I survived Kyrat 2014

Last night I managed to finish the story for Far Cry 4. I did so in about 15 minutes, without shooting anything (I didn't even get a gun), without driving a vehicle, and without even leaving the dinner table...

That's right, by following Pagan Min's instructions (as well as the audio cues courtesy of The Clash), and simply staying put, and waiting for him to return, I was taken straight to Lakshmana. Lakshmana is where Ishwari Ghale (your in-game mother) requests you take her ashes. There is a brief playable part where you get to place Ishwari's ashes, and open a door. Then there's a short cut scene, and before you know it the credits are rolling. Mission accomplished!

While the alternate ending skips all the fun parts of Far Cry 4, it enabled me to get a glimpse of the world before heading to bed last night. The opening scenes look really good, especially given that I'm playing on a old gen. console. It was at the dinner table where things started to look a little dated. Pagan Min looks as though he has had time to not only wash all the blood from his face, but also all the detail, texture, and life too. 

After Min had left the room, I took the opportunity to look around. Note I said look around, not walk around. I'm not sure if the alternative ending will play if you move from the dinner table. From my vantage point I could see three rather thick bank notes strewn on the table, several half eaten meals, some trinkets/ chimes blowing in the wind, and a flashing (collectible?) item in another room. I noticed that if I moved the camera around too quickly, the screen got glitched in half due to lag. I don't recall this happening at all in Far Cry 3, which also uses the Dunia 2 engine. I'm not sure if this phenomenon occurs in the game's outside world too, or if it is restricted to pagan Min's dining hall. I'm assuming due to the increased detail outside, it'll still glitch, but hopefully this will be fixed in the coming patch. 

Despite the graphic problems I'm looking forward to giving Far Cry 4 some proper game time, and am especially looking forward to tackling some honey badgers. 

2 Patches + 2 Days = Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 has only been out for two days, and there is already a preview from Ubisoft giving some details of  Patch 2.

I pre-ordered Kyrat Edition for the PlayStation 3 mostly for the extra stuff, but also because many of the reviews were saying it played very much like Far Cry 3. In my mind that is a positive comparison, especially given FC3's many favourable reviews, and the extent to which I enjoyed it.

News of Patch 2 comes only hours after Alex Hutchinson (FC4's Creative Director) claimed that the Day 1 Patch was a means of preventing pirates from enjoying the game:

PC players! If you're online complaining about the lack of FOV control ... You pirated the game.

— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) November 18, 2014

It's a little disheartening to hear that almost every game to be release this year has come with a fairly substantial 'Day 1 patch.' It's great that developers continue to work on a game even after it has 'gone gold,' but why aren't these errors being picked up during play-testing and quality control before the discs are sent of to be manufactured? I completed the entire story of Far Cry 3 before I had figured out how to connect my PlayStation 3 to the internet. If there had been a Day 1 patch, I wouldn't have been able to download it, and essentially would have wound up playing an 'incomplete game.' I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the experience as much, nor spent nearly as many hours exploring the Rook Islands if the game had such fundamental errors as corrupted save data.

I will probably start a proper playthrough of Far Cry 4 this afternoon. I'm hoping that I wont encounter too many issues. If I do find the experience to be flawed, the I'll put FC4 aside for a few more days and wait for Patch 2. At least I still have Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to keep me busy, and I'm quite enjoying my second run through Elpis.

Which game(s) are you looking forward to the most?

On the bus this morning, I figured it would be a good idea to create a poll relating to the updated list of games to be released towards the end of the year. For now the list only contains the games that I'm interested in, and the new generation console titles Assassin's Creed: Unity, and Destiny. I'll add any suggestions posted in the comments below. The poll will run up until 6 October,  the day before the earliest release date of a title on the list.

Q3-4 gaming release update. Now with pre-order details!

Since the news of the delay in release of Evolve, announcement of the development of the "old gen." exclusive, Assassin's Creed Rogue, and details emerging regarding various special editions of gaming releases I was already following, here's an updated list of gaming releases I'm looking forward to;

1. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (30 September) - pre-order exclusive: Dark Ranger skin
2. Alien: Isolation (07 October 2014) - Nostromo, and Ripley Editions
3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (14/ 17 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: Shock Drop Slaughter Pit challenge map
4. The Evil Within (21 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: The Fighting Chance Pack
5. Assassin's Creed: Rogue (11 November 2014) - pre-order exclusives: The Ultimate Hunter Pack, and The Siege of Fortde Sable mission, as well as a Collector's Edition
6. Far Cry 4 (18 November 2014) - Limited, Kyrat, and Ultimate Kyrat Editions

I'm already starting to whittle down the list of titles I intend to purchase on, or near the release date. For now these are Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Far Cry 4: Kyrat Edition.* I'm still interested in the other titles, but the pre-order exclusives, or contents of the special editions, at present do not interest me. Now if either the Nostromo or Ripley Editions of Alien Isolation came with a replica Nostromo or Ripley, then I'd be interested. 

