Far Cry launched in 2004, and even by today's standards it still is a great game.
Single Player campaign: Far Cry 2 is more than a technical achievement in term of graphics, it's also a very fun game to play. The controls are responsive and the game's campaign uncovers a story that you really want to see through. You'll fight your way through mutated humans on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere, what better game is there? Simply put: I've played the campaign roughly twice time and it is still just plain fun. It's one of the rare games that you'll really want to play and there isn't one single level in the game that is boring. Almost no cinematics or whatsoever. This is one of the best single player campaigns I ever experienced and it doesn't becore repetitive like it's big brother Far Cry 2. Each level in Far Cry 2 is different and lets you experience new kinds of gameplays.
Mutliplayer: The multiplayer is great in LAN, but online it's a real pain in the ass. It's really hard to get a PING number that is low and therefore I always have been kicked out of servers. Is it my internet connection (330kb/s)? Nope. Is it my computer? Definitively NOT.
Graphics: Well, far cry is made by Crytek so you know what to expect: eye candy graphics, amazing vegetation, etc. If... you have a proper computer... The 3d models (except the characters) look very great and the textures just fit the tropical island/forest setting. Even at night the game just looks right. Expect to be blown away by the graphics if you run on the highest setting. Maybe not as much as Crysis, but it's the most realistic game visually from 2004. With the last update, HDR and new effects were available for videocards supporting only Shader 2.0.
Cryengine Sandbox: You can create your own levels and maps, but only if you have a lot of time to learn and are really intelligent. Not so many tutorials are still available online. And since it was my first experience at modding, it really was complicated for me to learn. Still, the Cryengine Sandbox is versatile and is made for lots of creative minds and I was very pleased with it. I would recommend a computer with a 512mb videocard though, since custom-made maps tend to be more performance hungry.
Story: Interesting story, but told through gameplay. Cutscenes in fact are rare. But you still get the feeling of the game and of the events. Some levels are more horror centered,as mutated creatures try to kill you.
Difficulty: This game is very hard. Wasn't able to stand past the last level at the last checkpoint. I mean, how are we supposed to run 1km when there are so much enemies with rockets and NO cover AT ALL. I was stuck at a lot of the places in the game and it was frustrating. That game is awesome but incredibly hard, except on easy settings which you can only adjust one time: when you start the campaign.
Overall, this game is great and for the price it retails on steam (10 bucks), it's worth it if you like shooters.
It still looks good (if you have a powerful machine) and if you are on a high resolution setting.
It sure deserves it's 9.5x out of 10 and I've played it a long time, always counting on it for benchmarks and amazing visuals (before I got my PS3 LOL). Far Cry 2 is better, but they have nothing in common except the tropical jungle setting. Both games are deserved to be bought as they each offer some different type of enterainment. So get it before Jack Carver takes you down!
*It's one of the most popular games on gamespot.