“You know the definition of insanity ? It’s playing the same game again and again expecting the numbers to make a difference”.
So spake Vaasu as he looked deeply, almost philosophically, at the four colourful boxes on the table. Yes, he seemed philosophical, an uncannily apologetic air about him as his eyes followed the lights shining on Vaas’ face, on the Ubisoft logo, on Pagan’s forehead.
Yet I smelt a fox lurking within that serene visage. A slight sigh, almost like a whiff of stale pantry air, strengthened my convictions. Brushing aside all veneration, I looked him right in the face – in the eyes. And there, I saw jealousy being unmasked.
Err okay so it didn’t quite go this way. More like –
“Dude you bought the first part last, and that too by paying MORE than what you did for Far Cry 2 ? Are you insane ?”
“I’m sure Far Cry would be awesome too. Look at the comparison with Halo in the reviewer comments”
“Yeah maybe, but I still think you wasted some money there mate. Aren’t you saving up for GTAV ?”
“Yeah of course I am, and waiting for that damn price to fall below 3K. But this was-”
“Whatever, when you’re done come on FC4 multiplayer, we’ll do a foursome”
Didn’t know if he noticed the irony of his words – FC4 was the successor of Far Cry 1 after all.
And why am I waxing eloquent on the franchise ? Because I finally got Far Cry. Let me explain (without fancy dialogues) –
FC4 was the first of my purchases, but I’d played FC3 earlier. FC4 was every bit as exciting as FC3 and so I went ahead and bought FC3. Why ? For one, I hoped that some multiplayer action would still be alive -and I was disappointed. Two, I just wanted to play the game in its full glory (there were problems with the version I’d played). Three, I just wanted the producers to know what an awesome job they’d done.
It should have ended there – I had no plans of playing FC2 or FC for that matter – they were too old. Now as it happened, Amazon (INdia) got the bright idea to lower the prices of a lot of classic games to Rs. 99 each. Net result was that I ended up ordering a number of games, including FC2, Red Faction Armageddon and three Prince of Persia titles.
So I got FC2 and found it to be every bit as exciting as FC3 or 4. Okay, so jammed guns aren’t the best way to celebrate gunfight realism, and the driving sequences are too long considering how damage-prone the cars and car-ries (those strange small contraptions with rear engines, term mine), tend to be.
I’m currently still playing FC2, primarily because getting malaria medicine every few missions is NOT FUN. But I was impressed enough to wonder if Far Cry would be great too. Only one way to know – buying it. Why buy ? It would probably a very small download, and if I wanted to play legit, I could get hold of one of my friends. Yet I wanted to do it the right way because, for one, it was the last game in the series. Two, I was sure I would find the game really cheap somewhere.
Two proved impossible. Most stores simply didn’t keep it. But I decided to wait in Pala (FC2). My wait turned out to be a long one.
Finally….finally, I found an old game – Serious Sam First Encounter HD – selling for a low Rs. 76, and decided to get it. This classic (my first FPS, Wolf 3D aside) made me search for FC too. Luckily, a not-so-well known seller was offering it at Rs. 299! This was wayy too much for such an old game. Yet I’m coming to the wisdom that there is an elliptic curve between time and game price. They start off costly but with awesome availability. Then availability declines and price falls a little. Then new copies are made and price falls rapidly. Finally, prices fall to a bare minimum as stocks are cleared. Beyond that availability stays low and prices climb to a low but not very low level.
I got –
Far Cry 4 – Phase I (Anomaly)
Far Cry 3 – Phase III
Far Cry 2 – Phase II
Far Cry – Phase III
Why the anomaly for FC4 ?: Well, the game was priced at Rs. 564 when I bought it because for some reason, Amazon decided to clear up stocks. At other outlets, the game was selling for Rs. 1,300+ I got it obviously, only to find Flipkart trying to outdo Amazon by selling it marginally cheaper. I’m sure this rivalry made the day for a number of gamers like me. I still call it an anomaly because I’ve never seen such a drastic price fall so early and secondly, it has not been repeated since.
I got all my Far Cry games from Amazon ? Yes, this is how it has turned out to be, and I do hope they keep up the good work (hint hint).
And so it happens that my collection is finally complete. What will I do to celebrate (apart from this lengthy post) ? Write a FC2 or FC review probably.