So, Far Cry 3

[Zarniwoop]

Yes, yes I know, this isn't FPSCodex. I got this game as a gift (physical DVD, not Steam) and I'm pretty disappointed. I don't know about that OMG RAYCIZM bullshit all the cool kids are ranting about, but maybe I just haven't gotten far enough into it yet to see any of that. For me the worst thing is what a terrible and buggy console port this is. The graphics are noticeably worse than FC2 in DX9 mode, and the game is basically unplayable in DX11. Kind of the Crysis 2 vs Crysis thing all over again. The quality of the sound samples, especially voices, is just terrible, it sounds like it was recorded in 11KHz and then had massive compression applied afterwards. This is the most unpolished game I've seen since the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Then there's also the the fact of the game going into corridor mode whenever you're in a mission, and you instafail when just taking a step too far in the wrong direction.

Amongst the usual "GOTY 99/100" "Best open world sim EVAR", "Truly groundbreaking" "Better than 50 blowjobs" paid-for "reviews", this is the first actual, honest review I've found of the game that seems to really explain what it's like to play: http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/11911/article/we-need-to-talk-about-far-cry-3/

Thoughts?

(The intense butthurt in the comments section is also good for a laugh, or a cry if you realise the level of brainwashing at work)

 

[potatojohn]

http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/11911/article/we-need-to-talk-about-far-cry-3/

I don't know. On one hand, yes. On the other hand, people who use the word 'problematic' non-ironically need to have their hands cut off.

 

[racofer]

At first I was skeptical towards it since well, this is the Codex and all. But then I downloaded the game, and the intro played...



... and from this point onwards I knew it was gonna be total shit, which it was during the first 5 minutes I played the game after that point and the guy kept on say "oh my god oh my god oh my god!!!!!!!!" all the fucking time. So I uninstalled it, deleted the isos and never looked back.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Amazingly, he only gets MORE annoying after that.

 

[potatojohn]

The intro was by far the best part.

 

[Metro]

The franchise peaked two-thirds of the way through the original game. Welcome to the world of modern FPS games. You're lucky if half the game isn't one massive QTE.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

i've played much worse.
plot is retarded, mmorpg mechanics violently stuffed into the game are retarded, climbing radio towers is retarded... but overall i kept playing because of the acting.
while the oh so praised "definition of insanity" monologue is actually one of the worst, i found the antagonists so twisted, sick, out of their minds, i wanted to listen to them more.

 

[Angthoron]

EdgyCodex.

Technologically, FC3 is weaker than FC2, maybe. However, what's the use of technology when I don't want to play the game? I didn't want to play FC2. I tried to want to, but it was just too heavily flawed. The story was quite retarded as well, and the governing extra mechanic - malaria - ruined open-world ambling and made the brown filter even more brown whenever you were five minutes off your last dose. FUN GAME. It had its moments, I loved the fire, explosions and injured AI dudes limping to cover while their friends rushed to help them. Sometimes. That was cool.

FC3, I actually kinda want to play. The story is still as derp as ever, the writer really needs to move on to writing mysteries for cereal boxes, especially for the whole "Ho ho! Allusions to Alice!" bullshit, the protagonist is an unlikeable dweeb and the story sucks. Oh, yeah, and the story is shit. I have a feeling it was being written by some guy, then another guy came over and said, "Oh, this is too simple. Let's add some SYMBOLISM and stuff, you'll see, it'll be complex and shit" and so they did.

On the other hand, gunplay's solid, gun acquisition's solid (no more gathering of fucking diamonds, thank you Ubisoft, you majestic learning animal), respawn is actually reasonable, and the mix of open world self-pleasuring experiences like capping a fort and rail-based action sequences from main plot are entertaining enough to do both. Side missions still suck dicks most of the time thanks to silly limitations like "knife the bad guy" when maybe I'd like to shoot him with a shotgun in the nads and repetitiveness, but again, fucking NOTHING compared to FC2 "drive 100km from here to intercept a truck to gain access to next weapon LOLS!" shit mechanic. Or RAGE sidemissions that can kiss id's ass. Also, haven't encountered buggyness mentioned by OP. Define buggy?

