To the people who bought this game and hate it because it is not your average Run n' Gun style, get over it.
This game helped shape FPS games as we know it! Stealth is incorporated in the game because you are facing overwhelming odds (Sounds like Soldiers: Heroes of WW2...Love that game.) and are just an average Joe (Sorry Joe!). The game is hard, yes I will say that, but you will SURVIVE LONGER if you forget everything you did in Halo or Unreal Tournament and use your inner Tom Clancy Tactics. This is a Splinter Cell/Doom Hybrid! It has mercs and mutants (Seriously, wtf is with the mutant gorilla things?) and not Aliens (Although I'm sure my dad hired a few of them....=P) or Nazis or whatever you think! The game puts you in a situation in which you must think!! So go ahead and bitch about it, but while you do that I'll be ahead of you in the game. =)

Exactly, and about the last sentence...
That's what she said.

game , set , match

That's why I love Far Cry. It makes you think about every situation before you approach it. It's a thinking man's FPS, but it gives you your thrills in a different way to a standard FPS. The adrenaline rush is found in hiding from scores of mutants stalking the forests, not from running around like a one man tank. You never actually feel like a one man army in Far Cry, despite taking on all those mercenaries. You don't feel like you have to kill everybody before continuing.

Yep, one BMFing game. Too bad some people just suck at it. =P

Well, I really enjoyed the sneaksy-shooting-people-in-the-head-from-cover bit... but the characterization is so ridiculous it ruins it for me. And at least the character could act a bit more like Garrett or Snake instead of being a loud, obnoxious, hawaiian-shirt wearing jerkass. The voice acting just pushes it further into wall-banger territory.
I'd be more inclined to enjoy the game if I didn't feel like my brain's trying to escape the inanity via my ears every time anyone opens their mouth. The jokes aren't funny, the characters aren't likable, the plot has more holes in it than a cheesecloth... I realize it may be attempting to shoot the moon and go for parody rather than seriousness, but it just comes out -bad-.
And how are you supposed to hide in the bushes when you're wearing a bright red shirt?
At least the gameplay is usually fun.
--edit--
I don't actually hate the game that much; I'm just pointing out where some of the detractors may be coming from (except for the run-and-gunners, that is, who need to get a clue and play some Thief).

Or Splinter Cell.

I like this game because I like my fps games like i like women to be : fast, dumb and pretty. : )

Well turn the sound off.
I'm Deaf and I LOVE this game. For the aforesaid reasons.

I liked the game until I ran into mutants. That ruined an otherwise mighty fine game. I skipped on Crysis, because that also has mutants (or aliens, whatever) and went for Far Cry 2. Which is exactly like Far Cry 2 sans the mutants, though it too has its flaws but that's a whole other story.

This is a really great game, because it's just so fun! Like a stupid but really fun and entertaining B-Movie :-)
The only drawback Imho, is the Trigens, No! I don't hate them, but at a certain point in the game, I feel that they become way to powerful, or maybe it's something else, but I always felt the game became really unblanced after you get thrown out of the helicopter and land on the top of that Waterfall.
Otherwise, this game is cool, and I think it's worth considering that when it was released it was just as demanding on the current hardware as Crysis is today, but despite of that, this game was twice the size of Crysis.

I think this game gets too much shit for the Trigens. Aside from the super-strong ones with rocket launchers that you see later on, they really aren't that big a deal. They require different tactics than the human enemies, and while they can be challenging, they aren't hard if you're careful.
The biggest issue I have with Far Cry is the story, writing and voice acting. Yes, I know that standards for shooters weren't very high even in 2003 or so, but really, Far Cry is insultingly bad in this respect. Whenever a character speaks, I want to shut the game off, it's so awful. It's made even worse by the fact that the protagonist as the most annoying of all people in the game. If it wasn't for these unfortunate flaws, I'd call Far Cry a PC classic that really opened the door for a lot of shooter conventions that we now take for granted.

I believe the game would receive much less critique considering the Trigens if it were for a more lenient Save-System. One off-center Shotgun volley against a pouncing Trigen and you are basically stripped off your armor in one hit... or worse. I find that challenging with the quicksave option/cheat enabled. Without it i found it plainly frustrating.
But you are certainly right about offering a change of pace/tactics. You are changed from a hunter stalking his prey to a creature that pits its instincts and will to survive against stronger foes that strike from the darkness.
I don't despise the voice acting and enjoy the open levels and presentation (looks much better in motion than on screenshots and the sound is great).
I consider this game as somewhat of a milestone in the FPS genre.
...
Plus it was made in Germany ;-)
Greetings
-Burnout

This is my first FPS and I'm quite impressed with the tactics and enemy AI. It's hard, for me anyway, but still very fun.