Far Crying out loud!!

[JRD]

[smg id=4960]

That's how it all started to me... and the freaking 1 sec took more than 10 minutes!!  ???

After recovering from a near heart attack I started playing the game... but it only lasted a couple hours as release was on a tuesday of a very, very busy week.

Now is friday and I'm chillaxing under the Brazillian summer heat, holding a cold beer in one hand, a 12 yeard old whyskey on the other hand and a bag of doritos waiting because I have no time to waste... IT'S FAR CRYING TIME!!!!!!   >:D >:D

Just found Daisy by the crazy doc's house... wow... what a trip!!!  ???

Before start posting my first impressions I'd like to point out how alive this site is! It's been a long, long time since we had a whole bunch of old farts gathered around here playing the same game and discussing it so much!

Kudos Far Cry for bringing people from all over the world together one more time... we started because of FC2, and now, after a few years waiting, we are still here!!!

I'm raising a glass and so should you (Art, you can grab some orange juice)

PZ already posted his impressions of the game as well as other members here (senior and new chaps) but I'd like to start a topic of my own!!!!

- Stealth: greatly improved!  :-X. They don't see you so easily and you can sneak on them so well!!!!! If they spot you you can break their line of sight and escape!
- Driving: ok it's been raised that vehicles doesn't handle so well but on the other han we can drive and run over mercs so easily... and they won't hop on a jeep, give chase and magically be right at you firing at will!!!
- Friendlies: Well... there are some this time!  ;D
- Crafting and looting: Ubi is learning from different games how to come up with a balanced rewarding monetary system! I'm so glad we can craft stuff and loot and buy/sell!!!
- Overall gameplay: So far feels like a linear storyline where you can break away from the main storyline to build gear/skills to advance in the main storyline!!! FC2 was a bit more open regarding that... but Im still quite early in the game and my opiniion can change.  ;)
- Animals: There are plenty  ???. I just crafted a serum that is said to repel most animals but sharks, which will get you through the island unnatacked... don't know how long it works though!! Besides that I am really glad you can hunt and actually have to if you want to craft holsters, pouches etc... great interaction!
- Weapons: realistic impact on enemies and lots of customizations... not on the fly though... but I won't complain!
- Day/night cycle: waaaaaaay too fast

Oh, and DO SAVE A LOT!!!!

Ok, now let me get back to the game!

[durian]

The biggest improvements IMO are the AI (they don't easily spot you miles away and you easily escape even if you get spotted), the weapons and the wildlife.

[JRD]

I absolutely agree! Those three points were major points of complains in FC2

The AI are now par to us... we can actually sneak upon them and not get caught. I can now shoot a shirtless guy once and he will die and the wildlife brought a new meaning to the game.

I do feel it's a bit too linear though. In FC2 you could choose between main mission, assassination (radio tower), buddy mission or just diamond hunting with no message prompting every 3 minutes to remind you what you have to do next. Hunting and crafting play a major role in the game, which is something you can do inbetween missions.

The saving system (so far) seems very well thought out and balanced. You cannot save during a mission but have fairly spaced check points, which adds to immersion. If you are not on a mission you can save anytime and it doesn't frustrate the player (unless you forget to save after killing three komodo dragons and two goats and fall down a cliff... which I already did a couple times  ::) )

I'm yet do see how differently missions can be played and how much experimentation a player can do regarding tactics and weapons loadout but I believe this game allows you much more free playing than FC2!  8)

[Diablo_Lobo]

First and foremost, I want to say that I enjoyed the first FarCry, I LOVED FC2, but have not yet decided to take the plunge with FC3 or AC3. I have enjoyed the AC series as much if not more than the FC series. So I am really distressed that I have to make my next statement.

There have already been way too many examples of UbiSoft, well, being Ubi$oft. When will they realize that screwing their customers, is not a way to gain or retain customers.