The Assassin's Creed: Rogue 'Ultimate Hunter Pack' content does look cool, but will the exclusive black Templar sails really change my gaming experience? I think not, although the additional mission may add an additional few hours of gameplay, so that could make pre-ordering Rogue at least a little more worthwhile than picking it up later. I'll continue to keep an eye on which content the various local retailers will be offering, as I have also seen a 'Commander Pack,' and 'Templar Pack' advertised locally, both of which share items with The Ultimate Hunter Pack. Sadly the Collector's Edition of Rogue does not include a figure of Shay Patrick Cormac, nor does it appear to include any of the item packs, but it does include physical copies of the official soundtrack, an art book, some lithographs, and a fancy box to keep it all in. Oh, and an additional single player mission entitled 'The Armor of Sir Gunn Quest.' I'm not sure these are enough to warrant an additional R300 for the Collector's Edition.

Guess my wallet isn't going to take quite as hard a knock, come October, as I had initially anticipated. Of the four games listed above with October release dates, I'm only actually interested in pre-ordering Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The others can wait until they receive a price drop, or a 'Game of the Year' edition is announced. This will also mean others will have had time to review these games, allowing me to re-assess if whether I really need them in my collection. This pertains to Alien: Isolation particularly, as even though the information released looks very promising, there is still the abomination that was Aliens: Colonial Marine lurking in the back of many people's memories. 

This leaves only the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remake, and Far Cry 4, which I'm not even sure will offer the same experience on older consoles. Perhaps I'll wait until after I've gotten my hands on Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to decide whether to purchase them, as by then  there should be more than enough fresh information available to help me decide the pros and cons of these releases. 

The physical content of the Kyrat Edition does look pretty sweet though,* and I did have a lot of fun playing Black Flag, so the decision between the two titles will definitely require some thought. Maybe I can use the money I save in October to buy both.

--
* I'm a sucker for collector's editions that include replicas of props from within the game, hence these purchases.

Far Cry 4 will have honey badgers

You may be asking yourselves what's so special about a honey badger, well it's probably the most bad-ass animal of all time, Well at least according to this video:

I get the impression that the honey badger will take the role of the Komodo dragon from Far Cry 3, i.e. if there's long grass/ tall vegetation around, you're more likely to hear it than see it. And by the time you see the little blighter it'll be too late to run.

The distinctive 'hiss' of the Komodo dragon in Far Cry 3 is definitely what creeped me out the most while playing the game. I'd be aware of their proximity because of the hissing, but due to the vegetation I'd have no idea which direction the fast moving lizards would be attacking from. Even once located the buggers would absorb quite a bit of lead before dying mere metres from my feet. It seems I'm not the only one who felt this way about the Komodo dragons either.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about Far Cry 4 before it's release, especially regarding how the "old gen." versions stack up against the "new gen.' versions with regard to gamelplay. I imagine there may be quite a bit of texture pop-ins, but if the PS3 version offers the same solid gaming experience, without the need to cut any content, then I'd consider a compromise in graphics acceptable. I mean both Borderlands and Rage (two of my favourite PS3 games) have noticeable texture pop-ins, but these don't have any negative effects on my gaming experience.

I'm still waiting to see whether I should consider placing a pre-order for Far Cry 4, especially since the Kyrat Edition looks pretty bad-ass itself, or wait for the first few reviews to come out.

Far Cry 4 gameplay video

While composing my list of release dates for 2014 I came across this Far Cry 4 video from E3 that I had previously missed. 

The game doesn't look all that different than its predecessor, but the addition of some new weapons, being able to shoot while driving, the potential to hi-jack moving vehicles from another vehicle, flying vehicles, and stampeding elephants makes this like a very worthwhile addition to the Far Cry line-up. I'm really hoping the PS3 version isn't too much different from the 'next-gen.' versions.

