Looking Forward to 2013

The original Xbox went out with a bang back in 2005 and delivered some of the consoles best games during its final year. It is actually looking like the Xbox 360 will repeat this feat over the next 12 months, and we already know is the last full calendar year for the Microsoft hardware. The year ahead is littered with spectacular send-offs and sequels made to push the current hardware into the future and as we eagerly await the Xbox 720/Durango next winter. You can probably expect some new Xbox 360 games in 2014 but I’d imagine this will coincide with the next hardware releases like King Kong and Fifa 06 did last time around.

There are plenty of fantastic games already announced for 2013 and the point of this list is to let you know exactly what you should already be keeping an eye on. I’ve reduced the number in specific ways both because I think the games will either be not good enough or they’ll breach the console generation gap and release on the Xbox 720 – I’m looking at you Star Wars 1313.

Another interesting point is that the majority of games announced for this year are due in the first half of the year which presumably means that developers don’t fancy their games getting lost in the next-gen hype.

With all that out of the way, let the Xbox 360’s swan song begin!

Grand Theft Auto V

Who could start this list without the final GTA game of this generation? Besides the fact that Rockstar have a fantastic reputation, this sandbox is rife with humour, personality and adult content. Every single GTA game has surpassed expectations and I expect this one to do exactly the same. It is due to be released in spring this year and has an interesting co-op premise that promises even more hours of play than ever before. It’s actually bean five years since GTA IV so we know a lot is going to have changed for the better which is the best thing about a franchise that still hasn’t conformed to the plain Call of Duty idea of releasing every single year.

BioShock Infinite

Ken Levine has become one of the most recognisable faces of the Video Games industry and for very good reasons. Him and the team at Irrational Games have proven that smart game design and clear gameplay is always a marketable asset and one that has delivered great sequels and new IP’s alike. Infinite looks like a chance to increase their opportunities again; delivering a sequel to a franchise that already has a lot of love while also making this seem like a new game in its own right. The biggest change is the addition of the NPC- Elizabeth - who will be integral to the gameplay, a risky choice maybe, that follows the line of ICO and it’s parameters for ‘protection’. It seems like this game has been in production for an age but this year we will finally get to wander the cloud-city of Columbia.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Not a lot of people have probably heard about this one yet but it’s shaping up to be a cracker. It’s from the creative minds behind last years ‘Journey’ and just that fact has a few eager heads spinning. It’s supposed to be a short 3 to 4 hours downloadable game but one that story driven and set in a fantasy realm. It’s one of those games that will make you play from start to finish in one sitting.

The Cave

Ron Gilbert is back to doing what he does best and his new baby is already littered with dry wit and clever ideas. Unlike most adventure games, The Cave features platforming and puzzle-solving elements that is key to working with it’s massive cast of characters. Interestingly you can only play as three at any time so the replay options on this are likely to be high. After the Monkey Island franchises what’s not to be excited about?

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Since Conviction was released in 2010 we have noticed that the Splinter Cell franchise is going to become more of an action title than ever before. It’s unlikely that we’ll head back to the stealth elements of Chaos Theory anytime soon but for what it’s worth Blacklist is shaping up to be the Metal Gear Solid of the New Year. Sam Fisher is back, again, and appears to be slicker, faster and cleverer than ever before. The only downside is that Michael Ironside still isn’t voicing Sam himself.

Gears of War: Judgment

When Gears of War jumped over to developer People Can Fly there was a sense of worry over how the series would go. This is a typical Gears game in any sense of the word but one what isn’t in line with the Marcus Fenix trilogy you’ve been playing over the last few years, People Can Fly are the creators of Bulletstorm and it’s in their skill kills, brutal challenges and arcade action that Judgement takes a lot of it’s foundations. It’s like a faster Gears game with more blood – if that’s possible – and environmental kills. It’s exciting and should definitely feel at home in the hands of any Gears of War veteran.

