Nov 7, 2012

Far Cry 3 hands-on: we carve our own path in Ubisoft’s open-world shooter

Far Cry®

This article originally appeared in issue 246 of PC Gamer UK. Article by Rob Zacny.

You play Jason Brody, a child of wealth and privilege. You meet him through home movies of his latest vacation. Beautiful, vapid young people drink, dance, jet ski and sky dive in a tropical paradise somewhere. Then the camera pulls back, and you’re watching the videos through Jason’s eyes as he sits inside a wooden cage in a pirate camp.

His kidnapper, Vaas, holds Jason’s phone through the bars of the cage, enjoying this opportunity to mock an American princeling. Vaas’s mohawk sits above a pair of unnaturally wide eyes. You and Jason belong to him now.

By the end of the intro, you and Jason have watched someone bleed out through your fingers as you try to staunch a fatal gunshot wound. You have killed a man: a pirate loomed out of the darkness, and suddenly there was a knife and you were shoving it into his chest and neck. You are lost. Your friends are gone.

He’s been to college, but Far Cry 3 is unequivocal in its statement: Jason Brody’s education has finally begun.

Far Cry 3 combines ideas you’ve seen in other games and other genres. It has Crysis’s sense of stealth, and the open-world chaos of its predecessor, Far Cry 2. You’ll find a bit of Assassin’s Creed in the way it reveals the map and side-missions, while the hunting, crafting, and character progression smack of Elder Scrolls. From these very good parts, Far Cry 3 creates something new.

My guide to this world is a middle-aged man named Dennis. After Jason’s escape, Dennis welcomes Jason to his small village. He recognizes him as a fellow warrior, and will teach him the ways of warfare on this island.

I might as well get this out in the open: the racial politics in Far Cry 3 look troubling. Dennis and the villagers border on ‘noble savage’ stereotypes. They live together in harmony while women perform sensuous dances to the sound of drums. Dennis himself is a mystic, explaining that Jason’s new tattoos mark his progress on the path of the warrior. It all raises some troubling red flags.

Dennis shows me the basics of surviving on the island. I can reveal the map by climbing radio towers and disabling the jammers the pirates have placed there. Once the jammers are down, not only is nearby territory revealed, but so are new mission locations and hunting grounds.

My first hunting quest involves killing wild boar and gathering a variety of local flowers. Boar, in addition to making delicious sausages, are also good for fine leather goods. If you want to increase your carrying capacity for basic items such as cash and ammunition, you’ve got to craft gear using animal skins, which means things aren’t looking so good for Piglet, Tigger and Owl.

Plants, on the other hand, are primarily useful for crafting syrettes. Like all homemade drugs, the injections you make from plants enhance your skills and even grant various forms of second sight . One type of injection, the ‘combat instincts’ syrette, reveals all nearby enemies, so that I can see their outlines even through solid obstacles.

All my flower-gathering and hunting left me feeling that Far Cry 3’s tropical island is sometimes too much like a theme park. The colours are heavily saturated, the jungle almost painfully verdant, and the weather sunny and clear. Far Cry 3 seems like the sort of place where you might find Prospero and Caliban hanging out while Ralph and Piggy squabble over the conch and Sawyer takes his shirt off. It places itself somewhere between reality and dream.

Once I have the basics down, Dennis drives me to a pirate outpost. This is my final exam before being turned loose on the island, and I’ll be using my stealth, shooting and recon skills to tackle it.

Outposts provide fast-travel nodes, weapons lockers and hubs for side-missions. But first you have to take them from the pirates’ warm, still-twitching hands. To help me with my first battle, Dennis brings along a posse of indigenous warriors, the last hold-outs of the native population that has been driven into the heart of the island by pirate attacks.

My battered machine pistol doesn’t inspire confidence in my ability to shoot it out, so I circle through the trees to come up behind the outpost. Thanks to the dense jungle and poor visibility, I easily slip into the outpost. Three guards are doing lazy turns around the courtyard while spouting some amusing, if repetitive, dialogue.

By bringing each of the enemies into focus in Jason’s camera viewfinder, they’re marked on your minimap and in your first-person view. As with the ‘combat instincts’ injection, a marked enemy is visible at all times, even through solid obstacles. It pays to take a few minutes to conduct a proper recon in this game.

After marking about five guards and their attack dog, I’m ready to begin. I put the camera away, pull out my pistol, and start creeping up on a nearby pirate. He’s oblivious to my presence, too busy complaining about an STD he picked up at his last port of call. His day is about to get worse.

It’s hard to get anywhere in Far Cry 3. Half of the people you’ll meet along main roads are pirate raiders who want you dead. Fortunately the other half are fellow rebels who’ll let you pass unmolested, but it’s your own easily distracted brain that might be your deadliest enemy. I decide to hit another outpost astride a long dangerous route between two major quest locations. It’s a quick five or ten minute drive along a coastal road from my position. But it takes me almost two hours.

The first thing that gets me is a pirate patrol. I’m in a jeep barrelling downhill onto the white sands of the shoreline when a car full of pirates blazes past in the opposite direction. We spot each other at the exact same moment and throw our jeeps into hard sideways spins. I was quicker on the handbrake: I manage to get my ride straddling the road before the pirates turn their jeep around. Bailing out, I take cover behind the engine block as they race toward me.

I fire a half dozen shots that blow in their windshield and most of their driver’s face. A few more get the other pirates as the now-driverless jeep hurtles past and crashes into a tree.

Far Cry 3 is not a game of drawn-out gun battles: neither Jason nor his enemies can stand much punishment. Most of the firefights I had fell into one of two categories. The first was fast, random encounters like this one – if you don’t finish these off quickly, reinforcements will show up and the maths will turn against you. The other was like my raid on the outpost: a long recon and planning stage followed by a swift, decisive annihilation.

Before I can leave, two more patrols appear on the road. My skirmish turns into a running shootout that consumes most of my health syringes and most of my ammo before I manage to reach a hiding spot in the forest.

After losing the pirates, I catch a glimpse of a hawk circling nearby. I glance at my half-clip of rifle ammunition. What the hell. The hawk falls on my third shot. That’s the easy part. The hard part is finding where the damn thing actually dropped. After five minutes of searching the forest floor, I give up and shoot another hawk that appears to have spawned near the same location.

At last, I am ready to resume my journey. I go back to the scene of the pirate battle, grab one of the few cars that didn’t get shot to pieces, and start driving along the same route as before. This time I won’t let myself get dis- wait, I see a radio tower from the road. I head over there, kill the pirates guarding it, and reveal more of the map, which tells me that I’m near a hunting range. Perfect: I need deer hides for some new Bambi-coloured gear. I mosey over to the picturesque meadow, and find deer shuffling in flowers and tiger grass. I plug a few in the head from five feet away.

After my hunt, some flower picking, some item crafting, and a long walk to find a new vehicle (with a few further gunfights along the way), I finally resume my drive to the outpost... and end up pulling over at a roadside bar to play a surprisingly good game of high-stakes poker against three computer-controlled opponents.

But for sure, as soon as I fleece these fools, I’ll get back to storming that outpost... right after I use my winnings to buy new weapon upgrades.

My final mission in Far Cry 3 is to sneak aboard a beached cargo vessel the pirates are using as a communications hub, in order to eavesdrop on their radio chatter and discover where one of Jason’s friends is being held. But first, I have to stealth-kill some sentries who hold the encryption codes for the pirates’ communications. If I’m discovered, they’ll destroy the codes and I’ll fail the mission.

I arrive at the shore late at night, although the sky is so clear and the colours so saturated in this game that night is more of a dim, electric blue. It hardly interferes with visibility at all, but pirates do seem to have a harder time spotting you after sundown.

Since I need to maintain silence, I distract the guards by throwing rocks against crates and the sides of the ships. Far Cry 3 uses a radial marker to indicate whether you’re hidden. It points in the direction of guards about to spot you, giving you a chance to scurry into a convenient bush.

My targets investigate the noise, allowing me to approach unseen and kill them out of sight of the camp. Once they’re dead, circling inside the base and taking out the code-bearers is simple. Then comes the hard part.

No sooner have I eavesdropped on the pirates’ communications from the ships’s bridge than a couple of squads of goons arrive to investigate why the camp went silent. Now the bridge, three stories above the ground, is a trap. Stupidly, I decide to use my high ground ‘advantage’ to pick off the pirates as they arrive on the beach.

I get a couple before the rest soak the superstructure with machinegun fire. It’s intense – I can’t even peek over the side without getting shot. The AI may not always be brilliant (and I question Ubi’s decision to leave them all in easy-to-spot red shirts that stand out in the jungle) but it certainly understands the value of suppressive fire. These guys get into cover and start firing everything they have.

I fling a few grenades over the side and pray the explosions catch a few, then sprint down to the main deck. The first pirates are already coming aboard – I can’t get down the way I came. I flee to the prow of the ship and hide, trying to pick off the pirates as they bound along.

