[Img_Inline width="300" height="370" Caption="" align="right"]http://www.entertainmentbuddha.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Far-Cry-Classic.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Name: FarCry Classic
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release Date: 12th February 2014
Version played: Xbox 360
Back in 2004 shooters varied from fast paced nostalgia influenced experiences like Painkiller to nostalgia influenced story heavy experiences like Doom 3 and slower paced grand scale experiences like Halo 2. In the middle was a shooter named FarCry, developed by Crytek who are known for developing games which look extremely pretty but don't really polish their gameplay. Mechanically FarCry had the massive levels of a Serious Sam or Doom game, the supporting voice-only characters of a Shock game and the limited weapon slots and vehicles of a Halo game.
FarCry Classic is a remake of the original game which has tweaks to the gameplay and upgrades to the graphics. Remarkably FCC retains the story in it's entirety and even has the original dialogue and sound files; all of the characters and sound files remain the same as they were in the original. I see this as a positive, especially because the 2012 remake of Silent Hill 2 and 3 has proven that replacing the voice actors and changing sound effects can change both the tone and nostalgia factor of a game.
You play as Jack Carver, a Special Ops trained tour guide who is stranded on a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean while trying to assist a woman named Valarie. Jack soon comes across a phone with a man named Doyle on the other end who wants to help. The two team up in order to find Val but are halted at every turn by the local Mercenaries. By the time Val is found it's revealed that the leader of the Mercs (Krieger) has been using the isolation of the islands to conduct genetic experiments on primates which enhances their organs and muscles but causes them to resort to primal instinct. Val is revealed to be a CIA operative who wanted to come to the islands in order to find and rescue Doyle who turns out to be a secret undercover CIA operative who had lost contact with the CIA ten weeks prior to the game's events. The three then team up to stop Krieger and his projects so that the experiments (Trigens) do not escape and harm others.
As this is a remake, there have been some major changes to the gameplay.
Weapons are now part of a Grand Theft Auto esque weapon wheel, and pressing the switch button (Y/Triangle) will cycle between the two most recent weapons you've had equipped. In addition, the machete is no longer a weapon; instead their is now a melee attack by pressing the right thumbstick regardless of what weapon you have equipped. It kills Mercenaries in one hit which is a vast improvement. The ability to throw grenades whilst on a ladder has also been removed. Iron sight aiming is now much more viable due to the addition of aim assist (or the lack thereof).
Most notably the stealth mechanic has been reworked. Doyle's RADAR has been replaced by a circle of detection, which glows blue when unseen, yellow when guards are alerted and red when you are seen. Foliage and water no longer conceal you from alerted enemies, which I think makes it harder to perform aquatic and aerial tactics (such as using the hang-glider in the fourth mission) as Helicopters and Boats will not stop pursuing you once you are in sight even if you retreat into the forest or underwater. Enemies are also much more alert which I think makes the stealth more broken than it was before. They seem to be able to see you even if you are in foliage (unless prone) and their hearing is much more sensitive to the point where even moving whilst prone will cause them to become suspicious. On the other hand some quieter weapons like the Pistol and the MP5 do not cause every guard to become alert like the M16 or Shotgun do which allows for slower, more stealth focused tactics. Binoculars now tag enemies, which allows you to see them and their awareness of you from a distance. This becomes a necessary tactic as their is no RADAR to tell you of nearby guards. Whilst fine on larger maps, it makes finding guards in the darker, tighter missions much more difficult and can lead to many frustrating retreats or even deaths. Some glitches (such as the looping firing sound) remain but are less common.
Swimming no longer takes up your sprint bar, and one can use the sprint bar to swim faster. While I appreciate the attempt at balancing urgency with necessity there is no indication of your breath. After an arbitrary amount of seconds a sign saying "O2" will start flashing on screen until you start losing health. It discourages using swimming as a tactic for moving around. I will, however, say that adding a first person swimming animation rather than just having an unusable weapon floating about is a very nice change.
