I just started Farcry last night. It's awesome. Overall the graphics aren't as good as Half Life 2, but that's because Farcry focuses on outdoor graphics compared to HL2's indoor/urban graphics. The landscapes are beautiful, so it's all good.

Also, Half Life 2 had too much close quarter combat that everywhere you go you're just blasting the crap out of everything. Farcry involves much more strategy and stealth, lots of stealth. It feels much slower paced, but much more fun.