Editorials

What got me excited at E3…

June 16, 2011, Author: Phil Ubee

I have been enjoying video-games for over 25 years in some form or another. During this time I’ve played and enjoyed games across a vast array of platforms covering every genre. I have thoroughly enjoyed games from simplistic puzzlers to in-depth JRPGs, from linear slash-em-ups  to the sprawling cities of the biggest Sandbox titles. I have fought in the endless head-to-head challenge of a sporting title to the single-player fantasy of the best platformers.

Throughout all this time, though, my relationship with the FPS genre has remained somewhat uneasy. In fact, until about three years ago I would confidently tell you I hated the genre and had little if anything positive to say about any FPS title. So imagine my surprise when sifting through the multitude of teaser trailers and press conferences of the past week’s E3 that the only game that genuinely made me sit up and take notice was in fact a FPS.

Now before you all slam me for succumbing to the CoD cash cow or getting or pie-eyed on the back of the past glories of Halo, let me set you straight. The game I am talking about is neither of the latest offerings from these two behemoths, it isn’t even the upcoming Battlefield. The game that has got me excited is in fact Far Cry 3. This is why.

There have always been two major issues I have had with the FPS genre; the first is that despite any pretence to the contrary, weapons and ammunition are essentially limitless. Don’t get me wrong here, I am not one of these gamers that would take realism at the cost of enjoyment but the balance always seems a touch wrong. The second, and I know I will get pelters for this statement, is that they are basically all the same; Call of Duty, Medal of Honour, Battlefield: Same game, different packaging.

Just another war game...

Although I never played the original Far Cry title as, Championship Manager aside, I don’t really do PC gaming, but when I got my hands on Far Cry 2 just last year I was somewhat surprised. Here was a FPS that added something extra to the mix. Rather than ploughing through a war or facing some form of Alien in a world full of corridors, Far Cry 2 opened the world up and threw weapons into the mix that actually behaved like the mechanical objects they are.

One of the biggest gaming was the fact the at random points of a gunfight your weapon might jam leaving you somewhat up the proverbial creek. This meant that, unlike every other FPS I’ve ever played, you couldn’t just walk through the game like it was the O.K. Coral firing wildly at anything that moved. Instead you needed to weigh up your options, scout the area and decide if you should go in loud or quiet. I felt this and a larger, more open world to play in gave the game a freedom I had not seen previously in the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed it, in fact I still do, though that’s not to say Far Cry 2 is not without flaws and that leads me on nicely to last week’s trailer.

Far Cry 2 gave us an environment to explore.

Producer Dan Hay’s E3 walk-through introduced you to a world you will get to enter next year and gave you a brief backdrop to the story. Immediately you get the feeling that it is going to have an extra 20-30% of polish over Far Cry 3. It’s always a thankless task to try and get a feel for a game from a short trailer but the mechanics immediately seem better than the 2008 iteration and the characters you are introduced to appear to be exactly that; real characters. Here’s the trailer for those that haven’t seen it.

[vsw id=”5lXHmWRziHA” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

Obviously, one of the biggest positives in Far Cry 2 was the freedom and that appears to return here as you are shown the options of the quiet take-downs and the more action movie style “all guns blazing” scenarios, while being teased about the Island you find yourself on. What else can we take from this seven minute teaser? In all honesty not a great deal and that is maybe why it has piqued my interest. There is just enough here to make you ask: How will that character develop? Where will the story go from here? Have the developers ironed out the gameplay glitches from the last title? What is Jason’s Secret?

I for one cannot wait to find out. Roll on 2012!

Tagged , , , , , , ,