Recently, I've played two of last years, fantastic, shooters. One first person, the other third person. Both of them push the genre far with their storytelling and are up there with titles from other genres, more associated with clever plots.
Let's take a look at both!
Released: 2012
At first glance, Spec Ops may seem like a typical third person military shooter, however, as you dig deeper into an abandoned Dubai, covered in a sandstorm, you slowly start realising something has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. This game tells a very dark story.
The Line is one of those few games that you actually benefit from reading the text on the back of it's cover. It draws you in and it sets itself apart form your initial expectations. The Spec Ops part, is a terrible title and it really is a game you need to dig an hour into before you understand it.
I don't really want go into the plot details, because doing so will comprise the twists within it. It may not be typical for a third person action shooter to have a deep story, but this game deviates from that norm. It has solid gameplay and balances perfectly between great cover shooting, flanking and slowly progressing forward in firefights. Some sequences are very action orientated, others are far more tactical. It blends nicely with the cutscenes and scenarios you witness while playing.
Spec Ops may at first have little grainy look to it, but the amount of variation and depiction of a city covered by sand is incredible. It contains it's playing field in a hidden city covered by a storm and gives you that, almost Bioshock-like, feeling of being completely cut off from the world above. There's a lot of variation in the level design and you constantly feel like it refreshes your experience by introducing new places, enemies and gameplay changes.
The game has a fairly steep learning curve and does suffer from a couple of choke points which I could imagine to be really hard on higher difficulty levels. I would have preferred more checkpoints and a few extra hours of gameplay. However, considering it's fairly short length, I recommend the game to be played consistently to help keep the story fresh in your head and to give you a more intense experience.
Spec Ops The Line makes you re-evaluate your morals in other military shooters and is one of the rare gems that makes you think more and more about it's story, even after you've completed it. I feel like going back to it's world and I remember some of the things I witnessed and it kind of scare me!
This is one of last years best games for me and it totally overwhelmed me, because I had no expectations and it's truly one of the very rare games that pulls out an emotional side of yourself while playing it. Those who give a miss and send it off as an ordinary military shooter, have missed out on an incredible experience.
Released: 2012
It often takes a third title to get a sequel back on track, after trying to top an original game with lots of praise with a second release. FarCry 2 had it's fair share of ideas and, in a way, was a fantastic game, but it also suffered bad design choices and annoying gameplay elements. FarCry 3 takes the best from both the original tropical shooter and the African continent survivor sequel. The result is magnificent.
Right from the beginning, FC3 draws your attention. It tells the story of a group of young friends on vacation on a Pacific island resort. They end up in the wrong place and get captured by local drug lords. The result is that you begin your adventure in a cage, being introduced to one of gaming's most insane villains yet, Vaas.
His character is well voiced, constantly giving me an unnerving feeling that he, at any time, will completely flip out and do something terrible. He never eases up on you either and really sends a chill down your spine. Escaping his prison at the beginning of the game never felt better.
From here, FarCry 3 slowly teaches you up to become a hunter and survivor. It holds your hand for longer than what FarCry 2 did and I think it helps. It may take away the open structure FarCry 2 tried to give, "there is a bad guy somewhere in the game, find him", but FC3 doesn't hide the fact that it will guide you on a main story, which you must follow to complete it.
You can very easily start exploring by yourself, something I warmly recommend, but be aware there are enemies and dangerous animals around! Skipping to explore the freedom, continuously going for story related missions, will make you spoil the true FarCry 3 experience. Luckily, the game forces you at many points to go off exploring the wilderness.
FC3 is so vast in it's size and will harshly test your gaming skills to simply survive. It's because of this it also becomes intriguing and tempting to explore on your own. You simply long to find out what's behind the next mountain top, across the water to an island or check out what a distant building holds within.
You begin your adventure with short range weapons, thus trying to hunt through the dense jungles with savage animals, is a harsh task. Giving the player that vital feeling of vulnerability. This feeling is key and learning to become a true hunter, not just become the hunted, is when the game makes you feel like you have truly mastered it. You'll learn when to engage enemies or animals from distance or when close combat is necessary. Using the environment to best suit your attack style: from a hill top with a sniper, or though dense foliage with a light machine gun at the hip.
After a while, you feel like you have been a jungle fighter all your life. Becomimg a pro at killing huge animals, like bears or tigers, or storming a pirate outpost. Either with guns blazing, or silently sniping them down. It's up to you and each gunfight, or hunt, feels distinctly different from the last as random encounters occur. Completely free from feeling scripted. This randomness truly sets FarCry 3 apart from the crowded shooter genre. Let me give an example:
It's so random, yet such a perfect example of how truly fun FarCry 3 is. I could tell a hundred, small stories like this and each one is unique and what happened to me, completely separated from the story mode.
I really like the levelling too. While the aiming and shooting may feel a little stiff and difficult to begin with. Unlocking better gun skills with experience points and buying more advanced weaponry, makes the gameplay feel like it's progressing with your skills.
There are some complaints though, especially regarding the animation. It lends some of the stiffness and roughness that FarCry 2 suffered from. It makes a jarring difference between the perfectly animated cutscenes and the game itself. The driving mechanics too, feel basic, but I guess they do their job.
FarCry 3 finally returns to it's tropical roots, with lush vegetation, sun drenched beaches and azure blue water. The combination of powerful cutscenes, colourful characters and varied story missions, with tons of side missions to boot and the exploring, survival hunting and taking over territories, build this huge package of pure entertainment.
Let's take a look at both!
Review
Played on: Xbox 360Released: 2012
At first glance, Spec Ops may seem like a typical third person military shooter, however, as you dig deeper into an abandoned Dubai, covered in a sandstorm, you slowly start realising something has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. This game tells a very dark story.
