Far Cry

 PC
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Mar 23, 2004
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 841 out of 1214
  2. Mixed: 291 out of 1214
  3. Negative: 82 out of 1214
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  1. vaurne
    Dec 24, 2020
    7
    An incredible action-adventure. This game plays a lot like levels in a puzzle game. You must figure out where the enemies are, kill them, and move on. On your first playthrough, you will be intimidated by the first few missions due to it's open style of gameplay, but you will quickly get the hang of it. You will die lots of times too, and try the "level" again, until you can go on to theAn incredible action-adventure. This game plays a lot like levels in a puzzle game. You must figure out where the enemies are, kill them, and move on. On your first playthrough, you will be intimidated by the first few missions due to it's open style of gameplay, but you will quickly get the hang of it. You will die lots of times too, and try the "level" again, until you can go on to the next batch of gunmen to dodge and eliminate. The action is accompanied by an intriguing tale and okay characters, but the level design is truly outstanding.

    My only complaint about this game is that there a good amount of unfair, unfun, frustrating parts to the game. The gameplay becomes boring and frustrating at some points. The game progresses very blandly with a clear lack of emotion or plot connectivity.    … Expand
  2. Haboss
    Mar 11, 2020
    7
    This game is very hard.In a point where fun and satisfaction get absorbed out of the game.But it is quite good and strangely funny
    P.S.Stealth is not possible dont try it
  3. ChristopherS.
    Feb 17, 2007
    5
    Farcry took the game world by storm a few years back and to be honest I never really understood why. The much lauded AI is barely average and consists mainly of eagle eye sharpshooting, kamikaze charges and body armor. Character animation is comically bad and the voice acting is atrocious. Yes the tropical landscapes are beautiful and vast and the water looks wonderful unfortunately a lot Farcry took the game world by storm a few years back and to be honest I never really understood why. The much lauded AI is barely average and consists mainly of eagle eye sharpshooting, kamikaze charges and body armor. Character animation is comically bad and the voice acting is atrocious. Yes the tropical landscapes are beautiful and vast and the water looks wonderful unfortunately a lot of the action takes place indoors where things look decidedly ordinary. As for performance I hope your computer is a scorcher because this game will bring even top quality rigs to their knees.… Expand
  4. Al
    Nov 24, 2008
    5
    It came out in 2004 along with HL2 and Doom 3. However just like Doom 3, the graphics is all it really had to offer. Wasn't bad at the beginning with the jungle, however as soon as I saw those ridiculously looking mutant monster things, my god...that's when I couldn't bother anymore and stopped playing. They look really lame. The gameplay like Doom 3 is pretty linear as you It came out in 2004 along with HL2 and Doom 3. However just like Doom 3, the graphics is all it really had to offer. Wasn't bad at the beginning with the jungle, however as soon as I saw those ridiculously looking mutant monster things, my god...that's when I couldn't bother anymore and stopped playing. They look really lame. The gameplay like Doom 3 is pretty linear as you go from one place to the next killing the same idiotic mercenaries (even trying to play stealthily is boring). The voice acting is horrendously exaggerated and annoyingly bad, not to mention the story line which is the kind of material we've all heard before. My initial thoughts of playing the game were positive but they slowly went down as I went from one place to the next and it went way down when I came across those mutants. They tried to create fear but pretty much failed as it was cheesy. Like some Saturday morning cartoon creature mutant. Anyway, for a 2004 game it cannot in anyway be compared to the perfection of HL2 and what it had to offer, from amazing graphics to it's in depth story and convincing voice acting. HL2 is something which still holds up in 2008....Far Cry however I'm afraid does not.… Expand
  5. Ggdograa
    Jan 1, 2012
    6
    Far Cry is the classic example of a great idea with poor execution. At first glance and play-through it appears to be a fairly solid FPS with some beautiful locales, but the more you play the more you tarnish the original appearance. The main problem stems from some really bad enemy AI and a really difficult few levels that round off the end of the game. Even on the default difficultyFar Cry is the classic example of a great idea with poor execution. At first glance and play-through it appears to be a fairly solid FPS with some beautiful locales, but the more you play the more you tarnish the original appearance. The main problem stems from some really bad enemy AI and a really difficult few levels that round off the end of the game. Even on the default difficulty setting (there are 5 in total) you can expect to die quite a bit. Your character can only sustain a small barrage of gunfire before buying the farm. This is not helped by the 1 hit kills from sniper rifle and rocket launcher wielding enemies.

