E3 2012 Hands-On: Learn the definition of insanity with friends in Far Cry 3’s Co-op

Ever since the Far Cry series started back in 2004, it has always been lauded for its beautiful visuals, great storylines and awesome gameplay. In Far Cry 3, Ubisoft Montreal seems to keep that standard going and adding to it with new elements. New to Far Cry is the inclusion of a Co-op mode that you can play with up to 3 of your friends. Ubisoft has stated that this co-op campaign is a standalone, 8-10 hour story apart from the singleplayer campaign. I was fortunate enough to get a first hand look at the new mode and I must say that it will please any and all Far Cry fans.

At the start of the game, each player gets to choose a loadout which ranges from close quarters combat (shotgun), to mid-range assault (assault rifle) and stretches to long range (sniper rifle) sets. The key to being successful is having a balanced team. You won’t get far if everyone is running around with a shotgun. Every class is given a repair tool as well. That will come into play later.

After selecting your “class,” you are thrown into the game with your comrades and tasked with an objective to complete. The first thing you’ll notice besides the beautiful surroundings, is that the control scheme is basic to any FPS. This is a good thing, as you can pick up and play without fiddling around with trying to figure out which button does what.

The first objective is to repair a train car so that it can be moved allowing your team to progress further. Remember that repair tool I mentioned? Now is a good time to use it. Any number of players can repair the objective at once, but it is suggested that one person does it while the other 3 players cover them. Now comes the fun.

Obviously, the moment you start to try and complete your objective, enemies seem to come around wanting to stop you. They have the ability to inflict damage upon the train as you try to repair it, so it is up to your teammates to not only cover the person repairing, but also eliminate any enemies that are being counterproductive to your mission. Alas, sometimes not all people are great at defending themselves and those same individuals tend to go down first in a firefight. Luckily, when a team member gets downed, other players have the ability to revive those players.

Once the train is fixed and you traverse into the next section, the game then switches to a sort of minigame between the 4 players. You arrive at a bridge and everyone is given a sniper rifle; there is an enemy camp below and your team is tasked with eliminating all threats. The competitive part of this is to see who can get the most kills within the allotted time frame. I found this to be a nice change of pace from just running and gunning. It also boosts competitiveness between players, which is always fun as well. Ubisoft did state that there will be other minigames like this scattered throughout the co-op compaign.

After your sniping spree, the game allows players to change their loadout again prior to the start of the next leg. I think this is a great idea, as sometimes you have to adjust your play style to what you’re up against. With that said, our next objective is to take out a bridge. The first thing we had to do was pick up a case of explosives and drop it at various points on the bridge. As this goes on, you will again need to face a few waves of enemies trying to stop you.

After placing the charges, you are then directed to a detonator to blow the bridge. At this point, a new enemy type appears that is very similar in likeness to the Juggernaut from Call of Duty. Once you grab the detonator, you end up taking out the bridge with him on it. That was where our play time ended. The game does a great job of balancing the different sections so that players don’t become bored with redundancy. For any FPS fan, I highly recommend this game as a must have, as I will definitely be purchasing it.

Far Cry 3 dives into stores on September 30th to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.