Another vote for GalCiv2, I get smacked around too, on the levels where the AI has no cheats. Best strategic AI I've seen in a game, so far.

About Far Cry... I didn't get the impression that the AI was all that great. It worked well enough, but it was more the starting positions and programmed reactions (i.e. level design) than AI. I think that's true of most FPS games, although I haven't tried F.E.A.R. yet. That's on my list when I get some free time.