Crysis 3

If the fantastic Crysis 2 is anything to go by this third instalment should be immense. The CryEngine is getting shaper with each use and this looks to lovingly create an urban world littered with jungle foliage. I should also say that the gameplay is right up there with the eye candy to produce another Nanosuit masterpiece. Expect more freedom this time around when completing your objectives. Although Crysis 2 was a great game in itself the developers have really listened to fan feedback, the only downside is that we haven’t received confirmation of the 3D TV support that gave added depth to the last game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

We all know there is a hell of a lot riding on this one. After the tragic failure of AvP the development cycle for this one has been watched with a fine eye. It’s been in development for a couple of years now and with Gearbox helming this franchise reboot (of sorts) the game looks to be in safe hands. Unfortunately we aren’t likely to know for sure until it releases in, at this point in time, early February. Big game review sites are stating that it’s a good game at the moment and that it gives off a very claustrophobic feel just like the movies.

Dead Space 3

It wouldn’t be right to talk about the big games of next year without mentioning everyone’s favourite horror survival franchise. This is a series that has really taken the bull by the horns and is arguably the finest horror franchise on offer today. While Resident Evil and Silent Hill have dropped in popularity this ‘horror on a spaceship’ has become one of the fan favourites. There is a lot of new additions to the tried and tested formula and the co-op campaign option is looking to have just the same amount of shocking twists and turns as it’s predecessors.

Star Trek

I find movies tie-in’s to be terrible, boring and completely repetitive but the new Star Trek game looks like it might change my mind. Granted it doesn’t actually follow the ‘Into Darkness’ formula of the movie but this action-adventure looks to be something we should all keep an eye on. Build around Kirk and Spock this co-op style game has great graphics and licensed likenesses to help with its authenticity.  Hopefully it really can change all our minds on the recently poor licensed title genre.

Tomb Raider

After getting to play a snippet of this back at the Eurogamer Expo in September I have been eagerly watching the interweb for new previews, videos and announcements. It seems to be taking Lara in a completely different direction and that’s a rare accomplishment for a franchise that has such a strong fan backing. This is a fresh take on the origins story with action, puzzle and gun play all taking place through its epic looking single player. The recent announcement of multiplayer won’t hurt either with the Uncharted vibe certainly giving it a good fast paced feel while staying true to the tried and tested formula.

It’s going to be an interesting year for game and an even more important one for the new hardware announcements which we all know are due anytime now. Is there anything I’ve missed off this list? Any choices you don’t agree with? If so sound off in the comments section below.

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Why don't people like Final Fantasy IX?

After some Christmas boredom and standard internet browsing I came across a particular article on 1UP that got me thinking about some of my favourite older RPG’s. In particular it got be thinking about Final Fantasy and the ninth instalment in the series.

While Final Fantasy IX didn’t generate the same amount of hype as VII, VIII or X, it did have a following of hardcore fans. It came at a time when myself in particularly had no idea when I could take the leap onto the next generation console, in this case the PlayStation 2 which had only just been released. As such I trusted in my grey friend again to provide me with some enjoyable gaming activities and boy did he deliver.

At this point Square were pushing out Final Fantasy games at an almost yearly rate and each was a single approach to the standard formula, there was no need for sequels or immensely rubbish spin-offs. Ok the graphics didn’t compare to Final Fantasy X, which had already been announced for the next gen, but the game pushed the original Playstation as far as it could go.

Final Fantasy IX is, in my opinion, the sweetest and most sincere take on the Final Fantasy brand ever and one that gripped you straight from the play at Alexandria to the inevitable final battle.

Of course, when you lift off those rose-tinted glasses, the few faults of the game are easy to spot and the game should have really be pushed over to the next gen console to fully realise it’s potential. Along with Vagrant Story the game really excelled at what it did even with the limitations of the console itself. Getting sucked into a Random Battle produced a good few seconds of blank screen, and what seemed to be intentional build-up music, before the monsters and characters were released on screen. Other issues arose in areas where the game didn’t have the memory or the time to give some of the core plot characters enough personality. Eiko, Amarant and Quina just didn’t get the time they deserved and Freya’s back story needed far more development.

