Far Cry 3

[Avilan the Grey]

...Worth the money on the Steam sale?

[Starbuck_II]

...Worth the money on the Steam sale?

I found it fun. Tutorial not so much, but actual game was fun.

[warty goblin]

No.

If you want to wander around an open world tropical environment shooting people, Far Cry 2 is much better. Just you, a map, a gun, a mission and a murder-buddy ready to haul your bullet-ridden ass out of trouble. Far Cry 3 adds crafting and unlocks and levels and a bunch of other garbage that serves no good purpose in a shooter. I'm not a person to hold a previous game in a franchise against a sequel, so I won't say Far Cry 3 ruined the series or anything. It just has a lot of stupid unnecessary reward systems of the sort that infest modern shooters, many of which gatekeep quite basic gameplay functionality. If the idea of unlocking the recipe to grind the items to craft the thing that lets you carry a second gun that you also must unlock sounds like fun, play Far Cry 3. If you want to carry multiple guns and shoot people with them, play Far Cry 2. Seriously, like thirty minutes in you're packing a full loadout. Run one simple mission, and you've got access to every basic gun type in the game.

If you want a storyline about upper class white people going getting pushed way outside the civilization envelope in order to survive natural and bandit related perils, Tomb Raider is approximately 3000 times better. It also features substantially fewer disturbing colonial era racial stereotypes, so you can enjoy driving arrows through cultists' necks in peace. There's also the matter of character. Tomb Raider has a likable protagonist; I could imagine having a glass of wine someplace classy and talking about history with Lara. Jason 'Bro Avenger' seems like the sort of ass whose homework I look forwards to grading as the author boldly expands the limits of human failure, all while wrapped in the safety blanket of Daddy's money. By the end of the intro to Far Cry 3, I mostly hoped the protagonist would die so I didn't have to listen to his BS ever again. Since the story didn't look like it was going to provide that in a hurry, I resorted to the uninstall button. While it provided somewhat less narrative closure, it was a good deal more efficient.

[Togath]

In my opinion, those game elements actually improve the game, since they add progression, something sadly lacking in far too many shooters in my opinion.

[Calemyr]

...Worth the money on the Steam sale?

I really liked it. It's got style, it's got character, and it's simply fun.
It's a lot like a hybrid of Skyrim and the latest Tomb Raider.
* Like TR, it's driven a LOT more by narrative and characters, with your character (Jason Brody, a rich white boy from California) being defined by the game more than by you.
* Like Skyrim, it's got a much more open world and lots of side objectives.

I'll give more of a review when time allows (unless someone does so first), but the short version is: Yes, but only if you can tolerate lots of cursing, violence, a good few drug references, and up to two scenes with a woman wearing little more than body paint.

The pacing, the combat, the upgrades, pretty much everything is grade A. And the moment the radio chatter stops using "Snow White" as an insult to your character and starts using it as a cry of panic? Priceless.

[warty goblin]

In my opinion, those game elements actually improve the game, since they add progression, something sadly lacking in far too many shooters in my opinion.

You can have progression in shooters just fine: it's called getting bigger guns and shooting them at tougher and/or more lethal enemies. There was plenty of progression in Far Cry 2; running about the second map with the first assault rifle would be suicide. Far Cry 3 just had a lot of noise, apparently on the assumption I would have some sort of mental breakdown if I went more than three minutes without getting informed of my progress toward some kind of achievement.

[Cespenar]

Don't care about the crafting gimmicks, passable plot, but the stealth action is top notch. Can't even think of a recent game to rival its stealth system. Busting camps with nothing but a knife has never been such fun. Its bow mechanics and sandbox-y gameplay are pretty good as well, something I was sorely disappointed with when I tried Tomb Raider shortly afterwards.

[Starbuck_II]

No.

If you want to wander around an open world tropical environment shooting people, Far Cry 2 is much better. Just you, a map, a gun, a mission and a murder-buddy ready to haul your bullet-ridden ass out of trouble.

