Recently, Canadian Online Gamers was invited to Ubisoft Montreal Studios to check out a single player hands off demo of Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3, which is slated to arrive September 4th of this year. Having played the previous Far Cry games on the original Xbox and Xbox 360, I was looking forward to checking out how far along the game had come since the E3 demo touched down last year. At the time, the demo introduced us to the game’s main protagonist, Jason Brody, and the game’s twisted, insane, reckless and all around troubled villain, “Voss”. The E3 demo took place on a tropical island and featured some segments that seemed to be a drastic departure from the previous Far Cry games. For those of you who did not get a chance to check out the E3 demo from the Ubisoft press conference in 2011, here it is:
The original Far Cry, released on the original Xbox, introduced us to Jack Carver and all his feral powers. There were some crazy zombie-like creatures, the gameplay was linear, and everything was over the top. Despite this, it was undoubtedly a game I, and some of our staff here at COG, enjoyed immensely and I spent many hours playing the single player and online multiplayer modes. Not to mention, the games map editor exposed us to endless possibilities as far as multiplayer maps were concerned. Some of those custom made maps were some of the more enjoyable shooter maps I have played even to this day.
When Far Cry 2 arrived on the scene on the Xbox 360, it introduced us to an open world environment that was embraced by many. Steven Dorff’s voice acting was gone along with Jack Carver’s feral powers. Instead the game took you into the politically charged African landscape. It was much more realistic experience and certainly took itself more seriously. Sure it was fairly enjoyable but it was not without its share of issues.
Looking to build and improve upon an already strong franchise, Far Cry 3 is set to take yet another significant leap and almost reinvent itself with an all new storyline, new characters, new environments, and a whole new level of insanity. You play as Jack Brody, a regular guy with no real military background or any special abilities. He and his friends are backpacking through South East Asia when they eventually stumble upon on island and decide to unwind a little. Without paying attention to the danger that awaits them, Brody and his friends are ambushed. Brody’s friends are brutalized and just when Brody is about to meet his fate he manages to escape. His goal is to get off the island by doing whatever it takes. So the adventure begins as Brody fights to survive an island filled with insane characters. Sure we have all played games with “insane” characters before but Far Cry 3 promises to bring a different brand of insanity.
Much like the original Far Cry game, Far Cry 3 takes place in a picturesque and exotic location. It is a tropical island that is isolated far from the rest of the world. There are no cell phones, Internet, TV, or any other way to communicate with people who are not on the island. A sense of isolation was evident in all the demos we watched. It is also that sense of isolation that appears to contribute to all the characters level of insanity.
The first mission we had a chance to check out featured Brody’s attempts at boarding a ship named the ‘Medusa’. The surrounding areas were littered with Voss’ leeches all equipped with automatic rifles. In the demo we watched Brody was using some stealth combat to sneak behind an enemy whereby he subsequently jabs a ‘shank’ into his enemy’s neck and he then launches the knife at another one. After he skulks around the area it is not long before he jumps aboard the ship, grabs an enemy rifle and starts to take down the enemy one by one. This part of the demo held no real surprises. It had a heavy shooter emphasis, which comes as no surprise as the developers reinforced several times that Far Cry 3 remains a shooter first and foremost. That being said, visually, this demo was a stunner.
We were told the demo was pre-alpha but it is almost hard to believe as everything looked incredibly refined and sharp. All those tropical island visuals we came to enjoy when the first Far Cry game arrived years ago are back but with a fresh coat of paint. I also noticed more level verticality, richer colours, and some jaw dropping details. Needless to say, Far Cry 3 appears to be upping the ante this time around in the visuals department. Although it is the same graphics engine from Far Cry 2, it appears to have been enhanced making for a game that is shaping up to be much better looking than any of the previous games in the franchise.
The next level we watched had Brody meeting the game’s ‘Doctor’. What kind of a Doctor is he? Well, I am not so certain as this Doctor is simply odd, unnerving, has some gnarly looking teeth and white paint on his head that you may mistake for seagull poop. Just after you meet him, the Doctor jabs Brody with a needle and soon after he starts to hallucinate. While the Doctor’s exact role in the game remained undefined, I could not help but speculate he plays a much larger role in the game than what we saw in the demo. While he portrays as someone who wishes to help Brody, I just cannot help but think he has some ulterior motives.
Eventually the Doctor sends Brody on a fetch quest. I know, many of you may groan at the thought of a fetch quest, but this quest does not quite go as anticipated. Brody is tasked with looking for a blue mushroom that is located somewhere in the caves on the island. After some bumps in the road, Brody eventually discovers the mushroom and takes it back to the Doctor, but in the process of doing so, he hallucinates to the point where the surrounding areas turn dark, trees start to cave-in, and the visuals appear straight out of a scene from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Again, that unsettling and panicky feeling takes over, as Brody does not know what he is about to encounter. Much to my surprise Brody never managed to encounter any enemies during this fetch quest, but rather he was wrestling with his own hallucinations as he stumbled his way through the rugged terrain.
