The Far Cry formula has gotten so rote by now that I just couldn't get into this game. The wacko nemesis, the cookie cutter weapons, the faceless goons, the endless quests, the meaningless story. Now they also gatekeep basic actions behind upgrades (can't use binoculars or carry more than one weapon or have any fun, I guess) and offer to sell you weapons from the crafting table for actual money (meaning they're more incentivised to make crafting a hassle so you'd cough up).
But it was really once I got to the first story mission in the sandbox and was hit by another instance of the quality Ubisoft humour with a guy called Beans trying to put together a collection of maps and such and calling it, get this, Wiki-Beans, that I decided I'm done. Mediocre mechanics can be saved by a great story and vice versa, but with Far Cry it seems everything's mediocre-to-outright-bad now.
Well, fine, the world looks pretty. But I really wish the game allowed me to get more fun abilities straight away (if there even are any). The auto-driving is a really nice addition since it lets me do anything better with my life; too bad the constant enemy patrols keep attacking and forcing another boring empty fight. The weapons are essentially the same you find in most shooters (especially boring after having just played R&C: Rift Apart and Resistance 3) and instead of coming up with more interesting weapons, they just add different levels of quality, like in MMORPGs, so that you start with a shoddy version of the same weapon you'll hopefully one day get in a good version (and you can get there faster if you pay some cold hard cash).
I thought maybe liberating an outpost would be more fun than the boringly scripted story missions, but hiding behind a rock trying to figure out where people are shooting me and then wasting ammo on taking them down because I'm using level 1 weapons quickly convinced me otherwise. The companions seem hardly worth the cost of revival when they keep getting shot down constantly, even on medium difficulty. After a while I just stopped reviving them, considering it a waste of both time and resources. And it's honestly no wonder considering the enemy AI seems advanced enough to only run and gun, often standing still in the middle of a field while shooting at me.
And it just shows how much care Ubisoft put into the gender selection when enemies keep referring to you as "him" in their barks even when you're a woman and other characters refer to you only as Captain or Cap, so that they wouldn't have to code in two names. There are gender-neutral names, you know, right, guys?
It's overall an infuriating game design that has little care for the game it's selling, but more for the product it's shipping. Now, I'm not saying you can't enjoy it, and I'm guilty of enjoying some badly designed and/or un-player-friendly games myself, but I just don't have any more place in my life for the repetitive and empty calories of Far Cry. In time I might come to appreciate it more, but the idea of giving more time to this game threatens to cause an existential crisis. I’d rather try something that remembers to make an effort.
But it was really once I got to the first story mission in the sandbox and was hit by another instance of the quality Ubisoft humour with a guy called Beans trying to put together a collection of maps and such and calling it, get this, Wiki-Beans, that I decided I'm done. Mediocre mechanics can be saved by a great story and vice versa, but with Far Cry it seems everything's mediocre-to-outright-bad now.
Well, fine, the world looks pretty. But I really wish the game allowed me to get more fun abilities straight away (if there even are any). The auto-driving is a really nice addition since it lets me do anything better with my life; too bad the constant enemy patrols keep attacking and forcing another boring empty fight. The weapons are essentially the same you find in most shooters (especially boring after having just played R&C: Rift Apart and Resistance 3) and instead of coming up with more interesting weapons, they just add different levels of quality, like in MMORPGs, so that you start with a shoddy version of the same weapon you'll hopefully one day get in a good version (and you can get there faster if you pay some cold hard cash).
I thought maybe liberating an outpost would be more fun than the boringly scripted story missions, but hiding behind a rock trying to figure out where people are shooting me and then wasting ammo on taking them down because I'm using level 1 weapons quickly convinced me otherwise. The companions seem hardly worth the cost of revival when they keep getting shot down constantly, even on medium difficulty. After a while I just stopped reviving them, considering it a waste of both time and resources. And it's honestly no wonder considering the enemy AI seems advanced enough to only run and gun, often standing still in the middle of a field while shooting at me.
And it just shows how much care Ubisoft put into the gender selection when enemies keep referring to you as "him" in their barks even when you're a woman and other characters refer to you only as Captain or Cap, so that they wouldn't have to code in two names. There are gender-neutral names, you know, right, guys?
It's overall an infuriating game design that has little care for the game it's selling, but more for the product it's shipping. Now, I'm not saying you can't enjoy it, and I'm guilty of enjoying some badly designed and/or un-player-friendly games myself, but I just don't have any more place in my life for the repetitive and empty calories of Far Cry. In time I might come to appreciate it more, but the idea of giving more time to this game threatens to cause an existential crisis. I’d rather try something that remembers to make an effort.