Far Cry 2 Hands-On Preview
Either I need to go see an optometrist, or the lines between console and PC shooter are blurring. Far Cry 2 is doing the blurring – and it’s doing it in the prettiest way possible.
Take a look at any trailer, any screenshots you see for Far Cry 2 and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Far Cry 2 looks hands down amazing – and the trailers are representative of Xbox 360 quality, not just some uber-PC.
The game runs with no visible slow-down as well, which is a further testament to the development team’s excellence. It’s not immediately apparent how Far Cry 2 is in anyway a sequel to Far Cry – nobody I’ve encountered in-game has a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt and I didn’t see any Island of Dr. Moreau mutants – until you realise… Far Cry 2 isn’t a sequel to the story.
Instead of getting bogged down with wrangling more and more out of what a graphics card can handle, Ubi Montreal has created a game that looks amazing, has a massive, marvellous living world and runs smoothly on the Xbox 360 and PS3 – let alone a PC released in the last 12 months. Now that’s technical brilliance.
The realism permeates through every part of the game – from the way fire reacts and burns through savannah according to the wind to the in-game animal’s "need based AI" which will drive them to water. The obvious Jeep 4WD product placement isn’t even out of touch in the game – it looks right.
Guns degrade over time, forcing you to find new ones to replace the one you’re using. Vehicles can be repaired if you get to them before it’s too late. Missions are easier at night time – because it’s harder for enemies to see you in the dark. It’s generally a case of – if you think it should probably occur, chances are good they’ve included it.
This isn’t because we’re animal haters – it just seems… unfair. I can shoot as many humans as I like, but I can’t bag me a Zebra? Add this to the fact that you can upgrade your safe houses, and hunting trophies seems like a no-brainer. Animals which fight back would be even better!
Map Making
The other factor contributing to our vision problems is the map making tool. The map editor in Far Cry 2 is a fully functional creation tool – and it works like a dream on the Xbox 360 as well.
It’s probably not the sort of thing you could jump into without a little prior knowledge, but thankfully we had the pleasure of seeing Clint Hocking go through the map making process and it’s one of those things – once you’ve seen it used once you know it for life. It's really that simple.
A few things weren’t fully explained, but the basics are this – using procedural generation the game can deform the terrain to create valleys and hills – that way you don’t have a completely flat map. Using a tool like paint and more procedural generation you can then add vegetation to your arena of death – add savannah grass, jungle foliage or just go with desert sand. You can add roads, clearings and different vegetation with the push of a button.
Once you have something up anything else you add will dynamically alter its surroundings. Say you have dense jungle, and you want to throw in a path. The tool will eliminate trees around the path to keep things looking realistic.
In the space of 15 minutes I created from scratch an oasis in the middle of thick savannah, with a mountain top perched high above the watering hole. For kicks, I through a hang glider on top of the mountain. And then the best part.
It’s truly amazing what they’ve managed to do with this game. When I first saw the level editor in action my jaw literally dropped. I sat there, mouth agape at what they were capable of with an Xbox 360. Ubisoft Montreal is raising the bar, and it's using a crane to do it. The PC version - assuming Ubisoft support the modding community - will probably raise the bar a little higher. We can't wait for Far Cry 2 to come out - even our preview build - with the few bugs it has - is amazing. GTA IV might actually have a real fight on its hands for Game of the Year.
Take a look at any trailer, any screenshots you see for Far Cry 2 and you’ll immediately see what I mean. Far Cry 2 looks hands down amazing – and the trailers are representative of Xbox 360 quality, not just some uber-PC.
The game runs with no visible slow-down as well, which is a further testament to the development team’s excellence. It’s not immediately apparent how Far Cry 2 is in anyway a sequel to Far Cry – nobody I’ve encountered in-game has a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt and I didn’t see any Island of Dr. Moreau mutants – until you realise… Far Cry 2 isn’t a sequel to the story.
Instead of getting bogged down with wrangling more and more out of what a graphics card can handle, Ubi Montreal has created a game that looks amazing, has a massive, marvellous living world and runs smoothly on the Xbox 360 and PS3 – let alone a PC released in the last 12 months. Now that’s technical brilliance.
The realism permeates through every part of the game – from the way fire reacts and burns through savannah according to the wind to the in-game animal’s "need based AI" which will drive them to water. The obvious Jeep 4WD product placement isn’t even out of touch in the game – it looks right.
Guns degrade over time, forcing you to find new ones to replace the one you’re using. Vehicles can be repaired if you get to them before it’s too late. Missions are easier at night time – because it’s harder for enemies to see you in the dark. It’s generally a case of – if you think it should probably occur, chances are good they’ve included it.
This isn’t because we’re animal haters – it just seems… unfair. I can shoot as many humans as I like, but I can’t bag me a Zebra? Add this to the fact that you can upgrade your safe houses, and hunting trophies seems like a no-brainer. Animals which fight back would be even better!
Map Making
The other factor contributing to our vision problems is the map making tool. The map editor in Far Cry 2 is a fully functional creation tool – and it works like a dream on the Xbox 360 as well.
It’s probably not the sort of thing you could jump into without a little prior knowledge, but thankfully we had the pleasure of seeing Clint Hocking go through the map making process and it’s one of those things – once you’ve seen it used once you know it for life. It's really that simple.
A few things weren’t fully explained, but the basics are this – using procedural generation the game can deform the terrain to create valleys and hills – that way you don’t have a completely flat map. Using a tool like paint and more procedural generation you can then add vegetation to your arena of death – add savannah grass, jungle foliage or just go with desert sand. You can add roads, clearings and different vegetation with the push of a button.
Once you have something up anything else you add will dynamically alter its surroundings. Say you have dense jungle, and you want to throw in a path. The tool will eliminate trees around the path to keep things looking realistic.
In the space of 15 minutes I created from scratch an oasis in the middle of thick savannah, with a mountain top perched high above the watering hole. For kicks, I through a hang glider on top of the mountain. And then the best part.
It’s truly amazing what they’ve managed to do with this game. When I first saw the level editor in action my jaw literally dropped. I sat there, mouth agape at what they were capable of with an Xbox 360. Ubisoft Montreal is raising the bar, and it's using a crane to do it. The PC version - assuming Ubisoft support the modding community - will probably raise the bar a little higher. We can't wait for Far Cry 2 to come out - even our preview build - with the few bugs it has - is amazing. GTA IV might actually have a real fight on its hands for Game of the Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment