Far Cry 3

This year at E3, many games were announced that I am very excited for.  One that caught my eye more than most was Far Cry 3.  After seeing the demo at Ubisoft's conference, I was amazed by some aspects, but also a little worried about others.

Right off the bat what caught my attention was the apparent addition of an inventory system.  Being able to search bodies for weapons, ammo, money, and other items is a significant difference from FC3's predecessor.  Items that caught my attention were an SD card, and some kind of statue.  The SD card, most likely connected to the camera used at the start of the demo, may indicate the camera can be used at any time, with SD cards being the "ammo."  This could mean a Bioshock like leveling system; taking pictures of enemies, vehicles, and weapons, may reward players with upgrades or benefits for said target.  The other item, the statue, seems a bit vague to me.  Anything from an in-game economy, to completing treasure sets, to side quests, the window is pretty open on the use of it.

Which brings me to my next topic, which has me worried.  I have heard rumors, but strictly from the demo shown, I am not sure as to if this addition to the Far Cry series will be open-world.  It is my understanding that Far Cry 2 is the only free roaming Far Cry game yet.  While it is likely, due to the success of the second game, it is not for sure, definitely a make or break mechanic for some.

One complaint many players had about Far Cry 2 was the enemy AI's unnatural ability to sometime spot you under impossible conditions.  Making sneaking very hard for a game that had such a large focus on surprise/guerrilla tactics.  This seems to have been addressed to an extent, while the AI's ability to spot you doesn't seem changed that much, what is changed is the players awareness.  It appears that whenever you do something that may attract the attention of guards, a transparent arrow appears pointing in the direction of the guard. the arrow fills with the color red as the guard becomes more aware of your position, and when it is full, the enemy knows your location and is alerted.  Shown in the alternate demo, when he begins to snipe the guards from distance, many of these arrows appear, and as he takes more shots, the arrows fill up faster, indicating just taking one or two shots may not be enough for the enemies to get a fix on your position.

Combat wise, the game seems very different too.  It's unknown to me as of now how the health system works, but I do know FC2 was often praised for the attention to detail when taking damage, often having to preform context sensitive first aid on your avatar.  A cover system of sorts also appears to have been enabled, allowing the player to blind fire and expose less of his body.  Weapon customization also seems present in the demo, as the handgun procured off the dead body has a silencer, but a weapon of the same model is used in the helicopter without a silencer equipped.  Melee combat has also been improved, allowing the player to preform complex, multi-stage, take downs, allowing the player to sometimes take out more than one enemy at a time.

The final addition I noticed is the apparent inclusion of an XP leveling system, similar to that of the Fallout series.  Kills seem to award different amounts of XP from standard kills awarding 10, while more complex take downs, or environment kills awarding 15.  Also shown near the end of the alternate demo, the player is awarded a skill point, if it is similar to the Fallout games, these skill points could be used to upgrade the players abilities, or give them special perks or powers.

Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews very soon.