Till you gun jams and is unusable in a fire fight...
Which can be fun if you like reality. But I'm not big on durability for weapons.

[Calemyr]

You can have progression in shooters just fine: it's called getting bigger guns and shooting them at tougher and/or more lethal enemies. There was plenty of progression in Far Cry 2; running about the second map with the first assault rifle would be suicide. Far Cry 3 just had a lot of noise, apparently on the assumption I would have some sort of mental breakdown if I went more than three minutes without getting informed of my progress toward some kind of achievement.

One word: Malaria.

[warty goblin]

Till you gun jams and is unusable in a fire fight...
Which can be fun if you like reality. But I'm not big on durability for weapons.
I never found it fun because I like reality; it really has nothing to do with reality anyway since actual guns don't jam anything like that often. I found it fun because it meant that the game could suddenly go from routine firefight to full on crisis in about a second flat. The weapon jamming was just like the bushfires in that regard; semi-unpredictable factors that could drastically alter your situational options; often for the worse. Far Cry 2 was always at its best when things were going very badly wrong, I found, and the buddy system made it forgiving enough that I could take the chances necessary to fully enjoy that chaos.

[toasty]

I feel like I spent more time on Far Cry 2 than Far Cry 3. Maybe the environment was better, but the "plot" was better (I'm with Warty Goblin in that I don't like the plot in FC3 at all).

I will admit, as far as open world games go, its pretty amusing though. But I often get quickly bored with such games and they never seem to have strong enough linear story-lines to motivate me to finish the "single player" mode or whatever you call it.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Far Cry 3 was awesome! Chockfull of references, tons of cool vehicles, you got shurikens, they at least took the liberty to lampshade the tutorial... oh wait, you're talking about the other Far Cry 3.

[Mikeavelli]

If you start out not liking the plot, it only gets worse. It makes the peculiar decision of starting out with an unlikable protagonist, and, instead of developing him into someone likable, having him devolve into one-dimensional vengeance-obsessed mess who is somehow even less likable.

Arguably, this is the artistic point of the game, but it still makes for an unsatisfying story. I actually liked it for a bit, but the plot really goes downhill after...

The tipping point is killing Vaas, I think.

Infiltrating the Mercenary group is stupid because it depends on the dude not knowing what you look like, but on the way to go torture your brother, you can see the intro movie with you and your friends clearly playing on the TV.

I don't even remember the kingpin guy's name. We meet him in person and we're alone with him in his office and his guard is down, and the game is like "not yet, you have to wait to kill him until his guard is down." His guard was ****ing down! I have accidentally murdered twice the population of this compound on my way over to town! I had a Rocket Launcher! I could have literally fired a rocket at his face and killed him, skip to the part where I blow through the wall, steal a helicopter, and fly off to 'Ride of the Valkyries'
.

The stealth mechanics are indeed awesome and the murdering people in the Jungle bit is a whole lot of fun.

[Togath]

regarding the spoiler
aye, the plot definitely goes downhill fast once you kill Vaas. For me, at least part of my problem was that the only npcs that really seem likeable[from a writing standpoint, and I do agree with you on the player character as well, his personality degrades over the course of the game] seem to be Dr.. Fernhert?[I can't remember his name], Dennis[I believe that was the guy from the village you start out in?] and Vaas[who, at least for me is my favorite character out of the game]

[Reynard]

Yeah, post-Vaas is much weaker story wise, but by then, I had nearly all of the upgrades, and so set about clearing all the camps in fun and interesting ways. Everything from not getting spotted to only using fire-based weapons, with every avenue of approach from hang-glider to c4-covered dune buggy.

I had fun the entire way through, as I was able to ignore the story once it got too stupid, and yeah, I'd definitely say it's worth the £10 it's going for now. Blood Dragon also looks really good, with it's cheesy plot and cool style, but I haven't been able to justify any spending on games for a while.

[Chen]

Its pretty satisfying sniping an entire output while remaining completely hidden. It even makes you have to relocate as a sniper since people come searching where shots come from if they hear it.

