Far Cry 3

[Erkki]

And the dumbest things of all are the various item and other descriptions in the menus.

Wow, I hadn't even read the dumbest ones when I wrote that.

[Erkki]

I got to the second island so I guess I'm half or more done? Half of my impressions so far are very good. And perhaps it got even better when I got to the second island.

There's a brilliant game underneath the layer of all that crap (the popups, the handbook, leaving the mission area etc.; killing bears with SMG's? I wanted to throw up). I think it's occasionally far more similar to Far Cry 2 than most people admit. Scouting out a camp, circling it to get better views, then executing the plan, this is all feels very similar. Especially on the second island, somehow. I dare say such moments of gameplay have even been improved from Far Cry 2 (for example by tagging, although the visual indicators are maybe a bit over the top) if you close your eyes to the pop-up insanity.

I should actually finish it and think about it more before I write my full opinion, but some aspects of the game seem to me very much like a continuation of Far Cry 2 in a different setting. Maybe it's because a lot of the code / the engine is still the same? And then they pooped all over it with those notifications and shit.

One more thing -- the respawning in this game seems even more awful than in FC2 (I mean before you clean out the camps and in non-explicitly-cleanable camps). I swear to god in one (admittedly largish) lumber camp, guys just respawned several times while I was IN THERE!

EDIT: The fact that I don't find far cry 3 to be that much of a far cry from far cry 2 makes me think whether I should go back and play the first one as well.

[Orv]

You really shouldn't.

[Joewintergreen]

Far cry one was pretty awesome

[Thrik]

Far Cry was completely detached from what FC2 was like. Crytek had a very different kind of game in mind and in many ways Crysis is the spiritual successor. Crysis is better and much prettier than both FC1 and FC3 though so it's worth a try.

The main difference between FC1/Crysis and FC2/FC3 is that the former games aren't open world. The world is huge and exactly the same 'scope out, plan, attack' mechanic is the core, but it's not completely open world — you essentially go through a series of very large sandbox areas with a distinct entry and exit point (eg: enter from mountain pass, exit via caves).

Crysis is great, though. The game Crytek were shooting for with FC1, whereas FC2 and FC3 are another developer's similar but markedly different interpretation. All the hallmarks are there (wildlife, camps to clear, tagging, loose objectives, massive dynamic areas), but I think as the originators of all this Crytek simply do it better.

[Badfinger]

Far Cry 1 was what people claim Halo to be - a way to set up a completely open approach to combat situations. Then there were mutants and I became disgusted with it.

So, I hit a really low point with FC3. The mounted turret escape scene was awful, and made me really annoyed with it. Then I did a couple more missions that were not bad/good, and really dug in to disposing of camps and exploring the island and now I'm fully reinvested. I've secured almost all the camps on the (first) island, and done with most of the incidentals there. I booted up the game one day with a single goal - find boars, and kill enough to make a new ammo pouch. I'd played over 10 hours with the intro ammo pouch. And it took me three more hours to get to the boars. That is an amazingly good thing.

By the by, it really helps to understand that the tooltips were written in-character by Willis. He's a guy that thinks he's pretty clever, but also still uses cassette tapes.

[Erkki]

Hehe. I started playing completely differently -- I mostly ignored story missions and immediately went to hunting animals and crafting more pouches. Then I did some more side-mission stuff and cleaning out the bases. When I finally started feeling like I want to get to the second island, I started doing the story missions.

And I felt slightly annoyed how long they took cause I was really getting tired of that island -- it all feels samey. There's beach and non-beach "biomes" and that's basically it. No real jungle anywhere, just some copses. Ok, the more mountainous places add some variety. The second island seems a bit different somehow, although I haven't explored it all yet. Also seems more real, it reminds me of the western part of Crete in some ways. Maybe the first island doesn't seem like a real island because I haven't really been to any tropical islands.

[subbes]

[juv3nal]

All upgrades crafted, and pretty much every non-story thing on the first island done. Even with the largest wallet, there are way too few buyable things and too many chests in the world for it to make any sense for me to track down all the chests.

Guess I have to do some story quests to get access to that second island (and some more skills) now. Maybe there'll be a reason to track down those other chests when the next tier of weapons unlocks.

[Dreg]

I made it to the second island, captured all the outposts and towers, and then stopped playing almost 2 weeks ago. At this point I would rather play Just Cause 2. It did all the fun parts of Far Cry 3 better and there is an even bigger island to take over and explore.

[Erkki]

Guess I have to do some story quests to get access to that second island (and some more skills) now. Maybe there'll be a reason to track down those other chests when the next tier of weapons unlocks.

