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Far Cry 7 Needs to Restore the Focus Back to the Villains

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Ubisoft is known in the industry for its sprawling open worlds, each bringing a new flavor through interesting side activities, historical accuracy, and gorgeous visuals. Far Cry achieves the latter especially well, as its recreation of the American South, lofty Himalayas, or the tropical Rook Island ‘paradise’ have conjured so much fun for millions of fans worldwide. It’s one of the things that the 18-year-old series is the most known for, but perhaps the property’s most defining factor is the characters each game presents, and more specifically the inclusion of a menacing, evil, and iconic villain.

Vaas Montenegro is one of the finest baddies in gaming, finding a place alongside the likes of Handsome Jack, Kefka Palazzo, and Ganondorf, and Pagan Min carried on the legacy of Far Cry wielding a strong antagonist. Interactions with them were always memorable, and the journey that the protagonist goes on feels all the more challenging because there is always a scary and overbearing presence that is pushing back against the player. Villains have taken a backseat somewhat in recent years in comparison to the series’ heyday, and to continue making the same mistake in Far Cry 7 would truly be the definition of insanity.

Far Cry is a Villain Factory

Far Cry: Ranking Every Major Villain From Worst To Best

Though the Jackal in Far Cry 2 was a high point for the 2008 release, Far Cry 3 felt like a refresh in all the best ways, and its success started with Michael Mando’s brilliant performance as Vaas Montenegro. He’s cold, impulsive, eccentric, and supremely evil, caring little about the fate of Jason Brody as he torments him throughout the game’s first half. There’s a reason he’s the poster child and not the protagonist, and while he departs the story around the halfway point, his positive impact on the narrative is evident. He set a standard for all games, and with Far Cry 3 releasing just two months after Borderlands 2, the fall of 2012 was a great time for villains in gaming.

Far Cry 4 had the impossible task of following its predecessor, as the expectation of a great villain among fans was evident. Pagan Min’s unnerving politeness and overconfidence makes him a stark contrast to the unpredictability of Vaas or the powerful, yet mentally fragile and calculated Hoyt Volker. However, while he was a great character, he lived in the shadow of something truly great, and when Far Cry 5 released in 2018 the franchise was truly fighting a losing battle, as Joseph Seed’s evil deeds only seemed to be prevalent in cutscenes and had little impact on the game going on around the story being told.

Far Cry’s Villains Set it Apart

Far Cry 3 Vaas promotional image

Fans of Far Cry flock to each release for the interesting environments, fun shooter-based gameplay, and potential for amusing exploration moments. Narrowly avoiding death while fighting a tiger in Far Cry 4 or discovering a school of sharks out at sea around the Rook Islands in Far Cry 3 provoke moments of wonder, but more iconic still is the monologue given by Vaas as he has Jason Brody trapped in a cage. Sitting down with Pagan Min at the start of Far Cry 4 sets up the whole game marvelously, and so the adventure that kicks off from there feels like Ajay Ghale is fighting back against an all-seeing presence.

Far Cry 7 would be remiss to not feature a compelling villain, as it would neglect a series component that has been such a high point for the Ubisoft-developed IP. The way they are implemented is as important though, as it cannot continue to feel as though the antagonist is only dangerous to the protagonist during cutscenes when the player doesn’t have direct control. It would be all too easy to insist that the seventh mainline game in the series reverts to the format it used ten years prior, but shifting the focus back to the villains would be wise, as it has shown to be effective in crafting a great experience and retaining a strong fanbase.

Source-Gamerant

In other news-Apex Legends Dev Announces Skill-Based Matchmaking Changes Coming Soon 

An Apex Legends developer has revealed plans for a reworked skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) system to be released in the near future. The developer also divulged details on how Apex Legends currently manages its matchmaking process, to the appreciation of the pro player who started the whole conversation.

Apex Legends

Since its release in 2019, the free-to-play battle royale shooter has enjoyed steady popularity with a player base that has only gotten larger. With Apex Legends releasing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, along with a mobile launch, the game managed to break its record for peak player count by a solid margin this year. But as to be expected with a game of this popularity, many players have expressed frustration with certain mechanics. One consistent complaint revolves around the game’s SBMM system, which has often paired gamers with opponents who are way out of their league, resulting in frustration on both ends. Learn more

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McDonald’s Made A Grimace Game For Some Reason

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McDonald

To honor Grimace’s 52nd birthday, McDonald‘s has released a free-to-play Game Boy Color game that can also be played on your PC or mobile device.

The game is called Grimace’s Birthday (via Kotaku) and it was made by a Brooklyn-based indie studio, Krool Toys. The premise of the game is simple, too. You play as a purple blob named Grimace, and you’re preparing for his birthday. But the problem is he needs to get his friends Birdie, the Hamburglar, and The McNugget Buddies to his party before it ends.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s a 2D side-scroller. For the whole game, you’re riding a skateboard through a series of levels where you have to grind on top of rails, use launch pads, avoid Mctrash cans, and more, all while you collect purple milkshakes. There’s even a “Hard Mode” for those looking to challenge themselves.

