The more I play Far Cry 3, the more I get the sense that some of the most enjoyable and innovative aspects of Far Cry 2 are conspicuously missing:
- What happened to the appropriately lengthy day / night cycles? And the ability to sleep / wait until a time of your choosing?
- What happened to the ultra-minimalist HUD that was hardly ever visible, and the challenge of using environmental cues in order to stay aware of the enemy?
- What happened to upgradeable safehouses?
- What happened to being able to buy camouflage gear, if only to crudely justify how Jason can run about ten meters in front of an enemy and remain undetected?
Don't get me wrong, I am very impressed with Far Cry 3 as a whole, but I do think it a shame that some of the best features of its predecessor have been omitted this time round.
Oops, I've just noticed this thread after making an appreciation thread, but I'll just copypaste what I wrote there into this thread.
I've just finished the Single Player of this game, and I rarely go on forums of games, just for this cause, but I wanted to say Thank You, to the developers and people working on Far Cry 3.
The Quality in this game is amazing, really. Upon finishing the game, I felt like I've just finished a high-class feast, I was just like wow.
There's so many things I loved in the game, if I'd go into detail, this would just turn into a wall of text, so I'll just keep it short
I liked:
-the character designs. (like how well written all the characters in the story were)
-^the villain designs (Vaas and Hoyt, they are just well thought-out villains, that make you just want to hate them)
-the world feels hand-crafted
-the atmosphere of the game is really captivating
-the whole soundtrack (especially the theme song)
-the gamefeel
-FACE ANIMATIONS (top notch animation there, they were just so expressive, very spot on, I loved it! +voices)
-the level of immersion it brings
-the sounds (well designed)
-the gun balance (I found myself using every weapon without feeling that any of them were lacking in their role)
-the vehicle handling is enjoyable and feels realistic
-the characterprogression of Jason (I guess it's natural, but it's nice)
-the gloomy/depressive feeling that the story made
-the general feeling of adventure (the game doesn't make you want to just rush through the story, but do other activities)
-the graphics
-nothing really felt frustrating in the game, it was really pleasant
There rarely were some things I expected a bit more of, for example:
-more craftable items, or just variety (hunting became pretty useless fairly fast, but at least it wasn't a chore! so still it's better)
-more variety on the tattoo system (I can't put my finger on it but the system doesn't really make you feel special. take downs were nice though)
-more specials would have been nice
-the story FELT a bit short, but it may just be that I want to keep playing (it's not short though)
Again, this is based ONLY on my Single Player experience, but again, it's an amazing game. (maybe even GOTY material?) I don't understand why the HUD is a big deal, it's perfectly fine imo. (I get that in earlier FC it was different)
Also, Merry Christmas!
I've been playing through on normal. I'm not sure how much further I have to go, but here are a few things I'd like to see implemented.
1. Portable Hang glider. But I'm not sure this is necessary since i know what you get later on. Would be very useful at some points though.
2. Ability to replay story missions. Some of them I'd just like to replay. Even if it just loaded you to some point near the mission that'd be great.
3. Some way to find more enemies to fight once you start clearing strongholds. I explored lots so I cleared a lot of radio towers and bases before I got to the expanded skills. I didn't mind that I could clear some bases really fast as when I took time to make a plan and go in with a grenade launcher I should be able to clear it quicker. Though I will say the number of enemies at some bases was quite low. I think a few had 4 enemies. The aforementioned enemies retake a base may work. Or even let you defend them. Just don't spam them as that'd just get annoying.
4. A new game+ allowing you to have access to what you gained previously. The item you get later mentioned in my first request could really make for some fun times.
I'm really liking the game, had no hype for it at first, one of the best games of the year by far. I have no problem with the HUD, I mean I know I'm playing a video game so I don't care as much. Even then the option to turn off hud elements wouldn't be a bad thing.
One note to someone who suggested being able t take a route with no killing, the whole game is about (being as general as I can) Jason getting his friends back, what happens at the very beginning of the game, and Jason becoming a warrior/ approaching madness. Non-lethal take downs would be kinda pointless. I get what you are saying, but based on the story, it just doesn't really fit.