Far Cry 3’s AK is one of the better weapons I’ve used so far in my adventure, but it still feels like a third-world piece of garbage, much like the machine pistol I had at the start of the game. The game’s guns buck in a satisfying way, refusing to hit anything unless you keep adjusting your aim and show some restraint with your trigger finger. High-level weapons and upgrades promise to ameliorate this later, but here at the beginning of the game, it’s all too easy to spray a clip at someone from 20 feet away and only hit air.

My AK goes dry as two more pirates storm over. I sprint toward them, drop into a slide between them, leaving their shots flying over my head, then jump back to my feet right behind them and take them both out with my knife. I grab their rifles and jump down to the sand below.

I run around the back of the ship and flank the last group of pirates. I walk toward them, aiming down the iron sights, methodically downing them as they run for cover. It’s over in seconds.

Just as the guns fall silent on the beach and I stand ringed by corpses on a moonlit shore, a PR rep taps me on the shoulder. “Time’s up. Are you ready to go?”

A radio message is coming in from the village, where the pirates are launching a retaliatory raid. I have enough experience for some new abilities, enough money for some weapon upgrades, and I’m just getting the hang of stealth and distraction. I want to save the village and hunt more pirates, and I want to go explore the blank spaces on my map. I want to rescue Jason’s friends, and find out whether a better version of him was waiting at the end of all these adventures. So much to do, so much more than either Jason or I ever expected to find here.

“Can I get a few more minutes?”

Oct 15, 2012

Might and Magic: Heroes VI Update Released

Might & Magic: Heroes VI - Valve

Patch 1.8 release notes
- Bug fixes:
- Campaign/Scenarios
- In the 1st Necropolis campaign map, the portal that leads to Jorgen looks available before defeating Salvatore.
- In the 4th Stronghold campaign map, at the beginning of the map, there is a revealed spot that has no interest for the user.
- Kiril has two swords in his hand during the reputation upgrade scene.
- In the 4th Inferno campaign map, a black texture can be observed in the background when converting the town of Bel-Zeri
- In the 2nd Inferno campaign map, a glitch can be seen in the conversion cinematic, when converting towns to Inferno.
- In the 4th Haven campaign map, the hero is overlapped by the Inferno castle's texture.
- In the 2nd Haven campaign map, not all enemy creatures are shown in the encounter window, when attacking a fort found in the western part of the map.
- In the 2nd Inferno campaign map, there is an unreachable pile of gold near in Necropolis fort, in the western part of the map.
- In the 4th Stronghold campaign map, the game crashed when the user selected the Creature recruitment tab in the town of Ur-Salos.
- Fortune of Crag Hack map - Quest item present on Multiplayer map
- In the 2nd Dance Macabre campaign map, the VFX of the "Staff of the Netherworld" is visible when the Hero is inside a ship.
- In a tale of two Guardians map, no information provided in the Pyramid tooltip about the Dragon Pharaoh quest.
- In a tale of two Guardians map, the Lord Xeen’s army is triggered too early and it is too aggressive.
- In Dance Macabre - The Mask of the Black Death campaign map, "Thunder Cup" quest item was found on the map.
- A tale of two Guardians - Kalindra is an enemy AI present on the map and the user shouldn't be able to recruit her from the Hall of heroes.
- Gold Edition Map - Lord Haart is an AI hero present on the map, the player shouldn't be able to recruit him from the Hall of Heroes.
- A princess of Varn - Primary Quest marker is not displayed on the in game map menu.
- 4th Inferno campaign map - Wrong deployment area for creatures in combat map.
- Gold Edition Map - Lord Haart should have a higher level.
- Gold Edition Map - The quest markers for recapturing the Dwarf buildings do not disappear from the Kingdom overview map until reaching the next building.
- Tutorial - The stack of Vestals does not join the hero's army.
- Prologue - "Get attuned to the Sword of Griffin" secondary quest cannot be completed without fighting each combat manually.
- The Fall of the House of Bull - The quest items "Dragon Eyes" are not removed from the hero inventory after completing the quest "The Gate".

- Dynasty Weapons/Traits/Pets
- Staff of Sandro - The description of the "Transfer Life" ability contains a placeholder value when it's affecting a stack.
- The "Wrath of the Orcs" ability of the Malathua's Cleaver dynasty weapon generates debug text in the event log.
- The level 3 (Sephiel's Voice) ability of the Heartending Song gives too little heal.
- Alma is to small and it’s very hard to spot on the adventure map.
- The level bar of a Dynasty Weapon shows a constant value.
- Same color is used for the progress bar and numeric values in the Dynasty Weapon's upgrade bar.
- The Dynasty Weapons equipped by a hero can't be changed.
- The dynasty weapon cannot be used again if the "lock dynasty weapon" option was used.

- Achievements
- The mana spent in manual combat is doubled in "Channeler" achievement's counter.
- Close and Personal - Using any other type of attack except melee will cause the combat not to be counted for the "Close and Personal" achievement.
- For Blood and Honor - Inconsistency between the name of the week in the achievement's description and in-game.
- The user gets the "Tears affinity" achievement, if another user makes the Tears upgrade before him.
- "No Guts, No Glory" achievement is unlocked only if the Dragonwraith is defeated after another heal is performed when the creature's HP bar is fully restored.
- "Finesse" achievement is not unlocked after defeating Giovanni in the required time.

- Abilities/Creatures abilites
- In the abilities window the reset button had a 2nd line "(Aptitudes)", this isn't displayed anymore.
- The concept of MIGHT affinity hero vs MAGIC affinity hero is not introduced clearly enough.
- The might defense bonus received from Stone Skin spell is shown with a minus instead of a plus on friendly creatures.
- The Lich's "Life Drain" ability has a misleading value in its tooltip.
- Abitity "Acolyte of Fortune" displays no description for ability in tooltip. Instead Title is displayed twice.
- “Natural Born Leader” ability displays no description for ability in tooltip. Instead Title is displayed twice.
- Using the Sun Crusader's "Sun Steed" ability will cause an existent "Guardian Angel" effect to disappear from the unit.
- The Centaur's "Vigilant Scout" special attribute is not used when the enemy creature is at two or less squares away from the Centaur.
- Hero can sabotage or plunder his own mine.
- The description of the Arachne's level 5 ability contains the value 0/.
- The Abilities that summon elementals will summon more creatures than stated in the spell book.
- Defender I ability - Inconsistency between tooltip and behavior.
- Assailant I - Inconsistency between tooltip and behavior.
- The "Blizzard" ability last for 1 turn although in the description says that it lasts 2 turns.
- Yume"Ice Armor" specialization is missing.
- The Blazing Glory's "Searing Light" ability will cause Blazing Glories to die and not be resurrected after the combat.
- The number of Blazing Glory creatures that die from using the "Searing Light" ability is not shown on the combat map.
- Blazing Glories that die when using the "Searing Light" ability cannot be resurrected during combat.
- The Wanizame's "Blood Frenzy" will cause 100% of the creature's normal damage rather than the stated 30%.
- No icon for the passive ability awarded by "Emerald Yumi Bow" in the Spellbook.
- The bonus to the "Diplomat" ability awarded by the "Master Diplomat" specialization is too small to make a difference.
- Light Magic ability value given in the tooltip during the duel for the Celestial armor is 0%.
- Sanctuary Reputation ability level 1 for Might heroes is not displayed in the spell book.
- Debug text can be seen when attempting to use the Mizu-Kami's "Spirit Bond" skill on a unit when it is already active on another creature stack.
- No mana will be gained through the "Meditation" skill if the hero uses the spell when under 20% mana.
- The Siege Master II ability is functional in normal Duel maps.
- The description of the Dreamwalker's "Sky and earth" special ability contains the value 0.
- The game crashes when the user places a creature stack one square behind the designated area, during the "Tactics" phase.
- The game crashes when the user casts the "Terror" spell on the Idol of Storms structure.
- The player can use the "Sabotage Mine" and "Plunder Mine" on his mines.
- No specialization present for Acamas in the Heroic Abilities page of the Ability tree.
- Vampires and Vampire Lords cannot be attacked when they have the "Out of Time" buff.
- The "Blizzard" spell can't be cast 2 times over the same area
- "Pressed attack" ability has the same bonus for blood and tears reputation.
- The Lich's "Drain Life" ability doesn't work if the stack that is attacked dies.

