Fixing far cry 2

[Halororor]

Okay, everybody knows Far cry 2, for some it was a hit(very small minority) and for others it was the greatest dissapointment since Hellgate London. Personally I'm in the latter. This game has such promise, and that's probably why it dissapoints so badly, because it could have been excellent, yet barely dragged itself to mediocrity. This thread is to discuss what Ubisoft can do in an expansion or sequel to make it an enjoyable experience again.Feel free to add your thoughts.

 

1. More colour. I know Africa isn't a very colourful land, but we're not that colourless! Add a birt more green to the forest, a few brightly coloured cars. Just add some more colour! We don't want to drive across the landscape looking at all the depressing brown, yellow and orange landmarks/trees/rocks/whatever.

 

2. Include a decent storyline. In Far Cry 2 there is just absolutely no reason to care. You get a bunch of missions, mostly involving killing people, wich makes you feel like you're actually the bad guy in the game. Add reason to care, show the real struggle these people have everyday, let us know how urgent our mission is!

 

3. Inhabitants. Where are they? We're fighting a war for the inhabitants of the land, yet we only see them at the start. Show us how the villagers get killed by one of the factions, show the grim reality these people have to live in. Give us a reason to care about them, to want to help them, as stated in my previous comment.

 

4. Get a better money system. Seriously, what are the chances that 350 or something briefcases loaded with diamionds are just lying around all over the country and nobody takes it? In Africa, the odds are 1 million to 1. rather let the factions pay you more diamonds at a time than having to go look for some briefcases.

And who in their right mind pays a mercenary 15 diamonds up front? Isn't that like playing poker and putting in all your chips even though you've got a terrible hand?

 

5. Better landscapes are a must. Why do we have to keep going through a bunch of canyons to get wherever we want to go. Go take a look at Africa again Ubisoft. Wide open plains, animals aroubd water holes, mountains in the distance. Makes one wonder if they really did come to Africa for research. And what's with the enemy bases? An outpost every 1.5 km isn't exactly what we had in mind when you first started advertising the game. I thought there was going to be wide open plains, with huge enemy bases every now and then and outposts being very rare. Nope, I didn't get a kick from having to stop at every outpost to kill some people, even though I cleared the place an hour ago.

 

6. Add some stealth. What happened to stealth? Woe and behold the person trying to sneak up on somebody and slit his throat quietly with a knife. Even that is heard and automatically every enemy in the vicinity is alerted of your presence and can hit you in total darkness. Even the sniper who is 2 kilos away and then proceeds to give you a perfect headshot through some bushes while you're running.

 

7. The AI. What happened to the first Far Cry's intelligent AI? Imagine this scenario, you're strolling pleasantly along the road when you hear a car revving(oh no, not again, it's the 142nd time this hour!). Quickly you jump out of the way and you see the Jeep rushing past and crashing directly into a tree/rock/building. Quickly you pull out your AK47 and wait for the driver to get out. He get's out and stands still for two seconds before drawing his weapon(hey, what a spot of good luck). You promptly shoot him in the chest 3 times and realise that the guy is still standing. Luckily a forth shot to the head ends his short life(for now, he's gonna be back in 5 minutes and you're going through the same thing all over again). This is the kind of crap we have to put up with for 75% of the game? If you can't remove these 'realistic' encounters altogether just keep it to an all time low please.

 

8. The riding around to complete to a mission bits are overrated. They take longer than the mission itself! And you have to stop every 2 minutes to kill a patrol, it's just impossible to get away from them. Make missions closer to where you are, a handful of people enjoy the tedious drive around forever parts. Oh, and how about a fster mode of transport, like a bus too, but one that can take you ANYWHERE on the map?

 

9. The great realism is done excellently. Just kidding Ubisoft, nothing to get excited about. If it was that easy to repair a car why do we have panelbeaters and motor mechanics? And please tell me where I can get one of those bulletproof T-shirts. Or a super accurate sniper. Oh, and why doesn't the people start burning immediately if I shoot them with my flamethrower? These are only a few of the issues, I'm too lazy to list them all. Just improve the realism already! Crysis was more realistic and that was a sci-fi game!

 

10. And lastly, the next time you decide to add some wildlife give us a lion or something that tries to eat us rather than some wildebeest/gazelle/zebra's that do their utmost best to run in front of my car. And I don't want to be able to kill them with one hit to the butt with a machete either.

 

This is a few of the issues they can change/remove to rescue the Far Cry series. Maybe it's more like a rant than a few tips on saving the game, but I feel they need it. They need to realise what a mess they've made. Only problem is, they won't think so because everybody bought their game(similar to Hellgate London). The Ubisoft Hype Nachine has struck again!

