Why FarCry 4 is so exciting for doing so little

Have I seen this before?

FarCry 4 revealed itself to an admitedly strange trailer during its original E3 unveiling. It was an incredible looking setting, great action, but it was so weird to see the exact piece by piece UI elements from Far Cry 3. On top of that while the graphics were improved over console versions, it was clear it was more like tuning up your PC settings rather than a sequel to go alongside a new console generation. Of course people will blame older consoles, but the actual reality is that its the same exact engine. You hear of rehashes and whatnot, but rarely ever is it so apparent that the UI is revealed to be the same thing. Since then this has changed a bit as we've seen new HUD pieces, but still it was such a strange reveal, especially from ubisoft who would rather inflate early builds than to make them seem like a true work in progress. Despite this I absolutely loved everything I saw, and it has become my most anticipated game of what's left of this year. No seriously, I can pass or wait on everything else except this and smash bros, and this surprisingly takes a higher priority over smash bros. Why though? Well actually these two things are quite connected, I'm actually happy to see its got a lot in common with FC3. Quite a few folks want to make it out to be an issue, because of course they do, and originally I wrote a (kind of angry) response towards that. However after sitting back about it, I'm just plain happy FarCry 4 is nearly here and now I'm here to explain myself a bit more.

So Far Cry 3 released a couple years ago and I really enjoyed it. However I didn't agree that it earned every inch of its enormous praise. Its character was horribly executed, it had some wonky checkpoints, and it had a couple nitpicks that just generally kind of stack on each other. After playing Wolfenstein's stealth system its especially hard to enjoy Farcry 3's faults. Oh the stealth system could especially be improved. Overall I just felt like things could have been better. FC1 and 2 sort of share a similar feel, they were amazing games that just didn't do everything as best as it could. A lot of their points will never be fully realized either, as every entry in the series seems to love wiping out the logic of the last game... at least until now. I was quite interested when I heard ubisoft had found Far Cry's formula with 3, but took it with a grain of salt until the reveal. When it showed itself, it was exactly what I wanted with the series: An evolution through a proper sequel. New subtle features made the show on top of what we knew amazing, such as smashing and shooting through a car window, or interacting with a red barrel before weaponizing it. Oh and for all you social types, there's co-op function for tackling forts, which in itself could be a massive game changing feature for a couple players (though personally I may never touch it). Of course there's the massive and well welcomed setting change and some of the additions brought on with it like riding elephants, and the potential for a decent protagonist (and maybe a better villain... sorry, I just don't quite agree that vaas was that special). I'm also hoping the drugy tones are tuned down to. I know its got a vibe for crazy and eccentric people, and stoners may find themselves in that mix, but I got a bit sick of seeing the run down drug addicted world of Farcry3, it kind of killed my interest in the tropical tone. I've also kind of been finding details on returning mechanics, and things like the health system and 4 slot weapon wheel still appear to be well implemented meaning the game isn't subtracting or "streamlining" its core. Oh and I haven't even brought up the competitive multiplayer, which is looking like a big step up from the generic FC3 multiplayer. ...Or the spirit world and magical tiger that I'm looking forward to trying out. What's that, you've put in an arena mode to!? This is shaping up to be a perfect sequel.

Familiar fun, but amped up amazement

This is how sequels are done. If you wanted something else, or want to cry DLC, then turn and leave. Seriously, there's nothing here for you. If you actually want something different, then why on earth would you be looking at the same franchise that you want to walk away from. A sequel isn't supposed to revolutionize your world, and often the most successful games in a franchises are the sequels that truly build upon a high quality base game that came before. Similarly that's where a lot of the most well remembered games in a franchise come from, #2, like uncharted, AC, Mass effect, Mario Kart 64 (kind of a 2), Spyro 2, Smash bros melee, Battlefield 2 or bad company 2 (both fit), and timesplitters 2. These are games that continued rather than destroyed their past successes, and although sometimes the next either hurt or helped the series out further these games are all slightly more well remembered and discussed for being that next major milestone on top of previously great ideas. Oh but I could go on in backwards fashion to; How about Mercenaries 2 and Star wars battlefront 2, Crysis 2, the western version of SMB2, or Far Cry 2? Leaving that special 2 number, we could also go to Killzone 3, the thief reboot, Dead space 3, and a couple others. Oh yeah, hardly anyone discusses them anymore (or compared to another) because they derailed or hurt parts of their original game. They aren't necessarily bad games, heck SWBF2 and killzone 3 stole hours on top of hours from me, and I think Deadspace 3 is probably my personal best option to get into that series because I'm not a big fan of the rest, but they were more confused entries that didn't live up. Oh and I could get carried away about how amazing of an example Ratchet & clank is with its well hated spin-off titles, versus the rehashed but loved 8 or so adventure games. However I'm getting slightly off track, lets go back to the basics. What's the point of an IP if it doesn't have its own identity, following, and its own style? It loses all that if it plays itself out like past farcry games have before. All the series has been known for consistently is an island location (which ironically FC4 breaks) with somewhat open ended combat and a community map pack function, and that's about it. Outside of that, Far Cry pretty much has to sell each game on itself rather than a strong fan base, which doesn't sound so bad but when nobody knows for sure what to expect out of it and there's always a list of odd flaws, then you know its a bit of an unstable property. Nobody knows quite how the mechanics, balance, or traveling will play out, or what features will be in it unless they see all the trailers. Now we do. Not only that but we can see it improve and fix itself as it goes on by. Its keeping a sense of style, its returning almost all the mechanics while fixing or adding to just about all of them as well, and its giving us a brand new world and adventure.

