By Jim Rossignol on May 7th, 2008 at 8:52 am.
Far Cry 2 looks at least a couple of kinds of incredible. “You’re free to go anywhere you want at any time,” says creative director Clint Hocking of the stupidly detailed 50km2 slice of African terrain. “It’s about giving the player the opportunity to play the game the way he wants to play it.” Judging by some of the testimony and in-game footage we can see here, he might just be telling the actual truth. Mechanically, at least, it’s looking rather like an expanded version of Stalker, with plenty of open space and the ability to tackle things as you see fit. I’ve said it before, but my money is on this being the best game on PC this year. After the jump: that video diary.
There’s quite a lot of pretty standard-looking FPS footage in there, but what excites me in the team talking up the non-linearity and the idea of taking on different missions within the terrain. I’m a sucker for wandering about getting into scrapes in virtual wildernesses, so this really appeals to me.
I’m betting there’s going to be some insane speed-run videos for this too…
07/05/2008 at 09:01 Jeremy says:
Yet another reason to update the old rig. Looking forward to this one.
07/05/2008 at 09:31 Chaz says:
Yep, I know this is also coming out on the consoles but this is one game I’d very much rather play on the PC. Just got to find the cash to buy a new one to replace my old banger now.
07/05/2008 at 09:37 roBurky says:
Whu? The Beyond Good and Evil music at the beginning was a bit weird.
07/05/2008 at 11:08 po says:
OK, so a BIG thing that ruins realism for me is when you strafe sideways and the gun moves in a perfectly level straight line, like you’re sat on an oildrum being pushed around an ice rink. It just screams computer game at me and ruins any kind of immersion.
Come on. Do a bit of physics simulation, and at least have weapons move as if they’re attached to a body. Head/weapon bob should have improved since the days of Wolfenstein and Doom.
07/05/2008 at 11:59 Optimaximal says:
This game has a lot to prove… Has everyone forgot how they destroyed everything the tactical tech demos laid down not one month ago by having one of the lead developers running around the game shooting everyone in the face with an auto-shotgun whilst acting like a bullet sponge?
07/05/2008 at 12:32 Kieron Gillen says:
Blimey. It’s Boiling Point made by over 10 times as many people as Boiling Point.
KG
07/05/2008 at 12:33 Gurrah says:
I like what I am seeing but seriously, why call it Far Cry? It’s got nothing to do with the original. I really hate the whole franchise-selling-business, it’s bizarre. But it does have an automatic shotgun, which is a 10/10 in my book anyway ;).
07/05/2008 at 12:49 po says:
But does it have /the/ automatic shotgun.
07/05/2008 at 13:20 Cargo Cult says:
Seven gigs of photos? Blimey.
(Please ignore the five-plus gigabytes of MINERVA reference photos I’ve taken in Poland alone… ;-) )
And yes, what does it have to do with the original Far Cry? Assuming there’s no hidden, cheesy sci-fi twist up their sleeves, it does seem a bit too real-world by comparison. I’d feel a bit uncomfortable gunning down realistically portrayed humans, rather than cartoonish stereotypes or monsters – chasing a ‘normal’ person with a flamethrower just seems a bit sinister…
07/05/2008 at 14:19 Lukasz says:
“I’d feel a bit uncomfortable gunning down realistically portrayed humans”
Most won’t.
Imagine customizing enemies faces so they resemble your school bullies, that math teacher who gave you F for final test, your mother, George W. Bush or John Romero
Just awesome!
07/05/2008 at 14:26 dhex says:
this reminds me i gotta pick up a chicken from the live kill joint down the block so i can sacrifice it to satan so this game doesn’t suck.
there’s a lot of potential here…
on the other hand, boiling point.
07/05/2008 at 14:49 Helder Pinto says:
I’ll buy it! :)
07/05/2008 at 15:21 Kadayi says:
“Blimey. It’s Boiling Point made by over 10 times as many people as Boiling Point.”
Boiling point is much bigger though don’t forget Kieron ;)
Does look good though.
07/05/2008 at 16:36 Flint says:
I’d just like to say that the choice of environment is absolutely fantastic.
07/05/2008 at 16:39 Cian says:
Somehow, working for rebel forces in a Central African civil war seems alot more morally dubious than the normal choices.
07/05/2008 at 16:41 much2much says:
OMFG!! Beautiful.
Stalker should be delayed and moved over to this engine.
07/05/2008 at 21:20 Marcin says:
This reminds me to fire up Boiling Point again. And Armed Assault, although admittedly the best part of that one is buzzing towns in an assault chopper.
07/05/2008 at 21:37 Whiskey Jack says:
po said: “OK, so a BIG thing that ruins realism for me is when you strafe sideways and the gun moves in a perfectly level straight line”
For me it is when you can’t see your legs, which is in most FPS. When I look down I always feel like the character is 4 feet tall if I can’t see his legs. Apparently it is a lot of animation work though so I can understand why most devs don’t do it.
07/05/2008 at 21:57 JohnG says:
Do I want this.. oh yeah.. doubt it’ll run on my laptop though.
I smell a reason to buy a new computer.
07/05/2008 at 22:17 Max says:
I think they’re selling this non-linear thing too hard; I don’t give a damn if a game is linear or non-linear as long as it’s well done.
Now, while this may look like it’s everything it’s promising, so did Crysis only a short while ago. I’m a little more wary now.
07/05/2008 at 22:28 Pace says:
I feel similarly to Cargo Cult about the realistic killing of ordinary people. I enjoy shooters but I always feel a bit better about it if I’m shooting zombies or aliens or demons or some such. But maybe I’m just a pussy or some such.
07/05/2008 at 23:07 Brendan says:
Really a lot of the things I’ve heard about this game seem too good to be true. Real time story telling? Unscripted AI? If they can pull it off, I’ll be a quantum leap ahead of any game currently out.
I can see them pulling a STALKER and releasing a disappointing shell of a game.
08/05/2008 at 02:47 DigitalSignalX says:
do. want. Definitely going to be the new hotness in 09.
08/05/2008 at 10:59 Paul says:
Thumbs up to the devs for choosing Africa as the setting for the game because I think until now, no FPS game has used Africa as its setting. Or can anyone name me a fps game?
08/05/2008 at 16:42 Lysenko says:
Paul: CoD 2 for starters, although I’ll admit that there’s a difference between fighting through snippets of WWII’s north african campaign and exploring the central african savanna. I believe that city level in Halo 2 was set around a futuristic Mombasa, and likewise a few Halo 3 levels are also set in africa. There may be a few others, but that’s off the top of my head.
10/05/2008 at 00:14 Sarpedon says:
non linear is great if you’ve got more than one ending…If you mission is “hunt down this one guy” I think the game will end when you finally “hunt down that one guy” and he’ll only be in one place, so really it’s a huge landscape that you’ll wander around in until you decided to go and kill that guy you’ve got to go and kill.