Going back and playing a bit of Far Cry again, this time in 1600x900 widescreen windowed mode. It runs very well on more modern hardware (I'm using GeForce 7 series). I've also tried out 1280x720 fullscreen and 1680x1050 fullscreen. Anyway, enough of that, let's talk about the "Training" level in Far Cry.

I'm playing on Veteran this time through (which is a pretty decent difficulty level). You may also want to browse my guide to this level from 2005. Make sure that you set your corpse timer to 900 sec so that you have time to scavenge weapons without having to break cover all the time. I'm going to skip everything until you exit the bunker.

(One of the joys of playing Far Cry is that there are usually at least 3 different ways to approach / solve any level. My preference is to play "smart", drawing enemies off into the jungle to die alone rather then playing Rambo-style and doing a run-n-gun. The ability to use a variety of approaches also gives Far Cry a fair amount of replay value.)



Welcome to paradise! Even a few years later, this is still one of the prettier views that I've seen in a FPS game. In front of you, you'll see a trio of huts and a covered dock with a guy fishing. It's time for lesson #1 - things that can go "boom". See that yellow propane cannister down on the dock? We're going to put that to good use in a minute.



Using the [Ctrl] key to crouch, sneak down the hill towards the little knoll with a rusty tank on it. You'll have a good view of the fisherman, the propane cannister and the mercenary who is carrying boxes. Your first 2-3 rounds should be aimed at the propane cannister. With luck, that can will blow up, taking the fisherman with it. Even though that makes a heck of a lot of noise, and attracts the attention of the other 3 mercenaries, it's worth it because you're eliminating the merc who is packing a M4 Carbine.

Now the other 3 mercs will come charging up the hill towards you. If you're crouched and in the bushes, they may not see you right away so you'll have a easier time of picking them off. Once you finish, collect the pistol ammo from the 3 who showed up and retrieve the M4 Carbine from the covered dock.



Search the huts for ammo, health and a machete. Once you get to the west side of the 2 huts, your compass will start blinking with an objective marker.



Head up the hill towards the new objective marker (it's a hut on top of a small hill overlooking the water). In this hut, you'll find a pair of binoculars and some more health. Before you leave the hut, break out the binoculars ([B] key) and take a look around the area to the west.



As you peer at the camp on the far side of the water, you'll notice that the binoculars automatically tag every mercenary that you can see. This is a very important feature of Far Cry play as it lets you keep tabs on your enemies (how close, how alert they are, whether they've spotted you, etc). You can also listen in on their conversations for some background information, or just to hear them complain about their duties and where they've been posted.

Time to start winnowing their numbers. There are two primary targets that we need to take care of first. They are the guard with a M4 Carbine in the tower on top of the hilltop and the sniper with AW50 Sniper Rifle manning the tower at the eastern edge of the camp.

Select your M4 Carbine, press [X] to put it into single-shot mode, and head down the hill towards the water. Your spot should be somewhere that has good ground cover, but allows you to see the guard tower on the hilltop. There are some bushes right at the edge of the beach that you can go prone ([V] key) in which will give you a good view of the hilltop tower (200m distance). Wait for the guard to patrol into the middle of the tower so that you have a good sight picture and start plunking rounds at him.

Naturally, this will wake up everyone in the camp. But since you're 150m+ away from the camp still, they can't localize the sound and they won't come charging across the water at you.

Take your time, conserve ammo, and try to aim for the shoulders / upper torso. This increases the chance of getting a head shot and putting the merc down early. Once you've picked off the hilltop tower guard, turn your attention to the sniper in the east camp tower. If you use the binoculars at this point, you'll see that the sniper has partially located you (he's facing your direction and may even have his weapon shouldered), but at 175m you'll still be far enough away for him to not see you. Just make sure that you're still hiding in cover along the edge of the beach.

Note: Even though the east camp tower guard is dressed up like a sniper (in a black outfit), he's only carrying a M4 Carbine.

Once those 2 enemies are eliminated, creep forward (crouched) to the rock on the beach. Use the binoculars to locate a mercenary, take a single shot with the M4 Carbine, and wait for them to come out the beach. You should be able to kill 2-3 mercs from this location before moving up to the small island in the middle of the sandbar. From the sandbar, you should be able to draw out a few more of the mercs, killing them as they move down towards the beach as they search for you.



