A solid expansion to one of the most enjoyable games I've played in a long while. Worth your time.
Graphically, its solid. I noticed a slight change in the graphical physics. For example, swing your gnarled arm at nothing with the B button, and watch the screen tilt. I think it does this when you 1) Shoot 2) Move things 3) Backstab someone 4) Enter Evolved mode 5) When you take damage 6) When you power up your jump and 7) When you climb ladders or other climbable surfaces. Some other things have been changed too, like explosions. Toss a grenade onto sand and the sand lifts into the air with the explosion, something I didn't notice in the first. When you enter Evolved mode (Look at his posture icon and you'll see him looking like he's going to pounce), the screen blurs a bit, the screen tilts (as mentioned) as if he actually moves into this posture, and when you are running it takes the blur effect from Instincts even further. However, at times you'll notice a drop in the framerate, but unlike some pessimists have stated, it wasn't unbearable and didn't drive me to want to bring this game back. The menus have been changed, but that's just an aesthetical element of the game. The HUD has been changed a bit, and it looks easier to analyize this time around. The claw icon has been changed too, since sometimes you couldn't notice the dang thing when you were in a bright, orange or yellow spot. Your evolved icon has a new effect; whenever you power up your jump, it fills up with white then flashes when you've reached the maximum jumping power. The ragdoll physics is better from what I've noticed. When you slash someone, it looks like their falls are more realistic, more agreeable. Another physics feature, which is a new one, is that you can destroy sniper towers which has a nice after-effect to it (the ground rumbles, dirt flies into the air). A couple of parts in the game puts you in the shoes of an enraged Jack Carver, as I'd like to put it, where the screen is yellow (feral senses automatically triggered) and you can see the veins of his eyes. If I missed something, mind me.
Soundwise, its just the same as Instincts. Music has been changed though, but they are similar in which they are primal themed, or the techno infused intensive music. There's not quite as much swearing I noticed so far, which may make a changed impression for some of you. The audio mixing in the cutscenes are not hard to notice, and this also occurs during the actual gameplay too, so let's hope you don't take this unkindly. Jack is more of an animal now, he growls whenever you feral attack an enemy, which is a cool effect. When you take heavy damage or your health is really low, he cries in pain. If he takes a high fall, he also utters at the jolt of pain. I enjoy hearing the stereotypically inane taunts of the enemies, like "You're afraid of me!" and "Coward!" and so on.
Gameplay is just as good, perhaps better. For one, I really do like the more open-ended gameplay. The first level was great, it was so large and you had to do 3 objectives in it. Jack's feral talents have been improved greatly. I, myself, thoroughly enjoyed the feral speed the most. It has been changed for the better here, he leaps 10 or so feet in to the air, and can cover a 50 foot chasm. There's nothing like hopping onto houses or leaping over a running river. He seems to run faster too. I haven't tried the new abilities yet, but I'm not exactly far into the game so I might not have caught it. Ubisoft was courteous enough to answer the calls of fans to allow us to change whether we want the auto-aim and the shooting helper options on or off. The new weapons are somewhat enjoyable (I haven't touched the blowgun yet) since the molotovs are a bit hard to use. The pipebomb is actually pretty fun to use, since you can blow it up at your leisure of course and it feels easier to use than a grenade, since you don't know where it will explode sometimes. What needs mentioning is the improved AI. They still charge you, somewhat, but they actually seem to react to what you do and they bark orders. Let's just say, they are smarter. More vehicles add a neat touch, especially the Technical truck. Explosive scripts (blowing up a cliff full of loose rocks, destroying sniper towers, etc.) are a joy to behold and make me feel like I'm in the game. There are a couple of times when you are enraged, or "Feral Rage" as I like to call it. Jack takes a lot less damage in this state, and his adrenaline is infinitessimal as well, so you can take out your enemies with ease. Its rather fun smacking your enemies 100 or so feet away right?
Bugs exist still, which isn't good. The most noticeable bug I noticed is when I was caught up in the sabotaged pirate house, the dang guys jumped through the freakin' walls. Graphical bugs occur still, like animation and texture decisions made by the Xbox drive (you know, you're moving and you see something appear in a wall or whatever, its trying to set the textures to their final stage). I saw at one time, the ragdoll physics screwed up on me. I slashed a guy, and a few minutes later, I see his feet dancing around on the ground behind a tree, his body was in the ground for god's sake. There are several areas of the levels you encounter where you can exploit the invisible barriers surrounding the level. When you find these places, you can go to areas the developers did not intend you to venture into. A prime example of such a place is the bug mentioned in the Far Cry Evo forums, where you can go into the HUGE boundaries of the final level, which is quite messed up if you ask me.
Overall, I like what I see. I've played the single player campaign well over a dozen times, because the gameplay has been improved from Instincts which results in a more fun experience. I recommend to you though, don't play this before Instincts, you will sort of ruin the experience and well, it won't make much sense. If you liked Instincts, you will like this expansion as well. An upgraded map editor has attracted many fans with the highest influence of all the new features, it has updated multiplayer, improved gameplay and physics, semi-linear gameplay (not so non-linear and not so linear gameplay), and a whole new story to boot makes this a good, solid expansion to the original. The price too is great, so why not get it?
Peace,
GOC