Far Cry 3 Review

American Psycho

Ryan Gilliam

What is Far Cry 3? Adventure, terror, drug-trips, tomb raiding, hang-gliding...Far Cry 3 is many things. Far Cry 3 is the sorta-sequel to Far Cry 2. I say “Sorta-sequel” because, mechanically, they have similarities, but in most ways they are very different, just as Far Cry 1 was to Far Cry 2. Far Cry 3 fixes almost all of the problems held by Far Cry 2, but it manages to throw in its own little problems as well.

Far Cry 3 is about a group of rich, white, American punks who vacation on an island

together. One of these Americans is you, Jason Brody. Jason, his older brother,

his younger brother, his girlfriend, his older brother’s girlfriend, his angry friend, and his

stoner friend all get captured by the same psychopath, Vaas. They are separated

(seemingly into groups of two,) and forced to survive.

The game opens strongly, with a really powerful first 15 minutes that turns

into a really fascinating first couple hours. What makes this beginning so interesting isn't

the gameplay, the story, or even the incredible villain we see in Vaas, what makes this start so interesting is Jason Brody. Brody’s older brother is a veteran and has seen plenty of combat, Brody, however, has never hurt a fly and is so emotionally torn up by witnessing death and being forced to kill, that there is no possible way to go but down into the depths of his humanity. While the first half of Far Cry 3 is seemingly about “saving your friends” its more about a 20 something young man discovering the

darkness he possess within, and how much he actually enjoys showing it. It works really well for the first five or six hours, but seems to disappear into "plot points past" in the later half.

While Jason is on the Rook islands, he comes in contact with the pirates led by Vaas (and Vaas’ boss Hoyt,) and the Rakyat warriors, a tribal group led by Vaas’ sister Citra. The Rakyat welcomes Jason as one of their own, gives you some mystical tattoos, and teaches you to become a survivor. When the game begins and you are welcomed into the Rakyat family, you are treated as an equal, but as Jason becomes more of a badass, the power shifts, and suddenly there is a white man who is the only one strong enough to save these poor tribal losers. While it seems that in every game or movie, the protagonist is “The One” and the only hope for civilization, it does not excuse the fact that you are a blatantly white, rich, handsome American, riding in on your white hoarse (or in this case red hang-glider) to save the helpless, stupid, expendable natives from

destruction by the hands of their black oppressors.

There are several amazing characters here, but the best one by far is the games posterchild, Vaas. Vaas is more monster than man, and was obviously inspired by the Joker. He is insane, terrifying, and a delight to watch work. It is a shame, that he sees so little screen time, and that his climax is very...unfulfilling. 

When this game was first announced, the press focused a lot on the crazy hallucinogenic drugs created by Dr. Earnhardt. There are several moments in the story where Jason will hallucinate due to drugs or...other means. In the beginning, these are really cool and are very reminiscent of the Scarecrow sections of Batman: Arkham Asylum. Later in the game, however, they become a tool for when the writers seem to get stuck. Whenever there is a seemingly unsolvable problem, or a plot point that is really stretching it, Jason will hallucinate, and then move on quickly. This leads to many confusing moments later in the story that you are just supposed to accept as “cool” and move on even though I

ended up feeling cheated out of any real answers or explanation. I'm all for ambiguity,

but this is not the way to do it.

As far as gameplay is concerned, this game is a blast to play. Depending on how you

build your massive skill tree (through the unique and cool tattooing system), you will

gain advantages in your preferred play style. Want to run around with a knife and bow,

silently eliminating your foes? Make your bow steadier and be able to throw your

enemies' knife into another enemy within range. Wanna be Rambo and murder with

LMGs and RPGs? Take less explosive damage, and pull the pin from an enemy

grenade and kick him into a crowd. The variation of the way you can play is a blast, and I took full advantage of it. It is some of the most improvisational video game fun ever.

The usually bland savannah of Far Cry 2 is replaced with the beautiful jungles, and mountain ranges of Rook island. One thing that carried over from the second Far Cry, is the realistic fire. Fire is a powerful tool in Far Cry 3, as you can set a small area ablaze, destroying your enemies and possibly yourself in the process.

Living inside these lush environments, are the games many animal species. You can

hunt all these animals, and some of them can hunt you. For instance a pig will just let

you kill one before they freak out and run away, no danger. On the other hand, a Bengal

Tiger can quickly ruin your plan by showing up out of nowhere for a quick meal. Animals

are mostly just used for the crafting system. Hunt these, get a bigger backpack, or more

ammo. The animals are particularly useful when they are locked up in a enemy camp.

Depending on the animal (bears work better than the weird carnivorous ostrich thing) all

you have to do is shoot open the cage, and watch your enemies get torn apart by the beasts of Rook island. Wildlife is really what makes this game so unpredictable and a ton of fun to wander around in.

Multiplayer:

Far Cry 3 boasts a impressive single player campaign, along with full multilayer, and co-op

missions. However, while the multiplayer has some cool moments, it does not stand

out amidst the multiplayer giants. This is not because it just isn't as popular, its because

most of the time it feels like a rip off of Call of Duty with much weaker mechanics. Its not completely without its

moments, but I see no reason to play this over any of the other 100 FPS games’

multiplayer.

There is also a co-op campaign that is actually pretty fun. It breaks away from the open approach of the single player, and allows you and four friends to kill pirates up and

down the islands. It’s action heavy, and is given some replayability due to the leveling

and loadout system tied to the multiplayer. The co-op and multiplayer can be fun, but they are in no way the reason you should buy this game.

Conclusion:

Far Cry 3 is an excellent game, and a great AAA title to end 2012. Marring some

frustrating story bits and tacked-on multiplayer, this game soars to some really

impressive heights and is sure to be near the top of many “Best of 2012” discussions. If

you are looking for another big open sandbox game with a ton to do that is

immeasurable amounts of fun to play, dive into the definition of insanity.

Note: Far Cry 3 was reviewed using a retail copy of Far Cry 3 for Xbox 360.