Unlike most games in the franchise, Far Cry features only third person view cutscenes.
There are two types of cutscenes throughout the game: first, the full-motion videos (FMVs) which are pre-rendered sequences that are streamed into the game from the game files; second, the real-time cutscenes which use the game's engine to render animations and camera movements "on the fly". In both types the player has no control over the character. The pre-rendered cutscenes can be easily extracted from the game files. The real time cutscenes are also different from the FMV's in that the environment can be affected by the player's previous actions – for example, if the player kills an enemy where the cutscene takes place afterwards, the enemy's body may be visible during the cutscene, along with any wounds it sustained at the hands of the player and its posture. Jack, the player's character, is never affected, however, as the cutscenes use a separate model for him; thus, he is always seen only wearing the body armor and holding the phone, regardless of the weapons and equipment that he might have acquired or lost. Occasionally, he can be seen with an M4 or Falcon.
Cutscenes[]
Intro[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: The movie starts by showing an island with two contrasting landscapes: on the right, a rugged rocky coast with a prominent volcano and, on the left, a sandy beach rising smoothly towards a forest on the left. There are scattered fragments of Jack's sailboat Medusa floating in the sea which begin flying upwards and coming together in a reverse sequence of the boat's destruction.
Once the boat is reconstructed, Jack is seen sitting atop the sail mast. Subsequently, the camera fast-forwards through the islands until Medusa is seen again with Jack and Valerie on the deck. Valerie looks through binoculars and then departs on a water scooter. Suddenly, a mercenary fires a rocket from an island and hits Jack's vessel. The impact hurls Jack up in the air and he falls into the water, sinking among the pieces of his boat.
The scene transitions into a sequence showing vibrating microparticles (which resemble zygotes, thus it could possibly be a foreshadowing of the mutants) in a pool of lava that fills a volcano crater. Jack is falling into the crater but wakes from his dream and swims up to the water surface. He is then shown slowly emerging from the water at the shore and finds himself surrounded by a swarm of trigens. He dives back down to escape and is next seen running through a jungle while being chased by the trigens. When he hears shots fired, the camera shows mercenaries shooting at the monsters.
Jack is again shown swimming under water away from the sinking wreck of his boat towards a hole that leads into an abandoned bunker. A mercenary throws a grenade into the water which causes the entrance to collapse behind Jack, thus cutting off his way back. The video ends with Jack emerging from a small pool inside the bunker.
Notes: The intro sequence uses flashforwards that serve as a sort of a teaser to give the player a sense of what is coming in the game. The exact events depicted in the flashforward scenes do not actually happen in the game. The other scenes are a rough depiction of the events that led to Jack later waking up in a bunker at the start of the first level, Training.
Training 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack lies unconscious on a piece of rock or concrete in a flooded vertical shaft in an abandoned WW2 Japanese bunker. The daylight enters through the opening at the top. He suddenly wakes up.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level. This cutscene does not seem to form continuity with the intro sequence because Jack is shown regaining consciousness, whereas in the latter he is fully awake, although it is possible that Jack was simply not shown falling unconscious once he entered the bunker. Another difference is that the pool is much shallower in the Training cutscene, whereas in the intro Jack is submerged in water up to the neck.
Training 2[]
Type: real time
Description: On a balcony protruding from an opening in the corridor through which Jack passes, Crowe is talking to a mercenary and then leaves.
Notes: Neither Crowe nor the merc wield any weapon in the cutscene. After the cutscene ends, the merc is equipped with an M4.
Training 3[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack finds a phone lying on a crate in an ammo cache in the bunker. The phone is transmitting a call from Doyle who is calling out to Jack. Jack picks up the phone and talks to Doyle. The camera moves towards the exit door from the bunker, showing the player the equipment he needs to pick up along the way.
Carrier 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack has entered the carrier through a hole in the side but the hole has just been blocked by debris from the wreck after a mercenary spotted Jack and threw a grenade in the water. Doyle tells Jack his objectives.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level. This is the first time that Jack is seen wearing unzipped body armor, which remains a part of his for the remainder of the game, having acquired it from the ammo cache in Training.