- Localization/Text fixes
- Town dwellings now indicate the number of creature per week in their tooltip.
- In the 2nd Haven campaign map, inconsistency between voice and subtitles in Voices that appear after having defeated air elementals on the bridge.
- During the 1st Prologue Mission, missing subtitles in video in Russian version.
- During Prologue, missing translation in dialog window (text and sound).
- Missing tooltips for Kirin's special ability.
- When an Artifact Set is equipped, the tooltip box is too small
- In the Diving Attack's tooltip there is no information about the special ability's cooldown.
- In the final campaign map, Malassa's Daughter's monologue after having conquered the fort displays inconsistency between audio and subtitles.
- Placeholders and not translated texts in Chinese version.
- In the 3rd Inferno campaign map, line in dialogue when orcs attack displays inconsistency between voice and subtitles in both instances line are triggered.
- Wrong and missing speaker name in intermission sequences.
- Slightly inconsistency present at intermission sequence after defeating breeder queen.
- In the 2nd Sanctuary campaign map, when Karloff arrives by boat in the fight screen appears Katsue instead of Karloff
- In the Final campaign map, inconsistency between voice and subtitles.
- In Necropolis' Hall of Heroes, some of heroes' name is not localized.
- No translation for "My Dynasty" in main menu.
- "Hz" not localized in the video settings of the main menu.
- Grammar issue present in a certain string of the My Dynasty tooltip.
- The name "Duke Slava" is displayed non-localized in My Only Dynasty favorite Hero, My Dynasty Heroes and Hero Info screens.
- My Dynasty Heroes - Information - "ScrollLabel" not localized in Russian version.
- My Dynasty Heroes - Dynasty Weapon - "Label" not localized in Russian version.
- Debug string present in abilities titles for Prince Slawoj and Kiryl in the Polish version.
- Sveltana's background story is not localized
- Missing translations for “Sir Jaywoods” hero name.
- Inconsistency between text and audio during the Intro cinematic.
- Duplicate string in tooltip for "Master of water" abilities.
- Title displayed twice and missing description for all hero specialization abilities.
- Grammar agreement issue in duel type string.
- Debug text is generated in the event log when using the "Lightning Rod" ability of the Thunder Staff.
- "Goldmine" is not localized in German version.
- The description of the "Power of the Lich" ability of the Staff of Sandro contains a placeholder value.
- Tears Path - Debug text as the description of the Spring Spirit's Temple.
- Incorrect reference in the tooltip of the "No Retaliation" attribute of the Spirits during Inferno Campaign Boss Fight.
- The tool tips of the "View online profile" and "Compare achievements" buttons are not localized, if accessing them in game.
- In Duel Mode, the numbers below the stacks of units are too big and the lower part of them is cut-off.
- The Taunt ability has debug text present in the tooltips.
- The tooltip for "Anathema” on Polish Localization states that the enemy suffers from "- 0%" Morale
- Wrong description of the "Haste" talent in the Hero creation menu.
- Incorrect message received after being defeated by the AI.
- The names of the maps are not displayed on the client's loading screen if the host has Korean SKU installed
- The debug text "undefined" is displayed for the faction of the open slots in the game lobby.
- Missing text in the "Week of the Froth Snake" description
- Improper grammatical formulation in artifacts properties descriptions in Pirates of the Savage Sea campaign.
- In the Demo version, Priory tooltip does not use a plural for the creatures that it creates.
- The Stronghold "Advanced Town Portal" has no tooltip.
- Incomplete text displayed for the "accept invite" button.
- In Dance Macabre campaign, "Great Lich's set" is not localized in game in Chinese version.
- Warlords of XEEN - Missing translation of the names of the characters throughout the level.
- Danse Macabre Campaign - Missing translation of several heroes' names.
- A Tale of Two Guardians/Warlords of XEEN - Missing text for the sacred building.
- The Conquest of Enroth - Missing translation of the names of the characters throughout the level.
- Unlocked level bonuses don't appear as available in the tooltip description of an equipped Dynasty Weapon.
- Missing translation in the Extra Content menu.
- The Conquest Of Enroth - The map name and its description are switched, the map is listed with its description.

- Miscellaneous
- In the “Rise to Power” multiplayer map, there is a wrong camera starting position for the players in slots three, five and six.
- During the 4th Necropolis campaign map, small freezes during the cinematic with Mother Namtaru played at the start of the map.
- The exchange rates are not the same before and after making a selection in the marketplace window.
- There are two "ChaosMagic" in the magic book and one of their icons is missing in Chinese version.
- Confusing words in the lower part of the My Dynasty – Hero Abilities description tooltip.
- Message "Your hero has been defeated by" appears twice in the events log.
- Stone Skin Scroll - Missing description.
- The chat window should not pup up on screen.
- The text "Red Palm Tribe" is cut off in the Victory window of the 3rd Sanctuary campaign map.
- In the 3rd Sanctuary campaign map, issue during the first dialogue cinematic.
- In Duel Mode, the user's avatar doesn't change when AI’s turn is.
- The areas explored by the AI's secondary hero do not unfog.
- The game crashed when the client joined a multiplayer session and entered the lobby.
- In “Creek of Lost Souls” map, a rally flag, a neutral stack of creatures and other resources can be found under the ground texture and the hero cannot access them.
- The heroes' background stories can be modified when entering the game for the first time.
- Wrong camera start spot on certain maps.
- In Duel Mode, the opponent AI will have fewer creatures in a Duel match if the user has previously played a Skirmish map.
- In the Duel Mode, the options from the drop down list are overlapping when changing the player's position from attacker to defender.
- The game crashes when the escape key is used to close the multiplayer menu while having the news widget open
- The game crashed when selecting "Play Manually" after being defeated in a Quick Combat.
- In the Bestiary, low resolution picture for Azkaal.
- The game crashed when switching from the surface level to the underground level in the multiplayer Save/Load menu.
- The game crashes on intro cinematic if the network connection is lost.
- The user that accepts an invite while he is in a Hotseat lobby will see both the lobbies overlapped.
- Any pop-up message will remain on the screen after joining a session via game invite.
- The Player Options Window remains opened after moving the player from the blocked list to the friends list.
- If a player exits the game on any Multiplayer Standard map, the next player that will exit during the AI's turn will remain stuck
- When a user accepts an invite while being into a custom game lobby, he will enter a different server than the host
- The game will crash if a user starts an Auto Matchmaking search after he exited a Multiplayer Session in which he entered by accepting an invite from the Auto Matchmaking lobby.
- All created heroes are unavailable for selection during auto-matchmaking after exiting a multiplayer session in 3 or more players.
- The user won't be able to zoom or move the camera using the scroll after he uses the "Statue of Revelation" Haven building.
- In the Demo, creatures’ icons are doubled.
- In the Demo, tapping the arrow to switch town, does not switch town.
- In the Crater Isle map, the game crashes for the host when loading an autosaved game by the session's client.
- In a Sanctuary Town screen, the "Town Portal" and "Advanced Town Portal" buildings don't have any animation.
- Game crashed when started saved session.
- The game will crash for the client that enters 2 times in the same save game.
- Game crashed when the user left a hotseat game against an AI opponent.
- While loading the Town Screen, if the ESC button is spammed, a graphical corruption appears.
- Different items are present in the Artifact Merchant after loading a game.
- A glitch revealing the fog of war from the map is present when entering the town or fort screen.
- The user remains stuck in the Town Screen if entering the town and by using the spellbook button.
- After creating 44 heroes the 'Create New Hero' button is grayed out and no additional heroes can be created.
- The game crashes when loading the first autosave made on any campaign map.
- Switching between different duel maps will allow the user to enter the Duel lobby without a Hero
- The game crashes for the initial host after the client loads an auto-saved game
- In Duel Mode, creature stack cannot be attacked if overlapped with another stack.
- Some of the Sandro moves are not audio co-related in Sandro theme menu.
- In the Gold Edition map, some creatures and resources present in the starting area for the first player slot are not positioned correctly.
- In The Lost City map, the user cannot pick the spell scroll after defeating the stack that guards the area.
- The Quest Log can be opened in the townscreen and it overlaps the already opened town windows.
- The game crashed for the client when joining a previously saved session by the host.
- Cut off text for the time log displayed in the friends list.
- Danse Macadre- The game's background music does not stop when a cutscene starts.
- The game crashes when the user quits the game on the AI's turn.
- Quick save cannot be performed after loading a game until a new autosave is generated.
- The "End Turn" button is functional only after it is pressed a second time.
- The game crashes on the loading screen for the client after joining a saved multiplayer session first created on patch 1.5.2.
- Error message is received after confirming any purchase from the "Altar of Wishes"; the user cannot purchase anything from the "Altar of Wishes".
- “Unlock" button appears "Unlocked" only after the user closes the DLC unlock window.
- The user can access the Load game menu in a multiplayer session using hotkeys "Ctrl+L".

- Community Bug fixes
- Artifact
- Ring of Swiftness doesn’t increase friendly creatures’ iniative.
- Miscellaneous
- After an Arena battle, battle music keeps playing.

