So, I've been mucking around with Far Cry since I picked it up back in November. The basics of it is that it's a first person shooter, modern day, where it's you versus a zillion and a half enemies on some tropical islands. There's a mystery involved and there's a moderately involved storyline (but nothing you can do to screw up the storyline except by dying).

I had played the demo last summer/fall and wasn't impressed with some technical issues. The demo always got choppy or locked up once I entered the caves. However, I was impressed with the graphics quality and found the demo to be fiendeshly difficult. The demo is definitely worth mucking with if you want to see a small preview of what Far Cry offers.

If you're playing the demo (or the real game), a few tips:

1) Scout ahead. Use your binoculars and try to visually tag as many enemies as possible. Once you see them, they get tracked on your handheld computer and show up on the compass. You should also use the binoc's as a listening tool, either to listen in on what the mercenaries are saying to each other, or to locate a patrolling sentry by listening for his footsteps. Not every enemy can be seen, but almost all of them make noise.

At the start of an outdoor level like the demo level, it can take me anywhere from 5-45 minutes to scout the next area up and determine a general plan of attack. I look for patrol patterns, which guards are close to other guards, where the alarm consoles are, and places to take cover. Take careful note of enemies that show up as yellow/orange on the compass. Those mercenaries are already alert and are specifically looking for intruders (green-tagged mercs on the compass are blissfully ignorant).

2) Have a backup plan. Where are you going to fall back to if you alert more mercenaries then you can handle? Look around for trees, boulders, broken ground before you open fire on a new group of enemies. Think about a route of escape that allows you plenty of cover while drawing your enemies into the open.

Running away across an open field while your enemy fires from the treeline is a sure-fire disaster. Especially since the mercanaries will be flanking you and calling for backup on the radio.

3) Go slow. Going 'rambo' will usually get you dead. Either you'll get popped in the back of the head by an enemy that you didn't see as you ran past, or one of the mercenaries will go run for backup (and heavier firepower). That's not to say that turning 'god mode' on and running around isn't fun, but you'll usually get farther by being a combination of sneaky and picking your battles carefully.

I tend to take camps apart in an onion fashion. Kill the sentries who are already alert, then work my way around the edges of the camp. Slowly draw off mercanaries out of the camp then terminate them. It keeps them from running back or calling for backup.

4) Go silent. As I mentioned before, mercanaries that are tagged with green dots on the compass are blissfully unaware of anything being out of the ordinary. It will to you and your health a lot of good to keep them that way right up to the point where you kill them with a single shot. Loud explosions or alerting the guards will usually bring a helicopter full of trouble down on your head (either a helo that is hunting you with chainguns or a helo/osprey that drops 4-8 heavily armed reinforcements).

Just as an FYI... the sniper rifle in Far Cry makes a heck of a lot of noise. The first shot will be a surprise, but unless you break contact and stealthily move to a new location, the mercenaries will find you quickly.