Sorry to rain on the parade so early, but...

[fragger]

There is a bit of a major downside emerging unfortunately - for me anyway. I'm finding that the main story missions are way too linear and scripted for my liking, without the scope for experimentation that made FC2 such a stand-out. Especially once you start doing a sequence of missions for this Aussie lowlife named Buck. Most of those are of the only-one-way-through, race-against time, jump-across-the-crumbling-ledges variety which I don't like at all and are very reminiscent of Modern Warfare missions, i.e. go to point A and do this then go to point B and do that, then get the hell out before the time runs out or the roof falls in. And some of them smack of Tomb Raider but without the fun puzzle elements. I'm finding that this is greatly detracting not only from my enjoyment of the game but from any potential replay value - I'm just not going to be terribly inclined to go through it all more than a couple of times, especially with a checkpoint system in place.

I can see myself firing up the game after the first or second thru (if there is a second thru) solely to explore, hunt, find all the hidden stuff, liberate outposts and generally just go around causing mayhem. I think some of the main missions actually suck, especially the race-against-time ones which I hate and of which there are far too many IMHO.

Don't get me wrong - I'm still having a ball with it, and apart from the preceding grumble I think it's a fantastic game. There is plenty to keep me occupied for some time as it's a truly gigantic playing area and there's lots to find and do apart from the main missions, but sad to say I can't see it having anything like the years-long appeal that FC2 had for me. In fact I might even go back to the earlier title after a while.

[Art Blade]

I see what you mean, fragger, and in a way can relate to it. Maybe it's the way I'm playing it which has made a difference:

Play a few missions until able to free roam, then explore as much as possible with the goal to upgrade whatever is available. Then continue the main story to unlock more of the skill tree and then do as before: Explore, upgrade, cause mayhem, do side missions and challenges until the parts of the skill tree which has been available so far is maxed out. Then do the main mission some more.. rinse and repeat. Like that, I'm in the same playthrough for more than 70 hours already and only a small potion of it was the actual story. The terrain is, like you say, enormous and man, no way I could remember a single road  It looks as if it was going to take years to know one's way around the island. I've only now unlocked the last outpost and radio tower in the part of the map which is accessible, now I'm back to the main mission with the goal to unlock more of the island. Like that.. I hardly notice the linearity at all  ;)

[PZ]

I so agree with Art - I'm playing exactly the same way.  In the main story line I am still at the point where I am to speak with the crazy Doc, but am doing towers and side missions which allow me to gain skill points as well as reveal map elements and make weapons available for free.  I'm planning to open a couple more towers and then crafting larger rucksacks and other items to allow me more ammo, etc.  I've also enjoyed some of the race elements that are unlocked when you activate a tower.  For example, climb into a dune buggy and race through check points until you deliver the cargo within a certain amount of time.  Granted, I usually detest these race challenges, but so far these are not beyond my capability to do them.

I think that a balance between advancing on the main story line and doing side activities is the key to success.

I just got the M700 for free, and an now planning to equip it with silencer and high powered scope  >:D

[JRD]

I'm also playing like you guys: advance a couple main mission and then do towers and outposts to liberate areas and craft larger rucksacks and ammo pouches.

That's basically what I like in a game: the freedom NOT to do main missions if I don't feel like oing so.  :-X

In a certain way, those main missions depart from the good old FC2 but since there is so much to do elsewhere in the world I don't really mind having the main mission a bit linear. Even FC2 gets to a point where you are pretty much on a linear path with little to do (if at all) in the world.

I like the balance of checkpoints so far. Being able to save anytime when not on a mission is great because I can manage my progress very well and also having the check points during missions add a bit more challenge to the game. On several ocasions I found myself saving the game after each kill in FC2 so it wasn't really challenging... well, that at least what I think so far!  ::)

[durian]

I think you guys misunderstood fragger's point. He hates the fact that the story missions are completely linear unlike FC2's. I understand his frustration too well since I've just completed these missions myself. I dislike these kinds of missions: race against time, protect a character, on-rail shooting sequenses, ect. I've felt a bit disappointed since I expected all of the missions in this game are open ended like FC2 but I think the lienarity of the story missions is not a deal breaker for me. But not all of the story mission are linear, e.g. the Medusa's Call mission, we can play stealthily, go in all guns blazing or sniping using the silenced M700 or the bow.

[fragger]

 :) Thanks durian, you got in just before I did and what you said was exactly what I was getting at :) And yes, not all the main missions are like I described, it's just that there are a few too many of them for my gaming tastes.

I'm playing the same way everyone else is, I'm up to getting the final skins for pouches and and am over halfway through the skill tree. Admittedly I've only done less than half the tower missions, but it's not like all I'm doing is main missions. Even sat in on a game of poker last night, that was fun :-X It's just that some of the main missions are a tad repetitive, well the "Buck" ones are anyway, and a good dollop of the others can be time-critical in places, such as trying to swim your way out of a sinking ship before you drown and things like that.