- Complete balancing list:
- Building costs:
- Haven
- Griffin Aviary
- Gold cost decreased to 3750 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 7.
- Ore cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Griffin Tower
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Ore cost decreased to 1 instead of 2.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 7.
- Altar of Radiance
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 6000.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Crystal cost decreased to 5 instead of 6.
- Altar of Resplendence
- Gold cost decreased to 3500 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 6 instead of 10.
- Chapel of the Holy Sun
- Gold cost decreased to 3250 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 8 instead of 12.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Priory of the Holy Sun
- Gold cost increased to 3000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 7.
- Ore cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Transept of Heaven
- Gold cost decreased to 11000 instead of 15000.
- Wood cost decreased to 13 instead of 20.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 14 instead of 20.
- Transept of Elysium
- Gold cost decreased to 9000 instead of 15000.
- Wood cost decreased to 12 instead of 20.
- Ore cost decreased to 10 instead of 25.
- Crystal cost decreased to 20 instead of 11.
- Advanced Marketplace
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 2
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 3
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 8 instead of 10.
- Marksman Tower
- Gold cost decreased to 2750 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Cathedral of Light
- Gold cost increased to 2500 instead of 2250.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Inferno
- Raging Kennels
- Gold cost increased to 2250 instead of 2000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Hall of Forbidden Desires
- Gold cost decreased to 2750 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Spawning Chamber
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 7.
- Spawning Hive
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost increased to 2 instead of 0.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 6.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 6.
- Hall of Torment
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Crystal cost decreased to 5 instead of 6.
- Hall of Agony
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 3500.
- Wood cost decreased to 0 instead of 2.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 6.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Pen of Mayhem
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 8 instead of 12.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Pen of Chaos
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 10.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 10.
- Pit of Bile
- Gold cost decreased to 10000 instead of 12500.
- Wood cost decreased to 13 instead of 20.
- Ore cost decreased to 11 instead of 25.
- Crystal cost decreased to 12 instead of 20.
- Pit of Hate
- Gold cost decreased to 10000 instead of 17500.
- Wood cost decreased to 12 instead of 20.
- Ore cost decreased to 14 instead of 15.
- Crystal cost decreased to 13 instead of 20.
- Chaos Crucible
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Unique Building Tier 2
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 3
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 8 instead of 10.
- Necropolis
- Unique Building Tier 2
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 3
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 8 instead of 10.
- Hall of Immortals
- Gold cost decreased to 7500 instead of 10000.
- Wood cost increased to 5 instead of 0.
- Ore cost decreased to 0 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Sepulcher
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 6000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 7 instead of 10.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Mausoleum
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 7 instead of 9.
- Crystal cost decreased to 6 instead of 9.
- Pestilent Tomb
- Gold cost doesn’t change.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 10.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Pestilent Catacomb
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 6.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Vampire Mansion
- Gold cost decreased to 3500 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 6.
- Vampire Palace
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 3 instead of 6.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 7.
- Spider Temple
- Gold cost decreased to 11000 instead of 17500.
- Wood cost decreased to 14 instead of 25.
- Ore cost decreased to 13 instead of 15.
- Crystal cost decreased to 13 instead of 25.
- Spider Sanctum
- Gold cost decreased to 9000 instead of 12500.
- Wood cost decreased to 11 instead of 15.
- Ore cost decreased to 12 instead of 25.
- Crystal cost decreased to 12 instead of 15.
- Sanctuary
- Unique Building Tier 2
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 3
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 8 instead of 10.
- Advanced Marketplace
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Pearl Sanctuary
- Gold cost increased to 2750 instead of 2000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Blessed Pond
- Gold cost decreased to 2250 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Sacred Source
- Gold cost decreased to 3250 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 6.
- Ore cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 6.
- Sanctified Source
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost increased to 3 instead of 0.
- Ore cost decreased to 3 instead of 10.
- Crystal cost decreased to 6 instead of 8.
- Frost Shrine
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost decreased to 0 instead of 4.
- Ore cost increased to 7 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 5 instead of 9.
- Frost Miya
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 3 instead of 7.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Sunken Arena
- Gold cost decreased to 4250 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 8 instead of 11.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Sunken Dojo
- Gold cost decreased to 3500 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost decreased to 6 instead of 8.
- Crystal cost decreased to 5 instead of 7.
- Misty Mountain
- Gold cost decreased to 11000 instead of 12500.
- Wood cost decreased to 13 instead of 25.
- Ore cost decreased to 13 instead of 25.
- Crystal cost decreased to 13 instead of 15.
- Cloudy Mountain
- Gold cost decreased to 9000 instead of 17500.
- Wood cost decreased to 12 instead of 15.
- Ore cost decreased to 12 instead of 15.
- Crystal cost decreased to 12 instead of 25.
- Stronghold
- Unique Building Tier 2
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost decreased to 2 instead of 5
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Unique Building Tier 3
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 8 instead of 10.
- Advanced Marketplace
- Gold cost decreased to 2500 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 2 instead of 5.
- Dream Lodge
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 3000.
- Wood cost decreased to 8 instead of 12.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Vision Lodge
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 3500.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 7.
- Ore cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 5 instead of 8.
- Centaur Camp
- Gold cost decreased to 4000 instead of 6000.
- Wood cost decreased to 5 instead of 8
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 6 instead of 8.
- Centaur Outpost
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 4000.
- Wood cost decreased to 6 instead of 10.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Hut of Rage
- Gold cost decreased to 3500 instead of 4500.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Ore cost decreased to 6 instead of 10.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Chamber of Rage
- Gold cost decreased to 3000 instead of 3500.
- Wood cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Ore cost decreased to 4 instead of 5.
- Crystal cost decreased to 4 instead of 7.
- Cyclops Mound
- Gold cost decreased to 11000 instead of 17500.
- Wood cost decreased to 12 instead of 30.
- Ore cost decreased to 14 instead of 15.
- Crystal cost decreased to 13 instead of 15.
- Cyclops Hill
- Gold cost decreased to 9000 instead of 12500.
- Wood cost decreased to 12 instead of 30.
- Ore cost decreased to 14 instead of 15.
- Crystal cost decreased to 13 instead of 15.
- All Factions
- Marketplace
- Gold cost increased to 2500 instead of 2000.
- Basic Fortification
- Gold cost increased to 2500 instead of 2000.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Superior Fortification
- Gold cost decreased to 7500 instead of 10000.
- Wood cost decreased to 15 instead of 20.
- Ore cost decreased to 15 instead of 20.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Basic Town Portal
- Gold cost increased to 3500 instead of 2500.
- Wood cost doesn’t change.
- Ore cost doesn’t change
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Advanced Town Portal
- Gold cost increased to 7000 instead of 5000.
- Wood cost increased to 10 instead of 0.
- Ore cost increased to 10 instead of 0.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Tear of Asha
- Gold cost doesn’t change.
- Wood cost decreased to 15 instead of 20.
- Ore cost decreased to 15 instead of 20.
- Crystal cost decreased to 15 instead of 20.

- Town Dwelling conversion cost
- Core basic dwelling
- Gold cost increased to 500 instead of 250.
- Wood cost increased to 1 instead of 0.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost decreased to 0 instead of 1.
- Core Upgrade Dwelling
- Gold cost increased to 500 instead of 440.
- Wood cost increased to 1 instead of 0.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Elite basic Dwelling
- Gold cost increased to 1000 instead of 500.
- Wood cost increased to 1 instead of 0.
- Ore cost doesn’t change.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Elite Upgrade Dwelling
- Gold cost decreased to 1000 instead of 1500.
- Wood cost decreased to 1 instead of 2.
- Ore cost decreased to 1 instead of 6.
- Crystal cost doesn’t change.
- Champion basic Dwelling
- Gold cost decreased to 2000 instead of 2750.
- Wood cost decreased to 3 instead of 5.
- Ore cost increased to 3 instead of 0.
- Crystal cost decreased to 3 instead of 4.
- Champion Upgrade Dwelling
- Gold cost increased to 2000 instead of 750.
- Wood cost increased to 3 instead of 1.
- Ore cost increased to 3 instead of 1.
- Crystal cost increased to 3 instead of 1.
- External Dwellings Production
- External Core Dwellings provide now :
- Haven
- Sentinel +3/week instead of +6/week.
- Crossbowman +2/week instead of +5/week.
- Sister +2/week instead of +4/week.
- Necropolis
- Skeletons +3/week instead of +6/week.
- Ghoul +2/week instead of +4/week.
- Ghost +2/week instead of +4/week.
- Inferno
- Maniacs +3/week instead of +5/week.
- Hellhound +2/week instead of +4/week.
- Succubus +2/week instead of +5/week.
- Sanctuary
- Shark Warrior +3/week instead of +5/week.
- Pearl Priestess +2/week instead of +4/week.
- Kappa +2/week instead of +5/week.
- Stronghold
- Goblins +3/week instead of +6/week.
- Crusher +2/week instead of +3/week.
- Harpy +2/week instead of +5/week.
- External Elite Dwellings provide now 2 creatures / week, excepting for the creatures below:
- Haven
- Sun Rider +1/week instead of +3/week.
- Radiant Glory +1/week instead of +3/week.
- Griffin +2/week instead of +2/week.
- Necropolis
- Lich +1/week instead of +3/week.
- Vampire +2/week instead of +5/week.
- Lamasu +1/week instead of +4/week.
- Inferno
- Juggernaut +1/week instead of +2/week.
- Breeder +2/week instead of +3/week.
- Tormentor +1/week instead of +2/week.
- Sanctuary
- Spring Spirit +1/week instead of +4/week.
- Kenshi +1/week instead of +2/week.
- Snow Maiden +2/week instead of +3/week.
- Stronghold
- Jaguar Warrior +1/week instead of +3/week.
- Centaur +1/week instead of +2/week.
- Dreamwalker +2/week instead of +4/week.
- External Champion Dwellings provide now 1 creature / week.

