If you enjoyed playing Far Cry Instincts for the xBox 360 - as many of us gamers did - you probably had high hopes and expectations for this next title in the franchise. With the advanced features and controls of the Nintendo Wii, you may have expected this new version of the first-person shooter to make the most of this new platform. Unfortunately, Far Cry Vengeance for the Wii does not live up to its potential.

For starters, unless you are already familiar with the franchise, you'll have no idea about the background story when you start playing the game. Unlike it's predecessor for the xBox 360, Vengeance does not include previous games to get players up to speed. Instead, Jack Carver with all his super-human powers and abililites appears out of nowhere, ready to take on the enemy rebels and warriors.

Once you're playing, Jack is an unstoppable killing machine. This is great fun at the beginning; shooting, clawing, climbing and destroying enemies en-masse. Soon though, the fun wears off, as you realize you can just keep killing and no-one really seems to be fighting back that hard. On the rare occasion you do take a hit or two, you'll find ways to heal way-too-quickly and stay in the action without too much extra skill or effort on your part. Without any real challenges, this game starts growing old real fast.

Don't get us wrong though, there certainly are challenges to playing the game - but they aren't "in-game" challenges that make the game more exciting. Instead, players will find that the designers' attempts at integrating the Wii motion sensor into the game controls were far from successful. In fact, it can be downright frustrating at times. From trying to zoom in on your targets with your weapons, to having to use the nunchuck for steering and the remote for firing in the driving sequences, figuring out the physical movements to control on-screen actions makes the overall experience even worse.

Not to worry, all your friends won't be able to discover how bad this game is with you anyways. You see, there isn't even an online multi-player option with Far Cry Vengeance. The only excuse for a multi-player option that it comes with is a two player split-screen mode. The only effect this has is to reduce the quality of the already unimpressive graphics.

Just to top things off, let's also mention the far-from-smooth frame rate, sound effects recycled from previous games and the fact that the map editor included in previous versions has been completely left out of this one. If that isn't enough, we've also been reading reports of game save files becoming corrupted, preventing those few stubborn souls who actually want to try to continue playing this game from doing so.

The previous versions of this franchise were known for pushing the limits of their platforms' abilities with excellent playability and incredible graphics. Sadly, Far Cry Vengeance for the Wii is a "far cry" from the game it could have been. Take our word for it and save yourself and your wallet the time and misery of experiencing this title first-hand. Hopefully, this dismal failure will be the last of Jack Carver's adventures.