Far Cry 3

As an Idle Thumbs fan, I'm injured that you'd suggest I ever thought Far Cry 2 was anything but the best game ever made.

Fuzzballx wrote:

Lot of people love to far cry 3 it seems. I guess the new fad is praising how good far cry 2 was...funny thing about that was everyone used to love to hate far cry 2 and so many folks (like me) never finished it cause of how ass the constant checkpoint respawns and stuff were plus the incredibly annoying sickness mechanic and having to do favors for pills etc...it was just ass. But hey, now folks love it and hate far cry 3? Whatever....GWJ loves to hate is what i've come to realize.

There were always people who hated FC2 and always people, like me, who could not see the problem people had with the game and had a ton of fun with it. It's very odd. Dark Souls has similar mechanics as far as guards are concerned and there it's fine. No one even mentions it. I literally never had a problem with the guards respawning and yet people wittered on about it endlessly.

If you didn't enjoy the game then you didn't enjoy it. That doesn't somehow take away the possibility that some people found it the most enjoyable game of the series. I did. Not that I didn't enjoy FC3 but I preferred 2.

For the record: I was also ok with the malaria and breaking weapons because it added an element of unpredictability which is one of my favourite things in games.

Pile clearing! Finished the game last night. Some thoughts:

* Some aspects of the PC port were wonky. Like the weird camera control when doing things like playing poker or certain cut-scenes. (Note that I have no idea how the console camera control was in these instances.) I also suspect that multiple, contradictory actions were mapped to keys E and F because of the limited buttons on a console controller. In some menus, the scrollbar worked. In others it didn't at all. The whole menu system screamed "lazy console port".

* The game/physics engine was a bit glitchy and wasn't up to the platforming shenanigans of all those radio towers. Each was more intricate than the last and I was constantly glitching into or through pieces of the towers. Worse was the global problem of getting caught on tiny raises in elevation, such as having to jump to get over the lip of a 1 inch board on the ground.

* So dropped weapons have this huge hitbox around them to trigger the "Hold E to swap weapons" prompt. Conversely, looting bodies, skinning animals, entering vehicles, turning off radio towers, and others have this tiny

* Having to craft a bigger wallet to carry more money is soooo amazingly stupid. The other packs I could live with.

* Really liked that respawning outposts were replaced by camps that could be conquered once and for all. Even though I didn't have a problem with the outposts in Far Cry 2, I know many people did.

* Weapons customization was pretty cool. Though the interface was a bit clunky (obviously nothing was reworked for the PC port) I enjoyed mixing and matching pieces. I just wish the optics options were better. I went red dot for everything (sans sniper rifles) because the crosshairs were so thick and bright for the other optics that they obscured what I was aiming at.

* Hunting animals with a machine gun is hilarious. I killed a fleeing buffalo with a rocket launcher because I needed its skin.

* Snakes are ridiculously loud. Most other animals make no noise.

* I felt less engaged in the world than I did in Far Cry 2. It's easy for me to blame this on fast travel (FC2's buses were fewer and thus less used), except the map is such a pain to traverse in a car. No flat African savannahs here, instead we have the twisted mountain roads where any little mistake can send you plunging off a cliffside. Also the POV when driving seemed way too low. Often I had trouble actually seeing the road. I'm not sure I would have been able to finish the game if there weren't so many fast travel points.

* What the f*ck, I find an airport and there's not a single flyable aircraft? f*ck THAT NOISE!

* Loved the random interaction between wildlife and island inhabitants. This weekend I was scouting an outpost on the second island, deciding the best way to assault it. As I was planning, a pack of 3 dingos chased some boars into the outpost and then decided to attack the enemy soldiers. Suddenly 3 opponents were down and I was laughing. Then as I was waiting for the sun to set, another pack of dogs attacked the outpost! Leaving me one lone soldier to snipe.

* WILDFIRES!

* Once I started unlocking takedowns, I had so much more fun with stealth attacks. It's kind of annoying that silenced guns still put guards on alert even if they didn't see your target die.

* I've become death, destroyer of worlds but Vaas still manages to sneak up behind me and knock me cold with one hit again and again in the cut-scenes. Bah!