    Also some of the final levels in the game are unfairly difficult, to the point of just being frustrating and not fun at all. It's a real shame because when the game falls into place and you're lying in the bushes, picking off a group of thugs with your sniper rifle, you'll no doubt love and enjoy Far Cry. It's just a shame that its shortcomings aren't as few and far between.    … Expand
  6. BobD.
    Apr 12, 2004
    6
    Could have been a great game with one simple addition: quick-save/load. As is, it's a frustrating exercise in tedium as you play the same areas over and over and over and over and over and.... At this point (after one play-through), I've got the entire game memorized. It's unlikely I'll ever play it again. Game developers: read my virtual lips: GIVE US QUICK SAVE & Could have been a great game with one simple addition: quick-save/load. As is, it's a frustrating exercise in tedium as you play the same areas over and over and over and over and over and.... At this point (after one play-through), I've got the entire game memorized. It's unlikely I'll ever play it again. Game developers: read my virtual lips: GIVE US QUICK SAVE & QUICK LOAD for single-player FPS games! The game's also a serious resource hog. I frequently needed to drop my (very high-end) system down to a resolution of 1024x768 to get a decent frame rate. In summary, it's almost as disappointing as XIII (but not quite). Looks nice, though.… Expand
  7. Philuhhuh
    Sep 11, 2006
    6
    Simply an average shooter: average guns, average story, average vehicles, average AI. The only "novelty", if you can call it that, are the (formerly) great graphics, which do not look as good as as the Doom 3 engine and do not scale near as well as the Source engine.
    The story is tired and predictable (come on, monsters? Originality please...) and for some unholy reason there is no    Simply an average shooter: average guns, average story, average vehicles, average AI. The only "novelty", if you can call it that, are the (formerly) great graphics, which do not look as good as as the Doom 3 engine and do not scale near as well as the Source engine.
    The story is tired and predictable (come on, monsters? Originality please...) and for some unholy reason there is no quicksave. I know this makes it "easier" to mak a half-dozen console ports which result in increased revenue, but think of the gamer, please.    … Expand
  8. Groundfisher
    Jul 13, 2004
    6
    Just an average fps with beautiful graphics and no save game feature. Unfortunately, your computer is unlikely to be powerful enough to play the game at max settings. After all the hype, very disappointing.
  9. DerekG.
    May 30, 2006
    5
    Possibly the most disappointing game in history. How could anyone, especially a journalist with any integrity, call this game perfect? The AI is as dumb as any others, the graphics constantly glitch out on my high-end system, even on the lowest possible settings..the story is really truly dull and cliche, and the graphics pale in comparison to the likes of Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and even Possibly the most disappointing game in history. How could anyone, especially a journalist with any integrity, call this game perfect? The AI is as dumb as any others, the graphics constantly glitch out on my high-end system, even on the lowest possible settings..the story is really truly dull and cliche, and the graphics pale in comparison to the likes of Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and even Call of Duty 2.… Expand
  10. MandarijnMarijn
    Nov 21, 2012
    7
    This game was pretty good, and the graphics are impressive for such an old game. however, the game get's boring after a while. its a little bit all the way the same thing: Shooting, driving, shooting, driving and shooting... Still its a great game and its cheap.
  11. Riv
    Aug 19, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First a little history, back in 2004 there were three FPS games that hit the scene, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Far Cry. Far Cry started as a tech demo for Nvidia and Crytek decided to make it a full game. The games story line is OK. You're Jack Carver, a hired boater/gun-crazed-maniac for a C.I.A. operative named Val who is sent out to investigate a tropical set of islands with a mad scientist who is performing insane genetic experiments and who has a literal personal army of mercenaries complete with under/above-ground concrete bunkers, laboratories and more. There is a lot of equipment on the island including a large-scale satellite dish, military helicopters, and bunkers, etc. Your boat is knocked out by mercenaries and it's your job to find out what the plot is and to protect Val who's missing. (I'm lying I really have no freaking clue what the plot is it's really just a guy on a walky-talky telling you what to do).