But to my comment on this thread, maybe the gameplay changes, are the result of sites like this, which point out the shortcomings of their current games, and the mods (FC2) that people have made and others have requested.

Now maybe if they would just pay as much attention to the first part of this post and others like it all over the place, I could buy the latest offerings of my 2 favourite games series of all time.

Just my thoughts.
Diablo_Lobo

[Art Blade]

Nice topic subject, hehe  :-X

I'm glad to be reunited with the old Far Cryers once more and indeed to once more enjoy a whole lot of new posts and topics.. FarCry is dead, long live FarCry  :-D

You guys are right about the linear mission design. However, in the end it doesn't really change anything because there has to be some sort of main missions order anyway and we are still free to do what we want (as in explore) or have to (as in survive) in an open world game. The story has been fun so far :)

I loved FC1 until the monsters showed up so I cheated, I didn't like FC2 because of all the degrading stuff and because the factions you worked for treated you as an enemy (actually, you had NO friendlies at all except the betraying buddies) so I cheated, although I enjoyed the free roam bit quite a lot. Now FC3 is a game that for the first time in a LONG while hasn't made me want to cheat or mod at all. It is well balanced on the easy difficulty and from the other guys I hear the higher difficulty levels are satisfying, too. Nice  :-X

Finally we've got a game with enough realism to enjoy yet enough exaggeration to have fun with. A cool mixture of games like FC1+2, AC1+2 and JC2 without the annoying bits of those.  :-X

I can live with the few quirks and flaws of FC3, such as annoying reminders to play a story mission even while playing it, having to rummage through a lot of menus and sub-menus to craft stuff we keep needing (syringes), mercs that keep repeating the same 5 lines every 2 minutes (man, gone are the times when we kept finding new lines even after a year), a map that tends to lock up and screw up every once in a while (at least on my PC), the loot rucksack that can't sort properly (as in show all the green leaves together rather than have all the leaves scattered across random slots) and loot items that you may use for crafting can only be sold or discarded one at a time including a confirmation message every time you do.. Maybe they'll sort that out with a patch. :)

Over all.. a most excellent game and I hope it will stay open world after the last story mission.

[JRD]

First and foremost, I want to say that I enjoyed the first FarCry, I LOVED FC2, but have not yet decided to take the plunge with FC3 or AC3. I have enjoyed the AC series as much if not more than the FC series.

I say do it... I have both games and, just like you, Far Cry and Assassins Creed are the top notch game franchise IMO

(...) maybe the gameplay changes, are the result of sites like this, which point out the shortcomings of their current games (...)

Amen brother!!  ;D

(...) mercs that keep repeating the same 5 lines every 2 minutes (man, gone are the times when we kept finding new lines even after a year), a map that tends to lock up and screw up every once in a while (at least on my PC), the loot rucksack that can't sort properly (as in show all the green leaves together rather than have all the leaves scattered across random slots) and loot items that you may use for crafting can only be sold or discarded one at a time including a confirmation message every time you do.. Maybe they'll sort that out with a patch. :)

You've said it all... small, annoying quirks we can live with!  :-X . I'd add the "mission zone" where if you leave it, the mission is over  :D (talk about sand box!) but all in all this game is a huge improvement from FC2.
I'm having a blast!  >:D

[PZ]

I never played FC1, but started video gaming with FC2 and absolutely fell in love with that title.  JRD was the one who convinced me to try the AC series, and I started with AC2, which I also played many times, and have played every subsequent version.  Since I quit hardcore playing FC2 some time ago, there have been a few that I've enjoyed, and had even convinced myself that it was an FC2 replacement - that is until now.

Each time I go into the game I discover something else cool, many of which you guys have already mentioned.  I am now at the spot where I am to speak with the crazy Doc, but I've gone on side diversions like liberating guard posts and activating towers.  As I do these things, other side missions appear, and the feel is quite reminiscent of the AC series where you increasingly open new areas of the map to view by synchronization.