I had enough fun running around in FC3 shooting shit up and setting up traps. It's not a 99/100 game by far, but it's fucking miles ahead of its predecessor.

Oh, and I had a look at that article. Yeah, it touches up on the problems, the UI certainly is annoying, and the crafting is quite fucking pointless. Hand-crafted missions in an open world are irksome as well, and I hope they tell their talented writer(s) to piss right off next time so designers won't have to fear that the players would miss an important trigger. Also, AI being improved is a questionable statement, mobs no longer try to save their injured bros, I think.

But seriously? Call FC2 more fun? That guy is more high than the ever-annoying Alex fucking Brody.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

It's good for what it is if you like open world FPSes and ran out of Stalker mods.

Also, the ending where you stay on the island is fucking hilarious, even better than the ending to Divinity 2.

 

[SoupNazi]

It's a pretty good game.

 

[Angthoron]

It's good for what it is if you like open world FPSes and ran out of Stalker mods.

Also, the ending where you stay on the island is fucking hilarious, even better than the ending to Divinity 2.

Pff, the real ending to Divinity 2 is in the expansion, where

Spoiler

Tassadar crashes his carrier into the Overmind

 

[Zarniwoop]

EdgyCodex.

Technologically, FC3 is weaker than FC2, maybe. However, what's the use of technology when I don't want to play the game? I didn't want to play FC2. I tried to want to, but it was just too heavily flawed. The story was quite retarded as well, and the governing extra mechanic - malaria - ruined open-world ambling and made the brown filter even more brown whenever you were five minutes off your last dose. FUN GAME. It had its moments, I loved the fire, explosions and injured AI dudes limping to cover while their friends rushed to help them. Sometimes. That was cool.

FC3, I actually kinda want to play. The story is still as derp as ever, the writer really needs to move on to writing mysteries for cereal boxes, especially for the whole "Ho ho! Allusions to Alice!" bullshit, the protagonist is an unlikeable dweeb and the story sucks. Oh, yeah, and the story is shit. I have a feeling it was being written by some guy, then another guy came over and said, "Oh, this is too simple. Let's add some SYMBOLISM and stuff, you'll see, it'll be complex and shit" and so they did.

On the other hand, gunplay's solid, gun acquisition's solid (no more gathering of fucking diamonds, thank you Ubisoft, you majestic learning animal), respawn is actually reasonable, and the mix of open world self-pleasuring experiences like capping a fort and rail-based action sequences from main plot are entertaining enough to do both. Side missions still suck dicks most of the time thanks to silly limitations like "knife the bad guy" when maybe I'd like to shoot him with a shotgun in the nads and repetitiveness, but again, fucking NOTHING compared to FC2 "drive 100km from here to intercept a truck to gain access to next weapon LOLS!" shit mechanic. Or RAGE sidemissions that can kiss id's ass. Also, haven't encountered buggyness mentioned by OP. Define buggy?

I had enough fun running around in FC3 shooting shit up and setting up traps. It's not a 99/100 game by far, but it's fucking miles ahead of its predecessor.

Oh, and I had a look at that article. Yeah, it touches up on the problems, the UI certainly is annoying, and the crafting is quite fucking pointless. Hand-crafted missions in an open world are irksome as well, and I hope they tell their talented writer(s) to piss right off next time so designers won't have to fear that the players would miss an important trigger. Also, AI being improved is a questionable statement, mobs no longer try to save their injured bros, I think.

But seriously? Call FC2 more fun? That guy is more high than the ever-annoying Alex fucking Brody.

So you basically admit FC2 had a better engine, a better open world, better writing and characters and better teamwork by the AI, but because it lacked fast travel and had a shitty weapon-obtaining mechanic, ZOMG FC3 IZ TEH BESTEST? Are you a gaming journalist by any chance?

The only redeeming feature of this game is that it has not only a co-op option, but an entirely separate campaign. That's pretty damn decent in this day and age.

As for bugs: Some settings don't save and required a workaround, especially the one selecting your DirectX mode (don't know if this affects the Steam version, I had the retail DVDs and patch 1.3)
Frame rates are ridiculously low in DX9 compared to games with far better visuals, like Crysis, Far Cry 2 or Metro 2033.
DirectX11 is a fucking nightmare, with slowdowns in some areas and just crashing to desktop at other times. General lagging and/or freezing at random intervals.
Alt-tabbing doesn't work properly, sometimes requiring a restart.