Once you run out of available targets, go ahead and cross the sandbar and enter the east side of the camp. Use your binoculars to scan the buildings and the rest of the camp for noises caused by any remaining mercenaries. Start searching the bodies and buildings for ammo, health and other supplies. You'll want to head to the building labeled "Head Quarters" [sic] which contains a red keycard (sitting on a desk) before you go to the "Armory". Be sure and take a look at the pictures and maps on the walls.

Ignore the objective that tells you to swipe a vehicle. While it may be enjoyable to attempt the drive from there to the end of the level at breakneck pace, it's a difficult drive and you'll run into a lot of opposition. There are better vehicles to steal further on.





Instead, head up the hill to the north and climb the tower on the hilltop. It's a good place to take a look at what our next obstacles are. You'll see a pair of mercs in the middle of the beach, one inside a hut with a 4x4 parked outside, and a pair up the road to the west from the hut with another 4x4. Both pairs of mercs will provide more conversation for your amusement. Head back down the ladder and move SW to the bluff overlooking the next section of beach.



Stay crouched and try to stay behind foliage as you move around the top of the bluff. What you'll find is a few more mercenaries close at hand. There are 3 mercs patrolling the road that leads south out of the camp (towards the waterfall) and another 2 mercs with a 4x4 at the eastern end of the beach.

Let's start by eliminating the 2 mercs at the east end of the beach by the 4x4. You should be able to headshot both of them at a distance of 40-50m without taking return fire. Especially if you creep to the edge of the bluff while prone. This firefight will alert the 3 guards to your south who were guarding the road.

Stay on top of the bluff and move southeast towards the waterfall. You should end up at a cliff that overlooks the road, with 3 mercenaries running around 10m below you, oblivious to your location as they search for you. Feel free to use your Jungle Falcon handgun, a frag' grenade, or your M4 Carbine to eliminate them. Toss a stone down to draw a merc towards a clearing so that you can get a clean shot at them. Once the slaughter ends, move down and collect any ammo that they left laying around then head over to the 4x4 at the east end of the beach and get their ammo as well.

Now we can have a bit of fun. Climb into the 4x4 by using the [F] (use) key. Press [Shift] once to move up to the gun turret and [X] to switch between the chaingun and the rocket launcher. Have fun slicing up the 2 mercenaries that are halfway up the beach towards the hut with the dune buggy. The merc who was in the hut will also come running out and attempt to move into the foliage to the south to flank you. Again, have fun with either the chaingun or rocket launcher

Use [Shift] to get back into the driver seat and hit [F1] to change perspective. Floor the accelerator and don't stop until you cross the 2nd section of beach (follow the road as it bends around to the left), crashing into some trees at the very south end. Engage any vehicles with the rocket launcher and run over any mercs who are standing in the way. Don't stop for anything, speed is one of the better survival tactics here. Your goal should be to immediately ditch the vehicle and break contact into the underbrush after the crash. Find a spot to hole up for a second and break out the binoculars to scan your surrounding and to tag any mercenaries on your compass.

Then you'll want to double-back and forth through the dense foliage, taking out any mercenaries who are looking for you. Stay away from the beach to the south or the beach to the north as there are patrol boats in the water who will shoot at you with rockets. If you want, you can go up onto the hilltop and play with the mortar position.

Now for the hard part, getting to the carrier in one piece. There are two major threats that you'll be facing once you get a few of the carrier. The first is the guards on top of the superstructure and at the forward end of the ship. Personally, I think they're the lesser threat. The bad news is the patrol boat that starts on the east side of the carrier and loops around the north side to check on the W/NW side of the carrier. It's packing a chaingun that can make life difficult.

One option, is to just ignore everyone and sprint across the beach that connects the island and the carrier. Once you get close to the side of the carrier, you no longer have to worry about the mercs on top of the carrier. And you can probably run along the side of the wall fast enough to get to the opening before the patrol boat catches up with you.

The other option is to put the M4 in single-fire mode and snipe the patrol boat driver while you attempt to hide behind trees at the edge of the water. The driver is standing up, so it's a moderately easy shot - and once the driver is dead, the gunner is a sitting duck. You could then also start sniping at the mercs on the carrier - but since you can't scavange their ammo, it's a bit of a wasted effort.

Make your way inside the opening and wait for the loading screen.

You should end the Training level with a full load of ammo for your Jungle Falcon, a full load of ammo for your M4 Carbine, and a few grenades.