complained at the high difficulty level and panned the game's poorly implemented vehicle controls and save-game system. Additionally, taking full advantage of the engine's graphical capability required a prohibitively expensive (at the time) high-end PC system. The Xbox version of the game (Far Cry: Instincts) featured an extensively-rebuilt but graphically toned-down version of the engine, rather than a direct port, done by Ubisoft themselves as Crytek had previously broken ties with them as a publisher. The second Xbox game, Evolution, was more of an expansion pack than a full title, and featured new game levels but little in the way of new art content or features. The Xbox 360 version was a combination of the two Xbox titles, but required the player to complete the first game before unlocking the second. However, a recent update for xbox live users allows players to play the second game without completing the first. The Wii version, Far Cry: Vengeance, was a remake of Evolution (the shorter of the two Xbox titles) with little new content or graphical enhancement. The porting process went arguably very wrong, as the game was almost universally panned by critics, mainly for its graphics, which are reportedly bad enough as to impair gameplay.

[edit] Vehicles

Several vehicles exist that can be used in the levels. Some of them are:

Dune buggy (armed with machine gun turret)
Humvee (armed with machine gun/rocket turret)
Inflatable boat
Patrol boat (armed with machine gun/rocket launcher)
Large cargo truck (HEMTT)
Forklift
Hang Glider

The island mercenaries also fly around in UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and the V-22 Osprey, although these are not available to the player.

[edit] Multiplayer

Multiplayer is available in 3 different modes.

FFA or "Free For All" - score points by killing other opponents
TDM or "Team Death Match" - score points by killing opponents in the other team
Assault - a type of game where the attacking team must capture 3 enemy bases, one after another. The defending team must repel the enemy until the timer runs out. Victory is awarded to the team who fulfilled their mission. Note that in this mode it is important that there are not too many and not too few players. If there are too many players the game will become a stalemate, the attacking team having no chance to overpower the defending team (similar to World War I trench warfare).

[edit] Multiplayer classes

Grunt: Has the most health and carries the biggest weapons. Used for assaults on outposts.

M249, AG36, XM-29 OICW, Pancor Jackhammer, P90, grenade, Machete and the Falcon .357.

Sniper: Best for taking out targets at long range. Perfect on jungle maps, especially when camping.

AW50 Sniper Rifle, Rocket launcher, Falcon .357, MP5, smoke grenade, binocular, Shocker and Machete.

Support/engineer: Builds barriers and other equipment as well as laying bombs on the enemy base. Can also carry medikits to heal wounded teammates. Also, the fastest of the classes.

M4 Carbine, MP5, medikits (or) explosives, smoke grenades, Falcon .357 and the Wrench.

[edit] Level Editor

The game engine features a built-in real-time editor that makes creating large outdoor levels easier, circumventing the need to load the game to test a custom level, or to see the in-game effects of any changes. This enabled CryTek designers to add much detail to levels, creating many different paths while reducing the time spent on level design. It also allows the player to choose more approaches to solving goals, providing a more open and non-linear experience. The SDK (software development kit) and the FarCry modding community can be found at the webpage crymod.com [2].

[edit] Game-to-film Adaptation

Main article: Far Cry (film)

Far Cry is the film adaptation of the video game. The game-to-film enthusiast Uwe Boll (Alone in the Dark, House Of The Dead) gained the rights to a Far Cry movie, purportedly even before the game was released.

[edit] System Requirements

Minimum:

Operating system: Windows 98 SE/ME/2000/XP/XPx64
1 GHz CPU
256 MB RAM
DirectX 9.0b
Video Card: 64 MB DirectX 9.0b-compatible graphics card
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0b-compatible PCI expansion card
4x DVD-ROM; 16x CD-ROM
4 GB hard drive space
Multiplayer: Broadband with 64 kbit/s upstream to play (512 kbit/s upstream to host 8 players)

Recommended:

AMD Athlon 2400-3000+ or Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz
1024 MB RAM
Video Card: 128 MB GeForce 4 to GeForce FX 5950; ATI Radeon 9500-9800 XT
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy series
8x-16x DVD-ROM or 32x CD-ROM

There is also a free patch for the game to upgrade to the 64-bit edition. This version only works with a 64-bit CPU and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, although an aftermarket patch has been released to convert the 64-bit features to 32-bit systems. The 64-bit enhancements include bumpmapped rockface textures, increased environment activity (extra birds, insects), as well as some 64-bit-specific improvements. Several new maps were also added.

[edit] Weapons

Machete — Kukri knife
Jungle Falcon .357 — a fictional Desert Eagle clone
Jackhammer Shotgun — semi auto/auto shotgun.
FN P90 — fires 5.7 mm rounds (in the game, shares ammunition with the MP5SD)
MP5SD — fires 9 mm suppressed rounds (in the game, shares ammunition with the P90)
M4 Carbine — fires 5.56 mm rounds
G36 w/ AG36 — an assault rifle firing 5.56 mm rounds, with an underslung 40 mm grenade launcher and 4x optical scope.
XM29 OICW Assault Rifle — an assault rifle firing 5.56 mm rounds as well as 25 mm airburst fragmentation rounds with a 3x electronic scope.
AW50 Sniper Rifle — an extremely accurate sniper rifle that does a large amount of damage which is based on Accuracy International's 'Arctic Warfare' sniper rifle.
M249 — machine gun, fires 5.56 mm rounds.
Rocket Launcher — firing unguided rockets.
Mortar (Stationary) — (actually the Mark-19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, with a much slower "single-shot" rate of fire)
M134 minigun (Stationary) — Fires 7.62 mm rounds
Hand Grenade Is thrown at enemies, and explodes fragments of shards from the casing, useful for destroying vehicles and large groups of enemies.
Flashbang Grenade Non lethal, is used to temporarily blind and deafen opponents.
Smoke Grenade Non lethal, is used to create a smoke screen for covering your movement.