Far Cry: Vengeance

The Good
Well, it has the same gameplay, levels, and storyline from the excellent Xbox Far Cry games...

The Bad
...but it's all been ruined in this truly awful Wii conversion.

A Far Cry game with horrible graphics?!?
No, I'm not kidding. On the PC and Xbox alike, the Far Cry series has been known for truly amazing visuals in a large jungle setting. Far Cry: Vengeance, however, is the exact opposite. Even with disgustingly low-resolution textures, chunky character models, and an utter lack of special effects (no reflections, motion blur, etc.), Far Cry: Vengeance runs at an absolutely horrible framerate. The cutscenes chug along at 4 or so frames per second, and in-game isn't much better. Quite simply, Far Cry: Vengeance is the most nauseating game you'll ever play.

Abysmal Controls
Given the abysmal framerate, it's already hard to enjoy the game regardless of how fun the gameplay is. However, Far Cry: Vengeance sports a laundry list of problems that make it an absolute chore to play. First up is the controls. Even with a training level to help get Wii newcomers (like me) up to speed, Far Cry: Vengeance is so hard to control that, when combined with the choppy framerate, makes the game thoroughly unplayable. Controls feel randomly assigned (why the heck do I have to shove my fist into the screen to zoom down a sniper scope?), and the game fails to respond to hand gestures about 75% of the time.

Wait...there's more!
The Far Cry series has also been known for cunning AI that adapts to the player's strategies to create a challenging and tactical experience. This is also completely absent in Far Cry: Vengeance. It wasn't uncommon for an enemy to say "I need some help here!" or "I have visual contact!" but still stand there and do nothing. Still, the framerate and controls get in the way to ensure that the enemies can get some cheap shots on you before you even have a chance to shoot them, let alone kill them.

The Bottom Line
Two words: stay away. If it's really something Far Cry you're looking for, play the original PC version or the Far Cry: Instincts games on the Xbox and Xbox 360. Quite simply, this Wii version is absolutely nothing like those versions.

Just think about it: Why, just why, did Ubisoft manage to translate one of the best games ever made into one of the worst games ever made? Far Cry: Vengeance proves that this is a lot easier than you'd think.