E3: Far Cry 3 Adds Four-Player Co-op and More

[Andy Chalk]

E3: Far Cry 3 Adds Four-Player Co-op and More

Ubisoft says it didn't build just one game with Far Cry 3, it built two.

The big Far Cry 3 news at Sony's E3 presser was all about the multiplayer - specifically, the addition of a four-player co-op mode to the game, developed independently of the single-player game by Ubisoft Massive. It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign, with stand-alone missions that require actual cooperative gameplay rather than just four people shooting at the same things. To keep the action fresh, it will also include a map editor, allowing gamers to create their own levels and share them with others.

Innovative or not (and let's be honest, at its core, it really isn't) the best part of the Far Cry 3 presentation was the foursome playing the game on stage. Presumably staffers at Sweden-based Ubisoft Massive, they battled through a few minutes of the game while shouting at each other with an urgency and accents that made them sound like nothing so much as a squad of chefs trying to get a moose to hold still.

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Sony will offer a Far Cry 3 hardware bundle when the game launches, with a PlayStation 3 console, controller and of course the game itself, and PS3-exclusive DLC is also in the works. Far Cry 3 is currently scheduled to come out on September 4.

See all our coverage directly from the E3 2012 show floor. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/e3-2012]

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[Spoonius]

Maybe not too unique on its own, but with a map editor it should be great.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I like the idea. Can we use colours other then brown?

 

[Vrach]

I like any kind of co-op option in a game, but:

It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign

Why? Why does that make it interesting? To me, that makes it the opposite of interesting. When's the last time we had a game that took you through the actual singleplayer campaign and allowed you to play through it with other people?

Portal 2, CoD, Battlefield, Mass Effect 3, I can think of a number of games that go for the separate co-op, but where have we actually had a singleplayer with a co-op option? I can't think of many triple A titles that are good games, available on PC and have a co-op singleplayer (GTA IV, SR 2/3 I guess?) - in fact, it's one of the reasons I lean towards MMOs, they allow me this kind of gameplay.

 

[Dogstile]

Every time I see a trailer for this game I get really excited, then I realise how bad far cry 2 was and get worried. Its such a neverending cycle.

 

[surg3n]

I like any kind of co-op option in a game, but:

It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign

Why? Why does that make it interesting? To me, that makes it the opposite of interesting. When's the last time we had a game that took you through the actual singleplayer campaign and allowed you to play through it with other people?

Portal 2, CoD, Battlefield, Mass Effect 3, I can think of a number of games that go for the separate co-op, but where have we actually had a singleplayer with a co-op option? I can't think of many triple A titles that are good games, available on PC and have a co-op singleplayer (GTA IV, SR 2/3 I guess?) - in fact, it's one of the reasons I lean towards MMOs, they allow me this kind of gameplay.

Borderlands
Dead Island
Res Evil 5
Halo franchise

Not a big list, but I'm sure there are more... main thing is that Borderlands2 is out soon, and Farcry3 looks awesome, I even liked Farcry2, so this should keep me happy for a while.

 

[Vrach]

I like any kind of co-op option in a game, but:

It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign

Why? Why does that make it interesting? To me, that makes it the opposite of interesting. When's the last time we had a game that took you through the actual singleplayer campaign and allowed you to play through it with other people?

Portal 2, CoD, Battlefield, Mass Effect 3, I can think of a number of games that go for the separate co-op, but where have we actually had a singleplayer with a co-op option? I can't think of many triple A titles that are good games, available on PC and have a co-op singleplayer (GTA IV, SR 2/3 I guess?) - in fact, it's one of the reasons I lean towards MMOs, they allow me this kind of gameplay.

Borderlands
Dead Island
Res Evil 5
Halo franchise

Not a big list, but I'm sure there are more... main thing is that Borderlands2 is out soon, and Farcry3 looks awesome, I even liked Farcry2, so this should keep me happy for a while.

Yeah, I'm looking out for Borderlands 2. The thing with the first game is that it was grindy bollocks imo. Story was nonexistent (honestly, WoW had a better story) and gameplay wasn't really groundbreaking to hide that fact. Dead Island, yeah, like L4D (strange you didn't mention it), agreed. RE5... I did say "good games"

Halo's not really available on PC much, only one of the old ones is. But as I said, it's not really a long list of such games. The "co-op is separate" is far more common, so why someone would say co-op being separate makes it an interesting spin is beyond me.

 

[Smeatza]

I hope they include local co-op on consoles. They've got a definate purchase from me if they do.

 

[surg3n]

I like any kind of co-op option in a game, but:

It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign

snip...

Borderlands
Dead Island
Res Evil 5
Halo franchise

Not a big list, but I'm sure there are more... main thing is that Borderlands2 is out soon, and Farcry3 looks awesome, I even liked Farcry2, so this should keep me happy for a while.

Yeah, I'm looking out for Borderlands 2. The thing with the first game is that it was grindy bollocks imo. Story was nonexistent (honestly, WoW had a better story) and gameplay wasn't really groundbreaking to hide that fact. Dead Island, yeah, like L4D (strange you didn't mention it), agreed. RE5... I did say "good games"

Halo's not really available on PC much, only one of the old ones is. But as I said, it's not really a long list of such games. The "co-op is separate" is far more common, so why someone would say co-op being separate makes it an interesting spin is beyond me.

Maybe the way they've handled the multiplayer is interesting. Like the co-op in Battlefield3, thats fun, but a fairly thin veil that covers what is basically just a bot match. It seems that we either get fully plot-integrated co-op, or a shoddy excuse for it... perhaps Farcry3 has something better than the typical excuse for it's co-op. Anyhoo, we know it'll be better than RE5 .

 

[GonzoGamer]

I like any kind of co-op option in a game, but:

It's hardly a groundbreaking feature, but what makes it interesting is that it's set entirely separately from the single-player campaign

Why? Why does that make it interesting? To me, that makes it the opposite of interesting. When's the last time we had a game that took you through the actual singleplayer campaign and allowed you to play through it with other people?

Portal 2, CoD, Battlefield, Mass Effect 3, I can think of a number of games that go for the separate co-op, but where have we actually had a singleplayer with a co-op option? I can't think of many triple A titles that are good games, available on PC and have a co-op singleplayer (GTA IV, SR 2/3 I guess?) - in fact, it's one of the reasons I lean towards MMOs, they allow me this kind of gameplay.

Borderlands
Dead Island
Res Evil 5
Halo franchise

Not a big list, but I'm sure there are more... main thing is that Borderlands2 is out soon, and Farcry3 looks awesome, I even liked Farcry2, so this should keep me happy for a while.

Yeah, I'm looking out for Borderlands 2. The thing with the first game is that it was grindy bollocks imo. Story was nonexistent (honestly, WoW had a better story) and gameplay wasn't really groundbreaking to hide that fact. Dead Island, yeah, like L4D (strange you didn't mention it), agreed. RE5... I did say "good games"

Halo's not really available on PC much, only one of the old ones is. But as I said, it's not really a long list of such games. The "co-op is separate" is far more common, so why someone would say co-op being separate makes it an interesting spin is beyond me.

That's why I'll probably be buying Borderlands 2 at launch and FC3 will have to go to my rent list first: most of my shooter games have a co-op mission mode but Borderlands and Dead Island are the only ones I have that allow for campaign co-op and Borderlands is the only one with split screen campaign mode.
The first was a rather unpolished grind but I somehow loved it anyway and I think a lot of it is being able to play through the long campaign with someone on the couch with you.

That said, the idea of a co-op mission build mode (Little Big Shooter) is very interesting. That's probably what's going to get me to buy that rental.