Great FPS - for a rehash.
First of all, I enjoyed the original FCI, but more importantly, I loved the original PC version that kicked the whole thing off, and I guess that's where this game went wrong for me. Now that we're in a generation with CPUs that aren't pitifully underpowered, and GPUs that actually have more ram than my old Pentium Pro, I was expecting to experience something similar to what I experienced when I booted up Far Cry for the first time two years ago, and what I was hit with instead was an Xbox game I'd already played.
And nowhere was that more true than in the presentation. I own an HDTV, and even on that, the graphics underwhelmed. The water is very pretty looking, with nice animations, and there were some nice added effects, but all in all, it just felt old. The sound was great in 5.1, but not a terrific overhaul (unlike Burnout Revenge, which is one of the loudest, most badass sounding games ever!) The best way to say it is that I was expecting GRAW, and I got THAW.
Now, if by some miracle of circumstance, you haven't played either the original Far Cry or the console follow-up, Instincts, and if you're not really into the tactical gameplay of GRAW, than this is without doubt the best shooter on the 360 - long and exciting single-player, with excellent multi-player to back it up. But if you have played both those games, you should probably get your first-person on with Oblivion, because there is nothing new here.