December 3 - December 7

Section: 

As far as I can tell, Far Cry 3 wants to be Heart of Darkness: The Video Game, though how well it will actually encapsulate the deeper, darker themes it seems to want to explore is a question yet to be answered. What the game does seem poised to do is to bring together the best loved qualities of the previous two games into an amalgamation that UbiSoft likely hopes to prove greater than the sum of its parts.

Far Cry 2 was one of those games that a certain population loved deeply, but that just never quite captured me. It was a world I remember feeling oddly lost in, and never quite with a good sense of what I should be doing or wanted to be doing. I've often felt it was just the setting and environment. I didn't seem to want to spend time in the world the game presented to me.

I'm hopeful that a return to the island paradise setting reinvigorates my sense of exploration. I've always loved verticality in games, and when open world games present me as many opportunities to go up as out, I'm far more likely to be engaged.

Also this week, Guardians of Middle-Earth combines Tolkien and MOBA games into DOTA/League of Legends with Hobbit Fever. So, if that's your thing then enjoy.

PC
- Far Cry 3
- Primordia (download)
- Shadow of the Game (download)
- The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles (download)
- AirBuccaneers (download)

Xbox 360
- Far Cry 3
- Guardians of Middle-earth
- Power Rangers Super Samurai

PS3
- Far Cry 3
- Guardians of Middle-earth
- Mass Effect Trilogy
- Page Chronica
- Resistance Collection
- Rotastic (PSN)
- Chulip (PS2 Classic)
- Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (PSN)

Wii U
- Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
- Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
- Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
- Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game

Vita
- DJMax Technika Tune (PSN)
- Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (PSN)

3DS
- Murder on the Titanic (eShop)

DS
- Christmas Wonderland 2 (DSiWare)
- Crystal Adventure (DSiWare)

Comments

Correction: Far Cry 3 isn't made by CryTek, it's made by Ubisoft Montreal (in conjunction with a bunch of other studios, says Wikipedia). The last FarCry game that CryTek made was the first one; they've been doing Crysis since.

Having said that, I was a big fan of Far Cry 2, and my interest in FC3 has rather gone up since my initial "ugh, dubstep douchebros" impressions. Will keep a watchful eye on it...

Totally jonesing for some Power Rangers Super Samurai action, yo.

All seriousness, I thought Far Cry 2 was the one that wanted to be Heart of Darkness? In any event, that seems to be a big inspiration lately, though I did enjoy how Spec Ops: The Line wasn't an actual attempt at retelling the story in a different locale. It took the basic ideas and brought them around to a separate message. If Far Cry 3 is truly inspired by that Heart of Darkness idea, then I'd hope they manage it in a similar fashion.

I am certainly interested in the game, but it is going to have to wait for after Christmas.

ccesarano wrote:

All seriousness, I thought Far Cry 2 was the one that wanted to be Heart of Darkness?

I believe the last mission of Far Cry 2 was even called "Into the Heart of Darkness."

- The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles (download)

As a PSA, the original game (cleverly titled The Book of Unwritten Tales) was a brilliant little point-and-click adventure game with a charming story, and Critter was the most-loved creature from that story. This isn't a throwaway game to be glossed over by our bearded overlords, nosirree.

Also, the demo for Ni No Kuni is released on PSN tomorrow. Studio Ghibli! In a Level 5 game!

Far Cry 3 for me. I went from "meh" to "meh" to "hmm that actually looks interesting" to "Oh snap, that looks sweet!" to "give it to me nao!"

Finally, those of us in North America will be able to play FC3. Kind of odd to see it on this week's TWA considering it was released everywhere else last week.

BNice wrote:

Far Cry 3 for me. I went from "meh" to "meh" to "hmm that actually looks interesting" to "Oh snap, that looks sweet!" to "give it to me nao!"

I skipped the previous two games, so I went through the same feelings. I initially planned on waiting to see if it gets a discount (even just 10% off) during the upcoming Steam winter sale, but I think I'm going to pull the trigger today, because (1) pre-order = extra missions, (2) I really don't want to wait until the last day of the steam sale (a month from now) to see if it shows up on a daily deal, and (3) it's Ubisoft, so I doubt FC3 will be discounted at all that soon.

Correction: Far Cry 3 isn't made by CryTek, it's made by Ubisoft Montreal

My mistake. Fixed.

