Far Cry 3 – new details revealed

The latest issue of Edge reveals a slew of new details on Far Cry 3.

Thanks to the wonders of Internet publishing, Gaming Everything has already reprinted most of the pertinent revelations. One of the most interesting points is the fact that the game seems to be themed around insanity, with hints that even the game’s hero, Jason Brody, may be a bit wacko.

Other news includes the fact that weapon degradation is definitely out, and that Jason may be attacked by wild animals that roam the tropical island where the game is set – both on land, and in water:

“We have land animals and sea animals,” said game designer Andrea Zanni. “They’ll be there as threats, they’ll be there for you to utilise – you can go out into the jungle and go hunting, which is all part of Jason growing and surviving on the island. If you go deep into the jungle, you’re going to have some encounters that may not be so pleasant. So they’re a part of the ecology of the island, and really making the island this savage place for the player.”

Open-ended combat returns, but there’ll also be linear missions – including a trippy, non-combat sequence in which a strange doctor sends you out to gather mushrooms from a cave. Generally, though, it sounds like the game will stick to the series’ established rep for exploration.

“It’s about making sure that the player is constantly feeling enabled by what you can do in the world and enabled by the world itself,” said open-world designer Jamie Keen. “You feel like the world’s inviting you to make you feel like you constantly want to move through it, constantly wanting to know more about what’s going on there.

“Recently, we put a mineshaft just on the way down to a lighthouse. And players heading to the lighthouse see it, and everyone just goes, ‘Oh look, a mineshaft!’ and they have to explore. We want to constantly surprise people [with] how much they’re going to find when they do go exploring and follow their nose.”