After a break, we watched the third and final mission during the “demo-day”. This mission had Brody boarding a ship armed with a shotgun. It is a close quarter level with enemies popping out at every turn. One thundering blast after another and Brody made his way across the ship. After you have taken down a slew of enemies, a bomb explodes aboard the ship and the mission turns into one of escape, as the ship is now a sinking vessel. Again, that panicky feeling sets in as Brody scrambles for escape routes and the music begins to emerge. The music almost sounded like it was from the 1990’s band ‘The Cranberries’. In any event, the song concluded the demo.
One thing was clear from watching all of the demo segments; Far Cry 3 will feature some variety. At its core it remains a shooter, but Far Cry 3 is not all about objective based shooting and taking down one enemy after another. Brody overcoming his own struggles while facing the different facets of insanity appears to be a significant aspect of the game. The open-world of Far Cry 2 is gone but the ways in which you can attack a level or objective can differ. We were told there are many ways you can jump into a level, whether it be ‘guns a blazin’, stealth, or sniping, Far Cry 3 will feature a variety of ways in which you can complete mission objectives. You can even hop in the water using more stealth-like techniques to take down enemies while navigating through some shark-infested waters.
Some other things that impressed me in the demos were the weapons and water effects. Much like previous Far Cry games, the weapons certainly pack a punch. Shotguns and machine guns delivered some thunderous sounds. Likewise, explosions and sounds of grenades going off were impressive. What really stood out for me, visually, were the water effects though. Water effects are something the original Far Cry game was praised for. This time around not only were the water effects incredibly life-like but the attention to detail was very evident. The way the light reflects off the water and the way the mist at the bottom of a waterfall sprays up was much like you would see in any real-life tropical destination. I should also note that the voice acting was solid, albeit a bit cheesy at times, and the soundtrack absolutely delivered from the tiny bit we heard.
Fans of the previous Far Cry game will be relieved to know that many of the deficiencies and complaints from Far Cry 2 have been addressed. Enemies re-spawning, infrequent save points, and long periods where you are travelling across environments are just a few complaints that the dev-team has fixed. Far Cry 3 promises to address these issues by including multiple methods of travelling across the landscapes, no re-spawning enemies, and more frequent save points. Granted, Far Cry 3 appears to guide you much more than the previous Far Cry games, but the combat is varied as each mission we had a chance to witness offered up some variety. The feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next is a common theme that emerges from mission to mission.
Following the demos we had a chance to interview several of the developers where we discussed the level design, characters, and missions, and we also had a chance to sit down with the games producer, Dan Hay. When speaking with Dan Hay, it was clear the level of passion and excitement the team is bringing to franchise this time around is something special.
In terms of the overall single player experience, gamers can expect in excess of 20-hours provided you do not spend a lot of time exploring and simply focus on getting through the missions. It will ultimately vary from one gamer to the next, but right off the hop it appears by all accounts you will get some good bang for the buck. Ubisoft has not unveiled any multiplayer details yet, but even if the multiplayer is a colossal flop, not that we know though, the single player experience appears to offer up plenty of variety and an engaging single player storyline with plenty of disturbing characters.
As for the characters, according to Mark Purdy, the lead in charge of Far Cry 3’s characters, they will all have their own unique personality and voices. Each main character will have a fairly in-depth backstory with the insanity theme weaving its way throughout.
Following the dev-team interviews, Michael Mando, the actor who plays Voss, had a chance to sit down with us and share some of his experiences of voicing the insane character. Mando looks very much like the character he plays and according to the development team his audition blew the team away. The development team wanted to take an actor centric model, in other words they wanted the characters to be a focal point. Interestingly enough, Far Cry 3’s characters were not inspired by any previous game or movie characters and are original created just for the game.
By all accounts, Far Cry 3 will feature an EXP system. What that will exactly entail though Ubisoft would not say; however, Brody’s tattoo on his arm should play a significant role here. As Dan Hay stated, the island is going to leave a definite mark. One can only assume he is referencing Brody’s tattoo as it appears the tattoo will grow in size as the game progresses. Otherwise, not much else was revealed in terms of the games EXP or point system.
Overall, Far Cry 3 is showing a ton of promise. One can only hope that on September 4th, the date Far Cry 3 is released, it is not buried in-between several other high profile releases as this is a game that is shaping up to be a must-own for Far Cry fans and even those fans looking for a mature rated intense varied shooter experience. Keep on eye here on our site as we will have lots Far Cry 3 news as the game progresses.