As far as I can tell, Far Cry 3 wants to be Heart of Darkness: The Video Game

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/fIO1K.jpg)

It was bad enough when people praised Spec Ops for having that plot earlier this year, as if it were such a novel thing.

ccesarano wrote:

All seriousness, I thought Far Cry 2 was the one that wanted to be Heart of Darkness? In any event, that seems to be a big inspiration lately, though I did enjoy how Spec Ops: The Line wasn't an actual attempt at retelling the story in a different locale. It took the basic ideas and brought them around to a separate message. If Far Cry 3 is truly inspired by that Heart of Darkness idea, then I'd hope they manage it in a similar fashion.

FC2 does more than just re-tell Heart of Darkness in a different (er, the same) locale. It at least sets up the player/Jackal conflict like Marlow/Kurtz, but then, taking advantage of that great thing video games do, allows the player's Marlow to turn into Kurtz (or rather be revealed to be the actual Kurtz, among a cast of Kurtzes). I think FC2 is a great adaptation of Heart of Darkness, perfectly suited to video games.

Allusional spoilers there, sorry.

50% through FarCry 3 (or so the progress indicator tells me) and I've mostly just been roaming around having a BLAST. Couldn't get into Far Cry 2 at all (for me I think it was the setting more than anything just didn't click with me) but this one's really grabbed me.

I don't think you could call the story of FarCry 3 anything remotely like Heart of Darkness though - more like "The Beach" meets "Lost" meets "Die Hard"

Been a good year for entertaining villains in games though.

I'm hopeful that a return to the island paradise setting reinvigorates my sense of exploration. I've always loved verticality in games, and when open world games present me as many opportunities to go up as out, I'm far more likely to be engaged.

On that note, don't overlook the bazillion-odd collectible idols just because they are collectibles, the reward for finding them is often the location in which they are found. There's some really cool little areas hidden away that you'd otherwise not run across during the main story or side missions.

Still most excited this week for iPad Baldur's Gate Enhanced, if it dropped/drops?

Gravey wrote:

FC2 does more than just re-tell Heart of Darkness in a different (er, the same) locale. It at least sets up the player/Jackal conflict like Marlow/Kurtz, but then, taking advantage of that great thing video games do, allows the player's Marlow to turn into Kurtz (or rather be revealed to be the actual Kurtz, among a cast of Kurtzes). I think FC2 is a great adaptation of Heart of Darkness, perfectly suited to video games.

Allusional spoilers there, sorry.

I didn't play nor do I plan to play FarCry 2, so no problem with allusional spoilers for me. However, considering the thread started by someone complaining about FarCry 3 being about the white man coming and saving the non-white folk or whatnot, I'm wondering if that might not be the angle here.

Truth told, though, every time someone bases something off of Heart of Darkness they end up making the villain this big presence. Maybe I just didn't grasp the book, but I feel like Kurtz the person was bigger more because he was unseen and everything was word of mouth. The protagonist didn't have much discussion with him, and what little he did had a very specific purpose and communication.

Then again, there were plenty of moments while reading it that my mind drifted off, so I could have missed a whole lot.

Minarchist wrote:
- The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles (download)

As a PSA, the original game (cleverly titled The Book of Unwritten Tales) was a brilliant little point-and-click adventure game with a charming story, and Critter was the most-loved creature from that story. This isn't a throwaway game to be glossed over by our bearded overlords, nosirree.

Primordia is no slouch either judging by the demo.

Elysium wrote:

Wii U
- Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013

Misread this as Cthulhu's Dangerous Hunts, and got excited for a moment..

I finished Far Cry 3 and I don't think the story was quite as good as Far Cry 2's. It has interesting characters, but doesn't really do much with them unfortunately.

Also, if Far Cry 2 is Heart of Darkness, then Far Cry 3 is Apocalypse Now.

The guns are fun. If I ever acquire a rifle in real life, I'm painting it like a tiger.

I loved Far Cry 2, but I wasn't sure about the sequel, until I saw the recent reviews. I'm now really looking forward to it.

In response to an earlier comment about Far Cry 2:

Spoiler:

At the end of Far Cry 2, I was a right bastard. It was an easy decision to leave the Jackel and let him die, while I escaped. It was a great game that explored the seduction of evil.