    Far Cry does has lovely graphics and the tropical islands are fun to look around in.

    The basic game mechanics of the game is this; you have four weapons in your inventory to choose from; the mercanaries have very keen hearing and ok eye-sight (sometimes), you must shoot them in the head and make your way through the islands by killing thousands of mercanaries, engineers, scientists, to find Val and stop the mad doctor and help your friend on the microphone. You can crouch in bushes and grass, and snipe from long distances and do whatever it takes to get by, you can mark targets with a magical pair of binoculars which lets you hear across miles. Enemies can spot you by hearing you shoot/move or if you peep out of bushes too close or sometimes they just know where you are and are coming to get ya!

    The mechanics are fun in a way. But they can also be frustrating, oftentimes it makes sense but later on it can get silly. The game is long and challenging. There is no button to quick-save your game, and the check-points aren't well thought-out and I had to replay long portions of the game over and over in order to progress.

    Graphically the game was a hall-mark when it first came out. It still looks pretty good today; but the game is a lonely game. Everything is out to kill you and you go through the game you will go through alone without meeting your first ally until ten-hours or so into the game.

    You go from point A to B, to do objective A so you can go to point C to to objective B, etc... then the game ends.

    The premise of the game is a 8/10. OK story-line, OK location, interesting design. The rest of the game is a 4/10. Unrefined AI, repetition due to poorly though-out check-points and lack of changing gameplay, the grenades are pieces of poop you sling at enemies. The difficulty is just too high on normal difficulty and anything lower than that just defeats the purpose of the game. Thanks for reading.    … Expand
  12. DickT
    Jun 2, 2009
    6
    This game is more a lesson in how much frustration you can take than how a good the game is. Playing this game on "medium" is = to playing most other games on the hardest levels. And there's 3 other higher difficulty levels! The human enemies aren't that tough, they just have ridiculous accuracy. The mutants can kill you with one swipe and can jump around 50 ft. The rocket armed This game is more a lesson in how much frustration you can take than how a good the game is. Playing this game on "medium" is = to playing most other games on the hardest levels. And there's 3 other higher difficulty levels! The human enemies aren't that tough, they just have ridiculous accuracy. The mutants can kill you with one swipe and can jump around 50 ft. The rocket armed super mutant is tough as nails. It seems that the makers just wanted to see how hard and frustrating they could make a game. The auto save is crap - you'll find yourself replaying scenes 10+ times because of it. The right click zoom is buggy, and the rocket launcher has to be SUPER accurate to hit anything. Lastly, the "run meter" lasts 11 SECONDS. It's RIDICULOUS! Oh, and driving the vehicles is darn near impossible. So there you go. If you're a masochist...enjoy.… Expand
  13. NikB.
    Oct 21, 2007
    7
    The tropical landscapes are not only beautiful but make for an excellent tactical sneaking game. However not all of the game takes place outdoors. Indoors leaves the player without stealth and completely strips the player of any tactical advantage making it feel like a rather generic shooter at times. The human AI and base set up is also a large part of what makes the game fun an The tropical landscapes are not only beautiful but make for an excellent tactical sneaking game. However not all of the game takes place outdoors. Indoors leaves the player without stealth and completely strips the player of any tactical advantage making it feel like a rather generic shooter at times. The human AI and base set up is also a large part of what makes the game fun an interesting, but you eventually have to fight a whole lot of mutants with simple "charge at the player" AI. The story is also One of the most shallow stories I have experienced in a long time. Despite it's many shortcomings I gave it a 7 because of the refreshing jungle combat.… Expand
