Not really. We play co-op without tagging and using mostly stealth tactics. Only makes it a LOT more intensive.Originally Posted by Markaccus Go to original post
Tagging is needed on assasination missions etc though.
Yes, the side content is what I consider a loss of productivity that could have been applied to the game itself.
And there is no reason sound cannot be made to work better, snapping twigs, rustling of grass on shoes/pantlegs, etc. In FC2 you absolutely could hear someone in the grass, but no so much on rocks and smooth paths. accordingly, that part of staying alive, so I would alway try to find a place where I could see those areas that would afford access to my vicinity so I could catch them on their way to me, failing that, I'd find a spot where in order to get to me that had to be in a very narrow wedge, where I could see them as well as they could see me.
That was part of the panic, the gritty feeling that this was no cakewalk, that they were every bit as deadly as I am. In FC3 and 4, its just plain too easy. and while I would purposefully avoid tagging, sometimes I'd line somebody up for a shot, but thanks to somebody else being to close or whatever, I'd decide not to take it, but by then he was tagged.
Games worked for decades without tagging, why do we "need" it now? If the devs added it because of complaints of being "too hard", the proper answer was not to add tagging, but to tell the complainer to learn to play better, or go back to solitare.
There is ONE place where tagging has merit, and that is multiplayer. First, you might want a little help in avoiding killing your team mates, and since multiplayer is usually filled with hackers and or sociopaths, it helps to ID those whose main goal is to ruin everyone elses fun. BUT, and this is a huge one, the tagging should be while visible, or in the worst case when someone needs help and has activated a "beacon" or whatever. Other than that, it you can't see through it in reality, you ought not be able to see through it in a game (or not one I want to play).
Patu:
Good point, if assassinations are part of gameplay (rewards, xp, guns, $) then you have to know who to take out and who to avoid. Personally I'd do it with a hat, jacket, something to make the target obvious, but if you have to use a marker like they do now, for sure it needs to go away when they are fully hidden by a wall or other opaque object.
Ok.... i will concede that what is essentially x ray vision is a bit much. If they go behind something, then they could dissapear until they emerge again.
On the co-op thing.... if there are a few of you, you co-ordinate who does what, and therfore each person can watch each others back (sort of the point really). But as for making sound better, it still is limited to the whatever speakers you have attached to the tv. I still think there needs to be some sort of tagging to compensate for the sensory deprivation that naturally occurs due to realistic constraints.
Like i say, tagging could certainly be reigned in a bit, but imo it certainly has valid uses.
On assasinations, it would be good to have a picture of the target so you would have to pick him out rather than giving him a yellow triangle. Thing is, given the number of assassinations in the game, it might be tough for the programmers to write in so many unique characters. The other option is to just have a handful of generic targets, but we would get used to them and pick them out easily eventually.
I agree with the picture where you'd have to match, but you are probably right, the devs might not like the increase in unique characters. Pretty much hating the triangle marker, I still think a hat, vest, something semi-obvious (not too obvious, remember easy is not necessarily the goal).
Given that I'm replaying FC2 right now, the observation is easy: FC2 is very tough, very gritty, and you feel like you've genuinely accomplished something making it to a location and completing the objective. Firing up FC3, it just seems so easy, so "pedestrian", by comparison, you almost have to TRY and get yourself in a bad situation even comparable to "everyday life" in FC2.
Obviously FC2 isn't perfect, it has plenty of rough edges, but the premise is, the return to the GPS/Map (getting all the junk off the screen) as a first step, then judicious use of bits and pieces from FC3/4 could end up with the ultimate FPS of all time. Currently, even with the rough edges, that title belongs to FC2 IMO, imagine how much better it could be done nowadays.
I no longer play FC4 with tagging or the mini-map - a much better, more challenging game IMHO. Without the mini-map I just wish I had the in-game hand-held road map of FC2, but that's another issue all together ...
And it's Ziggy's hardcore mod all the way with FC3.
So at least the developers got around to giving players an option to eliminate so much of the hand-holding that they put into this series after FC2.
I no longer play FC4 with tagging or the mini-map - a much better, more challenging game IMHO. Without the mini-map I just wish I had the in-game hand-held road map of FC2, but that's another issue all together ...
And it's Ziggy's hardcore mod all the way with FC3.
So at least the developers got around to giving players an option to eliminate so much of the hand-holding that they put into this series after FC2.
For the assassination/eye-for-an-eye missions, it appears fairly clear to me who the target should be, or at least who clearly are not the target(s). I have no doubt my preferred style of play would make for very boring youtube entertainment.![]()
Tagging became the easy cue for those playing "arcade style", and those who needed to listen to loud music while shooting the fish in the barrel. The quick sale common denominator was never to immerse yourself into the game, or follow a story line - it was all about short attention spans running and gunning, collecting bling and points, and never about thinking strategy for themselves because of low attention spans, where actually "thinking and planning" was "boring", and heavens be if the Ai fought back - then it would be a "hard" game. Far Cry 2 was epic. The first thing I did was to turn OFF the music and everything that would interfere, and turn UP the sound effects so I could hear EVERY sound. I drove off road a lot and used the environment as my cues to apply a stealth attack. My load was always the Dragonuv, PKM, and grenade launcher - but I always kept a silent MP5 on hand in a crate. In FC4, as much as I loved using the supressed sniper rifle, it made the game easy having that type of weapon. If they're not available, people havet to rely on one that will give them away, but it means more patient planning and lining up your ducks for the kill.
Thing is.... These modern open world games are as easy or as hard as you want them to be. I personally dont tag everyone all the time. Often just the imediate visible few, and then lure the others out. Open world games like far cry guve us the freedom to play how we like, and challenge ourselves as much as we want. There is plenty of each type of activity to allow for people who want bling, and people who want to do everything stealthy et.c et.c et.c. I dont think ubi would be right in cutting things out of the next far cry game to either make it a dedicated stealth game, or a full blooded fps. The more people they cater for, the more sales they make. A modern game like this is as good as the player makes it.