By Nathan Grayson on August 30th, 2012 at 8:00 am.
Far Cry 3 definitely isn’t the second coming of Far Cry 2, but the more I see of it, the more I’m actually pretty OK with that. It’s big, loud, and over-the-top, but – to hear its lead writer tell it – with a nicely subversive point. Also, there are tigers. Last time I played a demo, I tried to turn them on my enemies, but instead, they traded our five-second-long allegiance for my jugular. Then I caught on fire and died. Which is a long-winded way of saying combat seems nicely open, and – if a new trailer’s any indication – the world itself will have a breadth of options to match.
OK, so that voice-over track tried desperately to ruin everything (“It’s waiting to pounce on you faster than rising gasoline prices”? What?), but the game proper still looks pretty promising. I’m especially digging the variety in locations available for us to get killed by tigers and fire in. I mean, in the trailer alone, I saw mountains to climb, ruins to explore, partially submerged caverns to dive into, and all sorts of terrain to hang-glide over. Don’t get me wrong: I absolutely loved Far Cry 2′s more grounded approach, but I can’t deny the appeal of a highly flammable tropical playground.
And that ties back into FC3′s “game about games” message that I really, really, really hope isn’t just lip service to Far Cry 2 fans, too. Apparently, characters will acknowledge that you’ve been stealing cars and hunting relics instead of saving them, so you’ll have your nice little murder vacation, but you won’t necessarily feel good about it.
It’ll be out on November 29 – barring any of the tragically typical Ubidelay silliness. If all goes according to plan, though, I’ll be seeing it again this weekend at PAX, aka Nathan Vs Tigers II: Rumble In The Jungle In Seattle.
30/08/2012 at 08:15 Maltose says:
SHARKFACE
30/08/2012 at 09:35 ArcaneSaint says:
WARTIGER
30/08/2012 at 09:55 f1x says:
POUNCINGGASOLINEPRICES
30/08/2012 at 12:43 Arbodnangle Scrulp says:
Face ArSE IntErFACE!
TBH a Tomb Raider / Just Cause 2 / GTA San Andreas mashup is very welcome, or maybe the perfect game.
30/08/2012 at 08:17 Drake Sigar says:
It’s ready to pounce on you faster than the guy handing out questionnaires outside your local Asda.
30/08/2012 at 09:59 Bhazor says:
Like your mom on a stripper.
30/08/2012 at 08:24 eks says:
Any word on the DRM this title will use? Ubisoft has been on my no buy/play* list for quite a few years now but am willing to change that if Farcry 3 doesn’t have shit-tier DRM.
*I feel I have to specify “no play” too or else some may interpret my statement as meaning I pirate their titles instead of buying them, which is not the case.
30/08/2012 at 09:05 Bweahns says:
I’m luke warm on this title but I am also on the Ubisoft will not buy list. The only game I’ve considered buying from them was Heroes of Might and Magic but all the DRM shit that comes with it isn’t worth it.
I recently had no internet for over a month whilst moving houses and not having any ADSL ports available in my temporary accommodation. I discovered how horrible steam is in offline mode and how few of my singleplayer games I could play. Thank Crom for Nethack!
30/08/2012 at 09:59 StingingVelvet says:
Everything they have released for like two years now has had a simple one-time activation, like every game does now. One wonders why people so angry about the always-online DRM weren’t angry enough to read the countless articles that talked about it going away.
Regardless, they recently launched the exactly-like-Steam Uplay client, which if I had to guess might be required for Far Cry 3, similar to Steam being required for Portal 2 or Origin being required for Mass Effect 3. Insert outrage here if you think Valve have the exclusive right to limit their games to their own client.
30/08/2012 at 10:12 Bhazor says:
Not sure if trolling or just naive.
Dust – Always on DRM (eventually removed but only after making the game unplayable for weeks)
Anno 2070 – Maximum of three activations plus internet connection required. In single player.
Driver San Francisco – invalid codes meant many users couldn’t play it.
As for uplay
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/30/psa-possible-security-risk-in-some-ubisoft-pc-games/
http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/683000-Wow-that-s-some-beastly-DRM-you-got-thar-Ubi-Forum
Yes. You need to buy an extended download progam in order to access your game a month after purchase.
Also in a recent interview they refused to comment on DRM for the pc release of Farcry 3.
Fuck Ubisoft.
30/08/2012 at 10:57 Mr Wonderstuff says:
Not bothered about DRM. I just like to play games. Have Driver SF and it’s fine…not sure what the fuss is about. Toys-out -of-pram methinks.
30/08/2012 at 10:59 xavdeman says:
Even the fucking embedded video has UbiDRM region locking:
“De gebruiker die de video heeft geüpload, heeft deze video niet beschikbaar gemaakt in jouw land.
Het spijt ons.” (The user that uploaded the video, made it unavailable in your country. We are sorry.)
NO SALE!