From my Googling spree in trying to solve the above, it seems it mostly affects ATI cards with Nvidifags not as pissed off, but it's no excuse really. My money is just as good, they should fix their shit.

 

[Angthoron]

Did you even read what I wrote?

FC2 is a worse game, has equally bad writing without ANY fucking highlights or memorable characters (be my guest, name me anything memorable, in a good or a bad way), has shit fast travel (yes, it has fast travel), shitty weapon-related mechanics, shitty respawn, shitty graphical direction with brown ass filter, has repetitive open world combat and did I mention shit missions and side missions? Because they're shit. Oh and fucking malaria. Does that sound like a better game to you? Because to me it sure fucking doesn't. It has better/different AI teamwork which felt interesting due to being able to lure AI with wounded comrades, a fairly unused location set and good eyecandy.

Only bug that I have from the ones you list is alt-tabbing, but not to the point of crashing. The rest, nope. DX11 works great, settings save just fine (not a Steam version), didn't try DX9 since I have no need for it. Sounds like ATI related, yeah.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Did you even read what I wrote?

FC2 is a worse game, has equally bad writing without ANY fucking highlights or memorable characters (be my guest, name me anything memorable, in a good or a bad way), has shit fast travel (yes, it has fast travel), shitty weapon-related mechanics, shitty respawn, shitty graphical direction with brown ass filter, has repetitive open world combat and did I mention shit missions and side missions? Because they're shit. Oh and fucking malaria. Does that sound like a better game to you? Because to me it sure fucking doesn't. It has better/different AI teamwork which felt interesting due to being able to lure AI with wounded comrades, a fairly unused location set and good eyecandy.

Only bug that I have from the ones you list is alt-tabbing, but not to the point of crashing. The rest, nope. DX11 works great, settings save just fine (not a Steam version), didn't try DX9 since I have no need for it. Sounds like ATI related, yeah.

I personally think FC2 had pretty crappy writing. I was going on what you said, just implying that it's even worse this time. Actually yes, even the non-person protagonist from FC2 is better than this dumbass kid with split personality disorder, crying OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD like a bitch in a cutscene, then a few seconds later brutally stabbing and shooting whole gangs of men like he doesn't give a shit, then later being a whiny bitch again. It doesn't make sense. Side missions are shit in both games (as in most open-world FPS games), so how can that be a win for either? Malaria? Meh. It's just a game mechanic you have to deal with, not really good or bad. It's like games where you have to eat, except the constantly having to eat like a caterpillar in S.T.A.L.K.E.R was far worse.

The first game was the best overall, FC2 just improved on the graphics and the openness of the world. Unfortunately they messed up several things as well (such as having a proper story). The third game just doesn't do any of those well, and especially after it's been hyped up so much as being the next graphical masterpiece.

And I hate to break it to you, but there's actually a reason for all the brown in FC2. It's set in Sub-Saharan Africa. Obviously it won't look like Barbados like the other two.

 

[Sodafish]

It was fun enough For What It Is(tm), but not without problems obviously - mainly with the story. For one thing, I wanted to throw each and every one of the protagonist's whiney/moronic friends off the nearest cliff.

 

[Angthoron]

I personally think FC2 had pretty crappy writing. I was going on what you said, just implying that it's even worse this time. Actually yes, even the non-person protagonist from FC2 is better than this dumbass kid with split personality disorder, crying OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD like a bitch in a cutscene, then a few seconds later brutally stabbing and shooting whole gangs of men like he doesn't give a shit, then later being a whiny bitch again. It doesn't make sense.

Yep. However, playing FC games is like watching porn for the story, so I pretty much blocked it out. It's just that in FC2 it felt more annoying, especially with the ever-exciting African warlords talking about some boring shit while you couldn't even skip the thing. Woo.

Side missions are shit in both games (as in most open-world FPS games), so how can that be a win for either?

