Far Cry 3 Has RPG-Style Progression to Keep Players Hooked

Far Cry 3 has a lengthy main story of around 20 hours and, in order to keep players interested in the experience, Lead Designer Jamie Keen has confirmed that the title has a RPG-style progression system that slowly helps the player become a master warrior.

Far Cry 3 puts players in the shoes of Jason, a young guy who arrived on a mysterious island with his friends to party like there’s no tomorrow. Sadly, they’re caught by mercenaries but Jason makes it out alive into the jungle.

In order to accurately portray his journey from a regular guy to a fierce warrior, Lead Designer Jamie Keen has revealed that an RPG-style progression system is included in the shooter.

“Jason starts the game as a fish out of water, essentially. He doesn't know too much about what's going on. But eventually he is a master of the island, and that narrative progression - we hope - is reflected by the player's progression,” he told CVG.

According to Keen, the upgrade mechanic is crucial in keeping players interested in the experience as Far Cry 3 is quite a lengthy game.

“The idea of just trying to make players interested over time is challenge because Far Cry 3 has such a long play through, so we need to keep people engaged and feeling like they're progressing. We have a twenty hour mission walkthrough, along with other side-quests on top of that, so to keep people interested over that period of time means that we want to trickle things through.”

The upgrade system has different skill trees that allow players to specialize in three core disciplines: long-range combat, stealth, or assault, and more details will be revealed in the near future, according to Keen.

Far Cry 3 is out on December 4 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.