E3 2012 was criticised by many for being bland, overhyped and predictable. None of these adjectives describe Rezzed, a PC and Indie games show set up by Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. This year our very own Jordan Harling attended. Here are some of his highlights.
Beginning a demo with a cut-scene of a half naked woman is a risky manoeuvre. It can put people off the game instantly, making people think that it is shallow, attention seeking and even misogynistic. Yet this is how the demo to Far Cry 3 opened, a game which could possibly be the most intelligent and abstract FPSs of the past few years.
The demo was available to play at Rezzed where I got a hands-on preview. The first thing that was noticeable was how beautiful the game looked running on a high-end PC. After the opening cut-scene the demo started out in a thicket of jungle, every leaf on every tree stunningly rendered. A path led to a cliff overlooking the island and the pristine blue sea that surrounded it, showing off the game’s impressive draw distance. On a dock on the island a man was casually tipping corpses into the sea.
After a dive into the lagoon and a brief swim the game really began. The jungle’s thick foliage and the default weapon, the bow and arrow, made stealth the most obvious tactic. Picking off enemies with the bow gave a satisfying sense of power. The tension of being seen while drawing back the string countered by the elation of an enemy dropping to the ground, bolt protruding from his body.
This feeling was somewhat lessened though by the relatively quick drawback speed of the bow and its one hit kill effectiveness, regardless of where you shoot an enemy. However, it’s possible that both these issues were due to the difficulty settings of the demo.
I oft find myself decrying the use of announcements of announcements, and teaser trailers for game reveals. They seem so pointless…but then there is this Far Cry 3 trailer designed to build the anticipation for the Ubisoft press conference at E3, a trailer which in itself is brilliant and underlines why I think the game is going to be an all out smash. We are told we will ‘Experience the new reveal’ at E3 next week, I hope it matches the madness on offer in this tease.
If I might say so myself, Far Cry 3 is looking quite splendid, and this brand new trailer only goes to show off what is going to be a personal must buy title when it is released this September. This new trailer shows the arrival of leading man Jason Brody to the tropical island that is the setting for the game and his initial interactions with the key antagonist, Vaas. Are you a Far Cry lover or hater?
Far Cry 3 received a bloody good showing at E3, while it failed to match Battlefield 3 in my eyes, it received a very strong showing. Ubisoft obviously wanted to show off more and in the trailer below, you can see their alternative take on the original E3 showing.