Far Cry

Lore & Background

The first Far Cry game was developed by the German studio Crytek and premiered their CryEngine software. One of Crytek's goals with the CryEngine was to be able to render realistic outdoor spaces with large viewing distances, which was a unique feature compared with other game engines at the time of its release. The CryEngine was originally demonstrated as a tech demo at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 1999 under the name X-Isle: Dinosaur Island, specifically aimed at Nvidia graphics processors. The demo allowed the user to explore a virtual tropical island populated with dinosaurs, showcasing the size of the virtual world that the CryEngine could handle. Following E3 1999, they secured a deal with Nvidia to distribute X-Isle alongside all Nvidia cards as benchmarking software, as at the time the CryEngine was the most demanding game engine on the market. Ubisoft made a deal with Crytek to build out X-Isle into a full AAA title and obtained publishing rights for this title.

The game develops the story of player-character Jack Carver, who stumbles upon the genetic research of Dr. Krieger and the Krieger Corporation, on a fictional Micronesia island, to create powerful Trigen Beasts as weapons later sold to mercenaries. Far Cry released in March 2004 for Microsoft Windows to critical praise and strong sales, with over 730,000 units sold in the first four months. Following Far Cry's release, Crytek, wanting to show that CryEngine had other applications, signed a deal in July 2004 to develop a gaming franchise with publisher Electronic Arts (EA), a direct competitor to Ubisoft. This franchise became the Crysis series. With Crytek unable to work with them, Ubisoft assigned its studio Ubisoft Montreal to help port the title to various game consoles through the Far Cry Instincts and Far Cry Vengeance titles. These titles required Ubisoft Montreal to rework much of the game as the consoles at this point in time were not as powerful as personal computers, and could not handle the wide open levels without performance problems. These games created more linear levels from the original Far Cry, added campaigns and multiplayer modes, and in some cases, changed the game's narrative to less-realistic outcomes. In March 2006, Ubisoft acquired all rights to the Far Cry series and a perpetual license for the CryEngine version used in the development of Far Cry.

Reader's Guide

Far Cry is significant as the debut title of the Far Cry franchise and the first game to showcase the CryEngine, which was noted for its ability to render realistic outdoor spaces with large viewing distances, a unique feature at the time. The game's development began from the X-Isle: Dinosaur Island tech demo at E3 1999, which led to a deal with Nvidia for distribution as benchmarking software and later a publishing deal with Ubisoft. The game's release in March 2004 for Microsoft Windows was met with critical praise and strong sales, selling over 730,000 units in its first four months. Its legacy includes establishing the series' theme of placing the player in a wilderness environment to fight despots and survive against wild animals, though subsequent games would drop its narrative and setting. The game's console ports, handled by Ubisoft Montreal, required significant reworking due to hardware limitations, leading to linear levels and altered narratives. Ubisoft's acquisition of the franchise rights in March 2006 set the stage for future entries developed internally. The original Far Cry remains a standalone release, with its narrative and protagonist Jack Carver not carried forward into later mainline games, as developers found the character not memorable and wished to avoid the science fiction direction taken in the console versions.

Did You Know?

• The CryEngine was originally demonstrated as a tech demo called X-Isle: Dinosaur Island at E3 1999.
• Far Cry sold over 730,000 units in its first four months after release in March 2004.
• The game's console ports, such as Far Cry Instincts and Far Cry Vengeance, required Ubisoft Montreal to rework the game into more linear levels due to console hardware limitations.