Having a bad day, Mr. Carver? Well, gee, of course you are. I mean, here you sit on your little boat, trying to put your military days behind you as you perform a little task for a reporter, and next thing you know, you're up to your ass in all sorts of mercenary action, with strange military forces lurking about and a serum that's been injected into your bloodstream that makes you more ravenous and animal-like than ever before. This was the back story when Far Cry Instincts arrived for the Xbox last year, and it still manages to hold true in its Xbox 360 successor, Far Cry Instincts Predator, which is still the same wily animal it's always been, even though it seems to be on a leash in a couple of areas.

Predator manages to pack the full Instincts game, redesigned with a bit of high-resolution gloss to give the game a somewhat whole new look for the 360. Some with HDTV's and high-end models may notice this, but, for the most part, the game still looks roughly the same, aside from some nifty effects here and there (like the water that's been clamored about so much). The game still looks fantastic, though, as you work your way through lush, breathing jungle settings stalking all sorts of mercenaries and getting from point A to point B either on foot or with the assistance of a vehicle.

The gameplay still manages to excite as well. The first-person shooting controls have been well-mapped for the 360 pad, complete with the ability to take over turrets and other heavy weaponry as you blast apart soldiers, vehicles, and other dangers in the wild. But the real treat comes into play when you acquire your more veral animal instincts, being able to jump great distances and swipe away at enemies, knocking them way the hell back as you let your beast come forth. It takes a while to get to this part, so patience is definitely a virtue here.

That's one of the real problems of Predator. It does feature new content with a fascinating Predator side mission that's worth exploring and gives you your beastly abilities right from the start, but it's locked until you beat Instincts. This forces all players, either newcomers or veterans, to work through the original game all over again. I suppose Crytek and Ubisoft might've done this to make gamers work for their skills, but it still feels a bit like a cheat for those who worked their way through the first game already. However, the effort's worthwhile, as the new sub-game excites just like the original.

The game also works very healthily alongside the Xbox Live service. Gamers can jump into a series of matches quite easily, and the action never really loses pace. There's also access to a map editor, just like in the original, where you can build your own little field of pistol-whipping paradise and then share it with the world and your friends. A new Predator multiplayer game also adds a bit of heft, allowing one person to have the animal powers while the others try to activate a device that could kill him. Think of it as a variation of the spies versus mercenaries game from Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, but with a more concentrated goal.

There is some slight disappointment in the overall development. I think the game could've easily been pushed with even more hi-res visuals or maybe even a bump in frame rate to 60 frames per second. It also would've been nice for even more twists in the gameplay formula to have been introduced, or maybe even some more dialogue from the likes of Stephen Dorff (who voices Carver) and company. The whole thing feels like Far Cry Instincts Plus instead of a real next-gen machine, like it should have been.

But at least Far Cry Instincts was a good enough game to begin with, and, although this isn't a next-gen monster, Predator is still the best version of the game on the market. Its multiplayer is a behemoth waiting to be discovered, and the new Predator mission, once unlocked, is beastly fun. Yet you still can't shake the feeling that the game leashed itself when it didn't really need to. If you already own the Xbox version, give this a curious rent. If you haven't yet learned to trust your Instincts, there's no better time.