Fallout 3 has what Far Cry 2 needs!

[SmugFrog]

Before receiving my copy of Fallout 3 for Christmas (my wife wouldn't let me have it early!), my brother sent me his copy of Far Cry 2 to play. I think he only bought Far Cry 2 because of my anticipation for the game. Everything was sounding so wonderful about it in development. I wasn't really paying much attention to Fallout 3 - I just couldn't get into the wasteland atmosphere compared to those beautiful screenshots and stories of how awesome Far Cry 2 was going to be.

A couple of days into Far Cry 2 I became very disappointed. Without turning this into a whole rant against FC2, the world and story just felt "dead". I started to wonder if I had lost touch with my fellow gamers because this game was getting so many good reviews. I don't mean dead in the way that Fallout 3's apocolyptic world is - I mean it felt vacant and with no real purpose to any of the locations.

Playing Fallout 3, once I finally exited the vault, I slowly fell in love with it. There were so many areas with their own little story - even spread throughout the wasteland. You can just look at an area and tell a story about that area based on how well the level is designed (i.e. I came across a skeleton sitting on a ruined dock clutching a teddy bear - and it always disturbs me to see the children's skeletons).

If you could somehow place a lot of elements from Fallout 3 into Far Cry 2's world, I think that would be one damned awesome game. The vehicles and varied terrain would be awesome - but the world would need the NPCs and locations that Bethesda created in order to feel truly alive. I don't fault Fallout 3 for its world; after all, the game is set in a nuclear holocaust wasteland and it certainly lives up to that. I just think Fallout 3 has everything Far Cry 2 missed.

The final nails in Far Cry 2's coffin (for me) is lack of mod support

I feel sorry for console players that will finish their game of FO3 and be left with so little to do compared to the wonderful mods on the PC. The next generation of consoles needs to have more support for modding - but that's a whole new rant, right?

EDIT:
I haven't finished Fallout 3 yet - too busy exploring - but reading this news report about FO3:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.85474

BETHESDA: "We really underestimated how many people would want to keep playing, so that's probably the last time we'll do something like that."

Wow. Didn't realize people would want to keep on playing? Especially with all of the mods available? Please God tell me that Far Cry 2 doesn't give you the ability to keep playing after you beat it.

 

[Mariena]

I really can't help but think that would resemble an Oblivion set in a desert/jungle environment with guns. Considering Fallout 3 was basically Oblivion with guns, and instead of woodland we now have a wasteland. Replace woodland with Africa, et voila?

Far Cry 2 is going to need a hell of a lot more than just a few blank staring NPCs with a maximum of four voices in the game.

And what would you find in Africa anyway? Maybe one or two rotting corpses left over from the raging civil war.. no, wait, those are already in Far Cry 2.

 

[Super_Nintendo_Chalmers]

I think you're right, when i played Far Cry 2, i played up until i had completed about 10-15%, and i realised whilst i was doing a number of missions,
why exactly am i doing this? The plot just didn't seem to go anywhere, the NPC's had no character whatsoever, and their soul purpose was to tell you where to go next, and what to do.
On the other hand, i loved Fallout 3, i just couldn't stop playing and exploring, wandering why some places had become the way they were.
And i have the game on 360, and honestly, i don't mind about the lack of mods, i'm happy with the game just the way it is

 

[VeX1le]

This is what happened to me. i got them about the same time i played Far Cry for a while but i am playing Fallout more.

 

[Sketchy]

I like Far Cry 2. It's a fun game. However, one of the things I don't understand is why EVERYONE wants to kill me. I'd be driving along, minding my own buisness, when all of a sudden, gunshots coming from seemingly nowhere hit me and I start to lose health. It's more than a little stupid, and kinda ruins some of the fun of the game for me.

I do still love the game though.

 

[SmugFrog]

I thought the landscapes were well done in Far Cry 2, it just kept feeling like it was missing something. Sure, it's pretty to look at, but what is there to do?

You're very right about it feeling like Oblivion. Being a fan of Oblivion, I couldn't help but laugh at the similarities between the 2 games - It's like they slapped a total conversion mod into Oblivion (but a really nicely done one).

Africa has quite a few gritty stories to tell with everything going on over there right now, and Far Cry 2 doesn't really go into that.

 

[Bob_Bobbington]

At least Falout 3 doesn't have people spawning in rocks, and they can shoot through the rocks at you with a sniper rifle, and you cant do anything about it nomater how much high explosive you put in the centimetre or so of his head showing. Fallout 3 has a much friendlier and realistic game world. Realistic in the sence of characters that inhabit it.

EDIT: Oh I also forgot that Fallout 3 makes you connect with your character because you make him and guide him through his early life making life changing choices. Far Cry 2 has the useless feature of about 7 characters who you can't connect with so all it effectivelly does is give you a new set of arms to look at.

 

[SmugFrog]

I like Far Cry 2. It's a fun game. However, one of the things I don't understand is why EVERYONE wants to kill me.

I think I read a post somewhere with someone stating "If the main character would just leave Africa, perhaps it would be a peaceful place as he seems to be the source of all the reasons for fighting."

 

[Sketchy]

I like Far Cry 2. It's a fun game. However, one of the things I don't understand is why EVERYONE wants to kill me.

I think I read a post somewhere with someone stating "If the main character would just leave Africa, perhaps it would be a peaceful place as he seems to be the source of all the reasons for fighting."

That's probably the most accurate thing you could say about Far Cry 2. Everyone in the game goes on about how much worse it got recently, it's because the protagonist got into Africa.

 

[SmugFrog]

it's because the protagonist got into Africa.

I should make a youtube vid with a narration. Editing the clip so that it appears the player is the real bad guy in everything.

 

[elricik]

Some of the biggest problems for Far Cry 2 with me were.........
1. Their was no one around. The official reason was that everyone left because a war was about to start, but that's happening now in Africa and innocent civilians are in the middle of that. Show me some people walking down the road or something. When I start shooting in town it would have been really cool for civilians to run away or lock their doors and hide.
2. The story was so random and weird I didn't understand, and I understand the Matrix trilogy perfectly. Spoiler Alert: Ok so you are sent into Africa to eliminate an arms dealer by killing him to stop the violence, ok I can kinda understand that. But by the end of the game you and him are best buds and do the final mission together. I don't know about you guys but I chose to spark the battery instead of delivering the package at the end, and as soon as I did that the credits rolled, how anti-climactic. The other ending pretty much did the same thing but with a bomb.
3. Oh my god everyone would not stop shooting me, even when I was working for them. The official reason for this is that the missions you take are secret, the real reason is that the developers were lazy. I feel like putting my game in the mail in sending it back to them with a sign that reads "Please finish this game". Anyway that's my rant.

 

[LiquidForce]

I should make a youtube vid with a narration. Editing the clip so that it appears the player is the real bad guy in everything.

Isn't he? Can you think of 1 mission when he [you, actually] did anything good [before the very ending]? The thing you do at ~65% doesn't count really cause he's got plenty of reasons to erm... do what he did, and I mean personal profit, not kindness. FC2 is basically a game about a real mercenary, a mercenary who's sole motivation is money. He works for anyone, does anything he's told to. I've got to say I liked it much more than the "saviour-of-mankind" from Fallout 3. But maybe I just needed a change.

Also, was I the only person who didn't care much about NPCs in F3?