I know that having more download services will just split our games across multiple accounts, and that in itself sucks. But Ubisoft is known as a company that delays it's PC games, uses draconic DRM and their ports are not always that great (although better than people give them credit for).

But with Far Cry 3, this seems to be completely different. It's a game that launched day-and-date with the console versions, it's clearly superior to the console versions that I don't even know I wanna call it a port, and it only has the one time login.

And this got me thinking. Is this game so good on PC simply because consoles are so old, or is it something more to it? Could it be because of Uplay, and Ubisoft made this game like it's poster child?

The always online DRM Ubisoft was using on the PC has long since been phased out.

Their PC versions themselves have actually almost always been good, better then most developers in fact, solid (if not with a ton of tweaking options) and always better graphically then console titles; and they also have a lot of PC exclusive titles.

So Far Cry 3 really isn't that much of an exception aside from the release date and a more then usual amount of graphical options.

(i wouldn't call Uplay a good thing just yet as it offers nothing substantial for the hassle, but it's not a bad thing either)

I actually quite like Uplay. It has a nice enough UI, it isn't as intrusive as GFWL and, probably most importantly, is snappy in starting the games.

The download system isn't as great as Steam, but the automatic cloud syncing is a decent feature.

Plus, Far Cry 3 is just a really, really good game. In and of itself, but also in terms of being a PC iteration of a console game.

It runs like butter, looks gorgeous and has all the bells and whistles that PC gamers love (FOV, advanced graphics options, re-mappable controls and a sensible UI).

Uplay isn't that bad. I wish I didn't have to use it when I already have Steam though.

Also, the multiplayer on FC3 is kinda fucked. Progression is broken all over the place.

I Still haven't decided what service I'm getting this game from. If I get it from Amazon, does the game always appear in U-play as part of my collection (a la Steam) after I've activated it in there or whatever, or is this game only launched out of there while downloaded on my system from amazon?

@aquamarin said:

I Still haven't decided what service I'm getting this game from. If I get it from Amazon, does the game always appear in U-play as part of my collection (a la Steam) after I've activated it in there or whatever, or is this game only launched out of there while downloaded on my system from amazon?

It appears under a "My Games" tab in Uplay.

I'll post a screen-shot in a moment, if you want?

If you hit "Games", initially it's just a blank background with thumbnails for each game. Selecting the game opens up the full-screen artwork and the various option you can see in the pic.

It's fairly slick and looks nice enough. I can see it being an irritant if you purchased through Steam, though (the Twitter discussion is a really nice touch - the "game hub" section on Steam is pretty lacking).

@GetEveryone: Yeah, sure. Thanks.

Not a big deal. It's one or two quick clicks then your in the game having fun. Uplay, Origin, Steam or whatever they are trivial things to deal with considering the versatility and value that's in pc gaming.

I've never had a problem with uPlay. I don't care if I have to load another window that takes all of 5 seconds to get into my game. I also didn't care that I needed an internet connection, but that may be 'privilege'. And their PC versions have always been fine. Actually way better, because of the work Ubi Montreal especially does with animation, looks much nicer to see that animation in 60 fps.

@Alexandru said:

I know that having more download services will just split our games across multiple accounts, and that in itself sucks. But Ubisoft is known as a company that delays it's PC games, uses draconic DRM and their ports are not always that great (although better than people give them credit for).

But with Far Cry 3, this seems to be completely different. It's a game that launched day-and-date with the console versions, it's clearly superior to the console versions that I don't even know I wanna call it a port, and it only has the one time login.

And this got me thinking. Is this game so good on PC simply because consoles are so old, or is it something more to it? Could it be because of Uplay, and Ubisoft made this game like it's poster child?

Why do people say that their ports aren't great? I've played all Assasin's Creed games, Splinter Cell, Driver: SF and Rayman Origins and haven't had a problem with any of them.

The multiple download clients is getting out of hand, I have five on my desktop alone. And Uplay is laggy, I tried to add friends for the FC3 multiplayer and it took forever.

I'm completely middle of the road about this client, it adds literally nothing to my experience and causes another hassle with managing more logins, friends list, avatars, updates. I didn't buy the game through Uplay and don't plan to in the future. I'll begrudgingly activate my game through them, but I plan to shut off my connection to their server whenever I'm not playing multiplayer.

