So here’s the second of the big FPS games on the P.C. this year. This is certainly one of the more anticipated coming about third of the top 5 wanted Single player shooters out this year (HL2, Doom3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Breed being the others).
The game is also one of the first to really make use of the special DX9 features of the ‘Next-Gen’ Videocards (ATI 9*** and GF5*** series) in a videogame.
The premise is simple. You play an ex-special forces agent, who, whilst boating in some a chain of paradise gets blown up and landed on the first of many islands. Having found a cell phone, you learn to escape; you must investigate and uncover the sinister experiments of a scientist who is experimenting on a race of apes to create the ultimate ‘uber’ ape. And take over the world.
Oh forget it. Its irrelevant. It’s a straight FPS and you must travel from island to island taking out enemy bases, steam generators, Ammo caches, vehicles, etc.
You know the score.
But what sets this back is not only the gorgeous graphics and fantastic water effects (which are just scream ‘swim in me’), but also the massively open locations and the interesting use of AI and, of course, physics.
Its almost like an arcade version of Operation Flashpoint. The open levels mean a highpoint is an advantage, as are the use of your binoculars to try to get a reading of where the enemy is. Once located, you can hear them talking about recent happenings, or just watch them go about the business.
But once you shoot. All hell breaks loose. Soldiers you never saw owing to some obstruction will make themselves known after hearing your bullets, and will always investigate. This makes for some very intense battles. Music too will change when you’ve been spotted, especially without realising it, so this acts as an aid. Using cover works well and this is provided by trees, buildings, boxes and barrels. Staying in the same place too long will ensure your doom as soldiers will almost certainly creep up on you and, as they’re so fond of saying ‘shoot you in the face’.
Later in the game you will face monsters and in true Doom style their fast and quite nerving. They also take some hits so you’ll need a gun with a high fire rate, or a decent stash of grenades. They move very quickly and will rip you from a car so be warned. When you hear these guys, make sure you can aim. And don’t bother running else you’ll be sliced to pieces. The only other option is to find water or high ground. They can’t swim but will sometimes chase you in and drown. The problem here is you can’t shoot in water unless your standing on firm ground, so bear this in mind, esp. when your being attacked by vehicles.
In a Halo style your weapon choice is somewhat limited to 4 rather then 2 main weapons, which means on some occasions a weapon change will be necessary. Of course, if the gun you want to drop is loaded, you can return to it when you’ve spent your load in your enemy. This may sound long winded, but its not, as the environments are such a joy to wonder in. Anyway, theres a few vehicles to plunder to help speed up your journey.
These range from Lorries to Sand-buggies Halo Style, gliders and boats.
All the vehicles have their own duel weapon systems (machine gun and rockets) or you can use your own if not (like the glider). This can lead to some really enjoyable chases (and trumps Halo in single player mode as vehicles are used against you). Of course, the openness of the game allows the vehicles to be destroyed as you approach. It’s a refreshing freedom.
The use of gliders is quite rare in a videogame of this type (Midwinter was last game I played to incorporate this successfully) but in Far Cry, its fantastic.
In fact, the level in question (which is right after the current Demo level doing the rounds) is real fun and highlights the use of physics. A well placed grenade early on can lead to two barrels being knocked off a pallet and sent rolling down a massive hillside, straight into the path of a couple of soilders. The barrels can later be seen in a valley river (somewhat out of place) have rolled down for miles.
Some objects can be shot and exploded to save on weapon usage but your rarely short on ammo for long as its always left by dead troops. This ease is counter balanced by your health bar. Even with a bullet vest, you can get hacked down very quickly, and never frustratingly. If you go in guns ablaze, trust me, they will blaze back and you’ll frequently find yourself in the middle of all manor of ‘set piece’ gun battles. Troops can also kill troops and this realistic and important inclusion allows you another advantage. Throwing stones.
Stones are used as decoys and then enemy will often investigate their noises, or rather trajectories, shooting at them with abandon. This can then lead to them killing other guys or even Helicopters (if used on some levels).
Another great feature is the ‘ ot, depending on their position. Shoot them with a rocket however, and will fly. This also applies if they get hit by a vehicle too, but it doesn’t look fake. Sometimes, you can just pile em’ into a wall. Interestingly, theres no real need for a bloody death with these physics in place, although the can be shot again and again, if you must. Barrels too can also be shot into another person, and is very funny when it occurs, although its quite rare.
Another plus, is the fact that some guards will wade in water. In the level after ‘steam’ a guy climbs off a pier and into the water across to a bank. If shot, the person will float leaving bloody pumping into the water. Another small but effective effect because it will tell you he’s dead.
