Far Cry

Take a boat, hike on foot, steal their boat? ah forget it ? just swim there. Far Cry is developing into a fine new FPS sure to wow you all upon launch.

The long-awaited Far Cry single player demo finally became available this week to the public at large. And if you haven?t seen a sneak peak yet, then you?ll be even more pleased?because this game is developing nicely into what could be a sharp Half-Life 2 rival.

Word of warning: the demo is a chore to download. Even on a broadband connection this bulky 500MB file takes a while -- no matter what connection speed you claim. Tested on a P4/3.0 CPU with an ATI Radeon 9800 and WinXP Pro the demo ran nicely once this aging gamer worked around some installation issues. After a few install attempts and adjustments to the video configuration, we were off and running. And it IS worth it. With its wide game-play range, the demo will allow you to explore the first expansive level and experiment with different strategies while you wait for Far Cry?s official launch.

Far Cry stands out initially simply because it?s not a dark, gloomy, historic, fantasy combat scenario. Upon first loading up the game you will likely find yourself stopping constantly and gazing about. The tropical island environment is astounding. Colors and textures used to create the world are vividly gorgeous and the rag-doll effects are fun, especially when corpses respond to gravity or float in the water.

Remember the advanced AI we mentioned in our previous hands-on article? It?s not just hype. While the demo map is a bit limited in range (the island is patrolled by an armed helicopter to keep you from venturing too far from the island?s perimeter), you can approach the mission in a number of ways. Each approach will trigger a different response. Take your pick: rush ?em with your pee-shooter, sneak thru the bushes and hack ?em hand-to-hand, or set up an ambush so that you draw them out with their luxurious gun boat -- you know what... forget it, just swim to the mainland (watch out for sharks though!). Any way you choose, the AI will respond differently, and is sure to challenge your FPS skills.

While fun, this demo is a complete tease. You?ll get a chance to use the Jungle Falcon, M4, Sniper rifle & rocket launcher, but will be left yearning more. The fancy binoculars are a blast to play with. They?ll give you probably the best zoom range yet in a video game and if you can see somewhere to go, chances are you?ll be able to get there in the final product. The binoculars will help you target enemies but don?t start staring. If you alert these guys in any way, they will pick you off before you can draw a weapon. Feel free to ?borrow? their gunboat -- that is assuming you survive their drive-by. Regardless, vehicles are yours for the taking, though you do have to earn them.

All in all, Far Cry is all shaping up to be a good thing for all FPS fans. Suddenly March seems so far away.

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