With the notable exception of primate Trigen attacks, enemies do not do as much damage as they did in the original version. This makes the gameplay less focused on guerilla tactics and allows a more Halo style of gunplay to take place. If it were not for the broken stealth it would make the game ridiculously easy. Granted losing concentration for a moment will still cost you dearly but in comparison it's like playing BioShock after spending the evening playing a S.T.A.L.K.E.R game earlier that evening. The enemy AI has remained largely unchanged meaning that you'll still see enemies running back and forth between walls or charging at you, and Trigen primates will just leap at you, back up then leap again.
Vehicles, I find, are easier to drive than on the original version but are still awkward to be accurate with and still have far too little health for the poor protection it gives you while driving it. Hang-gliders handle about the same but require some more input because of the thumbstick controls. Boats are quite stiff but I wouldn't say they are any better or worse than before.
Completing a mission takes you to a book which tells you some trivial stats like headshots and distance travelled, and how much of the game you've completed (5% per mission). I find that this ruins the flow somewhat, as many of the missions lead into each over naturally. Loading screens are as few in number as they were originally. PCs of 2004 had loading screens which were monolithic compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 equivalents, but newer computers make the console loading screens seem monolithic in themselves. Realistically, my 360 took about 20 seconds per loading screen to finish, whereas my PC has it done within 5 seconds. Level design has also been tweaked in some places, some missions have been made slightly shorter but in most cases (such as removing the second hut at the start of the third mission) are for the game's benefit rather than it's detriment.
I think the developers have tried to make the original FarCry play more like FarCry 3 but the level design does not fit. Once again I say that the Binocular tagging works on the open levels but not indoors, it is heavily reminiscent of the stealth system in FarCry 3 (and by extension, Dishonored). There's nothing wrong with FarCry 3's gameplay (for the most part) but it doesn't fit it's predecessor's style or the enemies for that matter. Trigens are too lethal to be unable to retreat from and it makes encounters with them tedious if you are slow to aim.
[Img_Inline width="250" height="200" Caption="" align="left"]http://www.justpushstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/far-cry-classic-pnet-3-515x289.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Inevitably a major aspect of FCC will be it's appearance. I remain of the opinion that the original game is still very beautiful to this day, and the upgrade does not disappoint. Foliage actually looks 3D and the lighting has been given a decent boost. Character models have been given better shadows and armour upgrades, but they still have the same animations as the original game. When guards speak to each over (and incidentally it's still entertaining to just listen into their conversations through the binoculars) they still have a stiff posture with an awkward arm jerk. Cutscenes which feature characters talking retain the awful jaw rotations like bin lids lifting up and down. Perhaps the best upgrade to models would be towards the Trigens who have much more detail in their mutations. Blood smears, tears in the skin and metallic imprints are well textured. They look incredibly intimidating and finally look as fearsome as their attacks are lethal. Some guns (the pistol especially) look brilliant and some other seem a bit out of place; I do not understand the need to put a camouflage on the Sniper Rifle but nothing else.
The render distance has not improved all too much from the original version, but foliage now appears textured at further distances. Using the binoculars looks even more appealing than it did before.
On a personal note I will say that if you're a fan of the original game like I am, you will likely be delighted by how many little things they have kept in the game. The porno mags and other media like "Redneck" have been retained and look much more clear now. Pictures of the Trigens are actually visible now, and the explosions at the armoury and satellite look almost identical to how they do in the original. There are also some achievements for old tactics like not taking any damage while Doyle hacks the door, getting a kill with each type of vehicle, killing the final enemy with a melee attack and falling one hundred and fifty metres without dying.
To summarise, FarCry Classic is not as good as it's PC ancestor but it's still FarCry and it's definitely worth a try. Unlike some remakes it doesn't forsake the original with new scripts and dialogue (like Silent Hill) nor does it try to add something new to the story which didn't belong (like Halo: Combat Evolved). It stays faithful to the original and despite it's occasionally shaky moments it still feels like the original. On the 360 it's priced at £8 (or it's equivalent), I imagine it's the same on the PlayStation store. Give it a chance.
