Ubisoft is having a torrid time as of late; they’ve been slammed for Assassin’s Creed: Unity not running at full 1080p/60fps on the PS4, with claims that the game was downgraded to match the Xbox One. Then Far Cry 4 has been confirmed to not run at 1080p/60 fps on either console, causing some players to state that they’ll be cancelling pre-orders or just not bothering with the game – all over the matter of frame rates and pixels.
The fact that Far Cry 4 isn’t in 1080p/60fps isn’t a big deal, especially when you consider what is being achieved with the game and its huge open world. It’s previously been confirmed that Far Cry 4’s map will be around the same size as Far Cry 3’s, but will be much a much denser, richer and involving world; in other words there’s a hell of a lot more going on.
With all the extra goings on within Far Cry 4 it’s only understandable that some sacrifices must be made along the way. Far Cry 4’s director previously stated that to get full 1080p and the 60fps that gamers want, sacrifices would have to be made in other areas, such as effects, the amount of action that can happen at one time on the screen among other aspects.
Does 1080p and 60fps matter that much? No, not at all. So long as the game plays great and looks good then what’s the fuss? We never used to be obsessed with these matters, but for some reason we seem to latch onto anything that mentions resolutions and frame rates, when what we should really be concerned about is gameplay.
Director Alex Hutchinson shares that same opinion, stating earlier on twitter that “gameplay trumps everything,” something I strongly agree with, to the point that I couldn’t care less what a game looks like as long as it’s fun to play – Thomas Was Alone being a prime example with its simplistic 2D gameplay that consists of getting different shapes from one place to another. Simple graphics, simple sounds but entertaining gameplay.
I think it’s time to let go of obsession with resolutions and frame rates, gameplay will always be key to the success of any title – Far Cry 4 included.
Far Cry 4 is out this November 18th and will be available on the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC and Xbox 360. You can get your copy from Amazon here and nab the Amazon exclusive DLC.