Good to see they took a page from the STALKER school of immersion. Hopefully it has even a fraction of STALKER's immersion and atmosphere.

It does seem silly if a nice shiny new gun degrades as quickly as they imply, though.

Yuki

Hurry up and release already!!!

Ajey

Okay, the vehicle and weapon degrade looks annoying. Overall the game looks pretty good. Although I hope the whole open world thing doesn't end up like Crysis where you can go anywhere! As long as it's within 20 feet of your objective...

BillyTheRatKing

Oh wow...
When they say gorgeous they mean it.

Ra is on Sports Night

In theory, their idea of immersion sounds great. However, it has to be seen in practice (i.e. played by someone who didn't work on the game) to see if it actually can be pulled off.

Thwick

this game looks unbelievable! i love the "no camera teleporting" mentality. such a simple concept to push the idea of immersion.

subterfunk

EBGames.com's deal of the day is free overnight shipping on this game. Enter the coupon code "FARCRY2". I think this game could be fantastic and I definitely bit on that preorder deal.

MSUSteve

All of these immersion animations seem cool. But I'm wondering how long one can play the game before they feel stale?

Take engine repair for example. It's cool to see him using the socket wrench to tighten a bolt. But after a while it will detract from the realism. "I just rammed my car into a rock and it caught fire. Time for the 'ole socket wrench."

Warbuff6644

The whole repairing things and weapon jams seem like they could get annoying, though.

This...otherwise I am sure to check this one out later this year (after Fable).

Shinamano

Hang gliding looks great. I love the level of interactivity, such as being able to repair your car, etc. Overall, this game is looking better and better.

DugDawg

Weapons jamming and cars breaking down. "Realistic" ideas like this have been used in videogames before and they never turn out very well. Bad move.

Kado

I agree with Tzaketh. It'll no doubt take away from the immersion if something breaks down far more frequently or often than it should.

WittyUserName

Please don't go all Sci Fi on me FarCry 2, and Ill love you like I loved FarCry 1. That is, a lot.

(everything I felt after you were injected with dino serum not included)

Komrade_Kayce

Putting your dislocated arm back into place? EEEEEWWW

Eruanno

I still think the AI looks sketchy. It doesn't try to flank you like in Crysis. I know that Ubisoft isn't renowned for AI, but it'd be nice if they got it to Crysis levels at least.

mlubczyn

@yargh:
Same here, to both ^_^

Numanoid

Hey, I saw this a week ago on GameTrailers methinks.

The one thing I really want to do is go hang-gliding over Africa, weee.

yargh

That was a very interesting little video.

As Aethyr above said, the repair and weapon degradation sounds like it could get very annoying depending on how frequently it occurs.

The notion of a Kalashnikov exploding in your hands because you've put a couple thousand rounds through it in the space of hell, even an hour, is ridiculous. The jamming makes sense, considering you're in Africa where there's a lot of dirt and grit-- you generally under lubricate your firearms there so as to avoid buildup in the weapon. But the idea of the thing rusting and exploding? Unless we're talking about using the same weapon for literally years of in-game time, that's just plain stupid.

tzaketh

I can't wait to get a copy of this game.

First thing on my FC2 agenda:

Make the LOST island into a multiplayer map.

Teamwork Takedown

@Aethyr: Why did I press submit by accident. Anyway, secondly, the first aid system in MGS3 was annoying as hell, and it seems like it'll be the same here. Is there just going to be one button that's like "pull shrapnel out/inject self with antibiotic/put shoulder back in socket?" Woo, immersion.

Aethyr

Absolutly fantastic stuff, that animation is awesome, looks better than crysis and more fun too

excel_excel

First, I hope the vehicle sections are better than those in Crysis. The whole repairing things and weapon jams seem like they could get annoying, though.

Aethyr

This game can't come soon enough.

Halosucks3

It all sounds great on paper but it has always sucked when you get down to playing it. It just becomes freakin annoying.

Damage on vehicles and weapons is one thing but just arbitrary aging and breaking down is going to bug the crap out of me. Meh.

Spilt_Milk

This title is looking more and more like a purchase for me.

The list for Fall 08
FarCry 2
Fallout 3
Gears of War 2
Resistance 2
Little Big Planet
Dead Space

My walletttttttttttttttt!

DigitalHero

@Yuki: hey it worked
(not at all) in system shock two where the ships seemed to be infected with microscopic organisms that broke down weapons after about 10 shots... there was a patch that 'fixed'(removed) this... I also found the running management in Stalker realistic (well approaching it) but sort of unfun and annoying... it's tough to be realistic with damage in a game and not kill the fun or irritate the player. Players usually would rather just die and respawn fresh and kill that poor AI, who is just baffled and annoyed that every time he kills you time reverses, until eventually you do kill him (what a life that must be).
Dark Corners of the Earth tried to do a semi-realistic damage and healing mechanic, and it was ok some of the time.

