Far Cry 3 writer says critics missed the point of the game

Far Cry 3 has seen praise from gamers all over the world. The one gripe everyone seems to have with the story though, is that it is filled with gaming clichés, whereas writer Jeffrey Yohalem had stated that the game would be “about subverting video game clichés”. In an interview with Penny Arcade Report, Yohalem said that the players are missing the point of the game.

“The story is itself something that can be solved, like a riddle,” he said in the interview. “What makes me sad is that people don’t engage with playing the riddle, trying to solve the riddle. It’s like a scavenger hunt where people aren’t collecting the first clue.”

Deeper down the rabbit hole…

The biggest argument the writer has to support this is that the game has quotes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The quote at the start of the game reads, “In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again." According to the writer, this was meant to mirror the journey of the main protagonist of the game—Jason Brody.

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“The Alice in Wonderland quotes are there to clue people in. You analyse them like you would any other text and they let you know what’s going on,” Yohalem said.

Earlier this month, Ubisoft had been working on a patch that is meant to fix many gripes players have with the game, the biggest one being the intrusive elements in the HUD that blocks out the view. These elements are either mission objectives that are ever present on the screen or tutorial messages that keep popping up.

“Based on feedback from both press and fans, the Far Cry 3 production team is working on a patch that will allow you to toggle most HUD/UI elements based on player preference,” said Ubisoft in a statement.

“The patch will also avoid issues encountered in the .dll hack that might create a mission walkthrough break (missing QTE prompts, critical information, etc;),” the publisher added. “The team is excited about how the Far Cry 3 community and fans of the game are enjoying themselves, and finding new ways to experience the Rook Islands.”

While the company has said that the patch is in the works, it has not given any estimated date for the release yet. “The team is working hard on the patch, but we don’t have a date yet as to when it will be available, though it will be soon.”

Back in November, Ubisoft had introduced the Island Map Editor for Far Cry 3 through a trailer leading up to the game’s release. The editor offers tools that let you generate a random landscape, as well as modify it by adding flora and geological features such as waterfalls and caves. The editor also lets you add structures that can be classified in themes, including a tribal theme, as well as a World War II theme. You can also pick the weather and time of day.

Far Cry 3 also features the single player sandbox mode, where you can add your own additions to maps, including vehicles, characters and generally dangerous fauna. This lets you go around on a murderous rampage through player-created tropical islands.