Life in the African wilderness isn't all being stalked by Saba Douglas-Hamilton and posing for BBC camera crews. According to Ubisoft's reimagining of the Far Cry series, it's heavily armed camps, two criminal factions waging war on each other and you in the middle, hunting the arms dealer supplying them.
Ubisoft have neatly side-stepped the original game's legacy by jettisoning the unmemorable Jack Carver, removing the silly mutants and dumping the tropical island.
While the equatorial setting is vaguely familiar, relentless tropics have given way to a more diverse African backdrop: savannah, forests and shanty towns all rub up against each other, all accessible from the opening moments of the game.
The freedom to explore this open world is FC2's biggest hook: from the moment you're in control, the game is there to respond to your whims. No linear storyline here: things will happen in accordance with the way you play the game, and how the AI reacts.
The times and locations and characters of events will be different for every play-through, making you a real influence in the world. It's the sort of thing Boiling Point and Stalker grew up wanting to be.
Having witnessed Far Cry 2 in action I'm excited about the possibilities. The engine offers the usual first-person violence, but within an extremely reactive world. Think of the physics in Crysis - collapsable trees and crumbling buildings - but with greater scope, so that you can destroy trees on distant mountains and blow up entire villages from afar.
The huge playing area allows for any number of approaches: you can snipe a guard from a distance, leaving him injured in the hope that it draws his friends out, or you can barrel a car right through the walls, ploughing into the breakable scenery like a rubbish F1 driver.
But there's a lot more to FC2 than that: this is a more accurate simulation than a shooter has any right to be, with a full day-night cycle, storms and the sort of sunsets you'd have to spend your life savings to see for real.
It even models fire, which plays a big part in overcoming your enemies. FC2's fire spreads not in a predetermined kind of way, but in a lithe, ohmygod-it's- coming-out-of-the-monitor-and-about-to-singe-my-eyebrows-off fashion.
To truly understand how good it looks I'd have to herd you all into a field and douse it in petrol, but since I only have words... it spreads exactly as you would expect. Wind drives it, so that you can start a bush fire (with your flamethrower, naturally) downwind from a target and it'll work its way in the direction you want.
You can use it for cover, to panic a crowd or as an all-out assault. But careful handling is required, as there's every chance you'll give away your position or set yourself on fire.
At times, FC2 seems more like a hyper-kinetic action holiday: there's no HUD, so you have to pull out a map and compass and work out your location for yourself. DIY healthcare means jabbing the tip of a large bowie knife or pliers into the hole to pull the bullet out.
And then there's the hang-glider which ranks pretty low on the action hero vehicle chart, but provides you with a great view of gazelles drinking at waterholes.
I'll admit, after Ubisoft's dismal console conversions of the original Far Cry, I was looking to Crytek's next game for my fix of tropical shooting.
I couldn't see how Ubisoft could make the transition from a feral Jack Carver to something fun. Their abandonment of Jack has given rise to something spectacular. It's the game people have been trying to make for years. They've not only made a convert of me, it's now the game I'm most excited about this year.
Absolutely nothing, by the sound of things. That's not such a bad thing though. The only bad things about the original were that the mutants were rubbish, and Jack Carver was a gobs**te.
But then other than setting, what do the Call of Duty games have to relate to each other? GTA?
It's not like a sequel must be the continuation of the same story in the same way that HalfLife and such do.
But it's sounding utterly amazing. I just hope they can pull it off without making it too ambitious. Frame rate will be the most important feature. Making the FPS elements work is next.
I've seen the tech demo videos and they look amazing. The fact that the foliage you cut down can (in theory) grow back if you leave it long enough is also well cool.
But then other than setting, what do the Call of Duty games have to relate to each other? GTA?
It's not like a sequel must be the continuation of the same story in the same way that HalfLife and such do.
But it's sounding utterly amazing. I just hope they can pull it off without making it too ambitious. Frame rate will be the most important feature. Making the FPS elements work is next.
I've seen the tech demo videos and they look amazing. The fact that the foliage you cut down can (in theory) grow back if you leave it long enough is also well cool.
I'll be watching this one very closely.
Nice I idea no point if the game is only 6-8 hours is it really.
All I can think, having never played the original, is that this seems like a cross between Mercenaries and Oblivion.
The gameplay sounds a similar concept to mercenaries. The environment sounds similar to Oblivion. And I love the sound of it! For me, this will probably be a 'must buy' game, depending upon what the reviews are like on release. And its for PC! Things just get better. The only downside is that I doubt mine will be up to the job
Can you KILL the Zebra???? I can only hope so, but will the Zebra grow a new leg if you blow one off without killing it, now that would be awesome. Not that I'm opposed to straight out killing of wildlife, but only for sport though. And the reviewer needs to learn the difference between upwind and downwind. Starting a fire "downwind" of a target will not burn towards the target.
can someone please tell me what this has to do with, if anything, the original far cry???
Exactly what I was thinking. I guess it just makes it easier to market, and no doubt less expensive than launching a brand new title. In some ways it's a shame because this one is looking so much better than the original - some feat in itself - that I wonder whether having the name Far Cry 2 might actually be DETRIMENTAL to sales. I can't wait for this though!!!
do u think they will still have the traps and stuff on this game? and i think it would be kwl if u could scare the wild animals into the villages scaring the gaurds and causing a distracion this game is gonna be the best and i have to wait till like xams for it cus i have a ps3
The graphics are s**t.Look at the water..eh?It's like in a 2001 game.Even the zebra looks weird.Not that I'd care so much of graphics, but i expected something better.Anyway the game itself looks promising.
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