timppu: I don't get the Far Cry 1 hate. I've played it through long time ago but decided to retry, and now I got hooked up in it (currently in the Bunker level, level 7 I think). Played it until 2:30AM last night...
I was suprised the gameplay and even graphics impress even today. Sure the plants look quite fake nowadays and there is obvious pop up even with maximum settings, but it all still manages to look so lush and nice.
And I still adore the gameplay. Yeah, the enemies gang up on you... just as they are supposed to. The principles that I feel would work in real combat situation seem to apply, ie. hit the deck for better aim and coverage, snipe one or two enemies with your assault rifle or the sniper rifle, and instantly crawl to another place because the enemies will come inspecting your last known position. Then shoot them to the side from your new position. :)
I don't even mind the mutants, in fact I feel they are a nice diversion from human enemies, even though I enjoy more shooting the humans to head. :)
The lack of instant save is indeed a problem... until you realize it is there, kinda. Go to console and give command like
\save_game 1
With that "cheat", I find the hardest difficulty level just right for me. Without it, there would be too much replaying for my liking.
I'm not arguing though that e.g. Crysis games aren't even better. The same basic formula is refined further.
I'm quite a big fan of Far Cry's gameplay, when it remembers what it's good at. Namely, when the action and stealth meld together seamlessly for brutal games of cat and mouse in wide open jungles, where you're constantly having to think on your toes and try to outsmart the uncanny AI. Sadly, that only makes up about half of the game. The first half. After that, the occasional frustrating moments start to become more and more frequent, with a few notably bad setpieces (the Osprey boss battle and the part where you're dropped into the mutant-infested jungle are two that come to mind) to sour things even further. And the fact that it starts to get really interior-happy doesn't help matters. Sure, it's still playable, and inspiration sometimes shines through. The mutants can sometimes be exciting, some of the levels are still enjoyable. I don't really think it's a bad game so much as it's a game with a ton of good ideas and a ton of flaws.
I didn't actually know that you could save via console, though. That would certainly alleviate some of the frustration, since the checkpoint save system was one of the biggest annoyances (although not the only one). Maybe I'll give the game another try some time (I've played it at least twice over the past few years).
FantasyNightmare: How does it hold up graphically?
My brother bought it a few months after release & I remember it looking amazing, but what about now?
Elmofongo: Despite that my computer can handle Battlefield 3 at max, Crysis 1 still a powerhouse when I put Very High the frame rate is slower, but just High its at 60 frames per second. You almost never notice the difference between High and Very High though since they almost look the same.
Really? 'Cause my system isn't really top of the line, but I don't seem to have any problem maxing the game out. It might have something to do with my resolution (I game at 1280x1024, which I know some people consider to be low).
It still looks really good, by the way. Not the single best-looking game on the market anymore, but still quite pretty.