Far Cry a retrospective
Far Cry 2 in my opinion; is the Grandfather of the open-world game.
Ubisoft Montreal has been known for its open-world game back in the 2000s this was a revolutionary concept.
Film as an art form does music and visuals together in a unique way that no other art form does.
The novel allows you to inhabit a character like no other art form does.
Where video games excel
In this article I plan to compare and contrast the difference between Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 3 in terms of how the two games compare and contrast, looking at the following criteria:
Graphics
Gameplay/ game mechanics
Story
Sound
Focus on aesthetic
Far cry 2 Far cry 3
Game audio the use of sound in the gaming experience
Graphics
Far cry 2 was the first game to pioneer the Dunia engine (a software fork of the cry engine) Ubisoft Montréal modified the cry engine to include a destructible environment and a realistic physics engine way back in 2008; which became the Dunia engine.
Graphics were revolutionary back in 2008. A modified Dunia engine has a day to night system. If you stand still in the game, you can literally see the world move around you. Wildlife moves in and out of the frame, which is complemented wonderfully by the sound design.
Gameplay/game mechanics
When you open the game you can select a character (this is why I love Ubisoft you get to play a Mauritian) all with their own sordid back story and motivations.
MW4 had become the de facto standard for shooters. Unlike anything on the market at the time Far Cry took a major departure from convention.
With destructible weaponry, destructible environment and ferocious AI, that swarm you the minute you are discovered and don't stop until you are dead.
One thing the game does really well is put you feet first in a third world African country that is embroiled in a civil war.
In the opening section of the game, the developers set up the fact that the main character has malaria.
This becomes a constant thread through the game narrative.
Where by you can do humanitarian missions and in return, you get medicine.
If you don't get your medicine you will simply pass out and die…
Such a feature is revolutionary and has hitherto never popped up in another Far Cry not to mention another first-person shooter.
There are safe houses located all over expansive the game world.
Allowing you to sleep and recuperate, activating a day to night cycle which changes the environment useful for hiding from roving patrols of AI, switch up weapons and heal; they sometimes come with vehicles too.
There is no in game HUD, you must switch between weapon or map, forcing you to plan your missions.
If you run and gun ‘CoD style’ your not going to do well and you're going to be constantly frustrated.
I love this because it puts another layer of immersion into an African country embroiled in civil war.
However, after 11 hours of gameplay, this can get a bit long in the tooth.
The story
Much like Africa, there is nuance, a thread of a narrative woven into the game rather than a rigid storyline.
You are a mercenary who has been hired to find and kill the Jackal and to do so you have to work for either the APR or UFLL fighting for supremacy, in this African dustbowl.
Petty simple gaming fair on the face of it.
But Ubisoft changes the script when in the first act you contract malaria and the jackal ends up finding you.
Then the whole game turns into a shadow play.
Where you never hear or see the Jackal but his presence permeates the environment in which you play the game. Whether its town, Jungle, City or Desert.
Far Cry 2 doesn’t hold back on how claustrophobic and impossible life is in the third world and especially in Africa.
There is a dichotomy of choice when writing characters in media, show or tell. This game uses the former to great effect.
Simple choices like viewing your map whilst driving, unlike most games Far Cry 2 is forcing you into gameplay choices finding where your going vs. looking where you going. All incredible storytelling actions and choices by the developers.
Heart of darkness