What the game did get right though was the pacing and the development of the characters once they were on your journey, in particular towns certain short character interchanges were available to flesh out emotion and the Chocobo digging side missions could have been a game in itself. Once particular piece of magic was the use of a single spell in battle to topple the disk changing boss, Soul Tree (and for the life of me I want to say disc two but it might have been disk three). It was in these moments that the game sucked you in for more and the graphical prowess of the cut-scenes made for dramatic viewing – Alexander vs Bahamut springs instantly to mind.

The core story of friendship, love, and loss still makes for one of the strongest in Final Fantasy history, mostly because it's just so damned straightforward and humanistic. I couldn’t tell you what happened in the more recent games as their stories become so contrived that I actually lose interest. In a fantasy world we all need some grounding from reality to keep us invested in the characters plight (actually Catherine is a great example of this – completely abnormal gameplay but with a core story based in the real world).

Although some of the characters get short changes – see above – you still knew exactly what their nuances where and how their personalities would affect the situation. The Final Fantasy games have become more about their ‘Sexy Teen’ style cast as the years go on and IX is a complete contradiction to that rule. There’s a ‘there’s a homeless piñata’ a ‘Buzz Lightyear style knight’ and a ‘moomin dressed in housewife clothes’. The only one feasibly humanlike in creation and nature is Garnet – who has a ridiculously childlike face and could never become a real object of your desires. The whole cast are a travelling freakshow.

It’s these extreme character traits and their subsequent changes that make the game so memorable: Steiner (the Buzz Lightyear) goes from stuffy antagonist to a warmer hero, Vivi copes with knowing he is just a puppet, and even the main character Zidane has to deal with some heavy plot points towards the end that contradict his childish antics.

Many people think that Final Fantasy IX is a cheap throwback to the original games, and although there are a few quotes here and there, this is really a game that has been created with character of its own. It has the same monsters as most games and pulls back to some of the battle systems of yesteryear but it’s a great instalment to what has unfortunately  become (since the release of X) a tarnished franchise.

I’m not sure if this still has a mediocre reputation, maybe I’d know for sure if people ever mentioned it (which is part of the reason for writing this). I’m guessing the characters are nearly as marketable as those from new instalments but if you’ve never played it then now is the time. Go out and find those legendary weapons, take some time to explore the cracks and crevices of Treno which hold a mountain of quests. In fact I am going to play this through again…. And I’d love to have some dialogue with people who see the magic of this severely overlooked game.

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3DS Sales Turnaround

An interesting statistic was released last week – in less than two years the 3DS has sold more units in Japan than the PS3 has in its six year lifecycle.

According to Media Create (via Nintendo Life) the latest portable sold 211,499 in the first week of December bringing its cumulative total to a whopping 8,799,378 units since its launch. The PS3 has still managed to sell 8,716,260 units in Japan since it’s launch in 2006.

Nintendo and Sony always do better in the Asian market than Microsoft and this can be seen in the statistics published at the bottom of this page. In fact the only console to sell more units in the first week of December was the brand new Wii U system which only released on 8^th December and therefore only has 1 day of sales to back up the statistics.

The most impressive thing about the 3DS’s accomplishment is that it has only really been out just over 18 months and, especially at first, we were all thinking the launch had gone badly for the Japanese developer.

The 3DS has a prime competitor now too in the form of the Playstation Vita but this seems to have failed to catch on in Sony’s homeland where it only managed to shift 11,039 units in the same week. Strangely the PSP sold more units in the same week with a grand total of 19,637 consoles sold.

Below is the full chart on Japan's hardware sales last week. Lifetime sales are in parenthesis.

■Nintendo Wii U - 308,142 (308,142)

■Nintendo 3DS - 211,499 (8,799,378)

■PlayStation 3 - 36,994 (8,716,260)

■PSP - 19,637 (19,488,236)

■PlayStation Vita - 11,039 (1,074,621)

■Nintendo Wii - 6,714 (12,608,700)

■Xbox 360 - 1,216 (1,608,399)

■PlayStation 2 - 904 (21,829,112)

■Nintendo DS - 424 (32,875,469)

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Raptr 2012 Statistics

Raptr has released it’s list of the most-played video games of 2012. According to the list, the following games topped the chart based on average playtime, average session length and total playtime share.