Ehardergardens

Why is the video titled "bfheroes"?

JustinSaneV2

Game looks really great and will be GOTY, but this video is not new

DevoL

holy. shit. maybe it's the desert environment, but i'm suddenly very thirsty. may i have some more kool-aid please?

maver1ck

when they say freedom they mean it

Fauxe

Working in a Lethal Weapon reference? kudos to you sir.

(And that shit hurts!)

Eville1 says SKUse me a sec.

@paganski:

That would just suck. lol.
Id rather just set the vehicle on fire and hope the enemy is close enough to feel the explosion.

I can see it now... "Check engine light is on...see page 47...Oh no that page is missing"

Capp

The video focuses on realism and immersion, and for some reason their AK-47s have left-handed receivers... not exactly common.

drakfyre

I don't see the problem with weapons and vehicles degrading over time. If you're using your weapon a lot it means there are enemies, enemies that carry weapons. If you weapon is in bad shape, swap it out for a new one. It can't take more than a couple seconds and really it's no different than getting more ammo for your weapon anyway.

Vehicles breaking down could be annoying but I doubt it will happen too often. Either way, the game looks amazing so far, can't wait.

Hey_guy

you know, everybody talks about GoW2 and Resistance 2 as the main shooters, yet this game for me, seems better than both of the other games combined. GoW1 was cool in the cover aspect, but that's starting to become commonplace. Every game seems to have a cover mechanic. The rest of the gameplay in gears sucked. Horrible AI, trigger spawns, and an unnecessary reloading minigame.And Resistance 1 never did anything for me. You fight aliens. With guns. Far Cry 2 really is an open-world, probably the biggest and the most immersive one yet.The fire animations, healing yourself, the weapons, and the dynamic storyline is amazing. And the AI, both friendly and enemy is supposed to be awesome.

brainboy77

Man I can't wait to play this game. Hurry up and get here already.

I wonder how long a gun can last under normal usage before the system tells you its wearing down. if it is too short of time, it will be very, very annoying. If it is more realistic of time frame, it might be interesting. but i don't want to be in the middle of a big ass gun fight and have my main weapon break on me after 200 rounds are shot.

Vehicle wear and tear might be interesting as long as you aren't being chased by something that can't be outrun on foot.

All in all, I just want to play it. Now

Capp

If they're going to go so far as to include a paper map, shouldn't they also include a paper manual in glovebox of every vehicle? It doesn't get more immersive than having to page through a manual to troubleshoot engine problems while ducking enemy fire...

paganski

That reminds me of an April 1st article on some HL site, years ago. Basically it described Team Fortress 2 as the upcoming mega-realistic title where you have to clean your guns and get weapon jams on a regular basis. I (and most others) were just thinking "Wtf? That looks so annoying and boring!"

Well, we finally arrived exactly there.

Still, I always looked forward to a TRUE open-world game like this going all the way, and Far Cry 2 seems to be exactly that. They only thing that would hold me back from getting it, would be it not running on my 8800 GT. That would be a sad joke for PC hardware.

lumpi

Clint did a presentation about the game and the map editor at PAX, and the interesting thing is that more people were impressed by the revolutionary map editor for the game, than the game itself.

DigiMish

not enough immersion.

i want to physically eat food in this world- actually make the character choke down a bolus of grubs and tree bark and making each individual chomp.

does this man urinate and defecate in this world? i like the fact that each thing is individually animated (no teleporting)- but don't boast about immersion if you're just gonna put a bunch of obnoxious mini-games and challenges a requirement to get anything done. i know i'm gonna get sick of constantly throwing away perfectly good guns, having to ditch a vehicle after only driving around for like 10 minutes and popping my arm back into place over and over again...

i'm all for immersion if it means more functionality- but i see this as a series of predictable handicaps and annoyances that the developer is throwing at the gamer.

i mean the game still looks good, i just personally don't see a lot of point in this cheezy manner of "immersion".

laser beams

i had little to no interest in this game until i saw this, besides the song in the trailer shown at PAX, heh. i missed out on FC1 due to bad PC specs. now that my PC's all beefy and shit... hm.

geekgrrl

Good thing this is hitting consoles, because my PC would shit.