Q3-4 2014 gaming releases

There are quite a few games to be released during the second half of this year, that I'm really looking forward to playing. There are so many in fact that I've forgotten which is coming out when, so I decided to put together this list of release dates for the titles I'm most interested in.

1. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition (19 August 2014)
2. Alien: Isolation (07 October 2014)
3. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (07 October 2014)
4. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (14/ 17 October 2014)
5. Evolve (21 October 2014) (Delayed till February 2015)
6. The Evil Within (21 October 2014)
7. Far Cry 4 (18 November 2014)

My wallet is probably going to take quite a knock in October, although I may pre-order either Alien: Isolation, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, or Evolve a month or two earlier, depending on whether or not there are collector's editions announced. At present Alien: Isolation is the only one of those three titles that does not have some sort of DLC attached to pre-ordering the title.

It will also be interesting to see how the sales of Alien: Isolation/ Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve/ The Evil Within will differ from one another as they are being released on the same dates. Given the number of accolades Evolve received at E3 last month, I don't think sales of The Evil Within will be particularly record breaking, despite the two being games in vastly different genres. Evolve's multiplayer aspect will probably be a much bigger draw card than any of single player campaigns of the other games on this list.

At the moment I'm leaning towards getting Alien: Isolation over Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve over The Evil Within. This could however change depending how each of these handles on 'old-gen.' consoles, with the exception of Evolve which isn't getting an 'old gen.' release. 

My prediction for how I'll spend the rest of my gaming year is thus;

Today - 19 Aug.: Deadpool, Diablo III, and Rage

20 Aug. - 07 Oct.: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition and Rage

08 Oct. - 17 Oct.: Alien: Isolation

18 Oct. - 21 Oct.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

22 Oct. - 18 Nov.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Evolve

19 Nov. - 31 Dec.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Evolve, and Far Cry 4

Who am I kidding, there is no way I am going to be able to get this much gaming time before the end of the year. With the exception of Deadpool, any one of these games could keep me busy for the rest of the year after its release. At this stage I'd be content with having just enough time to finish the storyline of Diablo III, and possibly the Reaper of Souls expansion too, before the October releases start pouring in. Fitting a weekend in before the end of the month to do nothing but play Deadpool and eat chimichangas, would be nice too.

--Updated 09 August 2014--

Far Cry 4 is coming in November

So Far Cry 4 has been announced, and the location revealed to be a fictional Himalayan region called Kyrat. From the initial cover art (which caused a bit of a stir) we got our first glimpse the well dressed man, who is presumably the game's villain, seated on a dilapidated statue, with the vast expanse of the Himalayan  mountain range in the background. There are various weapons leaning against the statue, and a follower/ captive of the 'antagonist' kneeling in front of the statue. 

Offensive version of the cover

What caused all the fuss then? Apparently the cover was racist, as the 'white antagonist,' who actually isn't white, had his hand placed on the head of the Asian-looking, kneeling fellow. If the story is set in a fictional region, why couldn't the villain be of some fictional race/ tribe/ ancestry too? I mean, that's what they in Far Cry 3 for the Rakyat people. Secondly, the villain was assumed to be gay, due to colour of his suit. If someone can be labelled as gay, simply for wearing purple clothing, then there are a lot 'gay,' professional athletes in the United States, not to mention all their supporters too! Just look at how many teams wear purple jerseys; Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Vikings, Phoenix Suns, and the list goes on.

As a result of all this hullabaloo though, it looks as though the Far Cry 4 team has decided upon a new cover with the kneeling 'native' removed. The purple suit has remained in place, and unwrinkled though. Perhaps the second cover revealed the version for the 'Limited Edition' release, but I think that's quite unlikely.

More likely, the development team were pressured into removing the offending elements from the cover in order to avoid more negative outpourings about a game for which we have yet to even see any gameplay stills of. Speaking of gameplay, we should get out first look when Ubisoft take to the stage at E3 on 9 June. 

Offensive, or not, the cover art has done it's job; it's gotten people talking about Far Cry 4. I for one am looking forward to hearing more about the game, and seeing it in action next month. I'm actually quite tempted by the pre-order 'Hurk missions,' just to find out how events from the tropical island setting of Far Cry 3 have been interwoven into the bonus storyline of Far Cry 4. I guess we'll get to find out, come release day in November.

Now for the next perceivable controversy surrounding the game, how will the graphics/ game experience be hindered as a result of the 'cross-generation' release?