If you start by doing the radio towers on the second island, then the second tier weapons become free pretty quickly. Frankly, I don't even need them that much. The previous weapons work for me. I mostly use the bow and a sniper rifle and a silenced assault rifle.

[juv3nal]

If you start by doing the radio towers on the second island, then the second tier weapons become free pretty quickly. Frankly, I don't even need them that much. The previous weapons work for me. I mostly use the bow and a sniper rifle and a silenced assault rifle.

I use pretty much the same and am already using the AMR but I'm looking forward to the non-signature version of that so I can put a silencer on it. Also a better assault rifle (eventually, the signature one I guess).

edit:

I made it to the second island, captured all the outposts and towers, and then stopped playing almost 2 weeks ago. At this point I would rather play Just Cause 2. It did all the fun parts of Far Cry 3 better and there is an even bigger island to take over and explore.

I only played the demo of JC2, but I felt like sneaking + takedowns wasn't a viable thing in it?

[Brannigan]

there was no stealth in jc2

[Murdoc]

Still waiting for that brilliant game under all the shit people keep talking about..... I'm starting to wonder if people who think this shit is good just didn't understand FC2, because so far my enjoyment are the remnants of what was left from FC2.

I'm literally yelling at the screen because in its attempts to do more and streamline gameplay it takes away my intention from a situation or moment to moment action.

I'm creeping up behind a bunch of guys, they're all moving forward, no one is looking back, so I am just going to take them out one by one and in the event that I'm noticed shoot the shit out of them.

I go to stab the first guy.... stab him in the neck, he yells; no problem, gun time.... nope, instead I use him as an ineffective human shield and try to run away... nope, can't do that either because my retard character won't fucking let go of this asshole and I'm dragging him behind.... to hide his body? Really Farcry? You're not that fucking game and you're not doing it well by trying.

So I die and pretty much alt/ctrl/deleted my way out.

Hate to be so hard on this game, but the presentation is irritating enough, I just can't get into this silly fantasy island because just when I'm almost having fun some bs like that happens. Maybe it's because I'm using a controller instead of my normal mouse and keyboard, but I had a great time with Dishonored that way, so figured it was time I just start going with the rest of the world, maybe not and I'm just making this game suck for myself.

[Erkki]

The layer of shit in this game is incredible. I probably don't know any other game that does so many things wrong. But I still think there's a great game beneath it the crap if you manage to ignore it.

I don't understand what's your problem with the dragging though. It's a skill you unlock and then you initiate a drag whenever you start going backwards during a takedown. Or maybe it was just a bug?

PS. The thing I miss most from Far Cry 2 is the importance of rivers. They are mostly useless as a means of transport in this game because the roads are safe enough. Although the rivers weren't safe either in FC2, sometimes it made sense to use them instead of roads. Especially on the second map I think. Here they just add some variety to the terrain and only get occasional use. The fact that you can make the world almost completely safe (aside from predators) also sucks, but then the respawn rate in Far Cry 2 wasn't ideal either. They should have found some kind of balance between the two extremes.

[Frenetic Pony]

Still waiting for that brilliant game under all the shit people keep talking about..... I'm starting to wonder if people who think this shit is good just didn't understand FC2, because so far my enjoyment are the remnants of what was left from FC2.

I'm literally yelling at the screen because in its attempts to do more and streamline gameplay it takes away my intention from a situation or moment to moment action.

I'm creeping up behind a bunch of guys, they're all moving forward, no one is looking back, so I am just going to take them out one by one and in the event that I'm noticed shoot the shit out of them.

I go to stab the first guy.... stab him in the neck, he yells; no problem, gun time.... nope, instead I use him as an ineffective human shield and try to run away... nope, can't do that either because my retard character won't fucking let go of this asshole and I'm dragging him behind.... to hide his body? Really Farcry? You're not that fucking game and you're not doing it well by trying.

So I die and pretty much alt/ctrl/deleted my way out.

Hate to be so hard on this game, but the presentation is irritating enough, I just can't get into this silly fantasy island because just when I'm almost having fun some bs like that happens. Maybe it's because I'm using a controller instead of my normal mouse and keyboard, but I had a great time with Dishonored that way, so figured it was time I just start going with the rest of the world, maybe not and I'm just making this game suck for myself.

