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Far Cry 2 single player could last 25 hours! No 50! ... No 100!
Players looking forward to shooting their way through Far Cry 2's 50-square kilometers of African wilderness best set aside the better part of a few weeks (at least!) to do so. Varying reports suggest it could take as long as 100 hours (for compass-be-damned wanderers, no doubt) to complete the game's single player campaign alone.Ubisoft Montreal creative workhorse Clint Hocking offered us an apparently inadequate estimate when he guessed that the campaign could be completed in as little as 25 hours, before adding that to see it all "you're looking at a 100-hour play experience." And, speaking to CVG, producer Louis-Pierre Pharand landed his estimate somewhere in the middle, suggesting 50 hours of play time to completion. Regardless of the varying possibilities, it's reasonable to expect that the shooter's single player experience will be long, evidence that not all devs are drinking from the same fountain as Phil Harrison.%Gallery-6687%
Far Cry 2 intro trailer mixes gameplay with developer commentary
Ubisoft recently released an introductory video for Far Cry 2, its upcoming human-hunt across the African plains. The trailer mixes clips of Ubi Montreal developers talking and actual gameplay footage. Although we got some footage showing off the game's engine earlier this year, we really haven't seen gameplay footage since Leipzig.The developer clips in this trailer are actually quite entertaining, with Far Cry 2's art director, Alex Amancio, explaining how the team almost got eaten by lions while camping in Africa (silly Quebecers, should have hired someone with lion-mastering experience). Far Cry 2 is expected later this year and will allegedly be the same game on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.%Gallery-6687%
Far Cry 2 is an impressively nice fit for PS3
Many game developers have found the PS3 hardware difficult to work with ... intimidating even. Ubisoft Montreal, developer of Far Cry 2, was no exception and had some worries about developing for the PS3 in the past; however, those uncertain feelings have apparently been dispelled, according to a recent interview with tech director Dominic Guay. Guay had a lot of positive things to say, calling the raw processing power of the PS3 'impressive' and the hardware architecture a 'nice fit' for their technical designs. He appraises Blu-ray and the PS3's hard drive saying they're ideal for Far Cry 2's continuously streaming open world. The only downside is that the PS3 can't compare to some higher end PC resolutions due to memory size differences, but "it's not a big deal" says Guay. With the PS3 out for more than a year now, and developer kits out way longer than that, developers have had a lot of time getting to know the hardware they'll be developing for in the next few years. If this is a sign for anything, it must mean that we'll be hearing more and more positive comments like Dominic Guay's in the near future.
13 minutes of FarCry 2 footage
Taken at the Leipzig Games Convention, this 13-minute video gives a good taste of what FarCry 2 will have to offer. If you don't know yet, FarCry 2 takes place on the African savannah in a giant sandbox environment. Obviously, Ubisoft's Montreal Studio (Crytek is off doing Crysis) don't consider the now-classic Survivor: Africa issue a problem. When the television show Survivor went to Africa something got lost (like beautiful blue water and lush green vegetation) and they never went back to anything similar. FarCry 2 continues the gaming trend of a more brown environmental color palette. It'll be interesting to see how fans react to the new environment.And before the calls of racism start over a white man going on a shooting rampage in Africa, the people you are shooting appear to be white. At least we think they are, way too much movement in the video to be sure, but a lot of the still images in the gallery below show white people. Although that opens up a whole other set of issues.The game does look beautiful and is still in a pre-Alpha build. The title is expected next spring on PC. With any luck we'll get some console release projections in the near future. There is also a special introduction announcement for the FarCry 2 footage after the break.%Gallery-6687%
Joystiq interviews FarCry 2's Clint Hocking
Ubisoft's Clint Hocking made a special trip to PAX this year to show off his latest project: FarCry 2. But this isn't your run-of-the-mill FPS sequel, as our liveblog of the demo details, but an ambitious open-world shooter set in the exotic locale of the African Savannah. We were lucky to grab a couple minutes of Clint's time following the demo for an interview where we asked about the FarCry brand, the possibility of console ports, and how long they think this open-ended game will take to finish. Why use the FarCry brand to make this game? Well, I think that's kind of a business question for Ubisoft but my answer to that is, Ubisoft started with FarCry, published it and obviously started making the console games. The same time they were doing that – keep in mind I started conception before FarCry Instincts even shipped. They were in production when I started conception. And Ubisoft knew at that time that they wanted a top tier PC sequel. At the same time they knew about FarCry; at that time Boiling Point was announced; we didn't know about Just Cause; they knew they were going to make at least two sequels on the console; LOST was on TV. Literally they said, "We're worried that we're going to dry up this brand."%Gallery-6687%
PAX 07: The Far Cry 2 public demo
They inform us that there will be no visual or audio recording during the FarCry 2 demo. Developer Clint Hocking is on the stage, having flown to Seattle from Leipzig for this one, single demo. They've reserved the first two rows for press, eager to ensure their forfeiture of sleep doesn't go unrewarded. The screen is showing a Windows desktop with a big, shiny FarCry 2 logo. Carolyn Carnes opens up, reminding us there is no recording equipment (OR ELSE!), asking us to turn our cellphones off, reminding us this is a pre-alpha (read: if something goes wrong, it's early!) and of course, they won't be able to answer everything during the Q&A session. They gave a limited demonstration of the game at Leipzig, but this will be the definitive unveiling of the game. She intros Clint, notes he was the lead developer of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (someone yells out, "Oh yeahhhh!") and creative director of the FarCry 2 project. He's been on the project for over 2 years now, starting with a small team of eight guys working to determine how to make a sequel worthy of the original. They went into production three months ago and "aren't even alpha." They're targeting first quarter 2008. The demo, due to a technological circumstance, will be run in an unfortunately low 800x600 whereas the game has been running for them at 1600x1050, 30fps. The good news: the frame rate should be great.
Ubisoft announces Far Cry 2
Ubisoft has officially announced a sequel to 2004's tropical and somewhat topical first-person shooter, Far Cry. Praised for its luscious visuals, large environments and merciless pig slaughter, the PC game eventually made its way to consoles in confusingly titled spin-offs such as Far Cry Instincts Predator and Far Cry Instincts Evolution. We think there may be some colons in there too.Simply entitled Far Cry 2, the new addition to the franchise is being developed for PC by Ubisoft's Montreal studio (original developer Crytek is currently pouring tears into Crysis) and is scheduled for a Spring 2008 release on PC. Aside from the above logo, apparently dragged behind Ubisoft's car before it was uploaded, no further images relating to the sequel have surfaced. Expect loads of jungles, obnoxious henchman and distant weeping.
Ubisoft "accidentally" leaks tons of assets
Over two gigs worth of screenshots, videos, and concept art was apparently accidentally posted by Ubisoft on their public ftp server. Whoops. While some of these games have already been announced, some haven't, although there aren't any real surprises here: Assassins Creed, Farcry 2, Farcry PSP, Farcry Wii, Lost, Naruto, Open Season, Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Rocky PSP, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Splinter Cell Conviction, Surf's Up, Star Wars PSP, Shaun White, TMNT, and TMNT GBA. Ubisoft isn't too pleased about the leak either, stating,"The publication of this type of information can only be harmful to the game development process and we will take all steps necessary to prevent this from happening in the future."While we can understand why Ubisoft wouldn't want employees or summer interns posting confidential information on the internet, how does it harm the game development process? We can understand if the raw code for Splinter Cell: Conviction got out, or if a disgruntled programmer posted a disk image of Far Cry 2, but screenshots and videos? And while TGS is unfolding? Color us suspicious.
