Far Cry Instincts (XBOX)

[arogan]

First impressions (about 1-2hrs of play)

- xbox exclusive.
- very pretty for the xbox. not quite as nice as the pc but close. there's some pop in on the foliage. They tried to do some pseudo HDR lighting and I personally don't like it. Some things just look too bright in the sun. But other than that very nice graphics.
- This game shares NOTHING from the PC version except the characters, setting, and probably some of the storyline. So far there hasn't been a single duplicate map/mission. It's all new.
- Gameplay feels more linear (but that isn't really a bad thing). You rarely get lost. You always know where to go next (it's shown in your compass). The controls are spot on (very halo like). Weapons feel nice when fired. The gun play and battles are great. There are some innovative gameplay elements I haven't seen before like setting traps or get this. You can go prone, crawl under one of those island huts on stilts, turn around and lie on your back, and shoot the enemies between the floor boards. That is way cool. AI seems almost as good as the PC version.
- Check point save system that hasn't been too bad so far. No difficulty settings but there is a place to enter cheat codes.
- extensive live support that I haven't had a chance to test yet
- Levels are HUGE.

Overall this is an excellent shooter for xbox and is highly recommended.

[firstadopter]

Cool review, this game has been getting good reviews on the net. My out-of-left-field question is why you play first person shooters on a console, when the experience is so much better in my opinion on the PC with the keyboard/mouse? Just curious.

[TheAngryIntern]

i agree with you, rendition. I pretty much flat out refuse to play FPS type games on consoles. I'm way to used to the keyboard/mouse combo that when i try to play on a console i get wasted. There is a company that makes adapters for all the consoles that lets you plug 2 PS2 devices into the standard controller port. I haven't tried one yet, but I'm considering getting one for the xbox/xbox360(if i get it) and perhaps giving halo another try. I bet with a keyboard/mouse you could probably wipe the floor with all the Halo-ites who think they are the shizz!!! I'd probably get accused of hacking or something!!

[arogan]

Well before guild wars my main genre is FPS. Now having said that of course I much prefer the mouse/keyboard over a console controller but like I said in my review this version of far cry is an xbox exclusive. I've finished far cry on the pc a while back and loved it. So this is more far cry, all new content, with a few new twists, and only exists on xbox.

Now having said that I do own one of these:
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=83&products_id=5438&

I also have the ps2 model.
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=23&products_id=5439&

I just haven't had a chance to try it out.
I'll be sure to post a review if I ever get around to it.

One more thing. My hand/arm kind of hurts from RSI (repetitve stress injuries) from using the mouse all day at work and at home. I end up using my left hand to mouse at work (even though I'm right handed. Boy did that take a LONG time to get use to). Then I save my right hand for mousing at home for you know the important stuff like GAMES! Anyways, playing fps with a controller also helps reduce fatigue on my hand/arm/wrist.

So basically the only time I play shooters on consoles is when that content is exclusive to the console world.

And yes you should give Halo/Halo 2 another try. They probably have the best controlls of any console shooter. If you can't get use to halo controllers then yeah you should probably just give up.