Developer Library: Systems and Mechanics in Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 4
What is the difference between Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 4 from the point of view of game design – Mark Brown, an indie developer and editor of the Pocket Gamer resource, told the video cycle Game Maker’s Toolkit. With the author’s permission, we have prepared a printed version of the material. We share.
When you’re directing a movie or TV show, there are a lot of tools at your disposal. They can be used to enhance a certain impression, create an atmosphere, set the tone or define the genre of the story. By combining music, directing, camera angle and lighting, you can create tension, make you feel lonely, surprise, and so on. But what attracts me to video games is the techniques that can completely change the mood of the player. I’m talking about game design.
Let’s compare Far Cry 2 with Far Cry 4. The games Far Cry 2 and Far Cry 4 are both about a trip to a dangerous country where the player is tasked with killing some bad guys. In Far Cry 2, it’s Jackal, and in Far Cry 4, it’s Pagan Min. You wander back and forth, take assignments, ride cars and boats, shoot all kinds of bad guys with different weapons. So outwardly, these two games are not so different from each other.
But ask anyone who has played them – and they will answer that in fact they are two complete opposites in terms of gaming experience.
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 4 seems like a playground where you just have fun and have fun. But Far Cry 2 is rather a creepy journey through enemy territory, where you are alone, cornered and surrounded from all sides. If Far Cry 2 is “Apocalypse Now” (Apocalypse Now, a drama about the Vietnam War – approx. editors), then Far Cry 4 is “Soldiers of Failure” (Tropic Thunder, a comedy about shooting an action movie about the Vietnam War, – approx. editorial offices). Are you wondering how these games got into the same series at all?
So, why are these games so different if they’re about the same thing? The fact is that the list of mechanics that distinguishes these games from each other and changes the perception of the player is huge.
To begin with, in Far Cry 2, weapons are rusty and periodically fail at the most inopportune moment. Transport often breaks down, so you spend a lot of time fixing it. This is both unpleasant and puts the player in a vulnerable position. In Far Cry 4 there is a fast movement – you open the map and magically teleport to a point where there are weapons and medicines. In Far Cry 2, to move quickly, you first need to take a bus, and you will only be able to move to a limited number of locations. In Far Cry 2, some checkpoints are guarded by enemies. To understand where you’re going, you have to pull out a map every time. It’s pretty creepy to do this at night, and you can’t put a mark on the enemy and track his position through the walls. Oh, and there’s malaria. Yes, yes, you constantly risk falling down with a fever right in the middle of a mission. And if you don’t have pills, you can die.
Far Cry 2
Another big, big difference between games is how progress is maintained.
In Far Cry 4, checkpoints are found at every step, and if you suddenly drop your skates, you will almost not lose progress. There is no “quick save” in Far Cry 2, you can save only in several locations. So if you die somewhere in the field, you will lose almost half an hour of game progress. Yes, it is annoying, but this constantly makes you remember that you are mortal, and the manner of the game changes. Because if you can lose a lot of progress from one movement, then you start moving slowly and carefully, and every encounter with the enemy seems incredibly dramatic.
Compare with Far Cry 4, where you don’t really care whether you die or not, and therefore you can jump off the roof without any problems and stab the enemy in the head with a knife.
Far Cry 2
In Far Cry 2, there is a friend’s help: if you die, you can be revived by a mercenary (since he can use the player and his task for his own purposes, – approx. editors) buddy. But then again – he can die trying to get you off the battlefield, so emotional trauma is added to the long list of things that poison life in the world of Far Cry 2.
There are many other differences. This includes unpredictable and dangerous fires in Far Cry 2, a tiny map in Far Cry 4, thanks to which it always seems that you are no further than 20 centimeters from the safe zone. But I want to end with a conversation about weapons.
In Far Cry 4, there is a ridiculously huge arsenal of super-powerful weapons, which includes sniper rifles with a silencer, with which you can take out an entire army, just sitting in the bushes and shooting at the heads.
Far Cry 4
The closest analogue of a sniper rifle in Far Cry 2 is a dart rifle. But it is difficult to get it, it quickly deteriorates, and you will not be able to carry more than two charges at a time. You can’t count on it, you have to come up with other ways of passing.
Far Cry 4 gives you weapons, elephants, and anything, just so you don’t get bored, and Far Cry 2 hits you in the teeth with the right and shoves you into the dirt. And it’s amazing. Because it’s not about which game is better – although I think Far Cry 2 is – but about how Ubisoft managed to create two completely different games mainly with the help of mechanics.
Far Cry 2 repels the player and makes his life difficult, and therefore becomes a powerful and slightly traumatic adventure. And Far Cry 4 accepts the player and gives him a box of toys, and this makes a stupid action movie about how to get high and blow everything up. And the only thing to worry about there is the local fauna.
Far Cry 4
So when you create a game, remember – telling a story, do not limit yourself to the plot, dialogues and cut scenes. The mechanics and systems you choose will also evoke emotions and add a certain atmosphere to the game. It is better that they are harmoniously combined with the plot.
Translated by Irina Smirnova
Source: Mark Brown’s YouTube Blog