ShaggE

@laser beams: Yeah, little healing bits smacks of the infamous tampon minigame (later removed) from Army of Two. It immerses in the environment at very first, and then quickly becomes gimmicky.

unfathomablej

lol, the popping the arm thing was rubbish, and immersion? ah yes i forgot when i was walking an shooting for a while an my gun suddenly became rusty and exploded!!

mbeck

Yeah thats cool and all but I do agree the exploding guns is stupid.

They just should have made it like an un-recoverable jam so you have to ditch the weapon in search of a new one and not have it explode.

So far things were looking pretty good until the exploding weapon part.

That and good luck still having hands if the gun did explode.

Witzbold

Ugh, alright guys, here's the deal. I got to play this game at PAX, and it was an incredible disappointment. The "immersive" aspects of the game - digging out bullets, repairing cars, etc. - happen far too often and are much more of an annoyance than anything.

Collectathon - looks like there are diamonds hidden everywhere that you use to buy guns with, but we're talking 150+ of them throughout the world. Could be tied into the game nicely, could be tedious to go hunting for all of them.

AI - absolutely terrible. Yeah, there's the deception video out there where you shoot a patrol guard, his friend comes out to help, and you take both down, but normal, close-to-mid-range combat is terrible. Enemies just stand there for 20+ seconds no matter what. No dodging, no flanking, no ducking behind cover, none of that at all. Even with the lack of this dynamic AI, they still found themselves getting stuck on trees while initially running towards me. Hopefully this is a pre-release issue that gets a massive upgrade

Graphics - running on the 360, of course it won't match Crysis. Still looked pretty good for the system, though driving around displayed massive amounts of pop-up, level of detail scaling,and more. Looked about on par with Crysis set to Medium settings.

Which is interesting, because the guy there said that the 360/PS3 run Far Cry 2 at details similar to the PC version's High settings (though there's Very High, and "DX10 Ultra High" too). So I imagine many people will be saying how much more optimized Far Cry 2 is, even though Far Cry 2 on High looks about the same as Crysis does on medium. We shall see when the game comes out!

In the end - so much promise with Far Cry 2, hopefully they make some massive tweaks to these "immersion" features and AI. Because right now, the AI kills any immersion that was there to begin with.

dLMN8R

I like the idea behind healing yourself, unjamming weapons, and repairing vehicles a lot. It can go that extra mile to put my in my character's shoes. In practice however, it actually detracts from immersion when I find myself doing repetitive tasks frequently (like knocking my shoulder back into socket the exact same way 50 times throughout the game). I'm interested in seeing how they pull this off, and if it works well. I like how Bioshock handled healing: a heal button. Though it's not as "immersive" as a mini-game in which I try to pull a piece of shrapnel out of my right butt cheek, it is immersive in that it is quickly effective without removing me from the context of the game, and I am not running around collecting colored orbs or navigating to some contrived GUI to heal myself.

toadkick

@DigitalHero:
Your wallet?
my list:
fable 2
LBP
ps3 (yes, just for LBP).
then if i don't mind starving:
far cry 2
fallout 3

Ahmunnaeetchoo

things like jamming guns, critical injuries and repairing vehicles give me a raging virtual reality hard-on. fuck anybody who thinks that will be annoying; you're why modern shooters are simplistic hollywood point-and-click-fests.

notjasonlee

I wonder if this is approaching an "uncanny valley" with the immersion factor here. The more realistic this game seems, the less it seems.

Having a dislocated elbow, snapping it back into place in an instant in the middle of a battle, and then going on shooting like nothing happened is immersion breaking to me.

Yanking out a 2 inch circumference stick that got impaled into my thigh through my femoral artery and having a stream of blood spurting forth then running around like nothing happened is immersion breaking for me.

Pulling a huge piece of shrapnel out of my hand then going back and using that same hand to look at a map, with no sign of injury whatsoever is immersion breaking.

Having my car break down and then jumping out, pulling a ratchet out of my ass, and twisting some random nut and having that "fix" the car, is immersion breaking.

I'm not bashing them for trying, but it seems a little ridiculous to have a game mechanic that tries so hard to be immersive and realistic but with the same exact game mechanic, be so unrealistic.

Metal Gear Solid 3 had a system that was a lot more sensible. When you got an injury it actually effected you negatively and the only way fix it was to sit down and fix your wounds, one-by-one. Even then it could be a tedious and annoying gameplay mechanic that interrupted the flow of the game sometimes.

Lets just hope they don't overuse this fix/heal mechanic too much to the point that it becomes hindering to the gameplay.