- Abilities
- Effect “FROZEN” now gives vulnerability to “MIGHT” instead of “FIRE”.
- Effect “CHILLED” now gives vulnerability to “MIGHT” instead of “FIRE”.
- “Giant Slayer” bonus increased to 10/11/12 instead of 6/7/8.
- “Spirit Form” duration last 2 turns maximum now.
- “Ice Bolt” spell damages increased to 508/585/672 instead of 424/488/560.
- Counterstrike III now only affects the first retaliation of a creature.
- The Blazing Glory’s ability to dispel is now an active ability, which does not consume the turn, 3 turns cooldown.

- Creature Abilities
- Haven
- Crossbowman and Marksmen can now shoot without hurting allies.
- Stronghold
- Dreamweaver has now “Sky and Earth” and “Sky and Earth, Mass” abilities.
- The following “Strike and Return” creatures can now choose to attack and hold position (Active ability):
- Harpy
- Fury
- Light Elemental
- Shadow Elemental
- Radiant Glory
- Blazing Glory

- Duel Mode armies have been modified to match the new creature growth values and to propose 1 Might army and 1 Magic army:
- Necropolis
- Duel Army 1
- Ghouls stack increased to 156 (+36).
- Vampire stack increased to 84 (+14).
- Duel Army 1
- Skeletons stack of 170 units replaces now the first stack of Specters.
- Ghouls stack increased to 130 (+10).
- Specters stack increased to 156 (+26).
- Lich stack increased to 67 (+11).
- Sanctuary
- Duel Army 1
- Shark stack increased to 180 (+30).
- Kensei stack increased to 58 (+9).
- Duel Army 2
- Kappa stack of 160 units replaces now the first stack of Priestess.
- Priestess stack increased to 158 (+18).
- Spring Spirit Stack increased to 75 (+12).
- Haven
- Duel Army 1
- Praetorian stack increased to 204 (+24).
- Sun Rider stack increased to 67 (+11).
- Duel Army 2
- Praetorian stack decreased to 170 (-10).
- Sister stack increased to 168 (+28).
- Griffin stack of 49 units replaces now the first stack of Radiant Glory.
- Radiant Glory stack increased to 67 (+11).
- Inferno
- Duel Army 1
- Maniac stack increased to 150 (-140).
- Cerberus stack increased to 144 (+34).
- Tormented stack increased to 56 (+13).
- Juggernaut stack increased to 67 (+8).
- Duel Army 2
- Maniac stack increased to 150 (+140).
- Cerberus stack of 120 units replaces now the first stack of Succubus.
- Succubus stack increased to 185 (+18).
- Breeder stack increased to 67 (+11).
- Tormented stack increased to 56 (+7).
- Juggernaut stack increased to 56 (+7).
- Stronghold
- Duel Army 1
- Orc stack increased to 144 (+34).
- Goblin stack increased to 210 (+20).
- Harpy stack increased to 140 (+10).
- Jaguar Warrior stack increased to 67 (+11).
- Duel Army 2
- Orc stack increased to 120 (+10).
- Goblin stack increased to 210 (+20).
- Harpy stack increased to 158 (+28).
- Jaguar Warrior stack of 56 units replaces now the first stack of Shaman.
- Shaman stack increased to 75 (+9).

- Creatures characteristics
- Haven
- Crossbowman Maximum damage increased to 5 (+1).
- Crossbowman Movement decreased to 5 (-1).
- Marksman Minimum damage increased to 4 (+1).
- Marksman Maximum damage increased to 6 (+1).
- Marksman Movement decreased to 5 (-1).
- Inferno
- Maniac Luck decreased to 14 (-6).
- Demented Luck decreased to 16 (-8).
- Succubus Luck decreased to 15 (-1).
- Lilim Luck decreased to 18 (-2).
- Tormentor Luck decreased to 8 (-12).
- Lacerator Luck decreased to 10 (-14).
- Juggernaut Luck decreased to 12 (-8).
- Breeder growth rate increased to 5 (+1).
- Ravager Luck decreased to 12 (-10).
- Ravager Movement increased to 7 (+1).
- Pit Fiend Luck decreased to 8 (-8).
- Pit Lord Lock decreased to 9 (-9).
- Sanctuary
- Kirin Growth rate decreased to 1 (-1).
- Kirin Cost increase to 1705 (+300).
- Kirin Health increase to 260 (+15).
- Kirin Minimum damage increased to 54 (+1).
- Kirin Maximum damage increased to 58 (+1).
- Sacred Kirin Cost increased to 2130 (+300).
- Sacred Kirin Health increased to 275 (+10).
- Sacred Kirin Minimum damage increased to 58 (+3).
- Sacred Kirin Maximum damage increased to 62 (+3).

Oct 10, 2012

Everything You Need To Know About Far Cry 3's Vast, Exhilarating Open World

Far Cry®

Between XCOM and Dishonored, most gamers are probably unable to even think about anything on the horizon—the present is just fine, thanks! The horizon can wait!

Last week, I headed over to Ubisoft and spent about four hours visiting that horizon, playing a big chunk of Far Cry 3's single-player campaign. I've had my doubts about the game since it was revealed, though over the course of the last few months, many of them have been assuaged. After my time playing the game, any remaining doubts all but vanished. Far Cry 3 is serious business.

Most of what we've seen of the single-player story up until now has involved narrow, linear setpieces. But what about the massive, explorable island, the open-ended missions, the sidequests and collectables? What of the stuff that makes Far Cry Far Cry?

That's what I got to finally see last week. I was very impressed. Observe the following equation:

Far Cry 3 = Far Cry 2 + Uncharted + Red Dead Redemption.

Yeah. Granted, there's still a hint of what I can only call "That Unique Ubisoft Dumbness" to everything, but so much of the game was so impressive that I couldn't help but be won over. I can't wait to see and play more.

In the video above, you can get a feel for just about every element of Far Cry 3's single-player experience. The massive island, the teeming wildlife, the array of vehicles, and the amazing, performance-captured first-person cutscenes—the video is cut together from b-roll that Ubisoft sent over after the event; I saw most everything in the video, though I'm not quite as good at the game as the person playing the video.

But hey, just because I made a video doesn't mean I'm not gonna give you some bullet points.

Far Cry 3 lifts its vantage-point system from Assassin's Creed. You'll climb radio towers in the game and, once you reach the top, you'll unblur a section of the map, highlighting the various points of interest. You'll even perform a sort of "leap of faith" to get down—only except of swan-diving, you'll zipline.
You have a camera that you can use to reconnoiter enemy camps, tag foes, identify points of interest, and of course, take pictures. As a big Dead Rising fan, I must say I am excited to be able to take pictures in another open-world game.

Everything You Need To Know About Far Cry 3's Vast, Exhilarating Open World

Everything is much more video-gamey than Far Cry 2. That's not really my thing, but it does let you have access to a lot more information. If only they had a map that your character holds in his hands! Alas. I'm sure some people will rejoice at this news, though.
Oh, before I forget - even if you're not watching the video, for a good time, skip to 10:55.
I don't know why that shit cracks me up like it does, but it does.
There are a ton of optional sidequests, most of which you get either from quest-givers or from bulletin boards strewn around the map. They range from hunting challenges to stronghold captures to assassinations.
Once you've captured a stronghold, it stays captured—no more respawning guards like in Far Cry 2. You'll have much more of a sense of progress in Far Cry 3. (Though of course, the futility of your actions was one of the narrative themes of Far Cry 2. Okay, I'll shut up about Far Cry 2.)
The game has a hugely ambitious crafting system. There are a ton of collectible plants and animal bits, and you can use them to craft medicine, power-ups, and even bags that will expand your inventory.
The island's ecosystem interlocks to a hugely ambitious degree. The last game with a wildlife system as massive was Red Dead Redemption—bold words, I know! It is remarkable how Ubisoft has managed to fit so much life onto a single game disc.
Animals don't just fight you—they fight one another and can be set loose upon enemy bases. I'm sure we'll get some pretty funny glitch videos out of this.