Name: FarCry Classic
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release Date: 12th February 2014
Version played: Xbox 360
Back in 2004 shooters varied from fast paced nostalgia influenced experiences like Painkiller to nostalgia influenced story heavy experiences like Doom 3 and slower paced grand scale experiences like Halo 2. In the middle was a shooter named FarCry, developed by Crytek who are known for developing games which look extremely pretty but don't really polish their gameplay. Mechanically FarCry had the massive levels of a Serious Sam or Doom game, the supporting voice-only characters of a Shock game and the limited weapon slots and vehicles of a Halo game.
FarCry Classic is a remake of the original game which has tweaks to the gameplay and upgrades to the graphics. Remarkably FCC retains the story in it's entirety and even has the original dialogue and sound files; all of the characters and sound files remain the same as they were in the original. I see this as a positive, especially because the 2012 remake of Silent Hill 2 and 3 has proven that replacing the voice actors and changing sound effects can change both the tone and nostalgia factor of a game.
You play as Jack Carver, a Special Ops trained tour guide who is stranded on a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean while trying to assist a woman named Valarie. Jack soon comes across a phone with a man named Doyle on the other end who wants to help. The two team up in order to find Val but are halted at every turn by the local Mercenaries. By the time Val is found it's revealed that the leader of the Mercs (Krieger) has been using the isolation of the islands to conduct genetic experiments on primates which enhances their organs and muscles but causes them to resort to primal instinct. Val is revealed to be a CIA operative who wanted to come to the islands in order to find and rescue Doyle who turns out to be a secret undercover CIA operative who had lost contact with the CIA ten weeks prior to the game's events. The three then team up to stop Krieger and his projects so that the experiments (Trigens) do not escape and harm others.
As this is a remake, there have been some major changes to the gameplay.
Weapons are now part of a Grand Theft Auto esque weapon wheel, and pressing the switch button (Y/Triangle) will cycle between the two most recent weapons you've had equipped. In addition, the machete is no longer a weapon; instead their is now a melee attack by pressing the right thumbstick regardless of what weapon you have equipped. It kills Mercenaries in one hit which is a vast improvement. The ability to throw grenades whilst on a ladder has also been removed. Iron sight aiming is now much more viable due to the addition of aim assist (or the lack thereof).
Most notably the stealth mechanic has been reworked. Doyle's RADAR has been replaced by a circle of detection, which glows blue when unseen, yellow when guards are alerted and red when you are seen. Foliage and water no longer conceal you from alerted enemies, which I think makes it harder to perform aquatic and aerial tactics (such as using the hang-glider in the fourth mission) as Helicopters and Boats will not stop pursuing you once you are in sight even if you retreat into the forest or underwater. Enemies are also much more alert which I think makes the stealth more broken than it was before. They seem to be able to see you even if you are in foliage (unless prone) and their hearing is much more sensitive to the point where even moving whilst prone will cause them to become suspicious. On the other hand some quieter weapons like the Pistol and the MP5 do not cause every guard to become alert like the M16 or Shotgun do which allows for slower, more stealth focused tactics. Binoculars now tag enemies, which allows you to see them and their awareness of you from a distance. This becomes a necessary tactic as their is no RADAR to tell you of nearby guards. Whilst fine on larger maps, it makes finding guards in the darker, tighter missions much more difficult and can lead to many frustrating retreats or even deaths. Some glitches (such as the looping firing sound) remain but are less common.
Swimming no longer takes up your sprint bar, and one can use the sprint bar to swim faster. While I appreciate the attempt at balancing urgency with necessity there is no indication of your breath. After an arbitrary amount of seconds a sign saying "O2" will start flashing on screen until you start losing health. It discourages using swimming as a tactic for moving around. I will, however, say that adding a first person swimming animation rather than just having an unusable weapon floating about is a very nice change.
