	Far Cry Instincts Evolution
	Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-16	Words By:
FCI Evolution is a standalone add-on to last year’s highly successful Far Cry Instincts. The “evolution” of the title concerns your character’s animalistic abilities rather than the gameplay or game, which have barely changed at all – but hey, it’s under 20 quid so who’s complaining? The events that happened during Far Cry Instincts changed Jack Carver's (that’s you that is) life forever. Thanks to nutty professor Krieger's unique brand of folk medicine Jack became a semi-animal and had to fight for his life as he found his way across the beautiful Jacutan Archipelago islands in search of revenge. Back home after his exploits Jack (you) thought he had finally found paradise. But when a gorgeous woman enters the beach bar he’s drinking at things quickly go down hill. Hunted for a murder he didn't commit Jack (yep, you) is drawn into another adventure and must draw on his most savage instincts in order to make his hunters his prey. During Instincts Jack Carver (that’s still you) gained feral abilities which allowed him (still you) to run faster, jump higher and further, track enemies by scent and see better in the dark – you have all these right from the start in Evolution… and I have to say it kind of sullied the experience for me – the best bit of the Instincts story was the way you gained these abilities and learned to best use them and combine them with traditional combat. Being this powerful beast from the start makes things a little easy, and simplistic – on the default setting you can just about charge through the entire game running up to and slash/punch attacking enemies or using sprung tree branch (Rambo-style) traps – meaning the many weapons (shotguns, sniper rifles, machines guns, pistols, grenades and the new pipe bombs, molotovs and blowgun) are almost redundant – you use them more for your amusement than your protection or because you need them. Crank the difficulty up though, and just like Jack the game takes on an entirely different complexion… Far Cry Instincts’ gorgeous tropical settings, although expansive were terribly linear. In Evolution there seems to be more than one way to get through most of them, designers really seem to have taken the criticism of Instincts’ linearity on board and the second level (set in a small group of islands) allows you a remarkable amount of freedom and lets you explore the huge play area as long as you wish and achieve the three objects in any order you want – this lack or restriction is very good to see, and very, very cool to play so early in the game. Later levels diversify quite well and mean that although shorter, Evolution is a more varied experience than Instincts. Graphically this is still one of the Xbox’s prettiest games, with only the basic character models (love interest Kade looks deformed and like she has a nasty skin disease) and aged ragdoll effects spoil the overall look. The enemy AI, as in Instincts, works to a point; enemies will react when friends are hit, hide and call for reinforcements to hunt you, but still manage to act incredibly dumb at times or appear to be psychic at others, they see you through trees and just won’t be led into some traps, rendering the entire feature pointless at times. The game has three difficulty settings now and that’s probably just as well because hardened Far Cryers will probably see off Evolution’s story mode in one sitting, with only a few hidden Tomb Raider-style secrets to make you want to replay the levels. Thankfully Evolution has the same excellent multiplayer options and map editor as Instincts which will more than likely add greatly to its lifespan. New multiplayer maps and new map editor templates (including new buildings sets, vehicles and weapons) are all compatible with Instincts ones, so that means you can import, update and edit all those maps you made last summer, and hopefully didn’t delete yet. The map editor is still an amazing tool and rather like Driv3r’s director mode, a game in itself. Far Cry Instincts was a very popular game at Gamecell last year and this reasonably priced update does a good job of extending the franchise’s life without actually evolving all that much. More of the same but still different enough to merit a purchase, the game plays fluidly and manages a revengeful climax without any awful boss battles. Bottom line: if you liked Instincts you really can’t miss Jack Carver’s second outing.

Best Bits
- Oooh that scenery, that water
- More open levels
- New map editor features
- Sensible price

Worst Bits
- Some sticky scenery
- Basic character models and physics - Kade looks hideous


by: Sloppy Sneak