Whether making your own map, or playing through someone else's, in Far Cry Arcade you never
quite know what you're going to get next.
The problem is that you could stumble across a hidden gem of a level, but you'll probably
have to bump into a few steaming piles of s*** before getting to them.
By having a majority of the maps built by players from scratch, using an in depth level
maker- really lets your creativity stand out.
With tonnes of assets from a range of Ubisoft games, plus the option to not only create
a map, but rules, weapon load outs, gameplay modifiers, spawn points- basically everything
you need to create your perfect playground.
So is the arcade mode a worthy edition to the main game?
Or should Far Cry just give up, and scrap its multiplayer altogether?
Here's my thoughts on Far Cry Arcade.
#1. Solo and Co-op
The missions designed to be played either
by yourself or with a friend, are like little bite sized challenges, combining the great
gameplay of a Far Cry game, with action and stealth, and then throwing it into a brand
new scenario.
So it might be a new setting, like a post apocalypse.
Or a sci-fi setting, with the gravity turned right down.
A tropical desert island outpost, like Far Cry 3.
A prison break, where you've got to... also kill this guy.
Or even a challenge to kill all the enemies within a set time limit.
By having different rules, different A.I., different preset load outs, there's potentially
endless possibilities of things to see and do.
Fans of other series have even created their own versions of their favourite games, within
the Far Cry universe... such as an excellent Zombie Nuke Town from Call Of Duty.
Plus, my personal favourite, a recreation of the Baker household from Resident Evil
7.
Sure you can't go inside the building it yet, but the fact that little details like the
swing in the right place, shows you that can make a pretty good reconstruction, if you're
willing to put in the time and effort.
However, these are just the positive examples.
I've also played through my fair share of pain in the ass maps too, like this one, which
is too dark to see anything.
A lot of the maps with the mission objective 'assault' can end up being incredibly annoying.
On these maps you have to kill all the enemy, which is fair enough.
But when the maps are huge and you've only got a couple of bad guys left to take out,
it can end up being a lot of time just running around trying to find them.
Or even worse, having to wait for them to come to you.
All this opportunity to create your own levels, also leaves the door wide open for there to
be a lot of glitches.
Even maps created by Ubisoft themselves have a few problems.
But they do show what can be done with a bit of imagination and the time to craft a tight,
well designed map.
Unlike this one...
err... not really sure what I'm supposed to do here!
#2. Multiplayer
The competitive mode throws in its fair share
of surprises.
Whether it's crazy animals running around the map... to pretty much melee only fights.
Again, you never know quite what to expect.
But this throws up its own set of problems.
Spawn points often being a big problem!
Too often I find that I can just sneak back to where all the enemies always spawn, and
just kill em in the back before they even know what hit em.
The vehicles can be a lot of fun, but they can create some balancing issues, especially
if they don't respawn.
There's nothing worse than a massive map that you all start off driving around in, but when
all the vehicles are destroyed, end up having to either walk, or swim, for miles just to
reach the action.
A good multiplayer should always make it clear who's friend and who's foe- but here, things
are pretty inconsistent.
Sometimes you see your allies' names.
Sometimes you don't- making these awkward moments when you end up just shooting team
mates in the face.
Again, this mode has a fair share of bugs and glitches, like not being able to see,
which is pretty... pretty annoying!
And it's a shame that there's only two modes; deathmatch and team deathmatch.
By playing solo, co-op or the multiplayer mode, rewards you with XP which levels you
up.
But this level doesn't really do anything, other than reward you with a bit of cash and
the occasional perk point, so you pretty quickly don't really care about what level you are.
Playing as your same deputy character from the main campaign means that all of the perks
you unlocked in that, carry over to arcade mode.
It certainly has its fun moments, just be willing to have to look for em.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind if the next Far Cry game did away with everything except the
main campaign, but hey, it is something extra.
And who knows what surprises are yet to be created.
Thanks for watching!