[macmert]

Whoa dude good luck... It takes courage to list the downsides of Farcry II... In fact it would be easier just to write down the good sides, like... well there was nothing good about that game...

 

But as you know, the first far cry was developed by crytek, they know develop the crysis franchise... so ubisoft got far cry's rights and launched the second game, I didnt play far cry, I was tricked by the good ratings by various magazines and game sites, I have to say far cry II is an awful, uninteresting and disgusting game... the most important thing for me in a game is the story and how it is told...

 

I dont like FPS games, I cant play them well (my counterstrike and doom days are over :D) I wanted to try far cry, I wish I have done something else with that money...

 

I think that game is irredeemable, you would have to start over to make it a mediocre game :D

[Halororor]

The sad thing is, the title, far cry 2, was just a cash in on a license. The two games are nowhere near alike. It's lile creating a game where you shoot cute furry pandas with cupid bows and calling it Doom 4.

[macmert]

yea I heard that, they wanted to exploit the title far cry and as far as I can see they have done a good job, many people didnt like the game one bit, but many people love the game, also got good ratings too...

[XanAlderon]

A far cry game came out for the wii (don't know if its the same one) apparently linear, boring and repetitive.

 

The series have probably lost it.

[space butler]

Halororor- I couldn't have said it better myself. I bought Far Cry 2 on the word of a few decent gaming mags giving it 10/10 and after playing it for a week or so I was struggling to understand how this got so many perfect scores. It's by no means a bad game, but i'ts definitely NOT a 10/10. I think Ubisoft spent too much time getting the landscape to look authentic, and not filling it with interesting things to do, as well as then damn respawning,etc,etc. The fact that Ubi didn't even bother to release a decent game editor alongside it really just gives the impression that this was more of a cash-in on a successful licence than an attempt to deliver a creative new experience. Mods really would have helped build this game into a classic. I got Fallout 3 recently and have been getting lots of enjoyment out of it, plus the fact that I know it will just get better and better with the help of the dedicated mod community surrounding it (look at Oblivion, I'm still not sure it's even hit it's peak yet).Even the original Far Cry still retains interest because of modders (Delta Sector, nice work). Ubisoft really just killed their own game by their own lack of interest and support.

[Halororor]

The problem was, the hype machine was doing overtime and we all know how badly that can missfire. IT's a problem for us though, and not the developers, because they made money, and lots, while we sat being bored with the game.

The thing with reviews is that once you get a new game that has been hyped up like this, you immediately love it and praise it for the things it does right, but only after a few days of having it does the flaws become apparent. That's why the real reviews only start rolling in a few weeks after release.

This game has taught me not to take reviews too seriously when considering buying a game.

[space butler]

Yeah, considering I don't have the cash to splash anymore on every game i want to play on release, I'm starting to get very wary of reviews that accompany the game within a short span of being on the shelves. Like you say, the initial impression FC2 gives is that of a pretty high quality shooter, but the cracks start showing sooner than most games of the same expected quality. I expect most reviewers aren't able to spend more than a week with the same game, so the reviews themselves tend be skewed more to those first impressions. It's a shame I can't rent pc games, it would save me a hell of a lot of money and frustration. Damn it, all it needed was an SDK. Well done, Ubisoft. I'm off to play Fallout 3 now.

[Monolithic0117]

I agree with those points, Far Cry 2 was very mediocre. I liked the graphics and the setting, but not much else. It was too repetitive, and the respawning enemies were tremendously annoying.

I believe a developer stated in the Prima Guide that developers of most games lose interest in actually playing the game they helped develop because they've been through everything the game has to offer, but he stated that he still enjoys playing Far Cry 2 a lot. I find that hard to believe. Far Cry 2 had potential, though.

[Dasistgutja]

Spot on guys, this has to be said, even though the likelyhood of it making a difference is slim (plus bitching is just fun :) )

The game DID show massive potential, and I was extremely disappointed, especially since I got it earlier than I heard that there was no 'Far Cry' in FC2.

(In fact it was a Far Cry.... No, bad joke)

But one thing about the initial hype that got to me was the fire effects.

And when I started playing I admit to being very impressed, but after the third or so time witnessing the fire my critical mind switched on and it became painfully clear that it was hardly an in-depth script. Namely the fire simply burns anything it touches, excluding the player(I mean, WHAT!? The enemies die instantly.), and then goes out of it's own volition after burning a 20-foot circle.

It was so disappointing.

Plus I found the brakes on vehicles were *slightly* over-effective.

Oh and every mission is identical. No matter the faction, or person setting it.

 

"*Muffled voice* I want you to listen VERY carefully....."