• Most Played New Game – Borderlands 2

• Most Played Game (Released Anytime) – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

• Biggest Boost from User-Generated Content – Portal 2

• Most Played Long-Awaited Sequel – Borderlands 2

• No Bathroom Break – Borderlands 2

• Most Played XBLA Game – Minecraft (Xbox 360 Edition)

• Most Played New IP – Dragon's Dogma

• Most Successful Paid to Free-to-Play Game – Star Wars: The Old Republic

It is also worth noting that Modern Warfare 3’s position is especially impressive since it was released in 2011 but still managed to beat many of the 2012 games. Their report adds that Borderlands 2 saw 200% more playtime than Diablo III in its first month of release, and that Portal 2 “saw a 446% increase in daily playtime after releasing mod tools that allowed users to create their own levels.” Star Wars: The Old Republic saw a 136% increase in activity after its recent transition to free-to-play.

Raptr provides this information yearly based on it’s tracked userbase, which is reported to be more than 15 million. The company used a ‘proproetary formula’ based on key statistics that help to determine the winners. To create equal footings the comparison looks at time frame specifics, which are typically defined as the first month after release. Wii and Playstation 3 games were not included due to a problem with data capturing restrictions.

You can read the full report on Raptr’s official site and while your there you may as well sign up.

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Exaggeration Station

This is probably the most difficult post I have ever written and that’s because it could easily cross the proverbial ‘line’, let’s hope it doesn’t.

As if the circular blame game surrounding violent crime wasn’t already bed enough, one particular British Tabloid, The Express, has decided to implicate the Dynasty Warrior franchise in the horror of Adam Lanza’s school shooting. Yes, we’ve moved on from Mass Effect and are into a game that doesn’t even feature guns.

The newspaper wrote, ‘Chillingly, his favourite video game was said to be a shockingly violent fantasy war game called Dynasty Warrior, which is thought to have given him inspiration to art on his darkest thoughts,’

Of course this camp B-movie Kung-Fu game which focuses on Shaolins does give off the impression of ‘violence’ with its no blood approach. The worst reason for this franchise being includes has got to be that defeated opponents are referred to as KO’d not ‘dead’ – it’s so tame it isn’t even an 18 certificate.

I have already ranted about this cowardly buck-passing of the violence-friendly new media, so I won’t go into it again. I will, however, express what a fucking ridiculous bunch of people they have writing for the Express. Can’t we just stick with the fact that Lanza was a weird and seriously deranged young man with dark thoughts inside of him? If Dynasty Warriors did this sort of thing to people then the police should start monitoring who buys the next instalments in the series.

Ironically the original article has been pulled down...

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Video Game Resolutions

For many people the start of a New Year brings resolutions, revelations and ‘life improvements routines’ – which incidentally are usually forgotten by February – or in my case a list of things I still need to finish before I begin anything new.

As 2012 has been another great year for gaming, which is hardly up for dispute, I have found myself playing many different titles for a multitude of hours but have missed several very important things along the way. The below list has been complied to show the Video Games that I have either missed out on completely or need to get around to finishing before I can delve into the delights of 2013.

·         I still haven’t ‘Cleared’ all the locations within Skyrim.

For those of you who remember - this was one of my ‘tasks’ at the end of last year too but I still haven’t got around to it. I’ve probably played 200 hours of Skyrim this year, which isn’t all that much when you think about the amount of content on offer, but I always seem to start a new character each time I drop back into Tamriel. I find myself time and again starting off  a new campaign to run with a different style of play and get myself fully invested in the quests, suddenly a new game gets released, I drop Skyrim for a time and when I finally decide to go back I pick up a new character entirely and start back at square one.

·         I didn’t get around to playing Assassins Creed 3

No matter how much I enjoyed Assassins Creed 2 and the Brotherhood instalment the fact that I loathed the ‘Tower Defence’ requirements of Revelations has completely destroyed, for me, the franchise I loved. Usually I’d have picked up the game on release day, played it for weeks and enjoyed every second of it; however this has definitely not been the case. I played a bit at Eurogamer in September and enjoyed the different direction the series was heading in but I still haven’t picked up the full package. All my close friends enjoy it and have recommended it as a ‘return to what Assassins Creed is all about’ but I just can’t put my hand in my pocket to buy it myself. I’d love to finish Desmond’s story but until there’s a significant price drop I just don’t want to spend £40.00 on this one in case I’m disappointed again.