TheZohar

Wait a second, handguns exploding in your hands after a few clips aint immersion gameplay, thats just stupid. However rest seems great, looking forward to get my hands on it.

valero

I am really looking forward to this game. They really seem to be putting a lot of effort into quality rather than simply catering to the screenshots. As long as the AI is halfway decent, I suspect they will have a winner.

Between this and Mirror's Edge, game developers seem to be trying to get the most out of first person perspectives. And that, I think, is awesome!

psychobaka

i don't care what the namby pamby casual players say.

I like degrading equipment and pulling shrapnel out of myself. To an extent, layering additional factors i have to deal with over the game makes the game much more interesting.

I have not seen the maximum extent yet.

Stalker, after modding the hell out of it.

Aside from the shooting and the missions i had to deal with

inventory
hunger
radiation
bleeding
weapon and armor degradation
random blowouts
artifact collecting
artifact transmutation
weapon ballistics
weapon customization
weight affecting my speed
factions
avoiding anomalies
avoiding not being stuck out in the middle of the night when it gets pitch black

and i loved it.
the point is i like games that really give me a lot to chew on, the more the better. If its not a multilayered challenge, its just not fun. I think farcry 2 will give me that multilayered approach.

Flyingdebris

This seems more gimmicky than immersive.

bighit006

Lolsgunsdontasplode aside, I can see how it would be needed as a gameplay element, to stop you from finding a good gun at the start of the game and using it forever - making guns a resource that can be 'used up'/degraded by use and time - gives a boost to the existing finding/purchasing new ones.
All the rest seems good enough, continuity of your viewpoint is important.
Besides I'm getting sick of magical health packs.

NotTheGuy

its not exploding after a few clips, its exploding after a few mags, get your terms right

at any rate its only gonna go kablooey if you've used the same gun without fixing it for a long long time. From experience with games that feature weapons degrading, its rare for that to ever come to pass as most people will fix up or replace their guns before that ever happens.

Flyingdebris

While a lot of things were appealing and realistic, the realism disappeared for a bit when they showed the vehicle repairing bit, lol.

zyph

Before watching this, I was still convinced FC2 was still just an average multi-plat FPS game. After watching it, I'm seriously considering buying it. this looks just amazing. He .. actually.. relocates his arm! and rips shrapnel out! Oh god... wow. Does anyone know if it will have real time damage? like, you can blow someones arm/head off? without the cheesy blood explosions of something like SOF2 (lol).

0rin

Hopefully the guns dont have the lifespan of system shock 2. garr

juliopalio

"The average service life of an AK-47 is 20 to 40 years" Quote for wikipedia.
Unless I pick up a lot of defective AKs this thing should never break.

DietMrPibb

@Flyingdebris: You do realize a "clip" and a "mag" are the same thing don't you -_-

3elevenX

This looks pretty great, actually!

thefais

Ok, this game, has just passed from "meh, its another generic FPS" to "WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!! MUST GET IT!!!!!!!" in 1.5 secs

Really, weapons exploding, jamming, degrading, like in real life, have to cure oneself, man, even realocate bones, gotta have balls to realocate yourself a bone

But then again, the car thing, that can be repaired in a few secs?? either thats pretty unrealistic or the man is the go of mecanichs!!!!!

I'm, gotta upgrad my PC ASAP!!!!!

KristenBal

@Halosucks3: Yes it does, and no, it can't.

sandal-hat17

@psychobaka: Too bad that the AI in fact sucks, based on every video out there, and playing it at PAX.

dLMN8R

Looks frickin' great!

jerimas

Weather system: check.

Weathering system: check.

Iron sights: check.

Weapon customization: check.

Flamethrower: check.

Automatic shotgun: waay check.

...ok, that hits all of my happy spots. I've preordered an orgasm for the same day that this game comes out.

Gunhaver

Please don't sacrifice fun gameplay for making problems seem realistic

Mearns

@tzaketh: Came here to say this.

Gouki4u

@Gunhaver: Fun gameplay: questionable

Intelligent AI: fails

Collectathons: check

Annoying "immersive" features that are anything but: check

dLMN8R

@Mearns: Please don't sacrifice fun gameplay for making the gameplay easier for Mearns

ruba-dub-dub

@TheZohar: having to pause the menu in MGS3 to take out shrapnel, burn leeches, patch up and eat snacks all the while showing Snake standing there like some mint condition action figure (and all this paused within a boss fight for minutes at a time mind you)...was immersion breaking to me.

at least this game is trying to throw everything you experience in without taking you out of the adventure. we aren't next gen just yet. :P

ruba-dub-dub

you know, when i first heard about a far cry sequel, i was skeptical especially since it wasn't crytek in charge. but crytek when and created crysis while ubisoft did an AMAZING job with Far Cry 2, which look ... even better than Crysis.

myslead

One of those games we'll have to really play it to see if the idea works out.
Can't really tell from the trailer only.