* Does anyone else think that Vaas' head scar is because Hoyt literally tinkered with his brain??

* Sam is a f*cking riot. I love this crazy German. BLITZKRIEG!

* I'm glad I got a choice at the end. I felt like the game was leading up a finale that removed all agency, but it did not.

* The story overall mostly worked for me. Yeah, they tossed in some literal magic sh*t, bad tropes, and yeah Jason goes to some dark f*cking places. I like that the character changes and is affected by all the violence (as opposed to Nico in GTA4). But still, I kept expecting that Willis would turn out to be a fraud or some of the things Jason experiences would turn out to be hallucinations. I mean, at one point:

Spoiler:

I engage in a dream-like knife fight and when I get to the end, I've killed a room full of soldiers?

I agree with those who say that if the writers were trying to create satire, they failed pretty miserably.

* I'm confused that people think that Jason's friends and family are "revolting". Other than going to a third-world island to party and get drunk, all they do is act stunned and shocked about this horrible thing that happened to them -- not to mention the horrible thing that Jason is becoming. Sure they're useless, but in that case it's Jason who is the weird one for becoming so hyper-competent in such a short time. Then again, none of them (save Riley) just had their brother murdered. Anyway, I didn't find them unsympathetic beyond that they acted like 20-somethings.

Fuzzballx wrote:

Lot of people love to far cry 3 it seems. I guess the new fad is praising how good far cry 2 was...funny thing about that was everyone used to love to hate far cry 2 and so many folks (like me) never finished it cause of how ass the constant checkpoint respawns and stuff were plus the incredibly annoying sickness mechanic and having to do favors for pills etc...it was just ass. But hey, now folks love it and hate far cry 3? Whatever....GWJ loves to hate is what i've come to realize.

Seriously? You can read documented praise in the Far Cry 2 thread and documented disappointment here. People who loved FC2 are less likely to love FC3 than those who didn't like FC2 because FC3 was such a departure. I imagine there are fans of FC who are disappointed with both sequels.

silentsod wrote:
Fuzzballx wrote:

Lot of people love to far cry 3 it seems. I guess the new fad is praising how good far cry 2 was...funny thing about that was everyone used to love to hate far cry 2 and so many folks (like me) never finished it cause of how ass the constant checkpoint respawns and stuff were plus the incredibly annoying sickness mechanic and having to do favors for pills etc...it was just ass. But hey, now folks love it and hate far cry 3? Whatever....GWJ loves to hate is what i've come to realize.

Seriously? You can read documented praise in the Far Cry 2 thread and documented disappointment here. People who loved FC2 are less likely to love FC3 than those who didn't like FC2 because FC3 was such a departure. I imagine there are fans of FC who are disappointed with both sequels.

GWJ is actually made up of individuals who actually have their own opinions on stuff! There's no collective or hive mind. Yes, there were people who were really bothered by the respawning checkpoints. Then again, the Far Cry 2 thread is full of people who loved the game and were happy to say so.

Some examples:
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/3...

In my case, I didn't like FC2 at all, because it felt like I wasn't making progress, and I thought the main storyline in FC3 was stupid, and your purported friends were self-absorbed and annoying. But the actual mechanics of clearing the islands in FC3 was as much fun as I've ever had in an open-world type game. And the engine is spectacularly lovely.

I'm having a good time with FC3. I just started it up this past weekend after being gifted it in the Steam sale.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Then again, the Far Cry 2 thread is full of people who loved the game and were happy to say so.

Can I just say it does my jaded little heart such good that you included my little review? Yes I can. QUINTIN LOVES ME.

Oops, must've been an oversight.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

* Once I started unlocking takedowns, I had so much more fun with stealth attacks. It's kind of annoying that silenced guns still put guards on alert even if they didn't see your target die.

Interestingly, this is actually militarily spot on. Silenced weapons are pretty loud. The *thwip* sound you hear in the movies is pretty far from accurate. So if you really fired a silenced pistol or submachine gun in a compound the size of the ones in FC3, it's pretty certain most of the people, in the open, within 20 or 30 metres would almost certainly go 'buh?' and look around for what was making the weird 'thock' sound.

