It seems like ages ago when the original Far Cry was released. A lot has changed in the shooter genre since then, other than, well, shooters being more prevalent on consoles and Call of Duty titles dictating the standard norm for the competition to meet up to. Far Cry 3 appears to be trying to combine the magic of the original with the pace of more modern titles.
It’s easy to dismiss the multiplayer as a Call of Duty clone that takes place in a jungle, but there were some subtle features that may be able to help the title rise above such stereotypes. Fans of Crysis 2 will feel right at home; being able to slide behind cover while avoiding gunfire is an excellent feature, especially given the quick pace of each match.
The demo we played at PAX East was a capture the flag match that had plenty of back and forth action. While the game, running on an Xbox 360, wasn’t looking as good as it honestly should be, there was comfort to be found in the polish of both the controls and gameplay mechanics. I never encountered any glitches, errors, or control issues, so here’s to hoping that the game’s just needing a touch of visual polish to beef it up; honestly, it really does need it before release later this summer.
One of the unique features of Far Cry 3‘s multiplayer are the battle cries, which allow you to buff you and your fellow squad mates. It’ll be interesting to see how they pan out in the game’s retail release and if they’re a deciding factor on the longevity of the title. While there’s a lot of things Far Cry 3 does well based of the demo we played, we do wonder if it’s enough to be worth your time. Then again, there will be plenty of sandbox campaigning to be had, which we sadly didn’t get to try out, so there’s always that…
Far Cry 3 will launch September 4th for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
