Far Cry 3 Personal Review

So, I’ve brushed the crumbs off of my controller, opened my eyes to the world of daylight once again and can honestly say that Far Cry 3 is a great game. Firstly let me tell you that it’s difficult to compare it to predecessor without making Far Cry 2 seems like a terrible game itself – which it wasn’t – but the new instalments does everything we loved much better than we’ve ever seen before. It expands on the foundations made in FC2 but also ensures that it doesn’t suffer with the same problems that plagued the last outing. For starters that means that camp respawning is a thing of the past and checkpoints are much more forgiving.

The game starts out with flashbacks to tropical paradise where you, Jason Brody, and your friends are enjoying some much needed sunshine. You see snippets of what your character has been up to and the fun he has been having, but are quickly thrust into the prison camp of the truly malevolent and mentally broken Vaas.

Its here that you learn the games signature sneaking mechanics, throwing rocks to distract the guards, all the while carefully plotting a route of escape. Without spoiling anything, and that’s a must with a game full of brilliant plot twists and original ideas, you escape alone into the jungle. After being introduced to the clever Dennis, the game takes you by the hands for the first hour or so and introduces you to the open world mechanics that are part and parcel of what you need to successfully traverse the giant islands.

The experience is filled with charisma, from the main antagonist to the NPC’s around you. Everything feels at home on Rook Island and nothing seems rushed in its creation. It’s a real statement to say that Vaas himself is one of the best antagonists of recent times, especially with the likes of Handsome Jack for competition. The mentally broken ‘slave trader’ is, at all times, creepy and his loose cannon nature shows the player the depth of the personalities on offer while also keeping you on your toes.

The real character however comes from the island itself. Giant in scope this tropical paradise, or hell, is filled with quirky things to see or do. The world continues without you and everything from the native Rakyak people to the roaming animals have their own display patterns that are random of sorts. It’s an interesting dynamic that means that no two adventures through the island are the same.

Some rather strange situations can arise from such a broad gameplay and one of my particular favourites was during an attempt to silently take down one of Vaas’ camps.

My character started up on a hillside rock scoping out the area below with his zoomed in camera lens. The area is heavily patrolled by three standard pirates, one sniper and two of the heavily armoured variety. Watching their every move I get myself into position ready to drop the sniper with a headshot. I’m hoping that the height advantage he has hides his body from the guards, fortunately it does. One down, five to go. Watching the armoured guards I spot a caged animal in the background, a Cassawary, so I go for the shot. The cage bursts open and the commotion gives me a chance to pick off one of the heavy troops and two of the normal guys. I watch as the Carrowary goes wild running from pillar to post distracting both me and the pirates. I creep in for a closer look as the final armour guard reaches the corner; I’m trapped and fire off my explosive arrows as he blasts me full of bullets. Finally he falls and as I reach for some medicine I realise I’m empty and a shot from death. The final pirate approaches me but before he can pull the trigger our friendly neighbourhood Tiger viciously takes him down leaving me to hold the base for my own.

It’s those sorts of random dynamics that make Far Cry 3 such a joy to experience. The vast array of different missions, output captures, supply drops and hunting trips give the open world game a fresh feel. The content outside of the main quest is easily 20 hours of potential gameplay and picking up all the relics will take an age on top of that.

 When the game starts you feel daunted by the sight distances and the directions you can explore but before long Rook Island feels like another brilliant location to be savoured. It’s so well crafted that no matter what I say you’ll still feel like there are more things to do then you ever imagined. Every corner, crevice and hill has something to do and a reason for its existence. This is open world gaming at its best.

On a side note Far Cry 3 also has online multiplayer and map design but in all honesty the main game has swamped my time so much I’ve barely touched these offerings. What I have played though is a very standard various of an action FPS but the co-op missions are fun and as well designed as the main story.

Don’t let that put you off though – Far Cry 3 is an animal of a game and one that will keep reeling you in for hours on end.