Far Cry Vengeance

The real price of fiscally rushed games.

	Version Wii	Developer Ubisoft	Publisher Ubisoft	Genre FPS

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Never before has a jungle escapade been so linear. Flowers and grass might look pretty from a distance but when looked side-on they disappear, becoming visible again from the other side. Want to hide in those trees over there? Sorry, you can't get past this blocky 1-pixel depth bush here. With invisible walls keeping you in check and the storyline plodding from A to B, it is very much a case of 'don't stray off the path' both literally and metaphorically. Not that you'll even care much about the plot. Most of the time you'll simply be following a blue dot on your radar from one place to the next without knowing quite why and without even wanting to find out.

Animations too are terrible and wooden with enemy soldiers moving like puppets. One set-piece early in the game involves a helicopter flying in to drop off some enemy commandos. Once you have played through the level you know they will be coming the next time and so you can pick them off before the helicopter even reaches its drop-off point and they abseil out. However, once shot they fall out feet first, almost as if they are parachuting, with the helicopter continuing on its merry way as if nothing has happened. The abseil ropes still drop out from nowhere and are then retracted as if by magic. On the off chance that one is drawn into the game world and manages to suspend their disbelief, they are soon jarred back to reality by the level of detail models that pop from one to the next so obviously it's painful to watch.

The AI and physics are not much better. Being able to jump on top of tents with no ill-effect should say enough, and while they've obviously tried to do something clever in terms of the control method, actions such as throwing grenades doesn't quite work. Having to 'throw' the nunchuk is difficult at the best of times, but when trying to do it quickly and trying to aim correctly and judge how much power to put in the throw, you'd be lucky if it ends up anywhere near your intended target.

Not that it matters much. An exploding grenade will only cause the enemy to walk towards it to investigate the source of the noise. And most of the time the enemy soldiers don't realise they are being shot at until they are almost dead. Whilst the harder difficulty levels might make them a bit more mercenary, there is not really any desire to replay through the game again just for a tougher challenge.

And let's not even mention the sound. Looping sound tracks that don't match up, walking effects that have you looking all around to find the source of the noise - in a game this bad it's the average voice acting that stands out as the highlight. Shame about the terrible dialogue though.

Obviously the pressure to be a new consoles launch title and the rewards that go with it are immense, but gamers really do deserve better. If vengeance is a dish best served cold, then this one is something made with turkeys and lemons. If you're hungry enough, you may eat it but you won't enjoy it. Such a waste.

There's so many things wrong with Far Cry Vengeance that it's difficult to know where to begin. Poor graphics, loose controls, bad AI - it's amazing these things got past the design stage never mind QA. One can only assume that quality was a secondary concern.

Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL 4.0 4.5 3.0 2.0 1.0 3.0

THE VERDICT: Being one of the limited games on offer at the launch of the Wii was the aim, with gamers picking up a copy due to the lack of options on the shelf. But at what price? Those picking up a copy and who don't know better will automatically dismiss the Wii (or Ubisoft) as an also-ran. The console and its fans deserve more.

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