Far Cry 3’s multiplayer has a huge focus on team play. Ubisoft has introduced a number of new features in the game to ensure players have to work together to succeed and rewards them well for doing so.
Let out a yell to buff your squad
The first of the new features is the Battle Cry, a rally shout that can be activated by pressing both analogue sticks together. It can only be used when there is one or more of your teammates around. If you’re unsure where your squad is you can glance down at the numbered icon at the bottom right-hand side of the screen which tells you how many will be affected by your yell.
Let out a Battle Cry and any teammate within hearing distance gets buffed, which will improve their current status by increasing their accuracy or increasing their health, among other perks. The player who lets out the Battle Cry then receives Team Support points that goes toward Far Cry 3’s new economy mechanic, which we’ll explain more about in a second. The Battle Cry is a tactic that will no doubt be invaluable in multiplayer sessions, because it rewards you and your team so well with the luxuries that team points bring.
Heal the world, but first your teammates
To encourage all players to work toward the greater goal, all players can now revive their teammates regardless of class, and they’ll receive team support points for doing so. Hammering ‘A’ (presumably ‘X’ on the PS3) after being shot alerts lets teammates know that you need to be revived. You can respawn if you know that there’s no friendly units in the area, but Ubisoft has introduced a clever new tagging feature that also allows those players trying to reach you to send a silent communication telling them that you’re on your way.
Working as a team is more important than ever
These two features contribute toward team points, which we’re about to explain – as does getting kills and taking over command points. Team points are incredibly important…
The significance of team points
As players gain team points, a meter on the right-hand side of the screen fills giving players access to the game’s best weapons. When it fills to a certain point, for example, you can press right on the d-pad to send a plane overhead that drops off some game-changing psyche gas. This gas blurs the vision of the enemy, it removes name tags from the game and makes all players look identical so that they don’t know who is the enemy or who is on their team. Furthermore, friendly-fire is turned on so that they can accidentally kill each other. During these moments, their team is going to have to rely solely on voice communication, or will need to have been acutely aware of where their teammates were prior to the attack.
Each of these new features have been designed to encourage team play, but also reward players for helping each other out. During the few multiplayer matches that we’ve played on Far Cry 3 so far, it’s clear this new team play mechanic is set to deliver a new dynamic to the multiplayer arena that really does encourage you to work together and watch each other’s back. Lone wolfs are certainly still catered for, but it’s clear that team points are really where the battle will be won and lost.
Far Cry 3 is due for release in September 2012.
Stay tuned for more Far Cry 3 details throughout the day.