The game looks fine on all platforms, but the PC puts the console versions to shame. It was running smoothly and without a single hitch at 1080p, though I didn't see what kind of PCs Ubisoft was using. I got stuck on the PS3 version, and it was markedly inferior. Lots of screen-tearing, particularly during cutscenes, a smushed draw distance and some rough, ugly texture compression. Granted, the game still played fine, and most console owners won't care, but the PS3's graphics weren't looking so hot. The Xbox 360 version, from what I saw, looked somewhat better—less tearing, and darker textures, though still nowhere near the quality of the PC version. This game feels stuck between the current generation and the next one, and it appears to be just a bit beyond the capabilities of current-gen consoles.
This is going to be one long-ass game. The Ubisoft folks were cagey about exact numbers, but they alluded to spending well past 50 or 60 hours on the game, including sidequests. Factor in collectables and relics, and that number keeps climbing.
The stealth system is robust and transparent. You'll get a warning indicator on screen when a guard can see you, and it gradually fills as you stay in their sights. You can always toss a pebble to distract a foe, making stealth much more tactical and approachable than it was in Far Cry 2. (Sorry, I know I said I'd shut up about Far Cry 2.)
The home-base area is idyllic. Almost too idyllic. You can go there to play minigames, resupply, and get quests.
Gun shops are located all over the place, even in vending machines. Almost every single building lets you buy and customize guns.
Far Cry 2's grisly (and awesome) low-health healing animations are back—get too injured and you'll rip fingers back into their sockets, dig out bullets and cauterize wounds. It's gnarly, and totally cool.
A great deal of work has been put into placing you inside your character Jason's body. You'll be thrown around all over the place, and it's immersive to the point of being motion-sickness inducing.

Far Cry 3 is not an easy game; especially at first, you'll be dead meat if you go too far out into the jungle without skills and proper equipment. Similarly, you can't just run into a firefight—you'll have to be smart, and use the environment (and often, the animals) to your advantage. In this way, it feels much like Far Cry 2—circle, circle, circle.
The facial capture is truly astonishing—some of the most impressive I've ever seen. Ubisoft has used the same tech in other games, but I've never seen it work this well. Characters effortlessly convey fear, terror, patience, madness, and vacancy, not just in their faces but in their body motions. At least in the first-person cutscenes, Ubisoft has almost entirely escaped the uncanny valley.
Your tattoos mark your power-ups, and as you get more powerful, they become more elaborate. You'll earn experience that lets you unlock more advanced moves, from stealth abilities to creative knife kills.
The designers have had a lot of fun with the drug sequences. They're some of the best hallucinations I've seen in a video game in a long time, and are legitimately trippy.
I shot a bear, and a bunch of boars, and I got eaten by an Aligator. (Crocodile? It's so hard to determine species when you're getting eaten.)
The game has a curious "loot" system where you'll pick up various bits and bobs all over the island, each of which can be cashed in for money. I'm not sure the full depth of it, but I found a huge variety of items in only a few hours.
Jason's talking during the story missions gets a bit annoying. It isn't endearing, and while sometimes it gives a good sense of how desperate he's feeling, it can also feel like overkill. Time will tell whether it works in the game overall, but I've got my doubts.

Don't freak out, but the story actually made me feel a bit like I was living Battle Royale. Granted, it was a less-wicked-cool version starring a bunch of white American twentysomethings, but still, the whole "Fighting against your will on a deadly island playground" vibe often channeled Kinji Fukasaku's desperate, violent, brilliant flick.
That said, I worry that the whole "spring break gone wrong" plotline will wind up feeling thin and inconsequential. Vaas is a terrific bad guy, and the acting and writing are fine moment-to-moment. But do I really care about the journey of this one dude? It lacks the historical grandeur of Assassin's Creed, the ticking-clock tension of the Rainbow Six games, the romance of Prince of Persia. It just kind of seems like a B-movie, like The Ruins or another horror flick. The story just doesn't seem as sophisticated as the tech, performances, and design.
Then again, I really don't think the game will suffer all that much for that. But the story could wind up being what holds it back from being truly great.
Vehicles handle with an unexpected degree of shift and slide—I found myself pulling through wild, spun-out turns as the physics reacted in ways I wasn't prepared for. It's cool, and will lead to all manner of nifty stunts once you've mastered it.
In something I think we'll all agree is an upgrade from Far Cry 2, the hang gliders actually work, and let you glide for a good long time.
So there you have it. It's a lot of game to take in, and I'll be looking forward to seeing how it all really hangs together once the game comes out. Far Cry 3 will be out on December 4 in North America.

Sep 24, 2012

Might and Magic: Heroes VI Update Released

Might & Magic: Heroes VI - Valve

4.10. Patch 1.7 release notes

- Adventure Pack "Danse Macabre" Compatibility:
- Campaign
- Two new campaign maps
- New neutral building 'Magic Menagerie'
- Unique End Boss 'Dragonwraith'
- New Dynasty Traits
- New Hero 'Sandro'
- New Heroes available for purchase in the Altar of Wishes
- New Dynasty Weapon 'Staff of the Netherworld'
- New Artifact Set
- New Achievements
- New Player Portraits available for purchase in the Altar of Wishes
- New Dynasty Pet

- New available multi-player maps:
- Warlords of Xeen
- Coast of Intrigue
- The Lost City
- The Conquest of Enroth

- Community bug requests fixes :
- Campaign
- In “Pirates of the Savage Seas” campaign, the secondary hero Falagar receives blood and tears reputation points.
- In “Pirates of the Save Seas” campaign, the secondary hero Falagar has no specialization.
- The secondary Stronghold Campaign hero Akamas does not have the First Blood level specialization during battle.
- Magic Sanctuary hero Himiko has Might heroic strike animation and damage instead of water magic animation and damage.
- Magic Stronghold campaign hero Airini as Might heroic strike animation and damage instead of magic animation and damage.
- Magic Inferno campaign hero Xana has not heroic strike animation.
- Crag Hack’s “Plunder” (+1 gem per week) effect and the All-Seeing Crown artifact effect do not work.
- Dynasty Weapons/Artifacts
- When two or more heroes the Artifact seller building on Adventure map with one of them, you can buy artifacts and scrolls to a remote hero by clicking on his portrait.
- Artifacts that award bonuses to creature damage do not function correctly.
- The "Winterwind Peace Circlet" Artifact doesn't work (already fixed in 1.5.2 patch).
- The "Flamegold Shield" artifact does not award fire resistance (already fixed in 1.5.2 patch).
- The "Gauntlets of the Khan" artifact's second ability (+1 to friendly creatures might damage) doesn't work (already fixed in 1.5.2 patch).
- The "Frozen Chrysanthemum" Artifact doesn't work (already fixed in 1.5.2 patch).
- The level 3 ability (Sephiel’s Voice) of the Heartrending Song takes effect on 5x5 area instead of 3x3.
- The Perfect Silksword’s buff is not enough powerful. (Now gives +30%damage dealt and +40 Luck).
- Missing icon for staff of Cleansing "Tainted Mist" ability in the Spellbook.
- Staff of the Tides level 5 "Ice Barrier" ability does not absorb damage in retaliations.
- Asha's Staff of Eightfold totally refills mana each day instead of the +10 mana.
- The description of the Arachne's level 5 ability contains the value 0.
- The level 3 (Sephiel's Voice) ability of the Heartrending Song gives too little heal.
- Will of Urgash “Burning Fire” ability fire damage can be healed.
- Will of Urgash “Firestorm” damage is not influenced by the Hero's level and Magic Power.
- The number of summoned Juggernauts by the Blade of Binding is not influenced by the Hero’s level.
- Level 5 Staff of the Tides "Ice Barrier" ability was too powerful. It now disappears after the stack is dealt more than 393 damages.
- The "Warping Pendant" artifact will be effective against enemies even if the hero does not have 10 might attack power.
- Different items are present in the Artifact Merchant after loading a game.
- Achievements
- "Some Rotten Forever" achievement cannot be unlocked.
- A fight won without engaging in close combat is not counted for the "Marksman" achievement.
- Abilities/Spells/Traits
- The "Mentoring" ability gives the hero 75% experience instead of 50% as indicated
- The bonus to the "Diplomat" ability awarded by the "Master Diplomat" specialization is too small to make a difference.
- Vampires and Vampire Lords cannot be attacked when they have the "Out of Time" buff.
- The animation of the "Inner Eye" ability can be seen on units that are in the army of a Might hero.
- The "Cleave" skill will trigger for every stack that destroys an enemy stack rather than just the first one.
- Damage dealt by any spell is doubled if the user casts Pressed Attack.
- Demographist II dynasty trait increases elite creature by 1 instead of 2.
- The "Assailant I, II, III" abilities receive the same amount of points on both Tears and Blood reputation.
- Stronghold campaign secondary hero Airini’s first class tears ability cannot be used in combat.
- The Meditation skill will restore 50% of the hero's mana even though the description states it should restore 15%.
- The "Magic Affinity III" skill does not work.
- The Fire Elemental "Cremation" ability does not work.
- Dynasty trait Artifact Finder does not work.
- Level 1 Sanctuary reputation ability for Might heroes is not displayed in the spell book.
- The Lich's "Drain Life" ability doesn't work if the stack that is attacked dies.
- A stack doesn't retaliate when is attacked by an enemy stack affected by "Taunt" ability.
- Localizatio/Text error fixes
- Incorrect message is displayed when the player loses a battle in the arena
- Incorrect description of Movement points for a unit affected by "Haste" spell.
- Incorrect description in the "Vampire Palace" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Miscellaneous
- The user won't be able to zoom or move the camera using the scroll after he uses the "Statue of Revelation" Haven building
- You can move the portrait of your hero while visiting an Arena or an Arcane Library.
- The combat music effect continues playing after visiting an Arena until an action that triggers another music effect is made.
- In Custom Game, there is not a Chose random enemy faction or/and hero on all slots.
- The "Lightning Bolt,Fire Bolt and Agony" spells have no special effects when killing an enemy stack.
- Loading an autosave creates a new autosave.
- Attacking a hero that is outside the town (a few steps outside) starts a town battle with the defender inside the castle.
- Player is not warned when one or several of his heroes have movement points left when he ends a turn. Now a popup window appears near the hourglass to warn the player.
- The scrollbar does not reset after switching between tabs in the spellbook.
- In the Diving Attack's tooltip there is no information about the special ability's cooldown.
- Right clic info window disappears for no reason. It disappears now at a new right click press.
- There is not a “Lock Dynasty weapon” button in MP lobby.
- The Frost Miya does not increase population by 2 as described, but by 1.
- Low resolution picture for Azkaal in the Bestiary.
- Combat hotkeys are not functional when the user is attacked on passive turn.
- The level bar of a Dynasty Weapon shows a constant value.
- Special Offers (such as 10 crystals for 10 ore, or get 3000 gold for 10 woods etc.) from the Advanced Market changed on Save/Load.