I guess that still leaves a question to my sequel logic though... an IP must have its own identity and style, but what about making that so for each individual game? Simple: new aesthetics, a new adventure as well as a story, a new sense of pacing, and of course subtle changes and

experimentation that influence balance for the better. All of these things stand out to make a game not only unique, but hopefully succeed over its past game. I think where some proper sequels do fail though is on the pacing and adventure aspect, which are far more subjective and tougher to perfect than mechanics. You can easily figure out if people will like a new game mode, or whether or not giving them a new travel method is a good idea. However its a lot harder to see if that level layout is tuned just right, or if players like what you did with the villain. Some sequels like Uncharted 3 flop on this point, while others like Crysis 3 are regarded as better. This is also probably extra hard on fighters, and I guess that explains the mixed bag I always hear around the god of war and Devil may cry series. The adventure and pacing are a huge part of what makes or breaks a sequel, and often if that alone is what goes wrong with a game fans are more than willing to give the next one a chance than if you were to step back and say... burn the whole damn thing with a big reboot or spiral the game out of a sane direction. Burning a series identity is how we end up with sloppy messes like Dungeon keeper (to which EA even said, though with some bad logic mixed in, that they needed to stick more to the old brand) or dead space 3, its just that its not popular to admit things like that because hating on the obvious and more forced rehashes like COD and madden is fun. However there is a point at which a series can truly go stale. When that happens, again walk away. Turn back, you aren't missing out on anything if you really became tired or bored with it. When enough people do that, they'll figure something out. I think that's part of why Tomb Raider really worked out as it is, it seems to reboot at just the right times. However just yelling at a highly successful and great new adventure in a series people are enjoying, it just makes you look kind of... well, dumb. If you've got specific complaints, then share them, but complaining about the whole package or saying its not "new enough" in a gaming industry full of different games, well you're not doing anybody any favors.

The most hilarious part of all the Farcry 3 rehash complaints though is that a rehash and somewhat of a literal reskin was already made, sold, and very well received with quite a few even saying it was better than the main game. Actually I'll take that back, some bring it up as one of the best shooters we've gotten over recent years (which is a bit overkill in my book, but oh well more power to the underdogs I guess). All the game really did was take a small piece of far cry 3, throw over some neon in color scheme, give it a mini-story, re-skin some enemies, and give the player a handful of new weapons and animations. However it became ridiculously successful as a stand-alone small game and there's rumors it may get a sequel, kind of like a spin-off series under Far Cry 3's engine. I'm sure you've heard of it, its Blood Dragon.

Yeah... it is this awesome.

Actually one picture isn't enough to represent how amazing this game's aesthetics appear so...

LASER SHOOTING LIZARDS! Don't fight how brilliant that is!

Now before I get to my main point I need to clear something up. Someone out there is citing the smaller price tag, and saying "SEE! I told you they only want to make you pay for a reskin! It started cheap, but now they're printing it at $60! Damn you ubisoft!" but that's missing my point. To shoot that down though, there's not hardly any special features, improvements, or even a matchable amount of base content in Blood Dragon. Its safe to assume Far Cry 4 beats that and meets a $60 price. However my actual point in bringing up blood dragon is an "I told you so" with how much fun it can be to get a game that just changes the aesthetics just right, and runs off a great base game. The voice, theme, feel, and energy that was excited when seeing this world made it worth the ride, and people have praised this miniature game to the high heavens for it. So imagine a totally new world, a bigger budget, more improvements, and more features.

Enough battling the hype train wreckers though. They aren't here reading my blog, but I had to say something. I've been meaning to talk of proper sequels for a long time. I just wont really see eye to eye with those that demand everything needs to be changed, especially with some of my favorite games never coming back or never topping itself because they took that road. Well Far Cry 4 may help boost a series I never really expected to put in the spotlight, because its doing some great things with a good base game. I'm excited to see it improve its stealth mechanics (finally able to drag bodies normally), add an arena mode, and give me a great looking adventure on to the snowy eastern mountains, all on a similar base game that I really enjoyed. Meanwhile it looks like there's some room for a lot of good surprises, as I've been keeping out of story trailers, staying away from looking at the XP system, and I'm kind of glad the arena has a shallow explanation. I'm really excited to see what awaits on the mountains, and what footage I'll capture in bringing it all over on PS4. Next tuesday will be the beginning of a new adventure I've been waiting quite a while for. Oh and pleaaaaase make arena mode as good as it sounds, at least have it sort of match up to R&C standards. Having that thrown in an open world game with good gunplay sounds fantastic. Call it a rehash, but I think ubisoft made the perfect move to get me interested in this sequel.