The Line is one of those few games that you actually benefit from reading the text on the back of it's cover. It draws you in and it sets itself apart form your initial expectations. The Spec Ops part, is a terrible title and it really is a game you need to dig an hour into before you understand it.
I don't really want go into the plot details, because doing so will comprise the twists within it. It may not be typical for a third person action shooter to have a deep story, but this game deviates from that norm. It has solid gameplay and balances perfectly between great cover shooting, flanking and slowly progressing forward in firefights. Some sequences are very action orientated, others are far more tactical. It blends nicely with the cutscenes and scenarios you witness while playing.
Spec Ops may at first have little grainy look to it, but the amount of variation and depiction of a city covered by sand is incredible. It contains it's playing field in a hidden city covered by a storm and gives you that, almost Bioshock-like, feeling of being completely cut off from the world above. There's a lot of variation in the level design and you constantly feel like it refreshes your experience by introducing new places, enemies and gameplay changes.
The game has a fairly steep learning curve and does suffer from a couple of choke points which I could imagine to be really hard on higher difficulty levels. I would have preferred more checkpoints and a few extra hours of gameplay. However, considering it's fairly short length, I recommend the game to be played consistently to help keep the story fresh in your head and to give you a more intense experience.
Spec Ops The Line makes you re-evaluate your morals in other military shooters and is one of the rare gems that makes you think more and more about it's story, even after you've completed it. I feel like going back to it's world and I remember some of the things I witnessed and it kind of scare me!
This is one of last years best games for me and it totally overwhelmed me, because I had no expectations and it's truly one of the very rare games that pulls out an emotional side of yourself while playing it. Those who give a miss and send it off as an ordinary military shooter, have missed out on an incredible experience.
Review
Played on: Xbox 360Released: 2012
It often takes a third title to get a sequel back on track, after trying to top an original game with lots of praise with a second release. FarCry 2 had it's fair share of ideas and, in a way, was a fantastic game, but it also suffered bad design choices and annoying gameplay elements. FarCry 3 takes the best from both the original tropical shooter and the African continent survivor sequel. The result is magnificent.
Right from the beginning, FC3 draws your attention. It tells the story of a group of young friends on vacation on a Pacific island resort. They end up in the wrong place and get captured by local drug lords. The result is that you begin your adventure in a cage, being introduced to one of gaming's most insane villains yet, Vaas.
His character is well voiced, constantly giving me an unnerving feeling that he, at any time, will completely flip out and do something terrible. He never eases up on you either and really sends a chill down your spine. Escaping his prison at the beginning of the game never felt better.
You can very easily start exploring by yourself, something I warmly recommend, but be aware there are enemies and dangerous animals around! Skipping to explore the freedom, continuously going for story related missions, will make you spoil the true FarCry 3 experience. Luckily, the game forces you at many points to go off exploring the wilderness.
FC3 is so vast in it's size and will harshly test your gaming skills to simply survive. It's because of this it also becomes intriguing and tempting to explore on your own. You simply long to find out what's behind the next mountain top, across the water to an island or check out what a distant building holds within.
You begin your adventure with short range weapons, thus trying to hunt through the dense jungles with savage animals, is a harsh task. Giving the player that vital feeling of vulnerability. This feeling is key and learning to become a true hunter, not just become the hunted, is when the game makes you feel like you have truly mastered it. You'll learn when to engage enemies or animals from distance or when close combat is necessary. Using the environment to best suit your attack style: from a hill top with a sniper, or though dense foliage with a light machine gun at the hip.
After a while, you feel like you have been a jungle fighter all your life. Becomimg a pro at killing huge animals, like bears or tigers, or storming a pirate outpost. Either with guns blazing, or silently sniping them down. It's up to you and each gunfight, or hunt, feels distinctly different from the last as random encounters occur. Completely free from feeling scripted. This randomness truly sets FarCry 3 apart from the crowded shooter genre. Let me give an example:
I was on a mountain road, when I caught sight of a wolf. Naively, I thought I'd kill it easily with my AK47. After missing the wolf with a few rounds, a whole pack of them turned on me and nearby pirates heard the shooting. With fierce barking and the sound of jeeps roaring up the hill behind me, I ran back to my car. Hit the gas and drove over two pirates on the way down the hill.
All this confusion and gunfire from the pirates makes me miss a turn. I drive off a cliff and hit a tree further down. Destroying my car, blurring my vision and blood splattered everywhere, with most of my health gone. Suddenly, the car catches fire, including me. I get out, put out the flames on my body, but then I realise the tree and the surrounding grass and trees are on fire. I run like a mad man down over a beach and into the water for protection.
It's so random, yet such a perfect example of how truly fun FarCry 3 is. I could tell a hundred, small stories like this and each one is unique and what happened to me, completely separated from the story mode.
I really like the levelling too. While the aiming and shooting may feel a little stiff and difficult to begin with. Unlocking better gun skills with experience points and buying more advanced weaponry, makes the gameplay feel like it's progressing with your skills.
There are some complaints though, especially regarding the animation. It lends some of the stiffness and roughness that FarCry 2 suffered from. It makes a jarring difference between the perfectly animated cutscenes and the game itself. The driving mechanics too, feel basic, but I guess they do their job.
FarCry 3 finally returns to it's tropical roots, with lush vegetation, sun drenched beaches and azure blue water. The combination of powerful cutscenes, colourful characters and varied story missions, with tons of side missions to boot and the exploring, survival hunting and taking over territories, build this huge package of pure entertainment.
It simply ends up being this years best release. What a game!
