I’ve been very disappointed with what I’ve read about Crysis, as well as my own experience with the demo. I really enjoyed Far Cry, so what’s the hot game of that theme that I should get instead?
Having no idea what else you’ve already played… BioShock maybe?
BioShock is very good, but it’s nothing like Crysis or Far Cry.
Splinter Cell Double Agent gets nearer, but still not spot on.
What are your system specs?
For the record, I was going with “well received FPS”, not “military based FPS”.
2 GB Pentium D 2x3.4 GHz, Geforce 8600, 1280x1024 screen (x2), Vista. And I use a trackball, not a mouse (thank you, twinges).
That’s no excuse. Your answer was inadequate and you should be punished severely with fire and goo.
Anyone with a decent PC should get BioShock. Crysis isn’t bad (except that it’s HAAAARD and you may not be able to play it with all the setting on maximum, even with a high-end PC)
What kind of bad things have you heard about Crysis Quartz?
Simply bad gameplay. I’ve played the demo on one of my other PCs and had problems with the control system. I’ve read Omi no Kami’s thoughts, plus reviews on Firingsquad and other sites.
I’m not prepared to waste my money on that, so I’m looking for something good.
I heartily support your decision. 
Crysis is, in my mind, the perfect “Play at a friend’s house” game: there are some universal issues like the poor control scheme and bad storyline, but the first 35-40% of the game can be really fun. I went in expecting to sneak through the jungle killing people, and that’s exactly what I got to do. Then it starts sucking really badly. My advice is to wait for a couple of years, and when Crysis 3 is coming out, pick up the original Crysis for $15.99, play it, and go “Good god, I would’ve been pissed if I had payed full price for this thing”.
As for other shooters, I’m not sure if there are any recent releases that fit the bill, but if you don’t mind squad-based shooters I found Rainbow Six: Vegas to be an awful lot of fun. It wasn’t open ended, and it almost completely did away with the strategic planning components that R6 is known for, but it’s a lot of fun as a simple shooter.
I understand that the Halo series plays like a linear, simplified version of Far Cry, but I’ve never played any of them so I couldn’t say. ^^
Single-player: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chenobyl. Very eerie atmosphere, day/night cycles, wide-open terrain, great graphics, and lots of satisfying gunplay. Also an insanely vast amount of different weapons to choose from.
Multiplayer: Battlefield 2. Find a server with mature players who know what the hell they’re doing, join a squad, follow the orders of the leader, and it’s a lot of fun, though challenging. Play as a medic to heal your comrades, a special forces guy with a laser sighted rifle and C4 explosives (love to set traps and then blow them all up when enemies have gathered around them,) a sniper, engineer, and other positions. There are tanks and APCs and Hummers (drive them or serve as a gunner on them) and if you’ve got a joystick you can fly helichoppers and jets too.
I’ve also heard very good things about Call Of Duty 4, though I haven’t played it.