Far Cry 3 dev admits emphasis on narrative is a risk

By: Musa Afridi

  |   October 8th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Ubisoft Montreal’s Dan Hay, the producer of Far Cry 3 is not hiding the fact that the change in direction has put extra pressure on the studio, but believes that they can deliver.

Far Cry 3 literally blew audiences away with both its reveal trailer last year at E3 and also at the same event this year when the gameplay, coop mode and a number of insane features were shown off.

Gamers should get used to the word insane or insanity as the entire concept of Far Cry 3’s narrative is based around that with players being forced to make some rather bizarre choices in the game. This is a major pull-away from previous instalments in the series, which saw more emphasis on exploration than the core narrative of the game.

This is something that the game’s producer, Dan Hay, believes will put pressure on the studio to deliver. He said, “There’s no question that people see Far Cry 3′s narrative plans as a departure from the series. Does that add pressure on us? Sure.”

However, he believes that the game needed some direction this time around and they wanted to add a strong narrative that would further immerse players in the world and make the island, where the game is set, come to life.

He continued, “But our overarching goal incorporates more than the narrative. We want to entice as many people into this game, either through gameplay or narrative.”

Hay elaborated a bit and assured fans not interested in the story that the old-school Far Cry experience was not going anywhere either. He said, “If people want to come in and use the island as a toy, then we have to do that for them. If people want to immerse themselves in a story, we have to do that too.” Before concluding, “It’s a very delicate balance, but I feel we’ve achieved it.”

That will be for fans and gamers to decide but from everything we’ve seen so far, the storyline does not make any sense, which is a good thing seeing how its totally insane and should keep fans intrigued, as should be the case with storylines.

However, the ambition of the game is frightening as it aims to reinvent a series that has a settled fan base and it could lose them at the cost of gaining new players or on the other hand, things could work out and Far Cry 3 could bring the series into the mainstream and could even bring it on the same pedigree as the Assassin’s Creed series.

Only time will tell but what about the readers; are you excited about Far Cry 3 or is it a title you will be passing up? Let us know in the comments section below.