Edit: Someone mentioned earlier about bullet penetration. I've killed several people through the thin metal rails that they take cover behind on top of buildings. I do not recall seeing any part of their body. I will note that it seemed to take more bullets than normal.
One note to someone who suggested being able t take a route with no killing, the whole game is about (being as general as I can) Jason getting his friends back, what happens at the very beginning of the game, and Jason becoming a warrior/ approaching madness. Non-lethal take downs would be kinda pointless. I get what you are saying, but based on the story, it just doesn't really fit.
I know it doesn't fit with the story. It's more of a wish for the next Far Cry game. Because those actions wouldn't mesh with the cut scenes we have in this title. I'd love to discuss in great detail why but, this is a no spoiler thread. You know, come to think about it. How come there is no thread to discuss the story that allows spoilers?
VERY much agree about the Day/ Night Cycles, and HUD.... I miss it being a realistic time cycle, and being able to wait to make it pass. Day/night just suddenly switches now... Also for the RAIN... The rain is awesome, but it only happens a few times in a playthrough. Its a tropical island. It should rain a lot.Originally Posted by alex.boisot Go to original post
I have no complaints with the game...it has mesmerized me from the second I began playing....I often stop and marvel at the detail and care taken with every square inch of the map/islands....I love the weather and day-night cycles....the rainstorms are amazing....the spiritual aspects of aquiring the tatoos is also very special to me....most people see bad guys and explosions, I see nature and plant life and animals running free and wild, and I get overcome with adventure and the desire to explore and find the hidden relics and discover the forgotten history of the place....the game is so deep, and runs on so many layers and levels, that time stops and total immersion sets in...that to me is the mark of a great game...an unforgettable experience in every way, as a true adventure should be....
Spent the last week playing through single-player campaign on PS3. Here are some glitches that i noticed and a few suggestions. Merry Christmas!
Loot Chests
I was able to complete everything in SP campaign except for these glitched Loot Chests. The 4 locked up inside the WWII bunker really made me question the decision to close off several memorable locations of the mission. Regarding replay ability, I think it's a missed opportunity for players to get truly attached to locations from our memories of being there.
I very much enjoyed the more challenging Loot Chests. These where a lot like the kind of Escape Maps the community makes. Seemed like more chests were out in the open and easy to get to. Would've been better to have it the other way around, and make most of them challenging to get. With the AI you have you could go beyond the puzzle approach and force you to fight for it. Like smaller versions of Outposts or even like the one cave filled with snakes. Could have all sorts of wildlife guarding them. As you get nearer to one the more dangerous it should become.
Supply Drops were also very cool. What would make them even better would be to include some pirates or wildlife on the way or at the final drop off point, ala Scarface for PS2.
Occlusion and Draw Distances
From all of the various ways to preserve frame rate i've seen done, reducing draw distances may 'work' in terms of reducing lag. But it absolutely kills the possibility of player immersion. Will have to find another way than compromising the framework of the environment. When scanning the environment for enemy movement, we need a stable environment to detect that movement.
Floating Objects
I found many more floating objects that i did not record, but it only took a week to find them at about half of the key locations. Disappointing to reach your destination and find it thrown together without much care.
This is aggravating. Because as a mapper who participated in mapping contests over the last several years, this is one thing that separated the n00b mappers from the vets. Correct placement of objects is the one basic thing that new mappers were usually reminded of. We felt that to create maps that rivaled the FC2 SP campaign map was an accomplishment. Will be difficult to point to the FC3 SP campaign map as a standard of excellence to try and match or out do.
I'm only one person, but it took just a week to spot them all at each location. The mapping community is here to help beta test and spot stuff like this for free! Well most of us would've felt it a privilege.
Grass
The grass from FC2 seemed like a much better structure to handle slopes and sharp cliffs. The grass clump structure was smaller, which did better on angled surfaces and had a criss cross pattern that made them appear much more believable than the grass in FC3. But what makes it even worse is that various clumps are not even attached to the the terrain. That gap is painfully obvious. And i don't recall grass poking through interiors of vehicles in FC2.