- Bug fixes :
- Localization/Text error fixes :
- The tooltip for the last achievements tab was not localized
- Wrong tooltip for the "Fire Ball" ability.
- In game lobby menu, the number of creatures in your army are shown at the 10th than the number of creatures that you actually have in combat
- Wrong description displayed when opening the fort screen.
- Incorrect description of movement points for a unit affected by "Slow" spell.
- Incorrect description in the "Raging Kennels" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Incorrect description in the "War Pavilion" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Incorrect description in the "Harpy Colony" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Incorrect description in the "Hall of Agony" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Incorrect description in the "Pen of Chaos" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- Incorrect description in the "Haunted Tower" structure tooltip regarding the creature growth.
- The intermissions and cinematics are not audio translated for "Pirates of the Savage Sea" campaign on Spanish, French and German localizations.
- Inconsistency between tooltip and behavior
- In “A Princess of Varn” scenario map, primary Quest marker is not displayed on the in game map menu.
- Abilities / spells
- The might defense bonus received from Stone Skin spell is shown with a minus instead of a plus on friendly creatures.
- The town portal spells are present in the spell book even if the town portal and advanced town portal are not built.
- Curse of the netherworld will heal friendly stacks when the enemy is undead.
- Despair increases the morale of the enemy instead of decreasing it
- Siege master II has the same base damage for blood and tears reputation
- The heroism, mass ability gives the creatures within your army 13% damage instead of 12%
- Eternal winter ability last only one turn instead of 2 turns
- Duck and cover still has 40% cover defense instead of 50%
- The seraph has the Blade of Mercy ability instead of the Blade of Epiphany ability.
- The celestial has the Blade of Epiphany ability instead of the Blade of Mercy ability.

- Dynasty weapons
- Thunder staff - The +5 air magic bonus points given by the passive ability of the weapon are not received.
- Staff of tides - The +5 water magic bonus points given by the passive ability of the weapon are not received.
- Heartrending song - The +5 light magic bonus points given by the passive ability of the weapon are not received.
- Miscellaneous
- Missing icon for the passive abilities given by the Amulet of thunder, Evercold Icicle, Brythigga Amber, Rune of flame, Sun cross and Heart of Darkness
- The maps created with the editor do not appear in the multiplayer game lobby.
- Incorrect functionality for the creature dismiss hotkey
- No autosave is generated for a hotseat session in offline mode.
- The HUD is not visible for the first player in his first turn playing hotseat.
- The quick save feature is not functional on hotseat mode.
- Team options should be grayed out on 2 player maps .
- The end turn hotkey doesn't work while on water.
- The autosaves are not made daily for the first 4 days, for several campaign maps
- The autosaves are not made daily for a period of 3 to 7 days after starting the map, for several skirmsh maps
- The same hero is available twice for the user, ingame on the same map.
- The perfectionist trait does not work as stated in the description.
- Maniac weekly growth increased to 8 units instead of 9
- The game crashes if the user enters a town before a dialogue box is triggered and tries to change anything in the town screen.
- The final boss, Mother Namtaru, has no animation when she dies.
- Wrong deployment area for creatures in combat map.
- The game crashes if the user tries to load a game from the "End Screen".
- The game crashes when the user confirms the Disconnected from Conflux message.
- The Load Game shortcut does not have any functionality in-game.
- After creating 44 heroes the 'Create New Hero' button is grayed out and no additional heroes can be created.
- The game crashes when loading the first autosave made on any campaign map.
- In “The Lost City” map, the user cannot pick the spell scroll after defeating the stack that guards the area.
- In the 4th map of the Inferno Campaign, there is Wrong deployment area for creatures in combat map.
- The "End Turn" button is functional only after it is pressed a second time.

- Complete Balancing list:
- Ability
- “Fire Vulnerability” (Fire damages taken +20%) effect is now considered as “Might Vulnerability” (Might damages taken +20%).
- “Chilled” and “Frozen” effects now add “Might Vulnerability” effect.
- Circle of Winter ability damage increased to 700/800/900.
- Assailant ability is now based on Blood reputation.
- Defender and Arcane Ward abilities are now based on Tears reputation.
- Assailant, Defender and Arcane Ward abilities give modifiers based on reputation:
- Reputation 0
- Tier I: 2
- Tier II: 3
- Tier III: 4
- Reputation 1
- Tier I: 3
- Tier II: 4
- Tier III: 5
- Reputation 2
- Tier I: 4
- Tier II: 5
- Tier III: 6
- Opposite reputation
- Tier I: 2
- Tier II: 3
- Tier III: 4

- Creature Abilities
- Haven
- Guardian Angel IV healing power decreased to 23% (-5%).
- Marksman “Piercing Bolt” passive ability is now an Active ability.
- Crossbowman health decreased to 20 (-2).
- Marksman health decreased to 24 (-2).
- Sentinel Health increased to 25 (+4).
- Praetorian health increased to 32 (+32).
- Praetorian growth rate decreased to 14 (-1).
- Praetorian movement increased to 5 (+1).
- Sun Rider movement increased to 6 (+1)

- Inferno
- Juggernaut movement increased to 6 (+1).
- Juggernaut Minimum Melee Damage decreased to 17 (-1).
- Juggernaut Maximum Melee Damage decreased to 20 (-1).
- Breeder and Mother Breeder “Mana leach” ability decreased to 4% (-1%).
- Breeder morale decreased to 4 (-6).
- Breeder luck decreased to 8 (-4).
- Mother Breeder has now “Mobile Shooter” ability.
- Mother Breeder cost increased to 550 (+55).
- Mother Breeder morale decreased to 4 (-6).
- Mother Breeder Luck decreased to 10 (-5).

- Necropolis
- Ravenous Ghoul growth rate increased to 10 (+1).
- Ghost growth rate increased to 7 (+1).
- Specter growth rate increased to 10 (+2).
- Vampire’s “Out of Time” passive ability is now an Active ability with a 2 turns cooldown.
- Vampire “Embrace” ability power increased by 5% (20% drain).
- Vampire Lord “Grasp” ability power increased by 5% (25% drain).

- Sanctuary
- Spring Spirits and Mizu-Kamis have now the passive Ability “Water Strike”.

- Stronghold
- First Blood ability movement boost decreased to 1 (-1).
- Crusher Minimum Melee Damage decreased to 4 (-1).
- Crusher Maximum Melee Damage decreased to 8 (-1).
- Crusher health decreased to 34 (-2).
- Crusher growth rate decreased to 9 (-1).