Sniping animal cages and watching them destroy an outpost is also pretty fun. The driving in the game is pretty terrible though, and I hated a bunch of the minigames. Also agree that the story was pretty bad, but the gameplay is definitely a lot of fun.

[Avilan the Grey]

Hmmm
Seems I might staying away from this. Raging reviews at release, but I have a hard time dealing with unpleasant protagonsits (unless I, myself, deliberately design them as such).

[Calemyr]

Hmmm
Seems I might staying away from this. Raging reviews at release, but I have a hard time dealing with unpleasant protagonsits (unless I, myself, deliberately design them as such).

I wouldn't call him unpleasant, exactly. He just gets more and more into the kill-or-be-killed mentality in his pursuit to save his friends and family. I think it's best summed up in one conversation with his friend Daisy (as best as I can remember):


Jason: Do you remember when you used to swim competitively in school? That feeling of winning? The rush? The knowledge that you'd earned the right to move on?
Daisy: Yes, but what does that have to...?
Jason: The first pirate I killed, I was sick over. But now... it feels like winning.


Jason isn't ever a particularly unpleasant character, I think, but he definitely gets unnerving as he stops running around like a panicked tourist and starts fighting back. He basically plays out psychological evolution necessary to properly act out a player character.

[Avilan the Grey]

I wouldn't call him unpleasant, exactly. He just gets more and more into the kill-or-be-killed mentality in his pursuit to save his friends and family. I think it's best summed up in one conversation with his friend Daisy (as best as I can remember):


Jason: Do you remember when you used to swim competitively in school? That feeling of winning? The rush? The knowledge that you'd earned the right to move on?
Daisy: Yes, but what does that have to...?
Jason: The first pirate I killed, I was sick over. But now... it feels like winning.


Jason isn't ever a particularly unpleasant character, I think, but he definitely gets unnerving as he stops running around like a panicked tourist and starts fighting back. He basically plays out psychological evolution necessary to properly act out a player character.

Well that doesn't sound unpleasant at all, actually. Only logical.

[Somebloke]

Well that doesn't sound unpleasant at all, actually. Only logical.

Yeah. A lot of the character driven drama of the plot

revolves around the fact that killing a lot of people puts a massive mental strain on Brody, and he finds himself enjoying what he's doing a lot more than he should. It's not Spec Ops: The Line, but I enjoyed his struggle not to devolve into a murderous killer, and there are the same nods at how you, the player, are enjoying what would be in reality quite dehumanising.

I found Far Cry 2 to be a good game, but several (entirely conscious) design choices (not the least being the respawning enemies- I mean, I cleared that area 2 minutes ago!) to make it a really tough sell. I intend to finish it, but I've left it alone for now- for Far Cry 3, it was for me the sort of game that I eagerly thought about playing whenever I wasn't playing it- like the best sort of book, where life becomes about getting through work/sleep/quality time with your girlfriend before you can start reading again.

And the stealth options really were awesome- you have total freedom as to how to clear out a base, but I always went for the knife-kills.

I cannot recommend this game enough.

[Androgeus]

By the end of the intro to Far Cry 3, I mostly hoped the protagonist would die so I didn't have to listen to his BS ever again.

At the end you basically get a choice that ends up with Jason dead. It's not in the time frame you wanted him to be dead by though

[Calemyr]

My review:

The Plot:
When a globe trotting vacation leads to sky diving over Rook Island, Jason Brody and his friends are captured and held for ransom by pirates. After escaping the cage he wakes up in, Jason is forced to run for his life, leaving his friends behind.

After being rescued by a member of the natives resisting the pirates, Jason is given the chance to rescue his friends and help the natives retake their home. He is given the Tatau, an apparently mystical tattoo that reflects his growth and experiences as a tribal warrior, which marks him as a champion of the native forces. (It also may well grant limited immortality and ever increasing ferocity in its bearer, but that's never directly explored.)

Back on his feet, this little rich brat from California must take the fight to the pirates in a bid to free the others and the islands themselves.