Happy Dave wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

* Once I started unlocking takedowns, I had so much more fun with stealth attacks. It's kind of annoying that silenced guns still put guards on alert even if they didn't see your target die.

Interestingly, this is actually militarily spot on. Silenced weapons are pretty loud. The *thwip* sound you hear in the movies is pretty far from accurate. So if you really fired a silenced pistol or submachine gun in a compound the size of the ones in FC3, it's pretty certain most of the people, in the open, within 20 or 30 metres would almost certainly go 'buh?' and look around for what was making the weird 'thock' sound.

Pft, stop bringing your "realism" into this discussion!

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Happy Dave wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

* Once I started unlocking takedowns, I had so much more fun with stealth attacks. It's kind of annoying that silenced guns still put guards on alert even if they didn't see your target die.

Interestingly, this is actually militarily spot on. Silenced weapons are pretty loud. The *thwip* sound you hear in the movies is pretty far from accurate. So if you really fired a silenced pistol or submachine gun in a compound the size of the ones in FC3, it's pretty certain most of the people, in the open, within 20 or 30 metres would almost certainly go 'buh?' and look around for what was making the weird 'thock' sound.

Pft, stop bringing your "realism" into this discussion!

Malor wrote:

In my case, I didn't like FC2 at all, because it felt like I wasn't making progress, and I thought the main storyline in FC3 was stupid, and your purported friends were self-absorbed and annoying. But the actual mechanics of clearing the islands in FC3 was as much fun as I've ever had in an open-world type game. And the engine is spectacularly lovely.

By far that was my favorite part of FC3, the open world aspect of wandering around clearing the outposts in any way i wanted. I like going back and just redoing outposts:)

I didn't hate the story though, i thought it was rather hilarious at times, and was entertained by the sillyness of it all for the most part. It didn't get in the way of my enjoying the game. And, quite a few of the missions were quite good.

And, alerting the guards depended on distance and the size of the weapon if i recall correctly. I remember going out max range of the big sniper rifle (un-suppressed) and clearing an outpost with it without alerting any guards and getting the stealth bonus. I was so far from it, and the guards in it spread out enough, that i didn't alert them as i picked them off 1 by 1.

It really depended on how much was going on around them, how distracted they were, how much noise you were making. The lil suppressed SMG was super quiet.

In reality, it depends on a lot of factors, like how good the suppressor is, and what the load on the ammo is. Sub-sonic ammo with a good suppressor is VERY quiet for a firearm, however, you can still here the distinctive sound of the firearm and of the impact seperately for a decent range around either. I thought the game did an amazing job all around with the weapons for an action game. One of the best action games i've ever seen or played in that regard. It put games like the call of duty series and counter strike like games to absolute shame IMHO. The guns in the game just felt very real in their sound, effect, and accuracy to me. Much more so than other action games i've played. This really lent to my enjoyment of the open world aspect as well.

That said, sometimes it's fun to just rambo it. Part of why i put together that video i did that i re-posted last page or so about why i liked FC3. It just shows off the vast array of options at your disposal, the super fun ways enemies respond, and the crazy sh*t that just happens...oh, and the vast array of fun takedowns:) Just listening to all the sh*t the bad guys say and how they react to stuff in that video is a big part of why i love the game.

I'd be super happy with a FC4 without a main plot line. Just stick me in the game world full of bad guys and oppressed 3rd parties and let me feel like Rambo. Damn, that's all i need out of this game at this point:) Freedom to rain hell down upon warlords and their minions.

Or even more so, just put lots of small mini plot lines in with various people you meet that you can run missions for, some good, some bad:)

Now i'm just feeling all hot to re-install again so i can waste all the outposts a few more times:)

Regarding far cry 2 for a moment again, that game definitely had it's high points. I tried to play through it several different times, in fact, each time getting different distances through the game, but the annoyances always ended up ruining it for me and making me quit again, namely the endless driving around requiring constantly reconquering all the same outposts and never being able to keep anywhere cleaned out and clear of patrols for any time at all really. Fix that in any way and it woulda been one of my favorite action games of all time right up there with Far Cry 3.