Carrier 2[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack finds Valerie's belongings in one of the cabins along with a tablet displaying a news video of Krieger during a press conference. Jack reports to Doyle and mentions a file on Krieger. Subsequently, the scene transitions to the video of Krieger speaking at the conference where he vaguely explains the significance of his research. Before the cutscene, Jack overheard a conversation between a merc and Crowe who revealed that Valerie is being taken to a place called "the bunker". Jack tells Doyle about "the bunker".
Notes: This is a good example of how the player's actions can affect the environment during the real time cutscenes. The merc at the radio can be killed right on the spot which might result in his body falling onto the table. The player may also destroy the radio transmitter. All the damages to the environment will be visible during the cutscene.
Fort 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack sneaks into the control room inside the comm center while the commander is in the middle of a video chat with Krieger. Krieger talks about his test subjects.
Fort 2[]
Type: real time
Description: The satellite dish of the comm center explodes and falls into pieces.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level.
Pier[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Doyle arrives at the pier in a boat. Jack enters the boat and they drive off. Doyle tells Jack to hide under a crate lest they two be spotted by the mercenaries. They successfuly pass by the guards guarding the island at which Jack is finally dropped off. Doyle leaves.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level.
Research[]
Type: real time
Description: A mercenary is running down a cave tunnel but stops to catch a breath. He is attacked by a trigen emerging from the darkness behind him.
Notes: This cutscene plays as soon as Jack crosses the gate to the cave after unlocking it with a keycard. The killed mercenary can then be found in a dead end of the tunnel but the trigen is no longer there.
Bunker[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Jack sneaks into the helipad, observing from behind crates how Valerie is being forced into a helicopter by two mercs. Valerie attempts to flee but is pushed inside. Jack rushes towards the helicopter while it is taking off. He manages to grab onto a wheel just in time. When the aircraft is already flying high above the ground, the guards notice Jack. Valerie takes advantage of their being distracted to push one of them off board. A gunfight ensues between Valerie and the other merc and he and the pilot die as a result. The machine begins to spin out of control. She kicks Jack in the face which makes him let go of the wheel and follows him by jumping down into the sea.
After the night comes, Jack is sitting alone on a beach and Valerie emerges from the water. She introduces herself to Jack and explains the situation. She picks up the phone from the ground after hearing Doyle's voice. Doyle tells them to move on. Jack asks about the untrained trigens Doyle just mentioned but instead is told to hurry by Val.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level. This is the first time characters are seen wielding weapons in a cutscene (except the intro). The two mercs escorting Valerie have an AW50 and M4. After the gunfight aboard the helicopter, Valerie holds a Falcon for a short time before she jumps out.
Steam 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Valerie asks Jack to help her by destroying "the regulator", to which he agrees. She then turns around and runs in the opposite direction.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level.
Steam 2[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack stands over a body of a worker he just killed who was the foreman of the maintenance crew at the steam generator. He reads the numbers of the main junctions of the regulator from the blueprints to Doyle.
Regulator 1[]
Type: real time
Description: After pressing the big button on a computer console, Jack destroys the regulator which causes the console and the surrounding machinery to explode and release sparks. Valerie congratulates Jack and tells him to meet in a ventilation shaft.
Regulator 2[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: A scene in a different location shows what appears to be a failure in the electrical circuitry that powers the lock system of cages where trigens are kept. First, a white light flickers and dies. Next, a red light on the lock to one of the cages disappears as well. The trigens open the door and immediately attack the unprepared mercenaries. The Squeakers steal weapons from the mercs and use them against the remaining guards.
The other cages are opened by the trigens from the outside, thus all of the mutants in the area are released. The trigens run into the jungle en masse while a Squeaker standing upon a roof of a cage swings his weapon, encouraging them to move. He then starts repeatedly lifting the rifle with both hands above his head in exultation.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level.