As I said, I'm enjoying the game immensely and I don't actually want to go to w@&k and tear myself away from it today. I even briefly toyed with the idea of calling in sick :-() I'm just not crazy about the main missions and I can't see myself still playing this title in two or three years time like I did with FC2. Just sayin' :-D

[PZ]

Well, it does seem like the game is leaning more toward the AC series as far as game play.  Yes, the main missions are rather linear in which you only have the option of how to approach them.  However, for me the roaming throughout the island is my favorite thing - free an outpost or two, hunt a few animals, activate towers, and such.  All in all, I have to say that I am likely to give up FC2 in favor of this game because I see elements of AC2 and JC2, both of which I really enjoy.

[durian]

I'd thought I'd abandon FC2 for good once FC3 comes out but now I'm thinking about going back to it sometime later after playing through FC3 a few times. FC3 is not superior to FC2 in every aspect as I'd hoped. It's better FC2 in many aspects but worse than FC2 in some. Both are great in their own right.

[JRD]

I see your point, fragger.  :-X

I only played the main missions up the the "Medusa Call" and it is a pretty open mission to me. I approached by sea, using a jet ski and di it stealthy but also noticed several other ways of doing it coming from different areas!

So, to my experience so far, the main missions are quite good! As you all know, they used a different formula instead of the good old steal/kill/blow up and there are no buddy/subvert missions and apparently the story doesn't branch but what they came up with is pretty good too!.

Sure thing, I'm yet to plunge into the storyline a bit more and I may change my mind if those are too scripted but I'm still very mtivated  to move on!  :-X

[durian]

It's a shame Ubi ditched the buddy system and ability to subvert missions in FC2.

[Jim di Griz]

It's a relief that you aren't doing solely the main missions fragger as there were people who had done that and so 'finished' the game three days after getting it.

It only arrived yesterday for me and I was dog-tired after w@&k so haven't done more than the intro and 'learning the jungle' mission, so I can't comment on anything much just yet. I was moving around very slowly though, being scared of running into the mobs of wild beasties everyone has been talking about  ;)

It's all good though, I have three days off and tomorrow I'll start to delve in earnest  :-X I will say I'm not a fan of timed mission either...

[PZ]

... I was moving around very slowly though, being scared of running into the mobs of wild beasties everyone has been talking about  ;)

They can be quite thrilling at times.  I was just working an outpost and a bear was in the way of my intended path - had to adjust and nearly lost my life on this one.  The outpost was on the shore and there were two sirens instead of just one, so when I disabled the single, the other was there to call for reinforcements, which arrived by Rhib - behind my back of course.  :-()

[Art Blade]

That shouldn't have happened, PZ. One manually disabled alarm (switch it off, not shoot it) will disable the entire alarm. My guess is that they already had called in the reinforcements or that you didn't switch it off (in time).

@ Durian: after the last mission, can we play in free roam style on or does the game end completely?

[PZ]

Strange; I used a silent M700 and saw the door of the alarm flip open, and it was my first shot so they could not have sounded the alarm.  ????

[durian]

@ Durian: after the last mission, can we play in free roam style on or does the game end completely?

I'm still very far from finish the game (haven't got halfway) but I've just asked the same question in another forum and they said yes, we can free roam after beating the game. We can take out the outposts (that we didn't do) as well as collect all the stuffs in both North and South islands. This is a geat news. Apparently Ubi listened to complaints of FC2 fans  :-X :)

[PZ]

Is it necessary to complete a certain set of missions to unlock the next map like in FC2?

[JRD]

Is it necessary to complete a certain set of missions to unlock the next map like in FC2?

Wow... there is a next map?!?!  ???

[durian]

Is it necessary to complete a certain set of missions to unlock the next map like in FC2?

Yes.  Like FC2, after a major event happens, you'll end up in the South map

[DKM2]

I'm still in the learning curve and it's a bit bigger then FC2.
I did get to the doctor, and complete his task.
Getting there was more than half the battle though, if the developers wanted to make me feel like a mouse in a world of foxes, they succeeded.
I won't spoil it, but next time, I might try the doctor mission in reverse.
If it can't be done that way, fragger would be dead right.

Anyways, on PC, I've had 3 crashes, even after the patches and upgrading video drivers.
An hour, two, last one was three, and there was absolutely nothing going on I was just moving about in peace. *sigh*

[PZ]

I'd not done the Doc mission, but was merrily activating towers and clearing outposts so I had handy fast travel points.  I'd done all of them in the northeast, and was heading southwest in a Rhib when I experienced the same thing as in FC2 when you try to go south and the map has not opened yet.  The only difference is that I can see the main icons on the map, but cannot get to them.

This is almost exactly like what we experience in the Assassin's Creed series.  In AC you desynchronize when you go into an area that is unlocked, and in FC3 you simply pass out and wake up on the proper side of the map.