Far Cry 2's weapon deterioration system was pretty awesome too and i think it woulda been amazing if they'd included the ability to purchase gun cleaning supplies and maintain your weapons in ship shape over time. They actually did a really decent job though of implementing the overuse of shoddy weapons:) Take an uncleaned, unoiled .45 1911 and start popping off rounds like mad it will overheat and jam up in no time:) Believe me, i know:) Real world lesson on keeping the damn thing well oiled and well cleaned or it will do what it does in far cry 2 and become useless, very fast.

If parts of Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 3 were mixed together, it seems like we'd have the perfect action experience.

Replace far cry 3's story with far cry 2's and remove wallet crafting from far cry 3, but put in the weapon deterioration and overheating from far cry 2 and add weapon cleaning and maintenance, but otherwise maintain the far cry 3 experience. Seems like a winning recipe to me that everyone would enjoy. To top it off you could have the enemy held outposts occasionlly send out raids to try to retake friendly outposts and they could succeed or fail on their own without your interference or you could go help the friendlies.

It's probably a balance and taste thing in the end between FC2 and FC3. I liked the world continuing to be hostile. I really enjoyed clearing or running roadblocks. The fast travel system and the rivers were the fix to the always occupied outposts for me. You still had to fight in a few areas via water but you could get around a lot easier. It was also very atmospheric to be chugging along on the water letting the water lillies and riverbanks glide by. With the bus system you could always warp to within one outpost of an objective or closer and there would be a vehicle waiting for you.

I have been playing Far Cry 3, just trying to complete as fast as possible so I can move on to other games I got in the steam summer sale. It has been a struggle to get through but once I got the LMG and Sniper with a silencer. I crushed through like 10 missions... It such a good combination!!

Am really enjoying this. The only fly in the ointment is that there's a glitch stopping me from completing the collect the Japanese dog tags quest. Unfortunately abandon mission and restart mission don't solve it. Anyone else come across this?

It took me about four hours to really get into it, but I'm really enjoying it right now. I'm maybe halfway through the story (I'm doing the missions for Buck to save one of the interchangeable stoner friends) after clearing all of the outposts on the part of the map that doesn't kill me automatically when I enter it.

The only thing I don't get is why everybody says Jason is such a jerk. Is it just because he brushed off his girlfriend who wanted to talk about how she didn't like he was carrying guns while he was busy rescuing his other friends from slavers?

He seems to be holding up pretty well considering everything on the island is trying to kill him. I'd probably get pretty snarky too under the circumstances.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

It took me about four hours to really get into it, but I'm really enjoying it right now. I'm maybe halfway through the story (I'm doing the missions for Buck to save one of the interchangeable stoner friends) after clearing all of the outposts on the part of the map that doesn't kill me automatically when I enter it.

The only thing I don't get is why everybody says Jason is such a jerk. Is it just because he brushed off his girlfriend who wanted to talk about how she didn't like he was carrying guns while he was busy rescuing his other friends from slavers?

He seems to be holding up pretty well considering everything on the island is trying to kill him. I'd probably get pretty snarky too under the circumstances.

It's just a plot device to allow a space for him to "become one with the island" if he wants. "You think I'm a jerk? Well screw you, I have a higher purpose. Now excuse me while I mow down another dozen dudes on my way to my higher calling."

Why do developers insist on trying to tell is that escort missions are fun? They never are.

I spent an hour this morning beating my head against the mission where you have to defend the guy while he fixes the airplane. Grr!

Is it just me, or does this game not support run-and-gun very well? I'm great if I'm sneaking around, sniping dudes one by one. I'm okay with corridor crawling and shooting without stealth. But putting me in an open field with enemies coming at me from all sides like Serious Sam is terrible in this game.

Also: f*** the guys in body armor. If you can't sneak up on them it takes three grenades or two hundred rounds to kill those guys.

If I can manage to kill the armored dudes, the guy I'm protecting gets killed. If he doesn't get killed, I do because the LMG takes a fortnight to reload.

I'll probably figure it out tomorrow, and I'm sure it doesn't help that this is the mission I'm trying my new G13 on, but right now it just felt cheap as hell.