Also the FC3 PC version is not technically day and date with the consoles. The consoles version are just late. They were delayed a few months so that in the end everything launched together, but I don't think that was the intention.

Most of my games are centralized through Steam and I can understand that Ubi wants a piece of the pie but what they offer is inferior to Steam and Origin (in a distant second.)

@Hunkulese said:

@Alexandru said:

I know that having more download services will just split our games across multiple accounts, and that in itself sucks. But Ubisoft is known as a company that delays it's PC games, uses draconic DRM and their ports are not always that great (although better than people give them credit for).

But with Far Cry 3, this seems to be completely different. It's a game that launched day-and-date with the console versions, it's clearly superior to the console versions that I don't even know I wanna call it a port, and it only has the one time login.

And this got me thinking. Is this game so good on PC simply because consoles are so old, or is it something more to it? Could it be because of Uplay, and Ubisoft made this game like it's poster child?

Why do people say that their ports aren't great? I've played all Assasin's Creed games, Splinter Cell, Driver: SF and Rayman Origins and haven't had a problem with any of them.

I think people are mostly referring to AC1 which was rather buggy, somewhat poorly optimized for PC hardware and had faulty DRM. Gamers seem really unwilling to let that one go even though Ubisoft has steadily improved the quality of their PC ports over the years to the point now where if I was giving out awards, they've be the recipient of 'Most Improved'.

Uplay is alright, it's not impeding my ability to play any of the games and it's adding a nifty feature or two. I don't really care how my game launches or from where just as long as I'm able to play it without jumping through an unreasonable amount of hoops.

I feel like it's just more companies wanting our e-mail address. I understand why they do it, but I'm just sick of having to make ANOTHER account and ANOTHER password for every game I buy.

The Uplay stuff started with AC 3. I don't really care for it cuz it's just an extra step to get to my game instead of just launching through Steam. Cloud saves are nice but Steam can already do that too. At least the Uplay stuff isn't too intrusive that I have a major problem with it.

It seems like Ubisoft is making some slightly-less-poor decisions lately. I'm still pissed about how crappy their support for Dark Messiah of Might & Magic was, though.

The Uplay stuff started with AC 3. I don't really care for it cuz it's just an extra step to get to my game instead of just launching through Steam. Cloud saves are nice but Steam can already do that too. At least the Uplay stuff isn't too intrusive that I have a major problem with it.

@GetEveryone said:

@aquamarin said:

I Still haven't decided what service I'm getting this game from. If I get it from Amazon, does the game always appear in U-play as part of my collection (a la Steam) after I've activated it in there or whatever, or is this game only launched out of there while downloaded on my system from amazon?

It appears under a "My Games" tab in Uplay.

I'll post a screen-shot in a moment, if you want?

If you hit "Games", initially it's just a blank background with thumbnails for each game. Selecting the game opens up the full-screen artwork and the various option you can see in the pic.

It's fairly slick and looks nice enough. I can see it being an irritant if you purchased through Steam, though (the Twitter discussion is a really nice touch - the "game hub" section on Steam is pretty lacking).

The best part of the twitter integration is when troll posts or mad complaints make it through, AC revelations was one of the funniest, tweet after tweet of people complaining about uplay

Uplay is alright. At least their games are still on steam. And I actually like the uPlay points system. At least there is a point to achievments now. It's stupid stuff, but better than nothing.

So far, even though I'm not behind the idea of why it exists, UPlay is pretty good. It's an extra click before I start playing, but I can still add it as a non-Steam game and have hooks that way. But more importantly, I can buy it on Steam outright. I didn't since I got a deal for a non-Steam copy for $25, but before that streak of luck, I was planning on buying it on Steam during the Christmas sales (whether it was discounted or not, though I was hoping it would be).

Love Uplay, I'm looking forward to the day when each and every publisher has their own separate bloated drm shop that I have to install in order to play their games. Origin, Steam & Uplay just aren't enough. It's about time all the other publishers caught up and gave me the opportunity to install more pointlessly stupid bullshit on my PC.

In terms of Far Cry 3 I've found that turning the in-game shit and the syncing and internet stuff off helped with performance.