  14. nonaste
    May 31, 2015
    6
    The graphics are outstanding, even for 2015, absolutely beautiful. The story is interesting. After that things go downhill for me. The script is awful. The voice acting is lame. The absolutely worst thing for me is the combat. The AI are ridiculously accurate with their guns at loooong distances. I can't even see where they are half the time. Low crawling in the bush to avoidThe graphics are outstanding, even for 2015, absolutely beautiful. The story is interesting. After that things go downhill for me. The script is awful. The voice acting is lame. The absolutely worst thing for me is the combat. The AI are ridiculously accurate with their guns at loooong distances. I can't even see where they are half the time. Low crawling in the bush to avoid detection is a joke.The binocs help, a little, but not much. The game difficulty settings are stupid. "Easy"? You got to be frigging kidding me. Thank God I have a trainer to make the game a little more enjoyable. Otherwise I'd have to s*** can this game out of pure frustration. I've been playing shooters for 30 years and I know the difference between easy and hard. The game developer evidently doesn't.… Expand
  15. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    5
    Was alright, but not great, too simple not interesting gameplay..............
  16. omgitsbiren
    Jul 23, 2012
    5
    Nice graphics, multiple solutions to most problems, and challenging as hell, but awful controls, sub-par voice acting, and a paper-thin story make Far Cry another mostly boring and ultimately forgettable shooter.
  17. dsn
    May 17, 2012
    5
    i am new into games..so perhaps my review doesnt count that much...but i felt this game does not deserve a very high scores. Reasons: - the story is unattractive. - save points are decided by game.- the armor and heath shatters very quickly...i chose the easy level to start with ,,,and gave up after perhaps reaching somewhere to 70-80% of the game...i died so many times. the monsters killi am new into games..so perhaps my review doesnt count that much...but i felt this game does not deserve a very high scores. Reasons: - the story is unattractive. - save points are decided by game.- the armor and heath shatters very quickly...i chose the easy level to start with ,,,and gave up after perhaps reaching somewhere to 70-80% of the game...i died so many times. the monsters kill you in one blow!..and there are just too many enimies...i was tired of killing and dying. the good points are mentioed by many other reviewers.… Expand
  18. Rebmes
    Apr 3, 2008
    6
    Even in 2008, the graphics and setting are beautiful, compared to all the other games where everything happens in corridors and narrow streets and industrial areas. Unique combat styles where the AI has various strategies to try to take you down; have you ever fought in a jungle before on a 3d FPS?? Not like this. However, like some have said before me, this gets repetitive very quickly, Even in 2008, the graphics and setting are beautiful, compared to all the other games where everything happens in corridors and narrow streets and industrial areas. Unique combat styles where the AI has various strategies to try to take you down; have you ever fought in a jungle before on a 3d FPS?? Not like this. However, like some have said before me, this gets repetitive very quickly, and as soon as you enter the good old corridors and hangars, the game gets boring as hell. Find key, use key, find escape, find bomb, use bomb, find escape. Extremely boring storyline and plot delivery. Also, the whole combat system gets repetitive quickly, out in the jungle. Often times there are so many enemies; as soon as you shoot one they all shoot you, so you memorize and use the same strategy to kill them every time, or you die. Great game if you like simple shooters where all you do is kill die kill die kill die, horrible game if you like to get involved with a storyline or varied/original gameplay.… Expand
