Island games just "cashing in" on Far Cry

By Johnny Minkley Published 11 July, 2008

Far Cry 2 dev takes swipe at competition.

Don't let the crystal clear water and golden sands fool you: as far as the developer of Far Cry 2 is concerned, videogame tropical islands have become the imaginative equivalent of two weeks at Butlins.

With the sequel to Crytek's memorable PC shooter ditching the shores of paradise in favour of the treacherous beauty of Africa, creative director Clint Hocking believes anyone making a game on a tropical island now is just "cashing in" on the success of Far Cry. And that includes the series' original creator, whose second title, Crysis, is set on, yep, a tropical island.

"Going somewhere you knew was real but was really foreign and exotic, and you never really expected you would get to go in your real life - that's the magic of Far Cry," he told Eurogamer.

"You have to recapture that or you're not really making a sequel to Far Cry, you're just cashing in on the tropical island. Players have been to tropical islands in Boiling Point, in Just Cause in Lost every night on TV, in Crysis and Far Cry on console. All of these games and movies and TV - you see this place and it's not that exciting adventure that it was. Far Cry did it first."

You can read our detailed impressions of the E3 build of Far Cry 2 elsewhere on Eurogamer today. The promising open-world shooter is due for release on PS3, 360 and PC later this year.

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About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • mkreku #1 4 years ago

    There were no tropical islands in Boiling Point. It took place in an imaginary south American country. White Gold (Boiling Point 2) on the other hand.. it plays out over a bunch of tropical islands :)

  • systems #2 4 years ago

    Weren't there tropical islands in Ghost Recon: Island Thunder?

  • brainbird #3 4 years ago

    There were tropical islands in Spy vs Spy II (or III?).

  • the_dudefather #4 4 years ago

    They are all ripping off Monkey Island I'd say

  • DanWhitehead #5 4 years ago

    While there are certainly plenty of shooters that have shamelessly cribbed the tropical setting, it's going a bit far to suggest that any game, movie or TV show that features an island is ripping off Far Cry.

    Lost, for instance, was devloped because ABC wanted a dramatic version of the Survivor reality show.

  • Doctor_What #6 4 years ago

    Three words people:

    Treasure Island Dizzy.

  • kangarootoo #7 4 years ago

    Pointless angle to take really.

    The saying goes "there is nothing new under the sun", and its true. Specifically tropical islands, and also the sense of escape and wonder he is describing were both present in games before Far Cry came along.

    "They are all ripping off Monkey Island I'd say"

    Absolutely. The first time I saw their sky view map, with the seagulls circling over it, I had the very same feeling that I later had when gazing over an island landscape from the top of one of Far Cry's peaks.

  • systems #8 4 years ago

    I've just thought of another. Midwinter II: Flames of Freedom from 1991:
    http://ww w.mobygames.com/game/dos/flames...
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/08 @ 09:03

  • cathalzx #9 4 years ago

    You also have Myst, and dare I mention : Jurassic Park Trespasser?

  • bobthecow #10 4 years ago

    No island adventure has ever been the same for me since I first saw King Kong in 1933, it just ruined Swiss Family Robinson for me! :.(

  • BadBoyBonner #11 4 years ago

    I think Zarch on the Archimedes clearly had the 3D Tropical Island game concept sewn up in 1987.

    Then "shamelessly exploited further" and sand-boxed by Hunter in 1991 on St and Amiga.

    N.B. I think Hunter came out near the start of 91 and Midwinter came out near the end of the year.

    Googled and found - Hunter in Feb issue of Amiga Format and Midwinter Nov issue of AF.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/08 @ 09:35

  • Ninja_Tino #12 4 years ago

    Mario Sunshine was a carbon copy.

  • Meho #13 4 years ago

    Surely Giants: Citizen Kabuto merits a mention when speaking of shooters set on tropic islands? And arctic circle, for that matter.

  • BadBoyBonner #14 4 years ago

    Giants was a fantastic game - trying to remember - think I had a couple of different versions - which added extra graphical trickery with my then new graphics card - think it might have been early Geforce doing T/L but not sure.

    In fact started it 3 times - but kept selling the PC's before I completed it.

    A bit like Wings on the Amiga - I think I ended playing through the Diary in the game in real-time! Played it for a bout 4 years off & on without completing it.

    Still love the music that plays as the pages turn...

  • FortysixterUK #15 4 years ago

    What a silly billy that man is....The UK is an island...does that mean we are ripping ourselves off?

  • DanWhitehead #16 4 years ago

    That's why they call it Rip-Off Britain, surely?

  • hp_on_toast #17 4 years ago

    How does he have the nerve to mention Crysis like that when it's from the team that was actually responsible for Far Cry.

    And what makes him so much more special than the teams responsible for the Far Cry console versions that he's beyond his own crticism.

    Grade A tosser.

  • BiscuitBase #18 4 years ago

    Spy vs Spy 2 on the C64 took place on a tropical island. Shameless plagiarism from Crytek if you ask me.

  • kangarootoo #19 4 years ago

    @BadBoyBonner

    Hunter was awesome. GTA 3 well before its time :)

    P.s. except GTA didn't have a hovercraft, and has still failed to provide on that front.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/08 @ 11:08

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #20 4 years ago

    What a spong-brain!

    Islands have been used since the dawn of videogames as they offer developers the perfect way to constrain the size of the game world without using invisible walls etc.

  • the_dudefather #21 4 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    San Andreas has one I think

  • dsmx #22 4 years ago

    I fond it hypocritical that ubisoft are criticising people for cashing in on island games when they themselves are with far cry 2 because they did not create far cry.

  • BobsUncle #23 4 years ago

    I think you will all find that Ubisoft actually invented islands in general. Anyone using any form of island, or just land for that matter is trying to copy them.

    And before you make a water game they invented that too. And space. And after HAWX comes out they will have invented Air too.

  • Harmunt #24 4 years ago

    The Spectrum classic Three Weeks In Paradise...

  • MrChuckles #25 4 years ago

    Powermonger, Populus and Mega-lo-mania all set on islands... Some tropical...

  • AphoticCosmos #26 4 years ago

    Attacking the original developer of Far Cry for using tropical islands?

    Hold on, without Crytek, there wouldn't be Far Cry. STFU Ubi!

    Besides, I did feel really engaged in Crysis. The island was one of the best bits about that game [meant as a compliment, I love the game personally and am looking forward to Warhead].

    Islands are also a great plot-driver, as they can have a variety of environments and yet still limit where the player can go, and easy to render due to just having lotsandlotsandlots of ocean around them, so it saves on development time [except on Crysis, where I swear they hired another team to create the underwater scenes, it looks so unrealistically good that I will just go swimmin' for the sake of it sometimes :D]

  • bivith #27 4 years ago

    Are they seriously trying to imply that Lost the TV show is a Far Cry imitator? Far Cry are just jumping on the Robinson Crusoe bandwaggon anyway :)