30/08/2012 at 11:21 LionsPhil says:
See, you were doing OK with “I don’t care”, but then you’ve just got to go and throw the “anyone who does is a big baby” dig in, haven’t you?
This is why we can’t have nice discussions on the Internet.
30/08/2012 at 14:31 tetracycloide says:
______ isn’t a problem for me so I don’t understand why anyone would think it was a problem because I’m an obvious ass incapable of empathy. Here, let me prove it to you by calling everyone that does have a problem I don’t understand a baby.
@xavdeman
That might not actually be Ubi’s doing. The Germans have some rights groups that are notorious assholes about letting anything on YouTube be seen in their country. Ubi might have no choice. Honestly I’m more surprised when a video works in Germany these days.
30/08/2012 at 14:29 tetracycloide says:
They also promised From Dust would not require a connection to play and they only removed the requirement reluctantly when everyone pointed out what huge douches they were being by leaving it on after making that promise. At this point I wouldn’t trust anything ubi ever says about DRM and would never risk buying a single title from them without word on DRM from a third party that’s actually trustworthy.
30/08/2012 at 16:13 StingingVelvet says:
Your first three examples are relatively old and, at least with From Dust and Driver, it was patched out.
The 30 day download limit thing applies to the old Digital River run Ubishop, not Uplay, which is just like Steam.
So… more than a little “naive” going around maybe? In any case, the point is “always on” is gone.
31/08/2012 at 03:53 Bweahns says:
Heroes of Might and Magic has game content removed if you’re not online.
30/08/2012 at 08:24 Njordsk says:
Oh great, you can heal tiger bites with adrenaline syringe.
Okay that was sarcastic, but I must say that after “boycotting” the 2nd one this one is already in my to-buy list.
30/08/2012 at 08:53 Ross Angus says:
You missed out. I bought it boxed and it ran without connecting to a server and came with DLC included. You didn’t even need the disk in the drive.
30/08/2012 at 09:09 Njordsk says:
Oh it was not about DRM. It was about setting, dullness etc… And the lack of far cry feel to it.
30/08/2012 at 10:38 LukeNukem says:
Well you missed out on a genuinely different FPS, albeit one not without its flaws (checkpoints primarily).
30/08/2012 at 16:45 anark10n says:
What is it about far cry 2 that is so special, exactly. Played it. Played a lot of other games which had more in it even though they were smaller (i.e no open world). Apart from being wildly unrepresentative of Africa (I live on (off, :-)) the continet, so I know), what is it that makes Far Cry 2 so special?
30/08/2012 at 09:11 LionsPhil says:
So it’ll uh…it’ll just grow back again then, will it?
30/08/2012 at 09:36 gwathdring says:
Delightful. :)
01/09/2012 at 01:28 DigitalSignalX says:
A Tiger… in FAR CRY!?
30/08/2012 at 08:25 jimbonbon says:
Highly recommend watching that on mute, and perhaps making up your own voice-over as it goes – the one they have put together really is terrible.
30/08/2012 at 08:49 Iskariot says:
As a PC gamer I am not a fan of UBI as a company, but damn they make some cool games. For me this is a day one buy.
Well, that is unless they use some ridiculous DRM of course.
30/08/2012 at 09:04 Geger says:
skyrim with guns?
i’m sold
30/08/2012 at 09:43 derps says:
Skyrim with guns sounds lame.
30/08/2012 at 13:32 Geger says:
you are right, it does sound lame.
i just hope i can use machete this time around to clear some brush
(lack of this option in “far cry 2″ was disappointing)
03/09/2012 at 16:16 scatterbrainless says:
Fallout: New Vegas was pretty cool
30/08/2012 at 10:02 StingingVelvet says:
Skyrim with bows and crossbows is already pretty much Skyrim with guns. Seriously, archery is great in Skyrim, feels super rewarding and fun to play.
Only problem is it’s overpowered, by level 25 you get bored of one-shotting everything in the game.
30/08/2012 at 14:36 tetracycloide says:
What doesn’t one shot everything by level 25 in that game?
30/08/2012 at 10:04 DestructibleEnvironments says:
Fallout 3, then?
30/08/2012 at 11:18 Moni says:
More like Far Cry 2 on acid, figuratively, maybe literally, since drug use is apparently a pretty big theme in the game.
30/08/2012 at 09:21 Thiefsie says:
Almost naked chicks…. I’m in
30/08/2012 at 09:29 gwathdring says:
Ooh. Surprise indiana-jones-y stuff … anyone who’s been following more closely know about that? The whole underground stone doors with levers and switches thing?
I’m glad to see the rather unsettling pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps healing animations from Far Cry 2 are in. It’s not a realistic wound system, but I like the acknowledgment of injury and the physicality of it. It’s also nice being relatively squishy and not especially super-human as in Far Cry 2 … there’s a bit less of the grounded-ness here, but it seems like it works on it’s own terms so I’m excited.
Edit: Ha. Just read the whole article. Now I feel all silly and redundant for calling FC2 more “grounded.”