  19. NotResponsible
    Jul 3, 2007
    5
    All it is is a rip off of the source engine and Half-Life 2 as a jungle.
  20. Hamid
    Jul 20, 2009
    7
    Far cry is an okay game that gets boring after a while. Along the way you'll meet more enemies which include mutated humans turned into hideous monsters, big giant monsters with rocket launchers that fire at you, and most of all, humans. The graphics are not better than Crysis's even if it has been made by the same studio. The game is not better than the orange box or Crysis and Far cry is an okay game that gets boring after a while. Along the way you'll meet more enemies which include mutated humans turned into hideous monsters, big giant monsters with rocket launchers that fire at you, and most of all, humans. The graphics are not better than Crysis's even if it has been made by the same studio. The game is not better than the orange box or Crysis and for some players who have played the game complained about the game when it starts and howb the ground is all blue.… Expand
  21. BerlusconiisaThief!!
    May 7, 2004
    7
    A little bit boring.
  22. WuGladdy
    Jul 8, 2004
    7
    Hmmmm Far Cry- The Cry part is what I experienced for the first week trying to set up the game. First of all I started the installation which on the second cd, it corrupted, sending my dvd drive spastic, so I returned the game to get the DVD version. So I installed it, WOW, I got into the game to find all the graphics going weird, A little angry I then looked on the net to find the Hmmmm Far Cry- The Cry part is what I experienced for the first week trying to set up the game. First of all I started the installation which on the second cd, it corrupted, sending my dvd drive spastic, so I returned the game to get the DVD version. So I installed it, WOW, I got into the game to find all the graphics going weird, A little angry I then looked on the net to find the solution, I needed to update my ATI radeon 9200 drivers. So I installed it and got back in ready to get trigger happy. After the first few min I wasn't happy, no Anti-Alasing, hello were going back to the old days of the PS1. I tryed to turned it on but it crashed my computer. My little athlon 64 wasn't enough, it needed a $1000 graphics card to look fantastic. Bumper. So I played and with a little luck I completed it in less that three days. Boring, its mean't to be non linear!, it seemed pretty straight forward to me. So I decided to compare how far we have come in the last six years to halflife1 & MOH. Ok, maybe a little old but they have two strong components to a FPS. One puzzles and interaction with the environment. On numerous occasions I see opposing characters looking blankly out to sea, it doesn't happen in real life, there is all was one who does something random like having a smoke or adjusting his crutch etc. Look at MOH's first level, everyones havin a smoke playing cards, chuck a granade everyone starts flying. Things like this make games special. Also if this AI is really good why is it possible to get every opponent in section to come over and get mowed down leaving turrets empty which would have mowed me down! its a little stupid. Going back hl1, there was always something blowing up in your face, in farcry nothing, I never got crushed by anything during the game or get swept off my feet except for the boat sinking!. Its got some good features like a small but neat physics engine but the overall the game won't compare to half life 2.… Expand
  23. Dylanmc12
    Mar 3, 2011
    7
    A stealth game with broken stealth.