Head shots will drop a guard pretty much first time, but later, guys with helmets and visors will appear, so more rounds will be needed. This in turn makes more noise so if your running about, there’s more risk you’ll be heard.
Also, if you hide behind a rock and a troop launches a missle, you will normally take some damage (I’ve not actually been to war but assume its similar), and likewise, sometimes an indirect hit will kill a troop, or down him.
The control system is the standard W, A, D, S mode with X to change weapon mode (single or auto normally) or to change a vehicles weapon systems. Space jumps, and C crouches. You can also lie down which is most affective with a sniper rifle as its stops natural movement. Of course, you have to find somewhere high to make the most of this.
Right mouse acts a slight zoom button, much like that used in Medal of Honor.
So on to the bad points…
The AI can sometimes be a lil’ dumb, with guards just standing there with a gun battle ablaze, buts it quite rare. Sometimes there’s a glitch when you down a helicopter, whereby the helicopter will disappear, then reappear destroyed on the ground. Slowdown is very rare at 1024x800 on my 9600 Pro (non overclocked). Sometimes you take damage from a monster when you’d have thought it missed, but again, its not always (and if they do miss, they’ll get you second time, unless you’ve a good aim).
These faults in no way hinder the way the game and may well become fixed in future patches, although its perfectly fine.
To end, this is the precursor to HL2 and Doom.
From what I’ve seen or heard of the other two, it’s seemingly a good mix of both (HL2 will be more involved with physics and so forth and Doom3 will be very arcade paced, scary and have trigger’ type monster generation).
From what I’ve played, Breed is already a distant memory (although its had much time to improve since the demo)
The water effects stir memories of Ecco again and may all be traversed within the confines of the level. Theres no restrictions as such and you can approach any target from a multitude of angles. Swimming out from a level will incur the wrath of a dreaded helicopter, which will nail you in the water. Conversly, the interiors are a little dull, but they don’t seem to last to long before your in the open again. And they’re normally inhabited by monsters, so the action rarely slows ups.
To end, this is a very competent FPS that’s actually a JOY to play rather then a chore. It has a very open structure and it’s a joy to explore. It never gets as boring as you might think (being set in a parasdise, with little change) but the programmers have done a good thing by adding enhancements like vertigo enducing levels, treetop levels, and troop camps.
9/10
Steve.
The game is also one of the first to really make use of the special DX9 features of the ‘Next-Gen’ Videocards (ATI 9*** and GF5*** series) in a videogame.
The premise is simple. You play an ex-special forces agent, who, whilst boating in some a chain of paradise gets blown up and landed on the first of many islands. Having found a cell phone, you learn to escape; you must investigate and uncover the sinister experiments of a scientist who is experimenting on a race of apes to create the ultimate ‘uber’ ape. And take over the world.
Oh forget it. Its irrelevant. It’s a straight FPS and you must travel from island to island taking out enemy bases, steam generators, Ammo caches, vehicles, etc.
You know the score.
But what sets this back is not only the gorgeous graphics and fantastic water effects (which are just scream ‘swim in me’), but also the massively open locations and the interesting use of AI and, of course, physics.
Its almost like an arcade version of Operation Flashpoint. The open levels mean a highpoint is an advantage, as are the use of your binoculars to try to get a reading of where the enemy is. Once located, you can hear them talking about recent happenings, or just watch them go about the business.
But once you shoot. All hell breaks loose. Soldiers you never saw owing to some obstruction will make themselves known after hearing your bullets, and will always investigate. This makes for some very intense battles. Music too will change when you’ve been spotted, especially without realising it, so this acts as an aid. Using cover works well and this is provided by trees, buildings, boxes and barrels. Staying in the same place too long will ensure your doom as soldiers will almost certainly creep up on you and, as they’re so fond of saying ‘shoot you in the face’.
Later in the game you will face monsters and in true Doom style their fast and quite nerving. They also take some hits so you’ll need a gun with a high fire rate, or a decent stash of grenades. They move very quickly and will rip you from a car so be warned. When you hear these guys, make sure you can aim. And don’t bother running else you’ll be sliced to pieces. The only other option is to find water or high ground. They can’t swim but will sometimes chase you in and drown. The problem here is you can’t shoot in water unless your standing on firm ground, so bear this in mind, esp. when your being attacked by vehicles.
In a Halo style your weapon choice is somewhat limited to 4 rather then 2 main weapons, which means on some occasions a weapon change will be necessary. Of course, if the gun you want to drop is loaded, you can return to it when you’ve spent your load in your enemy. This may sound long winded, but its not, as the environments are such a joy to wonder in. Anyway, theres a few vehicles to plunder to help speed up your journey.
