Ubisoft released Far Cry Classic as a digital download on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 priced at $9.99 on both platforms.
Following the success of 2012’s Far Cry 3, Far Cry Classic gives players the opportunity to return to the game that began the franchise. The rerelease of the 2004 game by Crytek updated the graphics, the cut scenes and the user interface. Players are Jack Carver, a ship captain trapped on a tropical island and hunted by mercenaries. The open environment allows for player driven gameplay in the first person shooter.
Accessibility Angle:
Far Cry Classic is the origin of the critical and popular hit, Far Cry 3. The lone protagonist is hunted on a tropical island that is dotted with World War Two ruins.
For disability related concerns, the gameplay is similar to Far Cry 3. Players control vehicles and are equipped with a range of weapons in an open world island that encourages scouting an enemy encampment in order to plot the player’s attack. The most noticeable gameplay difference from Far Cry 3 is that health does not auto regenerate but requires health packs. The need for health packs coupled with a checkpoint save system results in a frustrating difficulty if a disabled gamer is consistently killed in-game due to inaccessibility such as an inability to locate untagged enemies due to not hearing or seeing the enemies and obstacles with a control scheme that has limited adjustable options.
The settings include the following. Subtitles, aim assist, and crosshair are individually enabled on or off. The subtitles are a small white font that is difficult to read against the light blues and greens of the island. The controls are preset with only the option to adjust the camera sensitivity for both X and Y axis as well as the options to invert the X and Y axis. For disabled gamers interested but concerned about gameplay accessibility easy, medium, hard, and realistic difficulty levels are available.
On Xbox Live Arcade a free demo is available that allows for firsthand experience before disabled gamers must financially commit to the title.