Far Cry Instincs Predator: Did I hit it?
As a fan of the original game "Far Cry", I had high hopes for the console games. Recently, I got a copy of Far Cry Instincts Predator for just a few dollars. Therefore, I don't think there is any bias of "buyers justification" in this review.
Similar to the original, the levels in FCIP are mostly wide path outdoor areas filled with building to clear out. Where FCIP differentiates itself is in the stealth gameplay and the super "feral" abilities you get as the game progresses. The stealth gameplay can be really tense and fun if you let yourself get immersed in the situation. The jungle setting is perfect for crawling along and quietly taking out one enemy at a time. There is also the mechanic of setting a branch trap and then luring enemies into it that never gets old. What does get old is arguable the worst aim control I have ever experienced in an Xbox game and close to the worst vehicle controls as well.
Thankfully there is an aim assist and a target assist and with them both on, you may just hit what you are aiming at. Normally, I never turn on these types of assists because they feel like cheating. In FCIP, they feel like a needed fix the problems with aiming in the first place.
The level design also suffers at times from trial and error missions. You spend time trying to figure out where to go next and running into invisible walls. Its not that the game is not linear (it is) its just that looking for a slightly different color vine, while helicopters and platoon rain bullets on you, can be frustrating. A map would have helped but all you get is a radar which can send you in the wrong direction because the target may be above you around the next road.
Once you start to gain your feral abilities, the game does open up a bit and gives you a strong melee attack and other abilities that give the game more variety than some typical shooters.
At times, the game is tense and fun, at other its purely frustrating. If the developers just spent a bit more fixing the near broken controls, I may have enjoyed the game quite a bit. But, no mater how much fun the game environment can be at times, bad controls equal a bad game. At least, that's the way I see it.
