Far Cry 3 lives up to mad, mad hype
Far Cry 3
(out of 4) Xbox 360/PS3/PC $60 Rated M
It is one of the last big releases of the year, and if open world gaming is your bag you would be remiss to pass on Far Cry 3, Ubisoft Montreal’s latest creation.
It easily lives up to the hype created since they’ve been showing snippets for the past two years, and far surpasses Far Cry 2, which admittedly has its hard-core fans, but just as many detractors.
The challenge with any of these games is telling a story, while allowing the player to get their jollies exploring the world, and in this case, the developers have struck a beautiful balance melding action, stealth, collecting, crafting and more. While much of the marketing has been about the main villain Vaas and how “insane” the game is, the real star is the setting, the islands — which never leave you feeling any shortage of things to do.
You play as Jason Brody, best described as a “dudebro.” Along with some extreme-sports-loving friends, he’s jumping out of planes and having the time of his life, but as the game opens they all find themselves trapped by Vaas and his pirates, who plan to get a ransom from their captives’ families, then sell them into slavery anyhow.
It’s Brody’s brother who has military training and frees the pair, but Jason is the one who then finds himself on the “path of the warrior.”
That’s right near the beginning of the game, but this is one of the game’s few missteps. The writers start off with the potential for a great story — a neophyte trying to learn to survive and fight for freedom — but it’s immediately misspent, because as soon as the player takes control, it turns into a tradi- tional first-person game. His first kill is treated as if it’s traumatic; by the next, we’re knifing and shooting his way through enemies as if they were paper.
There’s also some disappointing use of stereotypes that remind of colonial attitudes, including the magical black man, Dennis Rogers, who helps get Brody on his way.
Despite some minor annoyances about that, it’s once the game truly opens up that shows the wonderful balance and care the developers took in making the island crazy fun to play. There are plants to collect to create syringes which give boosts. There are animals to hunt to craft things like wallets, backpacks and pouches to carry more things. There are encampments and outposts to liberate, and towers that feature some platforming challenges that open up areas of the map.
It’s a game which truly lets you play it the way you want, and never fails to throw the unexpected at you. Bandits can show up at any time, and wildlife can attack you or be used against your enemies.
One of the things that really impressed me was the ease of use of many aspects of the game. I generally hate crafting (tediously making things) in games but it’s super easy for both the plant solutions and other items. There are vehicles everywhere — I totally dug the hanggliders — but there’s also a fast travel system, letting you quickly jump back to previous points. Beyond creating a gloriously vibrant world, the focus is almost always on fun.
It is a great single-player game, with an interesting co-op element and a perfunctory multiplayer aspect that is fine but doesn’t shine as brightly as the main campaign.
It’s rare that I would say a pirate-and vicious-wildlife-infested island is where I’d want to take a vacation, but for gamers, this is definitely a tropical place to visit this winter. To be honest, you’d be crazy not to.