A Far Cry

So,

After pumping many hours into long adventures over the past months (Twilight Princess, Final Fantasy XII, Okami) I decided I wanted a good FPS as a change of pace. Any ideas? I was thinking Far Cry until I played the demo.

I'm not sure how much of my experience was due to the fact that my computer is woefully underpowered, but I was disappointed. The framerate was horrible anytime I encountered an enemy, despite running on the lowest settings. Speaking of which, there was no water. None. My boat was floating on nothing. There is no excuse for this, especially when Half-Life 2, released the same year, runs far better. Granted, Far Cry renders massive outside environments, but it was still disappointing.

The enemy AI is wildly inconsistent, sometimes hitting me repeatedly through a crack in a wall and other times running in circles. Some are completely oblivious and others are inhumanely perceptive. They also yell extraordinarily stupid things, while all sounding like Trey Parker's impression of a frat boy.

The physics are questionable; getting out of my boat sent me careening through the air, only to land on the opposite side of the outpost I was attempting to storm.

What really got me was the complete lack of impact. Enemies did not seem to react in the slightest to getting hit until they were dead; it seemed as though nothing was coming out of my gun. The amount of damage they would absorb seemed to vary widely as well.

I really wanted to like Far Cry, and should reserve judgment until I can play it on a competent rig, but I found it wanting. I like the concept of a very open FPS and I love the setting; hopefully Crysis will improve on its predecessor significantly.

Out of ammo!,
Crytek