Slightly off topic, but I have a quick question. I've avoided the Far Cry franchise in the past due to it using a checkpoint based save system, but just how bad/annoying is the checkpoint/save system in Far Cry? Is it like the Batman: Arkham games where there are checkpoints everywhere, or are the checkpoints few and far between?

Depends. All Far Cry games are substancially different. Far Cry 1 is a relatively linear game, with an occassional checkpoint, as in every 15-20 minutes or so, depending on how fast you play it.

Far Cry 2 on PC actually has a save anywhere feature AND quick-save

Far Cry 3 is checkpoints only again, and the checkpoints tend to be about 20 minutes apart for missions, or if you die while exploring, you just 'respawn' next to the nearest radio tower.

In Far Cry you can save everywhere.
In Far Cry 3 I think it autosaves after completing a mission and some of the larger ones have checkpoints in the middle
There's also a checkpoint when you start a base take over.. I think that's all.
I don't remember how FC2 did it, I think it might still have had manual saves and automatic save after sleeping.

The missions have checkpoints, these vary in how long the stretch is without them, one auto-fail if no sneaking mission in particular becomes quite tiresome thanks to this. However outside of missions you can save anywhere and everywhere, so in that regard it's actually better than the Arkham games.

I'm in for 4, it beats COD.

You can? I thought that can only be done via console and doing so might lead to bugs

Thank you for the info! It seems like Far Cry 2 is more suited to me, if only because of the save system.

and we are going to fight...Javier Bardem?

Except his info for far cry 3 is wrong, you can save anywhere outside of missions.

And thank you for that info! So the first Far Cry is checkpoint only, Far Cry 2 is save anywhere outside of missions/checkpoints in missions and Far Cry 3 can be saved anywhere outside of missions as well?

Yes, but it simply saves your nearest spawn point and active mission and ammo and such.

Well yes, but it is possible and you can bind it to a key. ;)

Thanks everyone for the info!..I'll stop derailing thread now.

Glad to see there is another one on it's way, love sandbox type games and lately the farcry series has scratched the itch.

Hopefully it will have a good blend of snowy mountains and wet greenery and a non pansy and believable main character.

Precisely. You can save anywhere, it just won't actually save much of importance that a checkpoint wouldn't.

Just thought it's worth pointing out that it's not actually directly implemented in-game.

And you are completely correct, I based it on my memory of playing the game(s).
I had totally forgotten I had actually enabled it manually.
It's too bad (but understandable) that they implemented that checkpoint save system in 3.
Personally I like 'save scumming' to try different strategies, which in this case meant I had to die in order to respawn near the base I was trying to stealth conquer.
Which actually failed once because in one instance as I was mucking around and dying a bear ran into the base and killed everyone, which made the base conquered animation play and autosaved the game.
Still, Hitman was worse because of that same reason. I loved scumming my way through the first games (unless I'm remembering that wrong).

Far Cry 4 is going to have UPlay.I don't buy any of Ubisoft games because of it.I bought Far Cry 3 before I knew about UPlay and it was a big disappointment to me.That plus the preorder DLC practices makes their games unplayable to me.

UPlay was so bad I uninstalled the game,and if I am ever going to play Far Cry 3 I will have to pirate a game I bought.
I'm not going to do this,just boycott Ubisoft.