Shading
The videos and pics do not show the actual intensity of the jagged shading as it appears on my TV at 1080p. Since we can only record from console at 720p, these clips actually improve the shading somewhat as the the image is compressed from 1080p down to 720p. But even at 720p the jagged shading is still noticeable, just not as intense as it appears during normal gameplay. Sizing the 720p image down even further to half the original size completely removes all rough shading. Appears the rendering was set for a much smaller dimension and the console is forced to magnify it.
There is some beautiful artwork in the objects, textures and lighting. This harsh low res shading sticks out like a sore thumb. Is there any way to increase the resolution of overlapped shadows?
Water Splash
Get splashing from swimming in some locations but not others. Would seem logical to include it in any body of water.
Prompts for Looting & Skinning are usually more difficult to find compared to finding the prompts for gathering plants. Can be standing directly on top of a chest or body and still not get the loot or skin prompt. Also don't like how player is repositioned on other side after looting bodies. It makes it impossible to react to something quickly when you're not facing the direction you thought you were. Also the flow of the game stops when you have to stop and try and find that sweet spot to get a prompt. Do we actually need prompts and animations to loot bodies?
R3 Takedown prompt does not really work on first tap. It will on the second, but i found you actually have to hold down the toggle rather than tap to get it to work on first try.
Reverse-Look in vehicles is really awkward. Instead of simply pressing R3 like in FC2, we have to swing the toggle around only in the right direction to get it to work. Again you are forced to locate a sweet spot which makes that tedious. I've never trusted myself to use it in heat of moment since it's unreliable and too awkward. Pressing R3 was much easier to look back.
Stepping down from a low ledge or object forces player to go into crouch position. It's fine as a short animation, but should automatically return you to upright position once you start walking rather than requiring player to press button to get out of crouch mode.
I really like the new ability to climb over things and the animation for it, but it should be a little faster to match the pace of game.
Once i opened an earlier saved file and noticed a few Rakyat Trials were missing my scores. For some reason i had thought these would work the same as Awards, once you get them you keep them even if you start the game over.
When saving game progress, there should be something notifying you that save was successful.
Weapons Acquired in Handbook is somewhat misleading. You actually have to use each weapon you acquire to get them added to your progress.
A crafted Blow Dart made from bamboo and 'wrong' combinations of plants would've fit very well with this game. We get more points for being stealthy, that would've made a fun option to craft for short range stealth attacks.
Fast Travel severely shortened the playing time of this game. In Just Cause 2 we have several options for covering long distances in a short time that made the game longer to play and more interesting. Maybe there's a gulf between certain types of players that want a game to completely immersive themselves in a lush environment for months, and the player who wants to 'Plat' as many games as possible in short order.
Relics are very good idea, but 30 each of the same type was redundant. And being forced to open each one to clear the Handbook alert was pointless. What i liked the best was the old Tomb Raider/Uncharted method of quickly showing spinning 3D version of relic after picking it up, then you could go and read more about it in your inventory and turn it around with your toggles. Could either reduce the amount of relics and increase the difficulty in finding them, or design more unique trinkets.
Ending choices for single-player campaign were limiting and too short to justify playing game again from beginning. Short cut-scenes are not enough. We would need to play out our decisions rather than watching the immediate result.
If you chose to go home, you and Liza get mugged one night and you react and kill mugger in front of Liza. Each night 'dream' of the island (when completing 100% of game). You think you hear or see Citra sometimes but can never reach her. You appear as a 'ghost spirit' to Rakyat, so you have to fight them to complete 100% progress.
Or chose to stay and friends leave you behind and you have to fight an admirer of Citra. I didn't buy that the Rakyat would take a white boy as there leader anyway. So maybe this would be the confrontation if he actually belonged with them. Killing the Rakyat inevitably turns them all against you while you complete island. Later you hear your brothers' and Liza's voices once in a while and sometimes see their mirages.
One thing I keep forgetting to post here (though I've finally remembered): Please, please, PLEASE have a button that lets you manually switch Jason's flashlight on or off - the way it is at the moment, it seems to be on about half of the time that it's actually needed. It was fine when I was playing on default settings, but I turned down the brightness and contrast a bit, to get that added realism in the dark (as it seems that by default Jason is endowed with some pretty good night vision that lets him see amazingly well even in the middle of the night, in a thick jungle.). Now that things are realistically dark, I really need to be able to manually use the flashlight.
Pretty, pretty please.