A lot of the good stuff is left from Far Cry 2 yeah. But it adds, or rather detracts, from the utter BS of Far Cry 2 at the same time. I never felt overwhelmed in FC2, I never felt challenged, I never saw the stuff everyone talked about because... I don't know. But I was the friggen terminator, I was nigh invincible. The right weapons and I could destroy and camp at will in little time thanks to a ton of health, fantastical weapons, and bad AI. And then 2 minutes later it respawns the camps, and it feels like I don't accomplish anything. If FC2 wanted to make you despair it did well, your actions never had any affect whatsoever on the world.

Far Cry 3 fixes that, it makes you feel like you're accomplishing something, like you have goals you can actually achieve. It removes some of your utter invincibility, the enemies are smarter and guns hurt more. But then it sprays a cloud of BS at you that just frustrates to no end. The UI and the story and the menus and the magical BS and etc. And a lot of what FC2 did right ends up missing or obscured or junked. But I still enjoyed it more than Far Cry 2, which I kept trying to enjoy, but despite 10 hours of playing I couldn't find it.

[Murdoc]

I don't understand what's your problem with the dragging though. It's a skill you unlock and then you initiate a drag whenever you start going backwards during a takedown. Or maybe it was just a bug?

Does that happen automatically or through a button press? Because at least from my perception it just happens whenever I go to stab a dude, which is frustrating to me because it seems like a useful skill to have (probably why I clicked on it) but if it happens every time or just some times without my intention, then it's really annoying. Like the instance I described, I intended to do something else, but the game said no. Granted i could never get that skill, but what if I wanted access to do it some times and not others?

I'll refer to Dishonored which I thought was incredible in a bunch of different ways, but especially in the way it executed the level of player intention through it's myriad of skills. Im not getting that feeling of polish and control from FC3 at all... which I understand it may not do because its a larger game, but then I argue it shouldn't try to do something it can't do well.

***

And Pony you make a good point about the overall game systems of the world, it is far improved, it's just a shame that on a thematic level it's less interesting and absorbing to me.

[Badfinger]

It is an automatic thing. If you stab a man and then immediately back away, you drag him. If you stab a man and let him fall, THEN you can turn and run.

[pabosher]

FP, I actually find that FC3 is far far easier than FC2. FC2 was hard as nails for me, but 3 is a cakewalk. Every camp is just a doddle to clear.

[Erkki]

FP, I actually find that FC3 is far far easier than FC2. FC2 was hard as nails for me, but 3 is a cakewalk. Every camp is just a doddle to clear.

Hmm.. I find that if I make a good enough plan that lets me take out the alarms then it's usually a piece of cake, but if reinforcements show up then I might be in trouble.

[juv3nal]

FP, I actually find that FC3 is far far easier than FC2. FC2 was hard as nails for me, but 3 is a cakewalk. Every camp is just a doddle to clear.

I find if you have a good position to snipe from super far away it's a piece of cake, but any time I have to get in close, while it's still pretty easy to clear the base, doing so undetected can be a huge challenge (though not one I generally find myself re-trying; I usually just take the lower xp and roll with whatever happens).

[Erkki]

So I finished it. The second island turned out to be rather boring after I'd done about half of the base takeovers. Also I was getting so good at that, and/or had enough meds that everything became a piece of cake. Ending sucked.

Still, moving around on the islands and exploring is somewhat fun, I might still try to do some of the optional stuff, find relics and boxes. Have done none of the Rakyat challenges and very few Wanted Dead missions.

[toblix]

Blargh. Lots of great things, but almost nothing meshed. The main story was the worst. So much style, and so much detailed work that is obviously done by highly skilled people, and it still feels like the biggest waste of time. It's like Ubisoft Montréal has no soul.

[Frenetic Pony]

Blargh. Lots of great things, but almost nothing meshed. The main story was the worst. So much style, and so much detailed work that is obviously done by highly skilled people, and it still feels like the biggest waste of time. It's like Ubisoft Montréal has no soul.

Design by committee (that can't agree) rather than a director, it's what Ubisoft seems to specialize in. Everyone wants to get into game development to design games, everyone designs part of a game, but if no one oversees all of it it's an incoherent mess rather than a single game. Assassin's Creed 3 is apparently the epitome of this, though I'd wager games like Dragon Age 2 and far more also suffer greatly from this.

"I loved parts of Far Cry 2, can we do that?" "Sure" "I want to make a linear metaphorical story that's kind of dumb but I think it's really smart!" "Go right ahead!" "You know what people like, really clear objectives. What if we could get like, a Farmville type player to enjoy this?" "That's a great goal!" Repeat ad nauseum.

[twmac]

I liked almost nothing in this game. It made me angry and sad at what a wasted opportunity it was as it seemed to have no respect for itself nor the player.

So glad I didn't play full price for this nonsense.