Jack Carver is back, replete with the feral abilities gained from his adventures in Far Cry Instincts. He's the type of man who attracts trouble, so it's not long before a scantily clad woman by the name of Kade (who, by the way, is supposed to be sexy but has a face that looks like a smashed crab) seduces him and gets him into a whole lot of yep you guessed it, gun-toting, rebel-blasting trouble.

If you enjoyed Far Cry Instincts, then Evolution will be right up your alley. I'm a huge 1st person shooter fan, so it's a relief that this expansion builds upon the original game in several ways. Remember how Carver developed feral abilities in Instincts? Well, he starts off with all of those and more. Pressing the Y button puts you into a feral stance, where you can run faster and can leap vast distances. Hold the Y button in and Feral Sense lets you see enemy body heat and scent trails, as well as some other cool things. Get close enough and you can swipe enemies off the face of the earth with the B button particularly cool on cliff edges!

Feral powers use adrenaline, which tops up over time, or you can now eat specific plants to replenish it. Stealth is still an option in Evolution, and you can go prone, set traps and lure enemies with well-thrown rocks, but this approach is stymied somewhat by the enemy AI, which still sits somewhere just below play dough on the evolutionary ladder. Mind you, they seem to have been blessed with psychic abilities, because if you draw the ire of just one grunt then you can be assured that you'll be up to your neck in enemies in no time, all of them intent on kicking your arse back into next week. This is not necessarily a good thing, because the constant re-spawning of enemies tends to feel a little cheap. There's nothing worse than feeling like you've cleared an area and then you trigger an event that makes wave upon wave of enemies spawn directly behind and around you.

To help you return the favour, Evolution includes all the weapons expected from the genre. You can dual wield many of them, using L and R triggers. Doing so negates your ability to throw molotovs or grenades but sometimes there's nothing better than emptying a full clip at some bad guys and whilst reloading use your spare weapon to clean up any survivors. Pistols, machine guns, the shotgun, they're all there and more. The sniper rifle is a personal favourite, as well as the mega destruction offered by the trusty old rocket launcher. Also added to the arsenal is the pipe bomb - these babies can be laid out four at a time and triggered to bring down guard towers - very cool!

The large, expansive environments make using the sniper rifle a breeze, both for taking out grunts and for scoping out the terrain. A negative aspect of firefights is the fact that your aiming circle is huge, and the game employs some not-so-subtle auto aiming. Most of the time, you'll just watch for the aiming circle to turn red and pull the trigger. Overall, the game isn't particularly hard and if you're an FPS veteran you'll probably carve through it with little effort. Combine this with Carver's feral ability to regenerate health and the game can seem almost pedestrian. However, on the way you'll get to experience some excellent level design and beautiful scenery.

Of particular not is the change in level design for this expansion. Almost gone are the explicitly linear levels of Instincts; now you are often given multiple objectives and allowed to tackle them as you see fit. The experience is still linear, in the sense that you must complete all the objectives, but at least Ubisoft realised that Instincts was a little too guided in its presentation.

There are heaps of verdant, tropical locales, as well as swamps and a well-designed shanty town, and lighting looks particularly realistic (you may even squint as you see the sun reflect off the beach or wooden planks). The storyline is typical FPS window dressing (something about rebels taking over and your involvement with an American agent), and the single player aspect of Evolution doesn't actually take that long to complete. However, once the single player game is done with, which will take you around five or six hours, it doesn't have to end there, and for its price Evolution certainly gives you your money's worth when it comes to online play and the map editor. You can even take on up to four buddies via split-screen.

The map editor is an extremely powerful and user friendly tool that allows you to make custom scenarios for playing with friends, or even online for fellow gamers to play and comment on. You can jump into your map at any time to test particular elements and if you're into this type of thing you will be lost for hours as you perfect each and every nuance of your creation. There are a few added terrain options to the editor, as well as some new objects such as ziplines. Word on the street (well, the net) is that Evolution allows you to import Far Cry Instincts maps, whereas Predator (the 360 Far Cry incarnation) does not, so if map editing is your passion it may be wise to consider which version you buy.

Evolution looks fantastic, and certainly proves there's still plenty of life left in the old black box. As mentioned above, the lighting is spectacular, and the draw distance needs to be seen to be believed. Water is a beautiful turquoise, and lush tropical forests envelop you at every turn. I experienced a couple of instances of slow-down when in the heat of a firefight, but other than that the game runs smoothly. If you can't afford a 360, this game will certainly reinvigorate your faith in the Xbox.