But if you don’t want to play the story mode, you can either play “Score Attack,” where you have to rack up as many points as possible, or “Freeskate,” a mode that allows you to skate around carefree. And over all of that, an 8-bit version of the McDonald’s jingle will play in the background. McDonald’s is currently offering aGrimace mealto celebrate his birthday, complete with a purple shake.

For more news on recently announced games, be sure to check out our story on the biggest announcements and games at the Ubisoft Forward Showcase and the biggest games announced at the Capcom Summer Showcase 2023.

Source:  News365

In other news – The New Forza Motorsport Makes Smart Changes To Career Mode and AI

After about six years and a couple of entries in the Forza Horizon series, Forza Motorsport is making a comeback this year. The sim-racing franchise, focused on realism and professional tracks, will be one of Xbox’s 2023 heavy hitters, but I’d been wondering what’s actually new for this entry.

Forza Motorsport

As a long-time racing enthusiast dating back to the first Gran Turismo, I’ve seen how the genre has evolved and, at points, stagnated. But from what I’ve seen so far, Forza Motorsport is fine-tuning the racing sim formula in smart ways by dialing in on two major areas: its career mode’s gameplay loop and its driver AI behavior. Learn more

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Forza Motorsport’s career mode could be groundbreaking

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Forza Motorsport

After about six years and a couple of entries in the Forza Horizon series, Forza Motorsport is making a comeback this year. The sim-racing franchise, focused on realism and professional tracks, will be one of Xbox’s 2023 heavy hitters, but I’d been wondering what’s actually new for this entry. As a long-time racing enthusiast dating back to the first Gran Turismo, I’ve seen how the genre has evolved and, at points, stagnated. But from what I’ve seen so far, Forza Motorsport is fine-tuning the racing sim formula in smart ways by dialing in on two major areas: its career mode’s gameplay loop and its driver AI behavior.

Following the Xbox Games Showcase during Summer Game Fest, I was able to get a hands-off demo of Forza Motorsport and see the new sim racer in action. The emphasis was on the Builder’s Cup Series, which is a career-style mode filled with racing events featuring certain conditions, restrictions, and challenges, as your typical sim-racing campaign would have. The key difference is in how progression works.
Instead of racing to rack up money to spend on upgrades, you earn credits called Car Points, which is akin to XP or skill points in an RPG. Your allotment of Car Points lets you pick and choose which upgrades you want for your car without having to commit to them since you’re not necessarily “purchasing” parts. Using certain car parts means spending Car Points to equip them, but if you switch it out to a better part or back to stock, you get the Car Points back. It’s like being able to respec your character in an RPG without consequence. You’re effectively creating a “build” for your car in the RPG sense, letting you spec out your car without buyer’s remorse.

Theoretically, you could spend Car Points on better tires and suspension for tracks with tight corners then respec your car for engine upgrades to improve top speed for races with long straightaways. I can imagine it being a way to mitigate the grind for cash–in many other racing sims, I found myself repeating the same race events I knew I could win so I could get enough money for the next upgrade I needed to win a different race event. With the system of Car Points, it seems I could just retool my upgrades on my current car to better fit the tracks.

The Car Points system may seem like a minor change, but it’s a much smarter way to think about progression in a career mode because it shifts the focus to building a car properly rather than buying your way to victory.
The other side of the Forza Motorsport equation is in the upgrade driver AI. I won’t pretend to be a computer scientist, but as it was explained to me, machine learning was used to create smarter, more realistic AI on the actual “controller” of the AI drivers. In practice, you’ll have opponents who race more like professional drivers. One example creative director Chris Esaki mentioned was that when opposing drivers mess up, it’s because they’d be “timid” and not “sloppy.” This would manifest as an AI driver backing off or slowing down as they react to you boxing them out of a corner for an overtake, rather than just slamming into you because you’re in their way. They’re effectively more aware of your positioning and what you’re trying to do in the race.

Of course, I would like to see for myself when I get hands on the game itself, but it is promising that driver behavior can potentially be replicated closer to what we actually see in real-life track racing. Esaki also assured me that this doesn’t mean AI drivers won’t be aggressive, because aggression is part of racing, but at least I’m a lot less likely to get t-boned while going hard into a corner for an overtake.

Additionally, Forza Motorsport encourages you to be a skilled driver throughout a race in what’s called Car Mastery. The game essentially grades you on each turn and corner you take, giving you XP based on how well you’re performing. Yes, it’s important to take first place, but it’s not all that matters because skillful driving is part of the system now. Along with the Car Points system that pushes you to build a good car instead of buying your way to first place, the Car Mastery system challenges you to be a good driver and rewards you in kind.

Source: .gamespot.

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