These range from Lorries to Sand-buggies Halo Style, gliders and boats.
All the vehicles have their own duel weapon systems (machine gun and rockets) or you can use your own if not (like the glider). This can lead to some really enjoyable chases (and trumps Halo in single player mode as vehicles are used against you). Of course, the openness of the game allows the vehicles to be destroyed as you approach. It’s a refreshing freedom.
The use of gliders is quite rare in a videogame of this type (Midwinter was last game I played to incorporate this successfully) but in Far Cry, its fantastic.
In fact, the level in question (which is right after the current Demo level doing the rounds) is real fun and highlights the use of physics. A well placed grenade early on can lead to two barrels being knocked off a pallet and sent rolling down a massive hillside, straight into the path of a couple of soilders. The barrels can later be seen in a valley river (somewhat out of place) have rolled down for miles.
Some objects can be shot and exploded to save on weapon usage but your rarely short on ammo for long as its always left by dead troops. This ease is counter balanced by your health bar. Even with a bullet vest, you can get hacked down very quickly, and never frustratingly. If you go in guns ablaze, trust me, they will blaze back and you’ll frequently find yourself in the middle of all manor of ‘set piece’ gun battles. Troops can also kill troops and this realistic and important inclusion allows you another advantage. Throwing stones.
Stones are used as decoys and then enemy will often investigate their noises, or rather trajectories, shooting at them with abandon. This can then lead to them killing other guys or even Helicopters (if used on some levels).
Another great feature is the ‘ ot, depending on their position. Shoot them with a rocket however, and will fly. This also applies if they get hit by a vehicle too, but it doesn’t look fake. Sometimes, you can just pile em’ into a wall. Interestingly, theres no real need for a bloody death with these physics in place, although the can be shot again and again, if you must. Barrels too can also be shot into another person, and is very funny when it occurs, although its quite rare.
Another plus, is the fact that some guards will wade in water. In the level after ‘steam’ a guy climbs off a pier and into the water across to a bank. If shot, the person will float leaving bloody pumping into the water. Another small but effective effect because it will tell you he’s dead.
Head shots will drop a guard pretty much first time, but later, guys with helmets and visors will appear, so more rounds will be needed. This in turn makes more noise so if your running about, there’s more risk you’ll be heard.
Also, if you hide behind a rock and a troop launches a missle, you will normally take some damage (I’ve not actually been to war but assume its similar), and likewise, sometimes an indirect hit will kill a troop, or down him.
The control system is the standard W, A, D, S mode with X to change weapon mode (single or auto normally) or to change a vehicles weapon systems. Space jumps, and C crouches. You can also lie down which is most affective with a sniper rifle as its stops natural movement. Of course, you have to find somewhere high to make the most of this.
Right mouse acts a slight zoom button, much like that used in Medal of Honor.
So on to the bad points…
The AI can sometimes be a lil’ dumb, with guards just standing there with a gun battle ablaze, buts it quite rare. Sometimes there’s a glitch when you down a helicopter, whereby the helicopter will disappear, then reappear destroyed on the ground. Slowdown is very rare at 1024x800 on my 9600 Pro (non overclocked). Sometimes you take damage from a monster when you’d have thought it missed, but again, its not always (and if they do miss, they’ll get you second time, unless you’ve a good aim).
These faults in no way hinder the way the game and may well become fixed in future patches, although its perfectly fine.
To end, this is the precursor to HL2 and Doom.
From what I’ve seen or heard of the other two, it’s seemingly a good mix of both (HL2 will be more involved with physics and so forth and Doom3 will be very arcade paced, scary and have trigger’ type monster generation).
From what I’ve played, Breed is already a distant memory (although its had much time to improve since the demo)
The water effects stir memories of Ecco again and may all be traversed within the confines of the level. Theres no restrictions as such and you can approach any target from a multitude of angles. Swimming out from a level will incur the wrath of a dreaded helicopter, which will nail you in the water. Conversly, the interiors are a little dull, but they don’t seem to last to long before your in the open again. And they’re normally inhabited by monsters, so the action rarely slows ups.
To end, this is a very competent FPS that’s actually a JOY to play rather then a chore. It has a very open structure and it’s a joy to explore. It never gets as boring as you might think (being set in a parasdise, with little change) but the programmers have done a good thing by adding enhancements like vertigo enducing levels, treetop levels, and troop camps.
9/10
Steve.
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