Oh this game. I do remember this series having a colorful history, more like for it's first release. Far Cry was originally developed by Crytek, using their first rendition of the CryEngine before it made it to Crysis when we then saw the astonishing CryEngine 2. After 5 other release on other consoles to rack in the doe, Far Cry went from awesome and beautiful, to old and ugly as it was ported or recreated on other, low-end devices. After ridiculously short development cycles for other Far Cry 1 games, Ubisoft finally decided to take an actual step forward and develop Far Cry 2 on their own in their Montreal studio. Although not doing as well, Far Cry 2 did just close enough to the original Far Cry. The second stand alone game added an open world environment. Although it had some initial technical issues, most would say it improved in more ways, but might not been up to same level of fun.
Many people in any realm of art or entertainment, would say you can't beat the original. You know, that statement kinda grinds my gears sometimes. It may be true, but if so, why would anyone keep making anything new or newer, if it wouldn't be to improve and possibly make their art better. After all, that is the strive most artists and developers should take. I can safely say right now that, with time, something has potential for being better than it's original and Far Cry 3 does it. How much better is something for you to read on to. Far Cry 3 only echos voices from the first game and is heard from the second. Will Far Cry 3 be heard for years to come, or will this game be an improvement, but a short cry in it's memory?
Jason Brody and all of his friends
Saw the magic in their eyes
They were in for a surprise
Far Cry 3 has a open world environment, that seems to be on a Polynesian looking island some where in the Pacific Ocean. That was something that I really wanted to find out about. I also think that the "good people" in the game are some kind of descendants of the Maori people, but what do I know? Enough to say that Far Cry 3 is the most beautiful game to come out this year! I mean of full retail games, Journey still beats it, but that's not even fair. This game is just astonishing. To think that graphics of current generation consoles could not seem any better, this game still says, "Oh we can still look better." Boy does it. You really can't understand how this game is so immerseve and real and gorgeous and life-like and I got to stop saying, 'and', until you get your hands on it! Crytek would even be quite amazed with this game's graphics and overall visual quality.
It gets easy for me now. This is Skyrim with guns! Well, maybe, but not a very accurate description. Only if you just looked at it and find out it's open world, that statement may sound legit. Yes it has a lot of exploration and things to do, but it's more of a Red Dead Redemption in First Person, with both the look and play (we'll get there soon). It also reminded me of Crysis, well yeah, and maybe Skyrim, in terms of size. It's not as big as Skyrim, but is feels big enough. You would think that a modern game with vehicles would need to be bigger, but the terrain of Far Cry 3 also adds to the immersion and makes it so driving is not as easy as one thinks. It has the realism and immersion of Crysis with the size and terrain close to Skyrim. So it's Skyrim meets Crysis in the visual style and it's an awesome combination. The game also makes matters better by adding a whole bunch of dangerous and even silly wildlife. Some times the animals will stop attacking friendlies and even enemies to attack you, which gets annoying, but wont get too bad. Watch out for the crazy Cassowaries, they are freaking murderous!
Now that I started sticking a toe in the gameplay waters, let's actually dive into it. Even in gameplay, it is much like Skyrim meets Crysis with a few cut ends. In all the things you can do: main quests, side quests, board jobs, exploration, and driving. Yes, driving is fun enough to count and there are some missions that have time trials. It does make for a enjoyable game that can be played for hours and hours, but then might end quickly. No one could believe that any current generation game is bigger than Skyrim and you'd be right too. Far Cry 3 is at least half the size and one fourth the time to get a 100% completion than Skyrim, but for some it's is enough. I mean, that would lead me to say it's more like Redemption. So as a rebuttal, I will say that in terms of gameplay, it's Red Dead Redemption meets Crysis. Anyone with some minor game knowledge could say Far Cry 3 is big, but it's no Skyrim.
Enough with the comparisons! I will finally say what it feels like to play. When using vehicles and moving through the environment, it feels like Battlefield...3? ARRGG, there I go again! Now I am done. Wait a second! That's what it is! Far Cry 3 is a perfect mix of those three titles: Red Dead Redemption, Battlefield and Crysis. It feels all so familiar and so great. The second one may have played very similar, but I bet it was not nearly as good to play as this one is! So,in the end, it is a very comparable game that mixes some other great games together so no one is left out in cold to play this. Far Cry 3 is an amazing, wide-open, long game, It is not a super long game to play and it's very easy for any FPS or action gamer to hop in and enjoy.
The Invisible Guests
Let me be honest, I had no idea that multiplayer and even co-op was in this game. I didn't play them nearly as extensively as singleplayer and I also didn't feel they should have been in this game. Co-op is fun to play with a buddy, but gets repetitive and a bit aggravating. Despite those two, it does have a rewarding feeling after completing each level. I am wrong about the competitive side of multiplayer, though. Competitive multiplayer adds elements from other games, again, like objectives and reviving team mates in Battlefield and a class system and perks like Call of Duty. The game also gives you a health bar, so in stead of getting shot in the face with a weak gun and waiting 3 seconds just to shoot back again, it's more difficult than that. So watch your life! It's interesting and fun, but they still could have made the game longer if they at least excluded the co-op.
Insanity
Definition
1. The state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
2. Extreme foolishness or irrationality.
Doesn't this sound like a typical storyline? Bunch of friends go to a tropical island and get captured by pirates. I can't think of any movies off of my head, but it sounds very familiar. Easy enough to do right? No, now you got to make me feel for the main character and care about his friends. Far Cry 3 starts with a basic concept and makes it work very well. You play as Jason Brody as hell begins to unfold on a once in a lifetime vacation trip and it's up to you to save your friends and get out alive. Jason develops a little too fast, but it's fine. He goes from, "I've never fired and gun before" to jumping out of a car in motion and shooting up bad guys in less than 20 minutes of progress. Which is okay, because it's good not to take a long time to develop a character. I would have suggested the main character has been in the military and then to that island, so his firearm expertise would be a realistic level.
In addition to saving your friends and surviving the island, you get help from the locals by, in turn, helping eradicate the pirates. You meet our good friend Vaas at the beginning (guy on cover) and he does a great job to motivate you in killing his crazy ass! Sorry, but the game's story really makes you want to save your friends and make the bad guys pay with every single one of their lives. You thought Vaas was insane enough, well he works for a guy too. I can't imagine how much more crazy his boss can be, but he is in this game. You'll meet him, let's say, too soon, I assure you. In all, an enjoyable storyline with quick, meaningful, and motivational character development.
I can't remember how many hybrid games I have reviewed, but I've liked all of them. Far Cry 3 is no exception. In fact, I liked this one the most of those hybrid games. Many say it's Skyrim with guns, but I say it's Red Dead Redemption in first person in modern day. I guess the first one sounds way more appealing. Far Cry 3 is fun and cool to play for a long time. For a open world game, it has decent multiplayer that feels less as tacked on as other titles have. The game is beautiful and I can't imagine how it looks ultra settings on the PC. It's not too small of a game, but it's big enough for the usual FPS gamer. The gameplay has good blends of other games and feels very good and fresh, to me at least. The story seems average with great characters to interact with and care for. Try what I did and rent the game for just a short while and wait until it lowers down in price after the holidays. Or if you love open world games and shooters, you really should have this already. If not, get it now, you got the whole winter break to play it! Far Cry 3 gets 5 Cassowary eggs out of 6. I need to play a bad game for once!
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