When Jack Carver’s relaxing day as a tour-boat operator on a tropical island turns sour, it does so with a mean-edged vengeance. A pulsating opening sequence sees Jack meet a photographer called Valerie, and ends with his boat turned into splintered firewood by a helicopter gunship. The explosions and the first-person perspective get Far Cry Instincts off and running with an intensity that it maintains for all 20-30 hours of its single-player campaign.

Oft-delayed, this Xbox version of last year’s PC hit is a classic first-person shooter that manages to successfully execute almost every tenet of the action-game must-have bible. It’s fun, brutally difficult at times, wide open in some areas, and claustrophobically linear in others.

Last year Far Cry for PC stood out mainly for its incredible graphics engine. It scored much hardcore fan appreciation for its look and its wide-open spaces that theoretically let you complete each objective – basically getting from objective point A to B – any way you wanted. On Xbox it also looks good – downright spectacular on occasions where waterfalls cascade down into rivers and the water ripples as realistically as it ever has on the platform.

The open-ended mission structure also works very effectively. While your objectives are being constantly fed in a linear manner (and are illustrated by a blue dot on your radar that shows enemy position, too), most maps allow you to take multiple paths. This physical open-endedness is matched in the early levels by a gameplay flexibility that lets you fight in balls-out, guns-blazing, Rambo III style, or more subtle but still deadly First Blood-like stealth-based aggression. The first time you set a spike trap on a tree that’s sprung when an enemy comes near (you can get their attention with a well-placed toss of a rock) and skewer the fool is a classic gaming moment. And you’ll try to use the tactic for your initial romp through the jungles, maybe even using the deadly backstab to one-slice kill enemies and keep your progress quiet. But before the mid-point, armed with more powerful machine-guns (up to the P90 later in the game), it’s easy to forget your stealth tactics.

Even in the early game, the stealth angle can be tough to execute when enemies have very good hearing and eagle eyesight that can blow your cover in an instant. Fortunately, the backup option of pumping them full of lead is its usual amount of fun.

As you move through the tropical island, the story opens up to involve one of those mad genius scientist types – Krieger – who’s doing bad deeds, making bad monsters. You gotta stop him, Jack…you must…etc. A few cutscenes into the action, though, and you’re given a shot of juice more potent than any you can find in an MLB clubhouse (last year). Waking up with feral abilities is disorienting, but turns your tough-as-nails hero into a monster-tough superhero. Over time, you pick up extra feral skills to get the scent of human trails (handy in the pouring rain forest where it’s dark and dismal), move with cat-like speed (for when you want to run through a mercenary camp rather than shoot everyone), and see in the dark (which you’ll need in the caves, underground facilities, and tunnels).

Your feral abilities certainly change the action dynamic. Particularly in the later levels where powerful special-ops dudes are out in force, the feral claw one-strike kill will be a life saver.

In between all this, and throwing yet more content in to Far Cry’s complete FPS mix, you’ll drive a ton of vehicles from buggies to humvees, jetskis to swamp boats, even hanggliders. Most have a gun attached, and if they don’t, you can shoot your own gun while driving. They handle well for the most part and ensure the pace never lets up.

Finding out what Valerie’s up to, rescuing buddy Doyle, and chasing down Krieger involves some cool cutscenes with feisty dialogue. Voiced by Stephen Dorff, Carver is crass and crude, dropping the F-bomb without really needing to. The designers of Far Cry were clearly experts in classic FPS gameplay, but great script writers they weren’t. The performances are good, it’s just the words that come coated in fresh slices of mozzarella.

Similarly, while the weapon effects and ambient noises are great, the “get ready for a boss-like rumble” music is dreadful. Overbearing and obnoxious, it’s handled clumsily.
But Far Cry is about visual panache and core FPS action, and on those counts, it delivers. It really is like the developers played every PC shooter from Doom through Quake and Half-Life, even Sin and Soldier of Fortune, and applied cool elements from them all into this package. The result isn’t any great revolution in the genre, but it’s a thoroughly entertaining, complete, taxing, and expertly executed example of action games at their finest.

ON ORIGINAL XBOX

+ Well-designed and implemented classic shooter.

+ Cool map editor and online modes.

- Gratuitous language.

? Did the Serious Sam enemies get an appearance fee for their role in Far Cry?

8.5