    WOOHOO! Being spotted 6 miles away by an enemy with no eyes!
    I don't see the appeal in a 'Crappy' Stealth game, stealth is all about sneaking past the enemy, not taking out a molotov and letting go.
  24. Elc1247
    Aug 24, 2011
    5
    pretty mediocre game, somewhat enjoyable, gets really repetitive, i dont see what all the fuss is about this game. not only that, but the AI is ridiculous, and i think theres actually a term "Far Cry vision" for how they are. apparently, they all have x-ray-teloscopic-homing vision and have aimbot on, so even when you have a bunch of bushes and the like in the way, and you cant see thepretty mediocre game, somewhat enjoyable, gets really repetitive, i dont see what all the fuss is about this game. not only that, but the AI is ridiculous, and i think theres actually a term "Far Cry vision" for how they are. apparently, they all have x-ray-teloscopic-homing vision and have aimbot on, so even when you have a bunch of bushes and the like in the way, and you cant see the enemy, they can somehow see you and blast you to death from a mile away...… Expand
  25. JimCorbett
    Sep 1, 2012
    7
    Great game for the time it was released. Awesome story and setting, gunplay is equally satisfying. It's also quite challenging at certain parts. The level design can get a bit confusing at times and mission objectives are sometimes a bit unclear. But overall it is a well done experience.
  26. Dezuuu
    Apr 4, 2012
    7
    Technically stunning for its time. Gunplay works fine and enemy AI is good, perhaps a little too good to be realistic. Multiplayer is great but the singleplayer is just decent.
  27. stvartak
    Feb 18, 2013
    5
    Far Cry has excellent gameplay mechanics, looks wonderful even eight years after its release, and...well, I can't say what else, because I can't get past the training level. Yes, it's that freaking hard. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, I can't move one inch (literally, no exaggeration) within earshot of an enemy without being swarmed and shot to pieces within seconds. I'll giveFar Cry has excellent gameplay mechanics, looks wonderful even eight years after its release, and...well, I can't say what else, because I can't get past the training level. Yes, it's that freaking hard. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, I can't move one inch (literally, no exaggeration) within earshot of an enemy without being swarmed and shot to pieces within seconds. I'll give the game developers this much: This is the most realistic shooter I've ever played. This is really what would happen if I tried to infiltrate a mercenary camp or steal their truck or rob their tents. But I want to PLAY, and to this casual fan of shooters and action RPGs, this game is not play. It's work. Punishing, unrelenting, unrewarding work. In the game world, I've died roughly 200 times (literally again) and progressed roughly 500 feet. I give this game a 5, which is the average of 10 (because it's probably an incredibly fantastic game to the kind of hardcore gamer that I'm not) and zero (because that's what this game has been worth to me personally). I want to like it, but it's just so damned hard that it's not fun.… Expand
  28. kane148
    Dec 13, 2012
    7
    This game is a mix of very good and very bad elements, and while it ends up being a good overall package, it could have been much better. The graphics were gorgeous for its day (especially the environment) and many of the levels are very large and open, with plenty of options for approaching problems. However, as you progress through the game you spend more and more time in linear bunkersThis game is a mix of very good and very bad elements, and while it ends up being a good overall package, it could have been much better. The graphics were gorgeous for its day (especially the environment) and many of the levels are very large and open, with plenty of options for approaching problems. However, as you progress through the game you spend more and more time in linear bunkers and facilities and less time in open environments. In addition, the enemies you face eventually become very tough and thus severely limit your tactical options (e.g. soldiers that can survive a sniper shot to the face or mutants that take 5 rocket hits to kill). The characters are entirely forgettable, the voice acting sucks, and the story is cliche and boring. The vehicles are very difficult to control and often just make you a bullet magnet. The weapon selection is moderately good, with an array of choices for both subtlety and fireworks. Far Cry is a game well worth playing, but one which failed to live up to its stellar potential.… Expand
  29. fedak
    Nov 23, 2012
    5
    Nostalgia may be clouding this review- I remember playing this when it originally came out and being simply amazed with the graphics engine
  30. Speed4Runs
    Jun 21, 2013
    5
    Good game.

    Plot 4.75
    Technique 6.25
    -Graphics 6.25
    -Performance 6
    GP 6
    Sound 4.25
    Longevity 5 ½

    Avg. 5.35

    This game features good graphics and peformances; its plot is ok and the gameplay is very nice.
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Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best PC Game of 2004
5
#5 Most Discussed PC Game of 2004
12
#12 Most Shared PC Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 72 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 72
  3. Negative: 0 out of 72
  1. Cheat Code Central
    90
    The game has plenty going for it. Most notably the AI which rivals just about any human that I've played against. What is most interesting is that the AI plays fair. It doesn't have ESP.
  2. ActionTrip
    91
    It's like being stranded right smack in the middle of an action-packed B grade movie, and while I'd probably fall asleep half way through the flick, I stayed wide awake and my adrenaline was pumping as mad while playing Far Cry.
    Read full review
  3. GameBiz
    92
    Far Cry is the total package; outstanding gameplay, completely groundbreaking graphics, and a storyline and plot filled with surprises and heart pounding excitement.
    Read full review
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