Far Cry was nice and stuffed with cool and new ideas....however, it was too repetitive and I grew bored of it.
I bought Deus Ex for 2€ some months ago and I'm finally playing it. Despite its antediluvian graphic engine, no rag dolls and laughable physic model, it is giving me 10x more fun than HL2 and FC put together.
Spending millions on eye-candy isn't worth it, IMHO.