Yep

Malaria? Meh. It's just a game mechanic you have to deal with, not really good or bad. It's like games where you have to eat, except the constantly having to eat like a caterpillar in S.T.A.L.K.E.R was far worse.

It's worse. STALKER hunger didn't make my screen shake like I was on an acid trip every 5 minutes, or turn on an ULTRABROWN filter. Unless I forgot something. Plus, there were lots of food items in STALKER so it really wasn't a problem. In FC2 you're explicitly forced to play VERY BLAND missions to get that. Woo.

The first game was the best overall, FC2 just improved on the graphics and the openness of the world. Unfortunately they messed up several things as well (such as having a proper story). The third game just doesn't do any of those well, and especially after it's been hyped up so much as being the next graphical masterpiece.

FC1 was pretty good, FC2 tried to improve and fucked up ever so hard, FC3 is more even as an experience. I can sympathize to your experience as a screwed-over ATI user but otherwise it's a rather pretty game, if not quite what it's hyped to be. In fact, I'd consider something like Just Cause 2 to be much nicer looking. So yeah. Next best graphical thing, it is not.

And I hate to break it to you, but there's actually a reason for all the brown in FC2. It's set in Sub-Saharan Africa. Obviously it won't look like Barbados like the other two.

I happen to have been to Africa. It's not quite that brown. Overall the feel is quite spot-on, but they went too far with postprocessing. Real world is never covered in sepia filter.

 

[dnf]

It's like games where you have to eat, except the constantly having to eat like a caterpillar in S.T.A.L.K.E.R was far worse.

WTF? there is enough food in STALKER that make this mechanic pratically non existent...

 

[Spectacle]

Despite all the bullshit and consolization FC3 is still a very fun game. The environment is nice, the combat is tight, the guns are good and the terrain is open enough that you can use a variety of tactics to deal with the enemies. Some of the plot and characters are even entertaining.

 

[cretin]

I must be a glutton for punishment, because I installed this after uninstalling FC4.

However, while FC4 lacks mods for some reason, FC3 has quite a few. Ziggy's is the popular one, but to my dismay, while Ziggy's is ostensibly a "hardcore" mod it does nothing for the issues like the weapons having no recoil or the shotguns being video game shotguns (i.e useless past 5 feet). Rebalanced mod on the other hand, does many of the same things as Ziggy (disabling tagging etc) while indeed rebalancing the weapons to be more realistic and making the economy functional rather than just chucking funds at the player.

It's pretty good so far. It's not mindblowing, but it's a less banal FC and much more challenging.

One thing mods can't save is that the audio quality in FC3 is really bad. It sounds like shit, and I'm not even one of those sperg audiophiles whose bat ears picks up on every off tone. It just sounds very low quality across the board.

 

[ferratilis]

If you think FC3 has bad sound quality, wait till you hear AC Valhalla. It's close to 32kbps mp3 territory. In the last 10 years, Ubisoft has really dropped the ball when it comes to audio. Which is ironic, because old Splinter Cell games still sound amazing.

 

[cretin]

If you think FC3 has bad sound quality, wait till you hear AC Valhalla. It's close to 32kbps mp3 territory. In the last 10 years, Ubisoft has really dropped the ball when it comes to audio. Which is ironic, because old Splinter Cell games still sound amazing.

Actually I forgot about this, now that you mention it every modern ubisoft game I've played has had horrendous audio. WTF is it with them?

I remember ghost recon wildlands, another play could be shooting 2 feet away from you and it would sound like a watch ticking.

 

[Falksi]

The whole series went to shit after FC2

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The whole series went to shit after FC2

The spinoff games are generally better than their mainline counterpart

 

[Duraframe300]

The whole series went to shit after FC2

The spinoff games are generally better than their mainline counterpart

... Really?

The argument can be made for Blood Dragon, but it's kind of a mixed bag of opinions when it comes to Primal and New Dawn.

 

[cretin]

The whole series went to shit after FC2

The spinoff games are generally better than their mainline counterpart

... Really?

The argument can be made for Blood Dragon, but it's kind of a mixed bag of opinions when it comes to Primal and New Dawn.

Primal after they added suvivor mode is infinitely more interesting than anything else they've ever done with this mediocre series.