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Far Cry 3 – Game Review

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FarCry3 CoverTitle: Far Cry 3
Developed By: Ubisoft Montreal et al.
Published By: Ubisoft
Based On: Far Cry 3 video game frachise
Console: Playstation 3 / XBox360 / Windows PC
Genre: First Person Shooter / Action Adventure
Review Conditions: Playstation 3, Physical Media
Classification: MA15+ for Strong Violence, Drug Use, Sex Scenes, Sexual Reference and Coarse Language
Special Thanks: Ubisoft Australia for providing me with a copy of this title to review

Far Cry 3 players step into the shoes of Jason Brody, a man alone at the edge of the world, stranded on a mysterious tropical island cut off from civilization.  In this savage paradise where lawlessness and violence are the only sure thing, players will dictate when, where and how the events of the game unfold.  Players will slash, sneak, detonate and shoot their way across the island in a world that has lost all sense of right and wrong. 

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Given December was a hectic month for me in a number of aspects, this was one game that unfortunately until now fell through the cracks – partly because it is one of the titles that has met almost widespread acclaim and because it is a giant game that I haven’t had the time to go through like others. Fortunately this last week I finally found the time to sit down and make my way through the game in its entirety…. and while it might not be of the genre I would usually follow in a game it turned out rather enjoyable.

Here is my belated review for Far Cry 3 on the PS3, XBox360 and Windows PC.

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Story

All Jason and his friends wanted to do was enjoy their island getaway…. and at the start they do get to enjoy it. In the montage we are presented upon starting the game up we are shown them dancing in nightclubs, skydiving and Jason locked up in a cage. Jason and his friends find themselves split up on the Rook Islands, a tropical island paradise where its inhabitants remain fearful of the pirates which have made it their home, and have subsequently taken the characters captive in a bid to extort money from their families then sell them into slavery. With the assistance of his brother Grant (At the loss of his life), Jason is able to break out of captivity and is subsequently rescued by a man named Dennis who is a member of the Rakyat tribe (The islands natives).

Jason decides not just to sit around but with the assistance of Dennis and others, he sets out on a mission to rescue his friends one by one, and in the process meets some of the more…. eccentric and interesting inhabitants of the island – from the Rakyat leader Citra, mushroom healer Dr. Earnhardt to an Australian by the name of Buck. Jason’s personality evidently changes throughout his experience and is noted by the other characters, and with the creative implementation of the smaller character cast as well as the twists and turns in the plot it makes for an enjoyable playthrough storyline wise. It is a dark storyline that in many areas does not hold back with interesting character development and where it counted (I found) unpredictable plot progression.

I would have like more optional sidestories to delve more into the characters and other aspects of the island, but overall the storyline was of a solid standard.

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Design

When it comes to any open-world game, one of the most important aspects to me is ensuring that the world is vivid and vibrant, as spending five to ten minutes wandering around a bland world reminiscent of a bland wasteland (Unless that is the way they have gone with the design) does not appeal to me. Fortunately the team at Ubisoft Montreal et al. have done a fantastic job of designing the Rook Islands, with everything from texturization and lighting to colour and object placement all working well to contribute to the overall intended island setting that Far Cry 3 takes place in. While the environment does succumb to a random bug now and then and my cars always seem to set their course towards a river… it is one of the better open world environments I have had the chance to explore and is littered with secrets and little other landmarks that help set the scene.

Character animation and design also contribute highly to the overall experience – with the character designs suiting the environment and asides from a few glitches, the character animation is solid. In both regards the development team should give themselves a hearty pat on the back.

Music and Voice Acting

Music wasn’t a huge aspect of this game in my opinion, and most of the time I found myself too pre-occupied to really pay much attention to it. The music however suits the mood of the scenes that take place, and it was a nice touch when jumping into certain vehicles and having the radio play a tune or two (Before the vehicle finds itself submerged in a river (See above). Sound effects however are more notable, and provide great immersion both during and out of fights.

The English voice cast provided a solid dubbing  job across the board. Particular highlights included Julian Casey as Bambi “Buck” Hughes and of course… Michael Mando as Vaas who is the stand-out highlight of the game. To give fair warning for those who skipped the classification above, the game is heavy on the coarse language.

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Gameplay

While this will differ between your skills with first person shooters, the amount of time you stray from the main storyline and the amount of time you spend wandering the vast wilderness….  I could see someone getting around 20 – 30 hours of gameplay from this game, with much more content and upcoming DLC releases to keep fans of the game entertained for potentially longer. Far Cry 3 offers a similar first person shooter experience to other titles on the market, and utilizes and implements them well with their own individualized tricks and strategies for you to build upon as you progress throughout the game. In addition, as we have come to expect from these sorts of games, Far Cry 3 offers a diverse range of different weapon types (Including a number of more uncommon ones) and can not only have an effect on the targets but provides a relatively interactable environment.

The game features an RPG-esque levelling system which to an extend draws this game into the supernatural. As you progress through the game, through your actions you obtain experience points which allows you to progressively level up and unlock new skills under one of three primary trees “The Shark”, “The Heron” and “The Spider” – allowing you access to more health, benefits through the use of select weapons, better healing or other bonuses that you might expect to see. In my attempts to grind the levels, it did turn out relatively tedious, but by progressing through the main storyline you never really find yourself underpowered and the unlockable skills are just there to provide you with an easier experience or provide new strategies.

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While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, Far Cry 3 features a rather extensive crafting system to produce upgrades and health items. This is pretty much required to progress through the game, as doing so is required for you to unlock additional weapon holders, wallets, ammo kits, syringe kits and more. When it comes to crafting physical items, most of them can be acquired through hunting the animals spread across the island (Fortunately there aren’t too many of them to worry about) or via quests. On the other hand, for medicinal items you are required to hunt down different plants which can be combined to produce syringes. The system is simple to grasp and it isn’t too time heavy like games which focus more heavily on the crafting/alchemy aspect.

Taking a leaf out of Assassin’s Creed, you begin the game with your map pretty much empty. To uncover the island on your map you must find and make your way up radio towers placed around the island and disable them, which apparently gives you a full view of a set area around the tower and the surrounding area is added to your map. As with other things in the game, you are not required to decommission all the towers, but are important in identifying the best route to your target destination (You are surrounded by forests after all) and provide new and occasionally free new weapons in the shop. Other amenities such as medicine, ammo and weapons can otherwise be purchased through vendors spread throughout the island in buildings.

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For the purposes of this review I was unable to test out the co-op play to any great lengths, but this mode offers the opportunity for up to four friends to take part in a set of distinct co-op campaigns and from what I played from it was fun, although lacks the charm of the main campaign. If you don’t want to work together and go against each other, Far Cry 3 also offers a set of four multiplayer game modes – “Team Deathmatch”, “Transmission”, “Firestorm” and “Domination”, each which offer a unique mode of gameplay and provided you get some good people to play against you it can be pretty fun…. but otherwise lacks that long-term appeal. The game also comes with a Map Editor which allows you to use a set of standard tools to produce your own multiplayer environment which was pretty fun to play around with but I never really got the opportunity or time to test my maps in action.

Overall, Far Cry 3 delivers a solid gameplay offering in its main campaign, and while the multiplayer and co-op campaigns may lack the same appeal, it was a nice way to end playtesting. While there are a few quirks that kept it from being a perfect experience – when coupled with an intriguing storyline and a vibrant visual display Far Cry 3 was definately a worthwhile playthrough and I think provides a good amount of content for your buck.

Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: A-
Design: A-
Music/Voice Acting: B
Gameplay: A-
Replayability: A-
Personal Opinion: A-
Overall Score: A-

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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