Archive[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack is in the lobby of the archives. Doyle tells Jack that Valerie should be somewhere in this complex, to which he replies that "there's not much left of this place". That remark apparently refers to the damaged door behind him and the dead scientist lying near a flower pot. Doyle warns him about the old test subjects stored in this complex, hurrying him to find Valerie before them.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level.
Cooler[]
Type: real time
Description: After Jack finds Valerie in the offices and helps her defeat the trigens, Doyle tells them about his failed attempt to call help caused by the jamming of the radio signals. Val and Jack decide to embark on disabling Krieger's communication system.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level.
River 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Crowe lies dead on the ground. Krieger calls out to him over the phone which is lying next to his body. Jack picks up the phone and talks to Krieger. Krieger asks who is he talking to but Jack only assures him that he will "find out soon enough". Jack puts the phone back on the ground and stamps on it.
Notes: This cutscene plays as soon as the player kills Crowe, even if he is far away from him and the other mercs in the area are still alive.
River 2[]
Type: real time
Description: Valerie reunites with Jack. She searches Crowe's body and finds a document revealing the location of the mutagen factory and the arming sequence for a nuclear bomb. She pats Crowe's face, saying to him facetiously that he "just made this real easy". Jack replies with sarcasm, expressing doubts about how easy their mission is going to be.
River 3[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Jack and Valerie make their way through the jungle. They arrive at a waterfall and Val decides to take a bath. She washes herself half-naked in the waterfall's pool while Jack stands on the shore with his back turned. He tries to take a peek at her but she quickly reminds him to "keep his eyes on the jungle", which makes him look away rapidly. He then asks Valerie to share with him details about the operation. She briefly describes Krieger's history and explains Doyle's role. In the meantime, she gets dressed. She also reveals the purpose of her mission and what sounds like a trivial reason for bringing Jack along. The conversation stops when they depart to a nearby mercenary base.
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level. This is the first time Jack is seen wielding an M4 in a cutscene.
Swamp 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack and Val stand on a path leading to a small camp visible in the distance. Doyle informs them about the orders from the CIA office. Valerie says that stealing a nuclear bomb from the main outpost will be necessary. Jack is shocked to hear about the nuke but Val calms him down by assuring him of the small yield of the bomb.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level.
Swamp 2[]
Type: real time
Description: The two arrive at the mercenary outpost. She asks Doyle to send her the coordinates to the main security terminal, with stress in her voice. She receives the coordinates and lays out the plan of action to Jack. He states that he is not willing to touch the nuke but Val again soothes his fears by saying that she is the one meant and qualified to arm it.
Swamp 3[]
Type: real time
Description: When the two reach the main security terminal, Valerie begins hacking into the computer system. Once she is finished, she tells Jack to follow her.
Swamp 4[]
Type: real time
Description: The duo manages to enter the control center. Valerie works on the computer trying to find a way to open the gate to the area where the nuke is stored. She instructs Jack to obtain the arming device and chides him for complaining.
Factory 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Val and Jack stop the forklift with the nuke to quickly scout the area. Doyle warns them about a possible mutagen infection and advises them to take precautions by injecting themselves with a serum to prevent the mutagen from affecting their body.
Notes: The opening cutscene of the level.
Factory 2[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: The two enter a laboratory where the serum is supposed to be kept. Doyle tells them to look for a red case with the biohazard symbol. Jack opens one and finds two jet injectors. Valerie is reluctant at first due to her fear of injections but they end up injecting each other in the neck. Subsequently, they drop the injectors on the floor.
Factory 3[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Jack and Valerie sprint outside the building. A powerful explosion swiftly radiates towards them while they try to get as far away from the compound as possible. They make it out unscathed but the blast thrusts them forward in the air. They land on the ground. Jack is shown turning on the back only to fall unconscious.
Jack is woken up aboard a flying helicopter by Krieger tapping him with a foot. He turns around and sees Krieger in person with two elite guards and Valerie sitting behind Krieger. Krieger tells him to take a look out the helicopter, upon which Jack witnesses a foggy wilderness overrun by trigens and corpses of mercenaries strewn all around. Some of the monsters are shown feeding on the mercs. Krieger explains his vision of replacing humans with the mutants. One of the guards kicks Jack off the aircraft down into the jungle and Krieger says "good luck!" Jack survives the fall as he passes through tree crowns. He lands on the ground and notices an M4 being dropped for him from the helicopter, to which he ironically mutters "Thanks."