So … er … guess I’m with Nathan on the whole FC2 / FC3 thing.
30/08/2012 at 09:31 Optimaximal says:
It’s good they’ve implemented a predator/prey system. They gave some rubbish excuse about all the lions eating the gazelles with Far Cry 2, when all they had to say was ‘we didn’t have time to finish it’.
30/08/2012 at 09:32 EPICTHEFAIL says:
Apart from the entirely meaningless narration, this looks quite good. Also, am I the only one who, after hearing “Welcome to the jungle” mentally filled in “we`ve got fun and games”?
30/08/2012 at 10:18 The First Door says:
Probably not… but if they try to ruin another game with that song I’ll be right sadface I will.
30/08/2012 at 09:57 Bhazor says:
Vaas bobble head hula girl? I haven’t been so tempted by a collectors edition since Bioshock.
30/08/2012 at 10:01 Oviler says:
Finally a return to what made Farcry 1 so good, and hopefully without what made Farcry 2 so frustrating. I’ll take tigers and hang-gliders over endless respawning identical mercs anyday.
30/08/2012 at 11:08 Arglebargle says:
I would sure hope it isn’t the second coming of Far Cry 2, a game with great potential, yet tragically flawed by some seriously boneheaded design. Especially bad, as they’ve admitted they knew about the respawn issues in beta, it was just ‘too hard’ to fix. And couldn’t be bothered to even patch. Guess that was too hard too. Muddled character creation, poor weapons buying, useless ‘malaria drugs’ schtick, no civilians, it goes on and on. I know there’s a faction here that loves the open world shootiness of it, but for me,that couldn’t absolve it of the rotten parts.
Far Cry 3 may or may not have the same inattention to very important detail. I’m going to wait a bit and investigate very closely before even thinking of getting it. No sense in getting another Rage on….
30/08/2012 at 11:14 JiminyJickers says:
Am I missing something here. The video is not available in my country, the UK. Seems everyone else can watch it.
30/08/2012 at 11:19 ReV_VAdAUL says:
This is exactly what I was about to write. Either they just changed who can watch this (though a German mentioned above they can’t see it either) or most RPS commenters are American.
30/08/2012 at 11:26 LionsPhil says:
It’s changed since this morning.
Guess they don’t want any coverage! Better take away the article too, RPS. :V
30/08/2012 at 11:33 Adam Smith says:
Should work now. Let me know if not and I’ll see if I can find a fix.
30/08/2012 at 11:44 JiminyJickers says:
That did the job, thanks Adam.
30/08/2012 at 11:24 Goodtwist says:
Of course I also hope that FC3 will do honour to the first FC. However, after having watched the Trailer Breakdown done by Instig8iveJournalism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QCXot9trA&feature=g-user-u) I’m kind of even more reluctant.
30/08/2012 at 11:50 JiminyJickers says:
Well, he seems to complain that a highly scripted scene is higly scripted.
30/08/2012 at 13:20 Bhazor says:
No its the fact that there *is* a highly scritped event.
30/08/2012 at 13:23 JiminyJickers says:
The previous two Far Cry games had scripted scenes too.
30/08/2012 at 14:23 Goodtwist says:
@JiminyJickers
Eventually we’ll have to wait and see. And not preorder!!
Nevertheless, there is a big difference between the occasional movie-scripted scenes in FC1 and that part of actual gameplay shown in the youtube-link. The latter is a classical FPS on rails.
30/08/2012 at 14:34 LionsPhil says:
I suspect you could make Just Cause 2 seem boring with narration like that.
It’s all a little bit picking nits, dancing around the bigger issue that it’s one linear “cinematic” experience that you’re pressing “continue” on repeatedly.
30/08/2012 at 13:06 destroy.all.monsters says:
If there’s any drm at all on this it’s no sale. I’m done giving this horrible company the benefit of the doubt.
30/08/2012 at 13:11 Thrax says:
Pity I have to boycot every single Ubisoft game out of principle because of their DRM… Why can’t another publisher do this game?
30/08/2012 at 15:40 lordfrikk says:
Far Cry 2 was one of the more immersive games, and it looks like they’re taking it one step further with this one. Seeing your arms and legs seems like such a small thing but it really adds quite a bit, at least for me :) I wish more games would make you feel like you’re actually controlling a body instead of a free-floating camera.
What I hope even more, though, is no checkpoints because they ruined FC2 for me forever.
30/08/2012 at 18:11 Createx says:
Uuuuh, the PC version of FC 2 doesn’t have checkpointing only. It has normal saving and quicksaving, so don’t complain about that :D
30/08/2012 at 19:56 MadMatty says:
wot? i thought Farcry 2 was a total bulletsponge type game and i soon lost all interest. Farcry 1 was good, but i thought all the crysises were BS too, apart from the graphics
31/08/2012 at 01:04 AlienMind says:
UBI
- I don’t believe you
- 97 percent.
Back to Guild Wars 2