Exclusive Far Cry 3 Review

**Cannibal_sponge** Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:49 am

Should you sneak up on your enemy and slit his throat, or should you run in guns blazing and take out a pack a group of pirate bandits at once. Both of these and more are possibilities in Ubisoft's new game "Far Cry 3".

Far Cry 3 brings a beautiful island landscape to life, with violence and mayhem. It will test how you deal with situations, whether it is subtly or by over powering your enemy, with gun fire and various weapon options.

You play as a man in his early 20's named Jason Brody, who has come to the Rook Islands with his friends, his girlfriend and his 2 brothers. Not long after arriving they are captured by the pirate lord Vaas and he splits you away from your friends and family and intends to ransom you, then kill you. You are plunged into the game when you and your brother, Grant escape and you are tasked with finding your friends, no matter what.

From when you first enter the game, to the moment when you stop playing, you will be constantly pleased with the amazing graphics. This game looks and feels amazing, while you are doing anything, whether you are in combat or simply exploring the world. It makes the fact that the world changes around you so much more noticeable. This gives you the feeling that the island would live on once you are gone.

One of the main advertisements for this game features a very unique character who is a funny, but a crazy and unstable enemy. This character is named Vaas. Vaas, is a drug addict pirate lord, whom runs an entire island and is very insane, and unpredictable, but he is also a very funny and amazing character, that is hard to hate. This makes the game, so much more immersive, because you feel as if you know him, because it shows so much of his crazy personality. Another example of one of these likeable enemies is Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2. I hope that more games in the future make characters that are supposed to be hated but are very likeable.

The only problem that I had with this memorable character (Vaas), is that, you don't get enough interaction with him. It just feels like, Ubisoft has created this amazingly entertaining character, but you don't actually get to see or talk to him very much at all.

From Sharks to Komodo Dragons to Tortoises, it seems like Far Cry 3 has them all, and better still every animal you find in Far Cry 3 you can skin them. The wildlife of this game is what really brings the island to life, it is just amazing to watching people get torn apart by tigers, and even better watch crocodiles leap out at unsuspecting prey. These all contribute to making the game very lively and entertaining.

One of the things that was really special about Far Cry for me, was the range of animations that your character will perform, for various tasks, such as skinning animals, searching bodies, falling, diving, stabbing, swimming and much more. Although, some of the animations can get rather repetitive, after a little while, such as wrapping the same wound over and over again.

Another very cool addition to this game is the insane speed that fire spreads, so watch out when you see a pirate throwing Molotov's. What you are going to want to do is either get out of there fast or take him out before he turns everything around you into a burning mess.

The combat in this game is rather... normal. Many of the weapons are what you would expect from an FPS, Assault Rifles, SMG's, Sniper Rifles etc. etc. But there is a few strange but interesting weapons such as Flare guns and Compound Bows. The Bow is made even more of a cool weapon when the game allows you to add a scope and also allows you to shoot flaming and explosive arrows, which can cause immense amounts of destruction.

There are many radio towers scattered across the Rook Islands, you can scale of all of these, and once at the top you activate the radio tower which unlocks chunks of the map, and will gift you with new weapon for free. The way these towers unlock sections of the map is much like the Sync Points, in the Assassin's Creed games (Also by Ubisoft), which you also have to climb and upon reaching the top unlocks parts of the map.

When you think about a normal FPS you usually think that your greatest tool would be a big explosive weapon, well not in Far Cry 3. Your most important and helpful piece of equipment is simply a camera.

Not for taking pictures but for marking enemies, which displays what class of enemy they are and you can then see them though walls, until they are out of range of dead. This can come in handy when you have high ground and you want to take care of your targets one at a time, and quietly. To mark your enemies you simply have to hover your camera lens over your enemy.

It is very hard to find something negative to say about this game because it is so refined and well made. But there was a couple of things that weren't quite positive, like repetitive missions and animations, but those are quiet minor and barley change the game play much.

The one thing that really annoyed me about this game was that your character, Jason Brody, goes from being a guy from America how whimpers when faced with danger, but after 2 or less missions he becomes a battle hardened badass, who makes jokes in the face of death. This character development happens way to fast, I think Ubisoft should have spent a little more time in making him evolve into the "hero" that he becomes.

Many people will enjoy this game, because there is so much to do and so many ways to go about combat, and not to mention the amazing graphics, so if you like FPS games you will surely enjoy Far Cry 3. If give it 9.5 out of 10.

~Cannibal_sponge (Jacob Johnston)

Exclusive Far Cry 3 Review FarCry3Review