·         Maxing Out on Borderlands 2

Although I’ve plugged a lot of hours into this game I still haven’t reached the initial level cap; but believe me I’ve been trying. I’ve played so much now that I’ve almost lost the will to carry on. I’m on the True Vault Hunter Mode - see second playthrough – which is far tougher than before but I just can’t bring myself to keep completing fetch quests in an attempt to boost my rank. Yes this has been one of my games of the year but I just can’t get myself back in the mood for it.

·         Getting an £85 Million Squad on Fifa 13’s Ultimate Team

Fifa 13 is by far the superior Football simulator on the market this year and has brought with it several more reasons to play for longer than ever before. I’ve always been a fan of Ultimate Team, and as a founding member, thought I’d plug in enough time pretty quickly to build a fantastic team. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case and although I am also an EA Season Ticket holder I just can’t obtain enough players and staff to make my club anything special. Yes my team is pretty good, especially with Mata and Silva sitting in midfield behind Tevez and Torres but no matter how hard I try I just can boost my club value for the Achievement points. Any hints would be greatly appreciated?

·         I haven’t upgraded to Pokémon Black/White 2

I’ve never really been a Pokefreak but I do enjoy short spouts at levelling up my creatures and taking on the world. This year I jumped back into the DS offerings and picked up the original Pokémon Black initially to play my girlfriends brother. I spent a good 20 hours or so maximising my potential with the aim of completing as much of the Pokedex as possible and after wandering Unova for so long I just don’t want to start over. Yes Black/White 2 are supposed to be fantastic games, they ooze the perfect Pokémon product, but I just can’t see myself moving over again. I have a level 100 Emboar and have no intention of letting him go.

·         Moxxi just won’t put out

No matter how hard I try I just can’t get her to screw my Axton – I must have spent a fortune in that ‘Tip Box’!

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Far Cry 3 Hints & Tips

So Far Cry 3 has been out a week now and what a great diamond in a field of roughage it is. It’s a difficult but thoroughly enjoyable open-world FPS that delivers every single aspect well enough to keep you coming back for me.

This article will give me a chance to push forward some initial tasks which will help you on your way across Rook Island. In fact think of this as a bit of a ‘Help Guide 101’. I won’t be discussing any story points so you’re free to read ahead even if you haven’t started the game yet.

When the game starts you’re going to be severely limited to the number of items you can carry and among other things this increases your time in game by requiring you to sell items at the store every 5 minutes or so. The area of Rook Island is littered with item boxes, lootable characters and more which will require as big a backpack as you can get your hands on. In order to do this you’ll need to hunt specific animals and use their skins to craft large sakes and therefore be able to carry more items at once. This really isn’t all that difficult, as an early tutorial explains most of basics: go to an area that has that kind of animal (the picture on the world map will help you here – so get those Communication Towers too), find your prey and shoot them until they die. Each upgrade takes more skins or tougher prey to obtain but nothing survives a few shotgun blasts at best. The final tier of each pouch or bag requires you to hunt a special kind of animal, like a White Belly Tapir, and these become part of the ‘Path of the Hunter’ quests found at ‘liberated’ enemy camps.

Jumping into crafting as early as possible is a sure fire way of boosting cash, syringes and weapons in order to survive this rough terrain. It’s worth taking some time to travel around the map and grab all the radio towers as you’ll need to do this regardless anyway. This unlocks free weapons in stores and also shows you the locations of the different creatures in each area on the world map.

It’s highly plausible to unlock a lot of the bags, pouches and wallets before getting your teeth into much of the main quest.

Some additional tips are:

·         Sharks are one of the toughest enemies to hunt, they obviously live underwater, and this makes them somewhat resistant to bullets. The easiest way to take one down is by unlocking the RPG. Alternatively remember that the jet-ski will also kill a surfacing shark just by driving over it.

