FarCry is all pretty graphics.
Half-Life 2 is all gameplay.
Which is more important to you? (I know you stated, but this is pretty universal post for any FarCry vs Hl2 thread.)
My personal vote is HL2 (I have played FarCry all the way through.) for I had far more fun with Hl2. Also with my silver package that I bought for Hl2 it gives you Hl2, Hl1:source, Counter-strike, counter-strike: condition zero, counter-strike: source, day of defeat, day of defeat: source, team fortress classic, codename gordon, deathmatch classic, opposing force, ricochet, and the source SDK.
I dont know about you, but I find massive amounts of replay and gameplay value there. I've been playing Hl2 since its release, and still am having fun today nearly 2 weeks later.
Dont get me wrong about FarCry though, I really did love it. It had such amazing visuals even on my old GeForce4. (I too have a graphics card as the bottle neck for my system.
) It had decent ragdoll physics, AI that I feel was HIGHLY overrated but still fun. But it was simply one of those games that was really no different then any other FPS other then its eye candy.
Also if they patch Vampire: The Masqueredes - Bloodlines somtime soon, I would highly recommend it. But at the momment I dont suggest anyone to waste money on it.