Jack is back! (Far Cry Instincts (Xbox))

Member Name: heekeer

Product:	Far Cry Instincts (Xbox)
Date:	22/08/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics, fun gunplay, feral powers are fun

Disadvantages: Rubbish stealth, most vehicles are dreadful.

Far Cry Instincts is a shooter for the Microsoft Xbox developed by Crytek.

The story follows Jack Carver who has taken a tourist called Valerie Cortez to an island, you soon find all is not well and the island is far from a tropical paradise, you are captured and taken to a lab. On your way as you are transported somewhere else you manage to smash open the door, Jack doesn't seem to be entirely himself anymore! You must find out what on earth is going on, on this island and rescue Valerie. The game doesn't have a clever story but it is well told and quite engaging as you play.

The gameplay is a mix of stealth, driving vehicles and gunplay. The stealth portion of the game is rather weak and comes down to you setting a trap against a tree and then lobbing stones towards the foolish guards who will fail to spot you hiding just to the side of the tree and walk into the trap. There is only a single type of trap too which limits your abilities.

The gunplay is far better, you can only carry a main weapon and your pistols but they are all really satisfying to use, especially the sniper rifle which lets you see for great distances. You can also dual wield some weapons like sub machine guns and P90s which is a lot of fun firing each independently so you can make sure the bullets keep flowing!

You also get some cool feral powers, Jack can rip enemies to shreds with his claws, smell out where he needs to go and use an insane speed mode which lets him run through the jungles at breakneck speed. Your health also regenerates so that eliminates much of the games need for stealth, thankfully.

Vehicles are another problem with the game, the controls are limited to just one analog stick so they all control really awkwardly especially when you are trying to do some high speed turns, you can push the stick to the side for a sharp turn or up to get maximum speed, why couldn't they just let you use both sticks to control vehicles like every other game! The only vehicle I really enjoyed piloting was the hanglider which was amazing as you swoop by massive cliffs.

Graphics are excellent, water in particular is very impressive. The jungle environments are sharp and the in door bases you come across are dark and intimidating.

Far Cry Instincts is a mixed bag, the guns are fun to shoot and the feral powers are good, stealth is just rubbish and so are most of the vehicles.

Summary: A good shooter but has some problems.