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level. This cutscene does not seem to form exact continuity with the next level since it shows Jack being fully awake and standing up after landing on the ground from the helicopter, whereas the level Dam starts with Jack saying to himself "What... happened? Where... am I?", as if he was just regaining consciousness.
Dam 1[]
Type: real time
Description: Jack comes across a wrecked helicopter equipped with two machine guns and some supplies. He also finds a phone with which Doyle reconnects with him. Doyle asks if he is alright and receives a sarcastic answer that mentions Jack being lost on an island infested with mutants. Doyle tells him the direction to get out of the dangerous area.
Dam 2[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: In an armory, just before retrieving his equipment, Jack notices his arm turning green. Doyle explains that the ineffectiveness of the antidote is likely caused by the saturation of the air with mutagen which may have followed a containment leak. He also mentions that such a fate has befallen Krieger who has been on a treatment using a special agent designed to stall the spreading of mutagen in the body. Jack jokes that he might try to convince Krieger to share a sample of the antidote. Doyle remarks that Krieger might not be "completely human" anymore.
Volcano 1[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Jack passes through a door to the lobby where mutated Krieger waits with green-skinned Valerie and a team of guards. Jack asks Valerie if she is alright, and Krieger tells him not to worry about it since he (Jack) "will not live long enough to see what happens next". Krieger single-handedly aims an OICW at Jack and fires at him. Every single shot is missed, however, as Jack leaps backwards to find cover behind a metal desk.
Volcano 2[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: Jack grabs Krieger who is lying on the floor by the shoulders asking him about the antidote. Krieger explains that "the mutagen can only be administered through a subdermal injection" and he did not have time to prepare the serum. He starts coughing heavily. He catches his breath again and tells him how much time he and Valerie have left before they transform into mutants. The camera briefly shows Valerie lying on the floor leaning against the desk. Krieger then dies and Jack slides his hand across Krieger's face to close the eyes of the deceased.
Suddenly, Doyle's hologram appears in the room while Jack is attending to enfeebled Val. Doyle comments on Krieger's death by saying that "he had no head for business." Val speaks and it becomes clear that Doyle's intention has been to make profit off of Krieger's assets and use Jack to kill Krieger to avoid himself becoming an object of trigen's vengeance who are fiercely loyal to their creator. Jack demands Doyle give them the antidote and casts threats. Doyle courteously refuses and his hologram disappears.
Jack picks up Valerie and enters the elevator. He carries her to the dock and leaves her by a yacht with a pistol. He then returns to the elevator and draws the phone to his ear, saying "I'm coming for you, buddy."
Notes: This cutscene plays as soon as Krieger is defeated, regardless of whether his guards are dead. After the cutscene is over, the player spawns in the elevator on the same level where the fight took place. He can return to the lobby and continue fighting the remaining mercs or launch the elevator and go up to the next section.
Volcano 3[]
Type: real time
Description: Doyle lies on the floor in his office overlooking the volcano crater, begging for his life. Jack directs a pistol towards him and the camera shows the pistol fire out but not Doyle.
Volcano 4[]
Type: pre-rendered
Description: The entire crater area is swept with a chain of explosions as Jack makes his way to a door that he closes with a switch to escape.
The next scene shows the yacht from the docks pulling away from the island, the volcano fuming with a thick cloud of dark smoke issuing from the crater, the lava bursting in some places, and what appears to be an explosion. Jack enters a cozy cabin where Valerie lies in a bed covered with the sheets. He administers her a jet injection in the neck which immediately causes her skin to return to normal.
The same landscape of the island with the yacht in the foreground is shown again but after the dusk with the moon visible in the sky. Valerie, now alone in the cabin, turns her head and sees a thick file of papers and CDs titled "Project Far Cry" (or "Project Mutant" in some versions).
Notes: The ending cutscene of the level.