Though I think a yet better idea would be no weapons aging, but weapons damage.

While it would be interesting if the weapon started jamming because you just passed through some swamps or muddy river... it'd be kinda bad if the game keeps forcing you to switch weapons with time-based aging...

Then, out of nowhere, it just explodes on you.

Like you have 10 minutes max to use a sniping gun, or stuff like that. Not very nice...

But most of the things looks interesting. People developing games like this must always keep in mind that there's a limit to how real a game can get before it gets too annoying, too hard, or before it damages the gameplay.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@3elevenX:

A clip is a very different thing from a magazine.

A magazine is what you use in semiautomatic handguns and modern rifles. A clip is what was used in older firearms that had the magazines built in. A clip was essentially a sort of autoloader.

Here, I'll do the lazy thing and quote Wikipedia:

"A clip is a device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit, ready for insertion into the magazine of a repeating firearm. This speeds up the process of loading the firearm as several rounds can be loaded at once, rather than one round being loaded at a time."

tzaketh

This game looks mighty

I think what they are doing with immersion animations is pretty awesome. I like the idea of stuff breaking down and sometimes just not working properly, just like in life. These guys making this game look pro, I'm sure they understand that this sort of thing has to be done just the right amount and not too frequently. And no doubt that for every time your gun jams and this annoys you there will be an instance of a bad guy's gun jamming while you gun him down. Very satisfying :)

h-town

Screw immersion. What if the game is shit? I don't want to be immersed in shit.

Pablos102030

@myslead: Far Cry 2 looks better than Crysis? Maybe in your little dream world. After playing Far Cry 2 for myself on a 360, which the exhibitor told me is roughly "high" settings for the PC version, I internally scoffed at the idea.

dLMN8R

This seems like uncanny valley territory to me. This attempt at creating immersion seems so gimmicky that it has the opposite effect on me. It's easy to say that MGS3 had the same feature, but that was an entirely different experience and Snake was not my avatar.

Although they have some interesting twists to the FPS genre -- weather effects, engine fixing(?), self-healing, non-linear narrative, etc. -- I'm sooo skeptical that Far Cry 2 will deliver. I get Jurassic Park: Trespasser deja vu.

boopadoo

How dare they model the AK with the charging handle on the LEFT SIDE! Blasphemy! My immersion is already blown.

Horsefly

No no no no no! Don't make my weapon deteriorate. Don't make it break. That's not immersive, it actively BREAKS my interaction with the game.

I was really really looking forward to this title. But this is making me wonder.

.digiwalsh

@DietMrPibb: Average Service life with daily cleaning and care is 20 - 40 years. if you are using it in a humid/dirty/dusty atmosphere without caring for it it will die in days, same is true for all weapons. so long as the game has a system for cleaning and maintenance I'm sold.

knails

@tzaketh: I hear you there man.

@Horsefly: There are left side charging handles. But the part with the casings ejecting from the left side is a bit well wrong.

[www.theakforum.net]

Dont know why the guys kinda fubared that one even more so with how easy it would be to get ones hands on an AK just to look at proper.

And if all the AKs are modelled like that Im going to be very very sad.

Witzbold

Although I do approve of the FAL being in the game.

Witzbold

This game looks unbelievable.

get2sammyb

@Witzbold: err I mean Ive never seen left side ejection ports on an AK.

Witzbold

Alright, cool. But explain this. Why, when you use your monocular, does the scene outside the monocular also zoom-in? That kind of ruins that whole immersion there, doesn't it? Because now the monoc is just there obscuring my view rather than providing a magnification.

I understand the programming reason behind it, but if they're talking so much about immersion, you'd think they'd have handled that.

Either way, I'm still excited about this game.

stradric

lol @ an AK jamming because it got a little dirty.

Yeah-really realistic... :S

eponym

@eponym: Agreed, I've seen AK torture tests, this is nothing.

Eville1 says SKUse me a sec.

CoD4 showed us how successful a game with amazing graphics and great gameplay can be.

FC2 will show us how successful a game with amazing graphics can be.

Protip: think farcry(1) or crysis

phor11

Weapons don't age in mere minutes, do they?

LatinMessiah

@phor11: If Far Cry 2 sells well, the only thing that says is that Ubisoft has once again proven that their marketing machine is second to none. It's not like the original Far Cry on PC or Crysis haven't been successful - the former sold way above a million, and the latter nearly two million.

dLMN8R