Aug 22, 2012

Far Cry 3 hands-on: battling bandits with friendly bears and Komodo dragons

Far Cry®

Last week I had the chance to dive into the refreshing waters of Far Cry 3 at Gamescom. I was given free rein of a portion of the world map. I fought Komodo dragons, drowned, fled a shark, trashed bandit bases, crashed a multitude of vehicles and annoyed half of the jungle's wildlife. This is the story of my Far Cry 3 safari.

I start in a small village, five or six buildings and a few idle, wandering locals. There's a man in a dirty shirt waving at me. I guess he's the obvious demo clue, so ignore him and start chasing a monkey. The monkey gets stuck into some foliage (probably a bug) so I go shopping. Wandering into the local corner shop, an old lady sells me a scope and super-large magazine for my AK-47. She appears to be out of kit-kats. Looking at the menu, I can carry my knife, grenades and two weapons – at the moment. My secondary weapon appears to be an SMG. I test this on nearby bushes.

I win $50 off the man with the dirty shirt in a knife throwing contest and look around for something else to do. My in-game map appears to all be messed up and the developer tells me that the local bandits have scrambled the local radio frequency. I don't really understand what that has to do with my map, but I really don't want to miss The Archers so I hop in a jeep and start barreling up the hill. Straight up the hill. The developer looks a little perturbed as I rev between the trees. I burst out of the bushes in front of a bandit jeep. The bandits doubletake and hop in their jeep to chase me. I handbrake turn past them, which sends them off the wrong way down the hill.

At the radio tower, I hop out of the jeep. In the distance, I can hear the confused shouting of bandits. Each tower, the developer tells me, is a puzzle. This starting one is easy, but climbing them gets progressively more difficult throughout the game. I run quickly to the top and tear out the jamming device from the control box. Like Assassin's Creed's high points, when you've uncovered one of these points, you can see the world around you, revealing optional quests in the surrounding area in a short montage. From here, I can see an intruiging ruined tower, the local bandit base and a hang glider.

Ooh, and lots of animal icons have appeared on the map. The developer is telling me how if I defeat the local bandits I'll free the native tribe who'll be eternally grateful and give me glorious gifts. Whatever. I've just spotted a komodo dragon icon on the map. I love komodo dragons. For the non-herpetologists, they're 11 foot long man-eating lizards with a fatally toxic bite, a throwback to a time when were little rats being eaten by dinosaurs. I must see it. I hop back in the jeep while the developer's still talking and head off in the opposite direction to the bandit camp, straight over a sharp drop. The vehicle falls through the trees, bouncing off the hillside all the way down, and lands surprisingly undamaged on a road. I quickly skid the jeep across rickety bridges and dirt roads to the approximate location of the komodo dragons.

I skid to a halt and walk into the jungle. I stop. Over the headphones, I hear birdsong. And yet more bandits, who must have found my jeep. And, yes, over that way, a faint hissing noise. I walk closer towards it, through the undergrowth, slowly closing it down, step by step. At which point two four-foot long komodos burst out of the undergrowth, hissing like split pipes. They're only babies at that size, but the speed of their charge is terrifyingly realistic, and I unload my AK at them. They swarm me, and nearly kill me. I run through the foliage, bandaging my arm frantically, past a surprised looking bandit. He's about to fire on me when the Komodos close on him. I turn and empty the clip at all of them. Five seconds later one bitten bandit and two komodos lie dead. I actually feel guilty for a moment about biodiversity. Then the developer tells me I can turn their skins into ammo bags.

My impromptu safari done, I decide to investigate the bandit camp. The hanglider disappeared from the map when I got down from the radio tower's vantage point, but I remember it was near an old fort tower, so I razz the jeep back up the hill. I do a complicated parking manoeuvre on two bandits at the tower and spot the hang glider on a ridge just below it. I run down, shooting men as I go. Shooting men, whilst fun, is the least interesting part of the game. The open world exploration is just joyous.

The hang glider, in particular is such a nostalgic throwback to the first game. I remember using Far Cry's level editor to create the highest possible map with a single hang glider on top of a mountain peak, so you could just spiral down past the foliage. This hang glider is positioned to overlook the bandit camp. I push off and pull up immediately so I'm drifting slowly way above the camp. The camp's on a promontory and there's a sniper on the roof, with a clear line of sight down both approach roads. Hmm.

Ooh. Over in the water, there's a patrol boat. If I can take that over, I can sail it close to the camp and unload its turret gun. I wait for it to pass me and swoop down. Delusions of grandeur overtake me. I am Batman. I am the terror in the...

...deep. Crap. I missed the back of the boat by a foot and instead landed on a bull shark just behind it. Right. I'm now under a boat with a giant angry fish and I'm running out of air. Fleeing as fast I can with Jaws hanging onto my leg, stabbing my arm with morphine, I pop out of the water on the front of the boat. In front of the turret gunner. Sadface.

The game respawns me back at the hanglider. This time I ignore the boat. I just swoop down immediately, picking up huge amounts of speed, and aim for the roof of the base. Because I started so high up I'm going scarily fast when I jump off, but I miraculously survive. Irecover more quickly than the sniper standing next to me, so shoot him, then crouch down and unload my submachine gun, then the AK at the enemies trying to storm the roof. After thirty hectic seconds, they're all dead, and the natives drive up to take control of the base. The developer has been looking shocked all this time. "I didn't think you could land on that roof," he says.

Right. I'm getting a taste for this now. I can see that my minimap is telling me that there's a relic out at sea. The developer tells me it's really hard to get to without the breath upgrade. I shrug and try anyway, swimming out (still terrified that Jaws is out here somewhere), and then diving off a reef, down, down, deep into the rusted hull of a container ship. I spot the relic and grab it, then get lost trying to get back out. I black out, hands waving at the blue sky so near. Except that my inventory says I still have the relic. Hmm.

I've forgotten where I parked my jeep so I take a handy Trabant. It's surprisingly fast and I almost lose control going over the wooden bridges on the way to the next roadside camp. This has two entrances, one vehicle and a sneaky pedestrian one around the back. I crash the Trabant into the back door, then while the bandits are running that way, sneak around to the front gates. The noise of my crash has panicked a pack of bison which are running around madly inside the base. Strangely, the bandits have got a black bear in a cage in their base. I still feel guilty about murdering those Komodos, so I decide to shoot the door of the cage open. Welcome to the party, Yogi.

The bandits are just walking back, when Yogi runs out. Together me and Yogi clear out the base. Then Yogi runs off and chases bison in a kind of mad bear frenzy as arriving natives open fire. Inside the base, It's carnage. Yogi gets a couple of the bandits, a couple fall to my SMG, and one manages to escape both of us but turns up later dead with a jeep parked on top of him. Nothing to do with me. He's dropped a nice sniper rifle, though. I toss the SMG aside.

I hop back in the Trabant and head for the next Radio Tower. Climbing that (much more shakey and tumbledown), I quickly unlock it and spot the next bandit camp. This time, I find a zipline at the top of the tower, and take it down. At the bottom is a strangely glowing ATV. I climb aboard and it turns out its carrying medical supplies. I've got to rush it to the nearest native village via a series of handy waypoints within a few minutes or someone will die! Or at least, he'll die and respawn and I'll have to replay the mission. The ATV handles terribly, but I manage to plough into the native village sideways before crashing it into the sea. Mission complete! I am winning at safari.

I now have no vehicle, but the bandit camp is only in the next cove so I decide to swim for it. I stick close to the coast to avoid meeting Jaws again, and emerge on a sandy beach covered in debris. Climbing the steep shoreline, I pull my sniper rifle out and sneak up to the ridge. This base is much better defended. It's got clear lines of fire in all directions and seems relatively well-manned. I line up a shot but am attacked from behind as I pull the trigger. There's a grunting, but I can't see what it is. the developer tells me it's probably an angry Warthog. I run, but not before my alarmed gunshot alerts the scout I was trying to kill. Scattered shots pepper the foliage around me.

I lose the pig and start sneaking around to the opposite side of the base at a low crouch. The bandits lose sight of me, and one wanders into the shaking bushes I came from. There's a commotion. He's found the warthog. As his friends look on in confusion, I throw all my grenades into the base. All of them. Half the enemy dots on the minimap disappear. I snipe another two, switch to the AK and sneak up on the nearest barricade. I stab one guy from behind (gruesomely, the knife goes right through him), machine gun another, and jump into the base. There's one man left and he starts muttering to himself in terror. I climb higher and higher and jump down onto his head. Thanks to a random head-stomping perk I picked up earlier, he goes down.

The area of the map I played was about 1/20th of the full game. On this showing, it's big and emergent enough to give Just Cause a good run for its money. And you get to run away from animals of many and varied sorts. Safari, so good.

N.B. The game didn't look as good when I was playing it as these screenshots do. I'm not calling them bullshots, but they must have been taken on amazingly high-end PCs. With Photoshop installed.