The Good:

* This game is a superb "predator" type FPS. You can, technically, run & gun your way through fights, but the game strongly supports playing a hunter rather than Rambo. Your camera (or really zooming in with any weapon, allows you to mark people and animals, allowing you to track your targets even if they step out of your line of sight. Using this, you can systematically take down every pirate at an outpost without ever getting into a shootout. If the outpost is doing a little poaching on the side, you can even shoot the cages to release lions, tigers, and bears on the pirates to cause major havoc.
* The graphics are really darn good. Especially while hang-gliding over the place at sunset. Gorgeous.
* All kinds of vehicles ranging from jeeps and compact cars to patrol boats and jetskis to hang-gliders and even a wing suit.
* Some very cool characters. Vaas, Dr. Earnheart, and "Uncle" Sam are particular standouts. If you aren't itching to kill Buck by the time you fight him, you're a better man than I.
* Lots of cool side events, such as hunting animals to craft items to increase your carrying capacities, retaking outposts to provide more fast travel options, and climbing radio towers to earn weapons (as gifts from the local shops). There are also special hunting or assassination side quests at each outpost you liberate.
* Lots of options for fighting. Not only in terms of weapons, but also environmental things. Starting brush fires can be a devastating weapon, as can freeing ticked off beasts.
* A main character that evolves from a milquetoast tourist to a bonafide warrior to a near monster in his own right.
* Vaas. The guy is great.


The Bad

* Quick Time Bosses. Both of the major boss fights you have in the game are done via quick time events in a drug-addled haze. This was a major disappointment. Especially if you see the corpses littering the field after the fight - I'd have rather had the massive gunfight than a quick time duel.
* Weapons come easily. A climbing puzzle will net you a free weapon. This can be nice given how expensive they are, but it can feel a bit cheap at times.
* Can get repetitive. Clean out outpost, climb radio tower, move to next zone, repeat. This can get boring, and it doesn't improve in the second half of the game.
* Second island is disappointing. It's more of the same, just with cheaper enemies. Sam, your ally on the island, goes a long way to redeeming it, but just not far enough. Hoyt, Vaas's superior, is nothing but a cliche drug lord with a surprising amount of genre savvy. Hoyt simply can't hold a candle to Vaas.
* Ending is weak. There are two endings, decided at the last minute. Neither ending is really a "good" ending.
* Hoyt. Really, the game should have ended with Vaas.


All told: Fun, but not flawless. If you like to play the hunter and systematically stalk and eliminate your prey, this game play is for you. Otherwise it's pretty standard fare. Certainly not your cup of tea if you're only interested in Halo or Gears of War-style play. Still, it's well voice acted, gorgeous, and with tight controls and excellent stealth mechanics. And not many games really display the psychological impact if the traumas of extended combat on a civilian.

[Avilan the Grey]

Well, I am missing the sale; I am instead using the budget for an 8'' galaxy 3.

But maybe next month. :smallbiggrin:

[Triaxx]

The one problem I have with Tomb Raider is that so much effort went into the death scenes, I hate killing her to see them all. If only those games with terminally unlikeable protagonists put as much effort into the death animations. It'd make them so much more playable. Or at least enjoyable.

[ObadiahtheSlim]

Overall, I enjoyed the plot. It felt like a natural progression from your scared action survivor to total badass by the end. Some really great characters like Vaas and Dr. Earnhart really drew me into the plot. I also liked that I could go total stealth on the base missions or juts go in guns blazing.

The downsides are that the second half is really kinda a let down and the boss fights are the worst.

Farcry 3 Blood Dragon is great! It's the game Duke Nukem Forever should have been.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Overall, I enjoyed the plot. It felt like a natural progression from your scared action survivor to total badass by the end. Some really great characters like Vaas and Dr. Earnhart really drew me into the plot. I also liked that I could go total stealth on the base missions or juts go in guns blazing.

The downsides are that the second half is really kinda a let down and the boss fights are the worst.