Far Cry 3 FTW.

Guardians of Middle Earth did look interesting at PAX. I'm keeping my eye on that as well.

MOBA genre getting crowded.

That seems like a mini-race for next gen. Who can make the premier MOBA for consoles? I figure there will be a popular but janky one (Goldeneye) then someone will refine it for the control scheme and it will explode (Halo).

ccesarano wrote:

Truth told, though, every time someone bases something off of Heart of Darkness they end up making the villain this big presence. Maybe I just didn't grasp the book, but I feel like Kurtz the person was bigger more because he was unseen and everything was word of mouth. The protagonist didn't have much discussion with him, and what little he did had a very specific purpose and communication.

Then again, there were plenty of moments while reading it that my mind drifted off, so I could have missed a whole lot.

I don't understand the comparison you're making. Kurtz is a big presence who's mostly a lurking presence, just beyond the trees or the next bend, just beyond the clues. I think that at least FC2 did that well.

wordsmythe wrote:

I don't understand the comparison you're making. Kurtz is a big presence who's mostly a lurking presence, just beyond the trees or the next bend, just beyond the clues. I think that at least FC2 did that well.

I'm more thinking of FarCry 3 and Spec Ops: The Line in this scenario. The promotional materials for FarCry 3 are more interested in selling you on the villain than anything else, or so it seems to me. Konrad in Spec Ops was also a pretty huge character.

As you said, in Heart of Darkness he was always just around the bend, but never quite there. It was more the idea of Kurtz that was the presence. But the villains in FarCry 3 and SpecOps aren't ideas, they are actual people. Even if Kurtz starts out similarly to Heart of Darkness, you get to sit there and speak with the guy well before the end of the game.

Heart of Darkness felt like the idea was bigger than the man.

Again, maybe I'm misunderstanding all this stuff, though.

If you're saying that Spec Ops and FC3 lack subtlety, you will get no argument from me.

wordsmythe wrote:

If you're saying that Spec Ops and FC3 lack subtlety, you will get no argument from me.

Most gaming review websites: FAR CRY 3 HAS TITTIES!11!1!

Gamers With Jobs: FAR CRY 3 IS NOT SUBTLE ENOUGH IN ITS ALLUSIONS TO THE WORKS OF JOSEPH CONRAD FOR WORDSMYTHE!!!11!

TheHipGamer wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

If you're saying that Spec Ops and FC3 lack subtlety, you will get no argument from me.

Most gaming review websites: FAR CRY 3 HAS TITTIES!11!1!

Gamers With Jobs: FAR CRY 3 IS NOT SUBTLE ENOUGH IN ITS ALLUSIONS TO THE WORKS OF JOSEPH CONRAD FOR WORDSMYTHE!!!11!

I mean, yes.

wordsmythe wrote:
TheHipGamer wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

If you're saying that Spec Ops and FC3 lack subtlety, you will get no argument from me.

Most gaming review websites: FAR CRY 3 HAS TITTIES!11!1!

Gamers With Jobs: FAR CRY 3 IS NOT SUBTLE ENOUGH IN ITS ALLUSIONS TO THE WORKS OF JOSEPH CONRAD FOR WORDSMYTHE!!!11!

I mean, yes.

I fail to see why this is a problem. Keeps the riff-raff out of the monocle room.

shoptroll wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
TheHipGamer wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

If you're saying that Spec Ops and FC3 lack subtlety, you will get no argument from me.

Most gaming review websites: FAR CRY 3 HAS TITTIES!11!1!

Gamers With Jobs: FAR CRY 3 IS NOT SUBTLE ENOUGH IN ITS ALLUSIONS TO THE WORKS OF JOSEPH CONRAD FOR WORDSMYTHE!!!11!

I mean, yes.

I fail to see why this is a problem. Keeps the riff-raff out of the monocle room.

What? No, not a problem. It's a sign of good breeding. Plus, I rhymed "wordsmythe" with "titties".

If I see boobs then they had better be a metaphor for something.

ccesarano wrote:

If I see boobs then they had better be a metaphor for something.

The plight of Cucurbitaceae no doubt.

ccesarano wrote:

If I see boobs then they had better be a metaphor for something.

They are a metaphor for your longing for the comfort of mother's care. Probably.

Isn't that what you think about when you see Chesty McBust in a game?