·         Crafting the last update from each category required a specific rare animal so make sure you complete the Path of the Hunter quests as you venture through the game to get these items as quickly as possible. Don’t worry about getting the pelt too early either as these cannot be removed from your inventory until the crafted item has been created

·         Stock up on Green Leaves at all times as you can craft new syringes mid gunfight to restore health

·         Tigers and Bears are the toughest creatures in the jungle and become bullet sponges in most situations. Pick up a shotgun early as a few shots from even the lowest level shotgun will stop these in their tracks.

·         You can’t damage animal skins so don’t worry about cracking out the RPG to settle the job

·         If you’re attempting a Path of the Hunter quest, keep in mind that you have to use a specific weapon type only. What I mean is that any Shogun will do for a kill of this nature and you will not have to use the low level shotgun that comes at the hunting locations start point, that is unless you don’t own one of your own.

·         Pick up the Heavy Armoured Takedown perk as early as possible. The armoured guards are the bullet sponges of the island pirates and can take a hefty amount of damage being going down. To quickly take away this issue, you should pick up the Heavy Takedown as early as possible. These guys are dead slow and easy to deceive so run around them and stab them in the back.

·         Watch out for Helicopters!

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Skyrim Dragonborn Personal Review

Last week marked the release of the next substantial piece of Dowloadable content for Bethesda’s huge open-world RPG; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, called Dragonborn. This new content explores the island of Solsteim, sorry if I’m covering old ground, which was last seen in the Bloodmoon expansion for Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. While the locations has been used before, and is very Skyrim-esq, the design is still subtly different and pulls the player back into Tamriel with a variety of interesting quests to complete, areas to explore and items to collect.

To the south of the island, for instance, is Tel Mithryn, a gorgeous overgrown living village with mushroom style homes and interesting locals. The quests found here, like the catching of a runaway summon-gone-wrong, are interesting and a break from the empire induced stories that headed most of the main game.

The landscape has been designed in the same way as the mainland with players being able to explore every crack and crevice in the search for high level loot and crafting goods. Sadly the giant erupting volcano is an exception to this rule.

I found most of the dungeons spread across Solstheim to be thoroughly enjoyable rummages. They each implement new, if not exceptionally difficult, challenges and puzzle to be solved with some that will leave you scratching your head for a while. Each of these feels distinctly different to anything the game has offered previously and some have enormous interiors – though it’s nothing like Blackmarsh.

The best part of the content though has to be the Black Book realms – outfitted with tentacles, acidic seas and eyeballs in the sky – these make for a fresh creepy experience. I won’t spoil anything for you but this new realm sprouts up a few times and each adventure is just as enjoyable as the last.

This new content also brings with it a selection of new enemies too like the floating Seekers, who clone themselves decoys and the goblin-like Riekling, that sometimes ride wild boards into battle. There are also a host of interesting side quests including a particular favourite from Trisk Mead Hall, just remember not to kill the Riekling’s on sight.

As is the case with most DLC the main quest follows andefficient, if rushed, story about the original Dragonborn named Miraak. Ultimately he is most displeased with you joining his exclusive ‘Club’ and is causing havoc across the land to bring around your demise. The story involves you searching for these ‘Black Books’ and destroying his shrines but, even though the quest is between 6 to 8 hours long, the main questline feels a little unpadded and sped up more than I would have liked.

The biggest new feature for most people is the ability to ride dragons. I should mention that you won’t get to do so until you have learnt all three of the words for the new Dragon Shout, which happens at the very end of the main quest. When you finally do though, you’ll, like me, be a bit disappointed. It’s not a completely passive experience but it’s only a little above that. Yes, you can command your winged beast, to lock onto targets and attack but that’s about it. No airborne quests or other commands just good old brutality. You can’t freely fly around Skyrim, and Solstheim of course, snatching NPC’s with your dragons feet and dropping them to their doom like they often do to trolls – still we can continue to dream.

The new armour and weapons look very cool, but in large quantities this expansion won’t wow you like the first time you stepped out into the world of Skyrim. This is still a great addition to the game and has enough content for the price it is being offered. The island is an enjoyable place to explore and this is still the best piece of add-on content for Skyrim so far.

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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.

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