EGX Rezzed 2018 Hands-on: FAR: Lone Sails

Sometimes you need to get far away from the chaos. Have the gunfire and explosions out of ear shot. The screeching tires and roaring engines to be silenced. Sometimes, you just want to sit back, relax and fully immerse yourself in something more than just a game. Where game meets art, accomplishing more than just being another pretty walking simulator.

Described as an atmospheric vehicle adventure, FAR will have you traverse a desolate, ocean-turned-desert, post-apocalyptic landscape with nothing but your unique vehicle. A vehicle which will need maintenance and upgrades to keep going, but more importantly, keep you going. Along the way you will encounter many roadblocks and hazardous weather, all the while you will need to keep your vehicle in tip top shape.

Learning to drive

The first part of my journey was on foot. Walking through my shambles of a home, I picked up my luggage and headed to where the sea once was. After a little walking I came across my companion that I would be travelling across this wasteland with. My trusty vehicle. After throwing my luggage in the living quarters of this house with wheels, I explored what it had to offer. Multiple buttons spread themselves across the interior offering different function.

After randomly hitting a few I found the “go” button. Another of the buttons releases steam so your engine doesn’t overheat and gives you a little boost. Fortunately there is a meter near the energy gauge to show when you’re going into the red. At which point you’ll need to hit the steam button.

Next to those is the stop button which drops an anchor into the ground. Then on the far left we have another button which raises a platform into what appeared to be a furnace. When something is placed onto the platform and launched into the fiery pit of death it fills up your energy and keeps your vehicle moving.

Inside you have plenty of hooks dangling from the ceiling to keep your fuel secure along your journey. Also available is a fire hose which certainly comes in handy when certain things get a little too hot. There is also a repair tool for when you don’t stop in time and hit walls and sustain damage.

On your journey you’ll be needing to stop and pick up any wreckage on the path to keep your vehicle fuelled. Without these you will soon halt to a stop and either need to burn your belongings or pull your vessel along. Eventually I came up to my first roadblock. I was forced to leave my ride and solve a little puzzle to make my way through. Shortly after I came across my first upgrade. A sail.

The sails help gain a little extra speed as well as helping to slowly push you along if you run out of fuel.

 

Something very important to remember is when coming to a full stop, bring the sails down. More times than I care to admit did I forget about the sails and had to chase after it until it came to a stop.

To be perfectly honest, at first I wasn’t really enjoying myself. But once things got rolling and I was bouncing around the inside of my train-like house-car loading the furnace and kicking out steam I was having great fun. The puzzles I encountered weren’t too much of a brain twister but were still enjoyable and it was nice to get out of the vehicle from time to time. I did only do two puzzles during my time with FAR so they may get harder as the game goes but I couldn’t possibly say.

FAR uses music perfectly. They really did earn labelling the game an “atmospheric” adventure. I really don’t feel like I’m qualified or music-literate to express just how incredible this game sounds when your playing. The music suits the setting and comes in at the perfect times. I wish I had a larger vocabulary so I could really emphasise just how fantastic the music is in this game. All I can do is demand that you buy it when it releases on 17th May and play it with headphones.