This evening I was in an area south of the town activating a new tower, and the feeling was much like Just Cause2 in Panau as I was on the beach.  However, when i turned, the foliage and landscape reminded me of the south end of Lake Segolo in Bowa Seko.

I agree that Ubisoft is like any other game producer, and they anger many people with their foolish initiatives, but I guess that is the price we must endure to play games.  I've been mostly lucky on the console in that I've experienced almost none of the ill effects that others have reported.

Man, this game is really something special  :-X

[JRD]

I finally have time to get a good roll in FC3 again. Real life has been taking some of my gaming time.

I now liberated all outposts and towers in the northern island and still have plenty of things to do besides the main quests.

Attacking outposts is really fun. I started attacking them without paying much attention to earning XP so I usually start thinning out the crowd undetected but as soon as they realise I'm there and all hell breaks loose I switch to Rambo-mode and pierce them all  >:D . It resulted in some excellent action packed moments but also made me miss several thousand experience points. I don't mind it at all... it is loads of fun and if you have some noisy weapons at your disposal then why not have a rock and roll party?  8)

Sneaking into outposts is also great fun and rewarding so I decided i'd do all the remaining ones (7 or 8) undetected and so I did!  :). I'm glad stealth works this time around and the fact that it pays to be a silent killer is even better. The skill system was very well implemented. It reminds me of the system used in Batman Arkham City... the more you use different abilities and tactics the better you get through the game but it doesn't feel mandatory!  :-X

I'm still sad they dropped the buddy system. Having so many friendlies would certainly make good subvert missions. I understand the choice of making you play Jason instead of being able to choose from several characters since the main story missions are tied to this single character and playing someone else just wouldn't make sense... but the buddies... the could've been squeezed in the story somehow.  :-(

The loadout is another thing I am very happy with. Mines and C4 doesn't take a weapon slot and four weapons are good enough to pack all you need for the many different situations you'll find yourself in without having to go back and swapping guns!  :-X . Using signature weapons also makes me change my loadout and adapt to what I have available. For instance: I've been using a silenced M700 with the GL-94/Flamethrower/RPG plus one silenced SMG and one LMG but After getting the signature sniper rifle, which can't have a supressor attached, made me switch to the bow as a ranged silent weapon and boy am I glad I did it?!?!  :-D

Side quests are very satisfying and rewarding. Some are just silly like one where I had to go after a guy and shoot the ground at his feet to make him stop bothering a girl. It took me just a couple minutes..... silly but rewarding!  ;D . Some like Monkey see, monkey boom were very cool to play though! Usually the blue exclamation marks are simple and silly whereas Lost expedition and Monkey... are more complex. I also got one extra side mission (Testing Unit)from my pre-order which was also very cool to play!  :-X .

Hunting for crafting and exploring the island after Letters and Relics/Loot added a new meaning the the open world-ness in the franchise. The island is just beautiful although I agree with B33 ENN when he says

(...) However the long distance object quality hasn't been upgraded to serve the new environment. In this Island world, the horizon is a alot more visible most of the time and so just creating murk to hide a lack of quality wasn't ideal given this is a 2012 game. I'd at least have expected it to match Just Cause 2 which is stunning even now in how things look as you go from far away to close in. (...)

I will try his workaround as well and see what happens!  8)

The island is very much the same kind of scenarion of the original Far Cry but without the monsters thankfully. The bright color pallete and the crystal clear water, the ancient temples... It is maybe an attempt to bring back fans of the first game who were somehow disappointed with FC2. I like the african setting better though. Nothing against the island but Africa feels more like a place for decadent mercenaries and arms/drug dealers and can still present a wider variety of scenarios instead of just jungle and white sandy beaches.