I think it's the fact that it sets up a gritty, realistic atmosphere on normal Earth. No monsters that aren't hallucinations, very little magic if at all, and you've got guns. "Boss fights" should be exceptionally well defended bases, with sharpshooters and tripod-mounted machine guns as well as a good layout.

[warty goblin]

The one problem I have with Tomb Raider is that so much effort went into the death scenes, I hate killing her to see them all. If only those games with terminally unlikeable protagonists put as much effort into the death animations. It'd make them so much more playable. Or at least enjoyable.

I always found the death scenes so unpleasant I would try very hard not to see them. Which I suspect was rather the point, so they weren't wasted effort at all. They also made for an effective transition when Lara goes from solely being a victim of them, to capable of inflicting them right back.

[Avilan the Grey]

The one problem I have with Tomb Raider is that so much effort went into the death scenes, I hate killing her to see them all. If only those games with terminally unlikeable protagonists put as much effort into the death animations. It'd make them so much more playable. Or at least enjoyable.

I only watched one let's play, so I didn't get the (mild) outrage at this, but when I saw the "collection of Lara's Deaths" on Youtube, it did get kinda creepy, in a "sexualized death of women" kind of way.

[Cespenar]

Only one I can remember is the branch impalement in the river, which did unsettle me for a brief moment. Nothing to complain about, though.

[warty goblin]

Only one I can remember is the branch impalement in the river, which did unsettle me for a brief moment. Nothing to complain about, though.

The worst I saw is at the rope trap in the shantytown, where you get hauled upsidedown into the air, and rushed by a bunch of enemies. If one of the melee dudes gets close, he basically slaughters Lara like a pig.

After that I felt exactly zero compunction about killing every last one of those bastards.

[Calemyr]

Yeah, agreed on the Tomb Raider death scenes. My brother suggested that the developers must have included some veterans of the old Brain Dead 13 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braindead_13) game, because it took such pains to punish failure. I found it disturbing enough to be good motivation to avoid failing, which I assume was the main point of it.

[Triaxx]

Don't get me wrong, I don't play specifically to see her killed, but it's obvious that they put work into to those scenes, so I like to see what trouble they've gone to. I mean... she can't swim, so where most games would have you just sink into the water and it's time to reload, Lara hits the water, gets slammed by a current and impaled on a rock spur. None of this, oh, well, we were just too lazy to include swimming controls, so you can't swim.

I watched an LP by ForAdventure, also known as Best in Slot. He's not a perfect gamer, so deaths were inevitable. Let's see, ones that come to mind are, at the start while escaping the cave, getting crushed by boulders for failing the QT event. The river, once getting impaled and once getting hit by the plane propeller, though that one was less impressive. Later on while trying to parachute from the crash, missing the QT and getting impaled on the tree. And then the aforementioned one in the water. But you'll notice that the 'best' ones, the ones that have had the most effort put in, are ones where you screwed up, because you didn't press the buttons in time, or fast enough.

If you get killed by bullets, it's the standard 'collapse because you took too much damage' death from any game ever. But if you the player screw up, death animation. It shows they know you're going to screw up, and almost as though they figure: 'Okay, the player has just failed, instead of making them feel frustrated, let's give them something interesting to watch so they don't feel discouraged from trying again, but something so traumatic that they're not hoping for that outcome again.'

[Avilan the Grey]

See, to me that still comes off as creepy. The studio's foot-in-mouth disease when it came to promotion of the game didn't help, of course; it is quite possible that a developer that didn't start the day with "We must make male players feel like she needs to be protected" as the only way male gamers can ever play a female character (that isn't nude, presumebly) would not have caused this reaction in me for these scenes.

[Kaun]

I have liked all the FC's.

I found FC3 to be a fun game and i have played it through a couple times. While the story was a little predictable and blah at times i found the combat and the stealth mechanics made the game fun.

Re FC2, i liked the game and it was more sandboxy then 3 maybe but im still yet to finish the game. I have tried about 3 times now but i always get about 3/4's of the way through and just cease to care enough to continue.

Their both good games in my mind, still both worth picking up if you havn't played them, especially on the cheap.