Review - Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3

Ubisoft Montreal

Dunia Engine 2

Windows (reviewed), XBOX 360, PS3

FPS, Action-Adventure, RPG

December 4, 2012

The Preamble

I’d never played a Far Cry title before Far Cry 3, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew the gist of it: Open world, tropical island setting, first person shooter. Far Cry 3 is certainly all of these things, but it’s also so much more...

The Overview

You play as Jason Brody, stereotypical rich frat boy who’s out vacationing in Southeast Asia somewhere with a bunch of friends. After taking a skydiving trip and landing on seemingly deserted island, the vacation comes to an end when a band of pirates kidnaps the group and holds them hostage. You manage to escape, but your buddies aren’t as fortunate, some are killed, and some are whisked away to other parts of the island. With the help of the local natives, you unlock your Rakyat powers, which give you the strength to defeat the pirates and rescue your friends.

The Good

• The open world aspect of the game is really well done. It achieves the feeling of being able to go anywhere, and supplies you with two giant islands to explore. While I feel like there could have been some improvements in the exploration rewards (see The Bad), the ability to tackle situations in the game from any angle you can imagine is really satisfying and adds a nice diversity to the plethora of enemy outposts that you can take over throughout the game.
  
  
  

  

  I can't even fit everything on the screen!

• Hunting! I don’t think I’ve come across a game that makes hunting as amusing as it is in Far Cry 3. Red Dead Redemption makes a pretty good attempt, and the hunting/skinning/crafting system is very similar but far more satisfying in FC3. I think the key here is that you, as the player, not only are hunting animals but you also feel hunted as you venture throughout the jungle. The first time I came across a stream out in the middle of the jungle, I stopped to gawk at the beautiful water and all of a sudden, a massive crocodile jumps out of the water and takes me down to the ground. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The developers do a great job of making you feel genuinely threatened and vulnerable while wandering the jungle; you never know what’s going to jump out at you.
  

  

  Oftentimes you'll see your enemies get taken down by wildlife as well.

• Crafting! What are you going to do with all those animal carcasses and skins? Craft stuff of course! There’s a pretty robust crafting system in the game that requires you to hunt animals and gather herbs in order to make inventory bags, ammo pouches, healing potions, etc. While I hated the interface, the system itself was well designed, and compelled you to go hunt more than you probably would otherwise.
• The game is beautiful. Like BioShock Infinite and Skyrim, I was constantly stopping to just enjoy the sights, taking screenshots left and right. The game uses the Dunia 2 Engine, an evolved form of the engine used for Far Cry 2, and it is really, really nice. This is one of those games where if you have a powerful machine, it pays off.
  
  
  

  

  
  
• The FPS combat mechanics, while not doing anything especially different, are solid and fun. The wide array of weaponry at your disposal and cool stealth-melee attacks that you can put skill points into are extremely satisfying to utilize.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
• Yet another FPS that employs some RPG elements that are actually quite good! This makes the game almost feel a little Skyrim-ish. There are 3 skill trees, each having its own theme. It’s not terribly important which one you decide on first as you will get more than enough points to get nearly every skill, especially if you’re going the completionist route. But the choices are nice, and they provide a nice sense of progression as you play through the main story.
• Insane antagonist. I could take or leave most of the characters in Far Cry 3, but the antagonist, Vaas, is really well done. He’s got sort of a Tuco vibe, making him extremely unpredictable, and downright frightening to encounter. The times where I was face to face with Vaas are some of the most memorable times in the game.
  
  

• The story is actually pretty good. It’s not great, I’ll admit, but the voice acting is on point, and while there is a fair amount of supernatural mumbo jumbo involved in Jason’s acquisition of strength, you get a pretty good feel for the character developing and getting used to the situation that he’s been thrust into. It was good enough to keep me compelled until the end, and I think most people would feel the same way.
  

  The Bad
• I wish the loot crates that are all over the islands had some useful stuff in them. Instead, you get money and vendor trash to acquire more money. Never any crafting material, weapons, nothing. Hunting for loot is a big draw of exploring for me, so without this, I was less inclined to explore after a while.
• The UI is clunky and obnoxious, at least on the PC. It really doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the game too much, but it was a minor annoyance for me.
  
  

The Verdict

This is a great game that I would highly recommend to any FPS-RPG fan. Diversified, fun FPS combat, tons of exploration, RPG skill progression, beautiful setting, fairly compelling story; I would go as far as to say that this game comes close to being perfect. I'll be looking forward to seeing the next game in the series!

The Extras

Here are some videos of various gameplay from my playthrough. Mostly just messing around, but it will give you a good idea of what to expect from the game.