[fragger]

@DKM2, I too have had a couple of hangs, but one of those was when I was playing while connected to UPlay and my net connection went tits up as it does on occasion, freezing the game in the process. It has done it once again since when I wasn't connected though and I had to resort to Task Manager to get out.

It's not without its glitches too. I had to meet up with Buck after completing his next-to-last mission, and when I found him he was hanging motionless in the air and I couldn't interact with him at all. I had to go away and come back to free him up.

Geez, I don't want to sound like I'm bashing the game, anything but - all things considered I'm loving it :-X If all the main missions were as open-ended as FC2's this would be my totally ideal drop-dead dream game. The terrain is fantastic, and so far not one invisible wall encountered. Of course there are steep cliff-type slopes that can't be gotten up, but it's sometimes surprising where you can get. And as for exploration, you could possibly spend a great many months or even years at it and still find places and things you haven't seen before. The map is not only huge in two dimensions, it goes up a long way too. There's a mission where you go to visit a hottie named Citri (I think she's actually Vaas' sister) who lives in a temple, and nearby there is a radio tower. After disabling that I kept heading north for miles and miles along a ridge top that got higher and higher and had hang gliders all over the place until I was an awfully long way up and I could look out over a sprawling extant of map. From up there I was able to hang glide all the way across to another tower, flying for well over a minute. Awesome :-X

Great news about the post-story free-roam, nice one Ubi 8)

[Art Blade]

Thanks for the info, durian :) Man, I was really worried about a game that locks all doors up after the last mission. Phew  :-X

Strange; I used a silent M700 and saw the door of the alarm flip open, and it was my first shot so they could not have sounded the alarm.  ????

Flip open? By your shot with that sniper? Just in case: SWITCH off the alarm, not SHOOT it off  ^-^ Shooting a box only disables that single one while all the others are still accessible and they will make proper use of those  :-()

[fragger]

Oh man, I so want to love this game. I did love this game initially and I would love this game to pieces if it wasn't for the crummy story missions that manage to get both sillier, duller and more restrictive as they progress - they really are starting to bore me stiff and annoy the dickens out of me in turns. I've done all the towers in the north, unlocked all the skills I can, upgraded all the pouches and liberated all the outposts, so now I'm into the southern map and I'm up to this mission where I finally go to kick Vaas' backside. This was preceded by a long, repetitive and rather ridiculous boss fight (yes, a boss fight, of the hideous gigantic monster variety, like something out of a Duke Nukem or Tomb Raider game. Sigh...) Knowing you guys for three and a half years and knowing the way you all felt about the down-to-earth realism of FC2, I think I can safely say that you aren't going to be very rapt about some of the outlandish story missions further on. Be prepared for some really out-there s#!t, which even then might not have been so bad if it wasn't combined with severely walled-in, no-deviations corridor play that will unfold pretty much exactly the same way every time you go through. About the only scope for experimentation will be in what loadouts and skill combos you go in with.

I really don't think I'll be doing a full second playthrough, not of the story missions, not for a while anyway. I really don't like them at all and it's stuff that's been done to absolute death in a zillion other shooters. The secondary missions and other activities are great fun, and that's all I'll be doing in future. I'm kind of looking forward to getting the damned story out of the way so I can keep the game as a free-roam activity to dip into from time to time and have a shoot and an explore.

Such a shame.

If only, if only they had stuck with the no-nonsense grittiness of FC2, stayed away from the corridor approach and not gone in for all the trippy craziness. I won't give anything more away, but you'll see what I mean when you get there...

[Art Blade]

Heh.. even though I didn't know that, I already had a feeling that I'd only finish the main story once just to unlock the world for free-roaming and keep enjoying the stuff that will remain in there such as mini games (poker) and the unpredictable whoa-moments (what the flipping heck just attacked me?!)  :) Agree, what you experienced will be a reason not to play through many times..  :( In fact, even in FC2 I only forced myself to play through various times to see what it would be like to play with a different avatar and to try a few different approaches regarding some story missions. I've never liked to do the final stage in the heart of the jungle once I'd been through that for the first time. I kept using various savegames to get to play anything but the last bit of the story.

[PZ]

That's really a shame to hear, especially the part about the boss mission.  I dislike those almost as much as the chase sequences.

There was a mission where you need to do a timed sequence through a burning building that reminded me of Just Cause 2 - not terribly annoying, but at the same time, was very linear considering the open world nature of the game.

I just finished the Medusa mission a short while ago, which I really liked because you need to go in via stealth.  My last mission is the one where you torch the drug fields which I also really liked.  Shooting barrels, and using the flamethrower on fields and foe alike was great.  The pirates really burn nicely.  The part where you need to get to the fishing village was also great; I used the M700 silent sniper with high powered optics to pick off all the bad guys.

I was so hoping that the rest of the main story missions were like these.