With the notable exception of primate Trigen attacks, enemies do not do as much damage as they did in the original version. This makes the gameplay less focused on guerilla tactics and allows a more Halo style of gunplay to take place. If it were not for the broken stealth it would make the game ridiculously easy. Granted losing concentration for a moment will still cost you dearly but in comparison it's like playing BioShock after spending the evening playing a S.T.A.L.K.E.R game earlier that evening. The enemy AI has remained largely unchanged meaning that you'll still see enemies running back and forth between walls or charging at you, and Trigen primates will just leap at you, back up then leap again.
Vehicles, I find, are easier to drive than on the original version but are still awkward to be accurate with and still have far too little health for the poor protection it gives you while driving it. Hang-gliders handle about the same but require some more input because of the thumbstick controls. Boats are quite stiff but I wouldn't say they are any better or worse than before.
Completing a mission takes you to a book which tells you some trivial stats like headshots and distance travelled, and how much of the game you've completed (5% per mission). I find that this ruins the flow somewhat, as many of the missions lead into each over naturally. Loading screens are as few in number as they were originally. PCs of 2004 had loading screens which were monolithic compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 equivalents, but newer computers make the console loading screens seem monolithic in themselves. Realistically, my 360 took about 20 seconds per loading screen to finish, whereas my PC has it done within 5 seconds. Level design has also been tweaked in some places, some missions have been made slightly shorter but in most cases (such as removing the second hut at the start of the third mission) are for the game's benefit rather than it's detriment.
I think the developers have tried to make the original FarCry play more like FarCry 3 but the level design does not fit. Once again I say that the Binocular tagging works on the open levels but not indoors, it is heavily reminiscent of the stealth system in FarCry 3 (and by extension, Dishonored). There's nothing wrong with FarCry 3's gameplay (for the most part) but it doesn't fit it's predecessor's style or the enemies for that matter. Trigens are too lethal to be unable to retreat from and it makes encounters with them tedious if you are slow to aim.
[Img_Inline width="250" height="200" Caption="" align="left"]http://www.justpushstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/far-cry-classic-pnet-3-515x289.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Inevitably a major aspect of FCC will be it's appearance. I remain of the opinion that the original game is still very beautiful to this day, and the upgrade does not disappoint. Foliage actually looks 3D and the lighting has been given a decent boost. Character models have been given better shadows and armour upgrades, but they still have the same animations as the original game. When guards speak to each over (and incidentally it's still entertaining to just listen into their conversations through the binoculars) they still have a stiff posture with an awkward arm jerk. Cutscenes which feature characters talking retain the awful jaw rotations like bin lids lifting up and down. Perhaps the best upgrade to models would be towards the Trigens who have much more detail in their mutations. Blood smears, tears in the skin and metallic imprints are well textured. They look incredibly intimidating and finally look as fearsome as their attacks are lethal. Some guns (the pistol especially) look brilliant and some other seem a bit out of place; I do not understand the need to put a camouflage on the Sniper Rifle but nothing else.
The render distance has not improved all too much from the original version, but foliage now appears textured at further distances. Using the binoculars looks even more appealing than it did before.
On a personal note I will say that if you're a fan of the original game like I am, you will likely be delighted by how many little things they have kept in the game. The porno mags and other media like "Redneck" have been retained and look much more clear now. Pictures of the Trigens are actually visible now, and the explosions at the armoury and satellite look almost identical to how they do in the original. There are also some achievements for old tactics like not taking any damage while Doyle hacks the door, getting a kill with each type of vehicle, killing the final enemy with a melee attack and falling one hundred and fifty metres without dying.
To summarise, FarCry Classic is not as good as it's PC ancestor but it's still FarCry and it's definitely worth a try. Unlike some remakes it doesn't forsake the original with new scripts and dialogue (like Silent Hill) nor does it try to add something new to the story which didn't belong (like Halo: Combat Evolved). It stays faithful to the original and despite it's occasionally shaky moments it still feels like the original. On the 360 it's priced at £8 (or it's equivalent), I imagine it's the same on the PlayStation store. Give it a chance.