FanExpo 2014: Far Cry 4 Demo
Ubisoft never fails to bring their A-game to FanExpo. I got the chance to try out the demo for the upcoming Far Cry 4, and simply put, it left me feeling proud to be a gamer. With an office located within Toronto, the developers can bring local spirit and let gaming fans in on real excitement.
While lining up to try the game, an Ubisoft rep excitedly told me, “Don’t forget to ride the elephant!” – that was when I knew I was in for a treat.
The demo set me in a gorgeous Himalayan village decorated with armed mooks. Inside the open world setting, with my imagination and the mechanics of the PlayStation 4 as the only limits, I then gleefully set out to find as many ways as possible in which my character could die. I crashed a helicopter, fell off cliffs, and got barraged with bullets and grenades upon entering the village to ask my neighbors to borrow some sugar. Controlling the game is fluid and accessible while still providing challenges for the player. Piloting the helicopter, for instance, is not a smooth nor subtle affair, especially once you’ve attracted the attention of the enemies and have to try gunning them down while staying in control of your machine. There are real, risky challenges that don’t stop the fun of the game – if anything, it makes it more fun.
Despite the more limited scope of the demo, the open environment was still present. I could spend time exploring the ecosystem and the nature of the game before stepping into any firefights. Upon wandering up a hill, I came across a monkey that I then chased through the trees and tall grass. It was only after minutes of this activity, which must have made me look like Homer Simpson to any onlookers, that I realized why I was so captivated by this novelty: it actually felt real to me. The subtlety of the sound design, combined with the leaps and bounds made in making next-gen graphics look as lifelike as possible, was making even an inane activity stunning and fun. The monkey didn’t look like a monkey in a video game, rather like a real one. His fur was soft, smooth, and actually shone in the sunlight. Hair and grass have been graphic pains in the neck for years in the gaming industry, and looking at PlayStation 2 and even early games on 3, the challenge of making these graphic details look believable has been huge. So while tracking this simian around a hillside, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Holy shit, they really did it.” I no longer felt like I was merely observing nature, I was immersed in it.
Setting and characterization, as with past Far Cry games, are an area where things really shine. While past games have put the player in wide, horizontal settings, 4 sets itself apart by taking place in the Himalayas, which puts us in more vertical spaces. The use of space makes for even more surprises with exploration, meaning we must be weary of death from above and from below. 4 also takes some narrative steps forward by rejecting the “stranger in a strange land” trope and instead giving us a hero whom is returning home, only to find said home stricken with civil war. This marks the first time that a Far Cry game has given us a protagonist whom is a native of the setting, rather than a stranded outsider.
On November 18th of this year, Far Cry 4 will be coming home with fans around the world, and I will be more than ready to chase more monkeys and ride more elephants.
