AusGamers had a chance to get hands-on with a portion of Far Cry 3's open-world component and also spoke with lead designer, Jamie Keen, post-play to discuss creating a psychological element in an open-world shooter.
From the interview:
“You’re learning more about how things are going to interact around you in the environment,” says Jamie. “[You’ll know that] ok, I need to go and get that plant because… I’ve got an outpost over there and I’ve seen that the guys in the outpost have all got flamethrowers. Right, I need to be able to be protected against flame so if I go and get these plants then I can come and make the syringe that’s sort of going to make me flame proof. So it’s that idea of finding little things that are going to help you along the way and solve your problems along the way.”
Following a series of repetitive games, a formulaic approach, and a disappointing last entry, the Far Cry series has been run into the ground.
The trouble with most criticisms of this franchise is that they insist Far Cry 3 was the best game, but the things they claim to hate about the franchise are all the elements that 3 introduced.
Couldn't agree with you more! I've always thought that, my personal favourite is two, the whole atmosphere, mystery, adrenaline, my vehicle steaming up because I've crashed too many times trying to escape and then getting in a shootout, having to pull a bullet out my arm while fire rages and bullets fly, can't beat it
Yep, 2 is my favorite by far as well, and one of my favorite singleplayer games of all time. It was probably one of the last games Ubisoft made before they started homogenizing their franchises to be open world collect-a-thons with unnecessary RPG mechanics tacked on. I enjoyed 3 for what it was, but it was clearly an attempt to make the franchise appeal to a mass audience (which, in fairness, was successful).
That's not the issue. If Far Cry 3 never existed and they just made another 5 or 6 games that were increasingly generic copies of Far Cry 2 instead, would that make FC2 the real problem?
No. It's the lack of creativity and effort that followed that's the real issue.
And there are things that are genuinely different about FC3. Simple example - the story was easily the best. Best main villain by far too but it also has strong themes and wasn't afraid to explore controversial topics. The sequels are much blander.
Comparing the fun and creativity of Blood Dragon to the DLC in the sequels ... also says a lot about how Ubisoft fell off.
Yeah like even Far Cry 4 was decent, not as great as FC3 but they still gave us an interesting story, setting and villain. Pagan Min's random calls to Ajay were pretty funny.
They just got lazier and lazier, pumping them out while making it a little more streamlined each time. I mean Jesus, they gave us a silent protagonist with FC5 which really hurt the main story and are obsessed with pleasing everyone by trying to do two characters, male and female rather than just settling on one to tell the best story they can.
I started FC6 and yes the game works fine but I just wssnt Fun. Do many Ubi games are huge playgrounds but feel empty and doesn't give the feeling of a world which is lived in
I have found that the more recent FC games work better as what I call "background games." Basically what I mean is it's nice to have an active save in one of them going for those times you have 45 minutes to play games and just want to have fun and don't want to get bogged down playing a game online or starting a new game and spending all your time into an annoying tutorial. Like I haven't touched FC4 in years but I know if I had 30 minutes to an hour to play I could hop in and easily be back in the swing of things and attack an outpost and have a good time.
I think a lot of people use big RPGs like Skyrim or Cyberpunk in a similar way.
Yes because FC3 executed those aspects better. Every game since FC3 has just been Frankensteined off the bones of FC3 with half the effort.
Ubisoft gets a lot of hate for their content filling of maps. Personally I enjoy the mechanic when i play an open world game I like revealing hte entire map and doing all the side mission stuff before i go into main missions. Far Cry and the RPG AC maps where a joy to play.
Far Cry 2 was soo unique ... it was ahead of its time and is often misunderstood (thank you Clint Hocking, can't wait for his next game Assassins Creed Hexe)
(yes, FC2 was a departure from from FC1, so in strictest sense, Crysis 1 & 3 are the truer successors)
Yep. Unfortunately there has been so little since then that has scratched the same itch. Really the closest thing has been BOTW, which uses a lot of similar systems (though ironically FC2 came out before Ubisoft put the Assassin's Creed towers in Far Cry, while BOTW had Ubi towers). Obviously it isn't a shooter though. I keep hoping that that some indie dev will put an FC2-esque game out on Steam, but so far I've been left wanting.
I actually enjoyed Far Cry 5 and New Dawn. Far Cry 6 was a joke. It was a step backwards in every way. That was probably the worst Far Cry I have ever played.
Far Cry 3, an open-world masterpiece that redefined the series. Gameplay and storyline makes it a timeless classic that still inspires today.
It's gotta be Far Cry 2 for me, the feeling of that game I'm still yet to find again, just everything about it, I'd kill for a remaster, I'd even be happy with just a bump in resolution and frame rate, occasionally go back to it, think I'm gunna have to do just that now 😂
A remaster of Far Cry 2 would be amazing, especially with the mods that fixed the broken stealth system and the dumb checkpoint respawns. Include those fixes and it would be a huge upgrade over the original.
Enemies respawn in Far Cry 2? Terrible! It's a broken system! Make me a one-man army who can inexplicably hold an entire region!
Enemies respawn in Dark Souls and Zelda? Brilliant! So much more hardcore! Glad the devs took risks!
The problem isn't them respawning. It's that they respawned after just 5 minutes. Like you'd still be in the area looking for diamonds, loot, exploring, etc, and the enemies would just respawn with you there.
There have been plenty of great villains in video games over the years. Now it's time for the VGU crew to name a few of their favorites.
Anyone know if it's gonna have a MAP MAKER/EDITOR?
I can't wait for map editor.
I found out about the awesome one in Farcry 2, but by the time I knew about it, nobody was playing multiplayer anymore so there was no point in me making maps.
I agree Hazmat, there really is no logical reason to delay the game. Thanks for the answer on the map thing, by the way.
But back to the release....they took it off Sept. release schedule, where a unique fps would have been competing against the likes of TTT2 & DOA5, 2 fighting games, & they are instead releasing it in the same month that THE BIGGEST videogame series in history, which just happens to also be in the same f%$king genre as Far Cry 3, & then to make matter better for Activision (especially if Far Cry 3 just happend to be a world beater game) they are releasing it 10 days after the biggest release of the...well....ever in videogame history since the last one in the f%$king quickly staling, but swallowed up by more'n'more casuals, series.
I want Far Cry 3 NOW Ubisoft....at least this way the servers would garner decent numbers up until all the sheep abandoned it for an exact gameplay replica of the one before it released at full price from Activision......Now, Ubisoft have ensured the game will be an online flop, unless a miracle happens, as nobody will bother trying Far Cry 3 online, because the masses will be on, or if not talking about the latest COD online games.
But, I won't really be buying a Far Cry game for online, as EVERY one I've played to date, has been a horrible lagfest online anyhow. So, I'll buy it & play it for the campaign 1st & foremost, & then if I play the online & it doesn't suffer the horrendous lag that the past 4 have been littered with (I say 4, as part 1 got at least 2 redo's), then it will be a bonus & a very welcome change from COD.... And a break from the awesome Unchartered 3, Killzone 3, CS:GO & Max Payne 3.