Here's the snapshot setup for the game, which is told through an incredible Hollywood-style movie introduction: you're escorting an inquisitive journalist to a remote tropical island aboard your sailboat. Upon reaching said island, she departs via a skidoo; seconds later a rocket propelled grenade screams from somewhere on the island and rips through the hull of your boat, sending you flying like a rag doll into the ocean. Half unconscious, hallucinating about monsters, with bullets and grenades slicing through the water after you, you manage to swim into an underwater tunnel to safety... for the moment.

Holy shnikey, what a way to get the juices flowing! And the game never let ups from there; this is a 20+ hour nail biting manhunt! You play as Jack Carver, a man with a mysterious past, just minding his own business and trying to make a living by sailing folks around the Caribbean. Jack looks like a buffed version of Stephen Baldwin (Celebrity Mole) with the attitude of Vice City's Tommy Vercetti, complete with Hawaiian shirt.

There are five components that make Far Cry standout from all the other FPS made: graphics, immersion level, opened ended gameplay, enemy AI and the wonderful story. All five areas are unparalleled in game-dom, and all this from a little known German developer by the name of Crytek (who will no longer be unknown). The game's storyline borrows heavily from The Island of Dr. Moreau, but it's been tweaked and reworked with stunning results, so you can't help loving it! No other game since Half-Life has immersed a player into its story and virtual world like this one.

The graphics are handled by Crytek's built-from-scratch engine called the CryEngine, and will undoubtedly be the new engine of choice for many years to come. Every single thing in this game is jaw dropping, from the 1.2 km draw distance (which redefines the art of sniping), to the most amazing character models I've seen, to the tropical island setting - something that's not only refreshing to see, but difficult to pull off due to the complexity of rendering realistic foliage. It's so realistic that you feel the sweat pouring off your forehead. Beaches are so brilliantly rendered, you can see yourself drinking a Corona on one of them and actually feel the sand snaking its way up your khakis. The indoor environments are as detailed as their exterior counterparts, and it never feels like you are walking through the same cookie-cutter area twice.

There are several features that make the needle pop off the immersion scale. First off, Far Cry features a loading technique similar to the one used in Halo: a long load at the beginning of each segment, seamless play throughout the whole level after. It's worth the wait. A brief pause occurs whenever the game autosaves, a feature I didn't care much for. Fortunately, Ubisoft has already stated that a quick-save patch is forthcoming.

Real-time lighting and shading effects are spectacular and shadows move exactly as they would in the real world. Music and sound effects are outstanding and play a huge part in creating the ambiance. Case in point: when you stop in the middle of jungle, you can hear birds chirping, insects buzzing, and if you're unfortunate enough to have chopper after you, the whirring of its blades as it hovers overhead. Using the binoculars, conveniently equipped with a laser mic, you can overhear the hilarious and often informative conversations between mercenaries. Sure, some of the voice acting is hackneyed, but it fits perfectly with the Hollywood style action. All of these "little things" help to create a true, virtual world unlike any we've seen to date.

The AI in Far Cry redefines the term artificial intelligence. Having experienced SWAT training, I can say with some degree of expertise that these guys are disturbingly accurate in their execution of para-military tactics. They use every bit of cover available, try to outflank you, utilize suppressive fire, yell out orders to each other, and use appropriate weapon based on the situation. Not once did I ever feel as if I were wading through an endless line of idiotic soldiers. However, there's one slight problem with AI - it's sometimes too smart. They were able to see in the dark, sniff me out while I was skulking through the underbrush on my belly, and heard me from over a hundred yards away - all on the Medium setting. Hopefully Crytek will address this issue sooner rather then later, because it can be decidedly frustrating.

Weapons are adequate if not overly impressive or genre busting. You can only carry four weapons at a time so there's a tactical element that forces you to weigh out your situations. All the weapons are taken from the real world, and each has different characteristics, such as fire rate and recoil.

The physics engine allows you to knock over objects (like gas canisters), and does a wonderful job of sending bodies hurling through the air, but it's not as robust as the Havok engine used in Painkiller. For example a wooden crate will float in water, but won't blow up, even with a rocket launcher.

One area that's rather hit and miss are the seven drivable vehicles. Vehicles are equipped with weapons, but driving in the first person (normal) view is akin to having your teeth yanked out. Fortunately, Crytek included a third person view, which makes them drivable. The other problem I found is that it's far too easy to get them lodged against a tree or hung up on something, rendering them completely useless. I found the hang glider to be the most fun because the view is so spectacular! I wish it was utilized more.

While the single-player campaign will take you over 20 hours to finish, multiplayer was somewhat of a letdown. It seemed like it was tacked on and a lot of things didn't feel right. There are only three game modes: free-for-all, team deathmatch, and assault - each with a limited number of maps. Where in the single player mode huge maps were a plus, they can drag things down in multiplay. Servers need to be chock full of people, or else trying to hunt a few players in the dense and massive jungle ends up being an exercise in futility. Vehicles aren't useful since there's no protection from the fusillade of bullets you attract; and weapon balance is lopsided - especially the sniper rifle. The draw distances are so expansive that a sniper can dominate a match from over a kilometer away and you'll never find him. Overall, multiplay needs a lot of help if they hope to make it popular.

I do have a gripe, and it has to do with the specs listed to run this game. When I first ran it on my system using my old 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce4 MMX 440, major glitches occurred on any setting above the auto-detected "low." It still looked good - until I popped in my new 256 MB NVIDIA 5950 Ultra with max settings! The difference is literally mind-blowing. For Crytek to list a 128 MB VRAM card as "recommended" is absurd, but to suggest that there is any possibility of running this game using on a 64 MB card is downright criminal and actually undermines their product. Bottom line: this game NEEDS a high-end card to enjoy in all its majesty.

For a little known company from Germany, this is an effort that will make both id and Valve lie awake at night. There's a new kid on the block dishing out FPS gaming goodness to the masses! For the moment, Far Cry is the undisputed "King of FPS" and will be the new standard that everyone will have to live up to. If you're a fan of FPSers, you owe it to yourself to buy this game!