I'm at the point where I rescued my younger brother and still have some missions for Buck and the CIA guy, Willis. And yes, the linearity and CoD-take-me-by-the-hand-show-me-what-to-do feels a bit stupid but some missions are still very fun to play and allow some freedom. Besides I like how the characters are depicted in this game. In FC2 I never actually connected to any character in the game... they all felt too superficial and dull. All their voice acting was like they had to rish to get somewhere with no time to create an atmosphere in the game. In FC3 they all seems to have time to be there and build a story for the gamer.  :-X

Well.... more to come... next time with pictures  8)

[Art Blade]

Nice first impressions, JRD :) Enjoy the game outside the story. I like it best with lots of mercs in the south while wearing the Hoyt uniform.

[PZ]

Excellent, JRD! Reading about current FC3 experiences reminds me of the postings of all of the old FC2 gamers  ^-^

[JRD]

I now reached the southern island and am currently doing the missions for that German guy, Sam.

I can't help but feel like the game lost a bit of meaning now.
- I have almost all skills now so why should I worry about hunting relics or taking outposts stealthly?  ????
- After clearing all towers I have all weapons so why should I care about loot?  ????
- All my remaining friends are behind so my only motivation is to kill Hoyt and "become a true warrior". So now it's a simple matter of payback... which I had by killing Vaas
- Clearing the northern island meant I was gaining territory and the freedom to go by as I will but in the south, having the privateer uniform, I can get to pretty much anywhere but the outposts.  ????

In the beginning of the game I thought I would feel more connected to the characters throughout the game but they all seem to stick around for just a few missions and then disapper... the crazy doc, Willis, Citra... even Dennis got pissed after I did Citra and I never saw him again. Now there's Sam

Anyway, I'm still having loads of fun but now I'm more focused on doing the main missions and getting to the end of the game so I can start another playthrough  >:D

I'm still doing side missions and building cash just for fun and to get all attachments and paint jobs for my weapons. I'm also having fun with the SPAS and will soon start to free outpost the noisiest way possible just to find myself outnumbered and outgunned...  8)

[Art Blade]

I did the same, once I had all skills, indeed why bother doing outposts undetected. I went in with grenade launchers, mines, C4.. hehehe  >:D

[PZ]

Yes there is no reward for doing the outposts if you already have all skills but I'm doing stealth anyway because it's just plain fun ^-^

[Jim di Griz]

...All my remaining friends are behind so my only motivation is to kill Hoyt and "become a true warrior". So now it's a simple matter of payback... which I had by killing Vaas...

Don't be too sure of that... :)

[Art Blade]

 :-()

[Binnatics]

Thid might be part of the motivation >:D

[smg id=5121]

[Art Blade]

We'd need to create a new part of the media gallery for JRD's bazillion Citra-based screenshots  :-D

[JRD]

Don't be too sure of that... :)

I knew there was more ...... just don't tell me more, please, I like to be surprised when I play games that I like!  >:D

@Binn.... mate, put that into a spoiler box.... you want me to get busted again  \:/

[PZ]

We'd need to create a new part of the media gallery for JRD's bazillion Citra-based screenshots  :-D

That's OK, they do indeed look good.  :-X

We might also need to create a Vaas folder, just for fragger  :shocked oops... did I say that?

[PZ]

[smg id=5121]

Talk about a black widow

[Art Blade]

a Vaas folder man.. I should really feel sorry for having caused that  :-()

And yes.. black widow.. only she's never married. She's kind of extremely crazy.. seeing a young warrior gene pool twice and she's already sure enough that she's pregnant so she can terminate the donor. Jason would probably die laughing if he hadn't been gutted already in case she was wrong and not pregnant..

[PZ]

See what you started? 

[Art Blade]

I didn't say, "hey, let's give it another shot, shall we?"  :-()

[PZ]

I didn't say, "hey, let's give it another shot, shall we?"  :-()

No, but in order for me to forget that gem, I'd need to be as old as our oldest member  :-()

I'd find her very attractive if I hadn't run into her brother already.

[Art Blade]

 :-D I hear they're going to open a uni-Vaas-ity at Rook Island..