Released in December of 2012, Far Cry 3 was a game that seemed to have success written all over it even before it was released. A beautiful, fully explorable island, an open world approach to it's questing system and a phenomenal graphics foundation were confirmed at various video game conventions, and according to many website reviews, it lived up to the hype. Does it live up to the hype for your resident average gamer? Before we get into it, I want to talk about where this game came from.

 

 

First, a bit of a history lesson: In 2004, Far Cry was originally developed by Crytek, the company that now continues to pump out computer-melting shooter games via the Crysis series, raising the graphical bar each time a new one is released. The first game was set on a remote island where your mission as a special ops veteran is to protect your VIP and escape the island. It was a hit. In 2007, the first Crysis game came out, at which point Crytek decided to give the franchise to its publisher, Ubisoft, so they could better concentrate on the Crysis franchise.

 

 

Far Cry 2 was indeed developed in-house by Ubisoft, using a new, modified version of the Crytek engine called the 'Dunia' Engine. Released towards the tail end of 2008, Far Cry 2 switched settings to the open plains of Africa where you can choose from a hand full of main characters to play as with slightly differing origins. The setting change was certainly welcome, and one of most impressive things about that game in my opinion, was that the graphics quality was so comparable to that of Crysis, but didn't require nearly as much muscle. Far Cry 2 was also a big hit upon its release, and plans for a third game were confirmed shortly after.

 

Now, back to the Far Cry 3 review:

 

Story:

 

Rather than being able to select who you are as you did in Far Cry 2, you are placed in the shoes of Jason Brody, a young man who had an ideal American life. He had two brothers, a group of friends whom he traveled with, and a fiance who was going on to become a great Hollywood actress. Jason recently became interested in sky diving, and had convinced all of the people mentioned above to come with him on a trip sky diving in the Pacific. Unfortunately for them, the last jump they take doesn't end well. Rather than things going as planned, they end up on a remote jungle island chain, the main one being called 'Rook Island', where there is more than just snakes and spiders that threaten you.

 

 

"There is more than just snakes and spiders that threaten you."

 

Jason and company are almost immediately ambushed by a group of pirates who take them hostage and are supposed to sell them on a slave labor market. Jason's brother hatches a plan to escape with you, as he was in the U.S. Army Reserve, but once again; things don't go as planned. Rather than spoil the game by telling you the whole story, I'll leave you with this; your primary goal is to recover all of your friends and family members and get them to safety so you can leave the island, but as Jason finds out throughout the game, it's difficult to focus with revenge on your mind.

 

 

"Things don't go as planned."

 

The story is indeed linear (with the exception of being able to choose different endings), and objectives do have to be achieved in a certain order, and in some cases have time limits, but the story itself is extremely well written. I have said it before, and I'll say it again; writing that evokes emotion from you is what makes the difference in any kind of story. Far Cry 3's storyline does just that. It helps put you in the shoes of Jason, and feel empathy for him and his friends, while also wanting the same kind of revenge he wants on those responsible. There are also a good share of surprises that kept me on my toes, which makes the story enjoyably unpredictable.

 

 

"Writing that evokes emotion from you is what makes the difference in any kind of story."

 

Score: 9/10

 

Graphics:

 

Much like Far Cry 2 before it, Far Cry 3 is based on the latest version of the 'Dunia' Engine, in this case; 'Dunia Engine 2'.

 

 

It is somewhat similar to the Crytek engine, but performs far better than the latest Crysis game on equal hardware. Vegetation effects are different, along with small effects like motion blur and polygon count of some models. But this is largely not going to be noticed by the player because you'll be concentrating so hard on what dangers the jungle has in store for you, or what kind of and how many enemies are patrolling the roads. While this may not be a major selling point for some people, it impresses the hell out of me, because it gives Crytek a serious run for their money (although Crysis is still the ultimate pinnacle of graphical innovation), and shows them why handing the series and some of its staffing off to another company was a bad idea instead of just hiring more staff.

 

 

Bottom line is the graphics are gorgeous and it performs well.

 

9/10

 

Sound:

 

Jungle effects are appropriate without being overwhelming. The Amazon is actually extremely loud at night due to all the insects and small mammals coming out when it's dark. The jungle of Rook Island is definitely alive during both day and night, but it doesn't drown out other things, so being stealthy is still important.

 

 

"Being stealthy is still important."

 

Weapon effects are hit or miss in terms of accuracy compared to their real life counterparts. Some guns that should have a huge boom seem to have sort of a dull crack, such as the .44 Magnum or Desert Eagle. Others are right where they should be such as the R700 bolt action rifle or the AK47. Because of the variety of people, places and things on the island, there's a lot to hear.

 

 

"Because of the variety of people, places and things on the island, there's a lot to hear."

 

Music is a little stereotypical, but it fits with the location you're in, so no major complaints there. Voice over work is actually very good, surprisingly. You won't see a star studded cast like you might in Bethesda games, but the people who were hired know what they're doing.

 

8/10

 

Gameplay & Lasting Appeal:

 

After you character manages to escape from his captors, all of Rook Island is immediately explorable, but much like in Far Cry 2, you can't see all of it on the map. The primary way to discover new areas is to attempt to find radio towers scattered across the map. Each tower has a jumping puzzle associated with it (with increasing difficulty for more “advanced” areas) with a small reward at the top in the form of a treasure chest, and a cut scene showing a few “vistas” a'la Guild wars 2, and a block of the map now being completely visible. Myself, I hate jumping puzzles, and they should have absolutely nothing to do with a paper map. I also dislike that the feature of being able to look at a mini version of the map in your hand while driving has been removed (from what I can tell). I hate pausing my game every 5 seconds to make sure I take the correct dirt road when I'm flying across the desert in an old hatchback at 70 miles per hour under a time limited mission.

 

 

"The primary way to discover new areas is to attempt to find radio towers scattered across the map."

 

Shooting mechanics are solid as far as where you shoot vs. what connects. I do think that it takes too many bullets to kill some certain enemies. There is a “heavy” enemy that you have to face that has as ton of Kevlar and a helmet on, but none of that wouldn't stop a .50 caliber Barrett sniper bullet or a .50 caliber Desert Eagle bullet at point blank range. Oddly enough, a few swipes from a machete will take those guys out no problem. There are also skinny, fast running enemies that attempt to light you on fire that wear absolutely no Kevlar and can take nearly a clip of assault rifle ammo to take down. Lastly, certain animals take way too much gunfire to kill. Even if a Grizzly Bear is big and has thick skin, an assault rifle can easily penetrate it and take it out with a few shots. I shouldn't have to empty practically everything I have into it. These issues aside, I'm happy with the shooting mechanics and physics.

 

 

"Issues aside, I'm happy with the shooting mechanics and physics."

 

Enemies in Jeeps who you ambush while they're driving have a chance of going off-road and flipping their Jeep over killing everyone inside which is entertaining to watch and somewhat realistic, and civilian non-combatants run like crazy when fighting erupts.

 

There are a few melee features such as “take-downs” which are nice, you have a chance to counter animals and humans that attack you at close range, and stealth is an important part of the game in some scenarios. The game path itself is linear with the exception of the ending, but there are plenty of side missions and other activities to take part in to pass the time. I was anxious to see what happened in the story, so I blew through the storyline quickly without doing many of these first or alongside the main missions, so I'll be returning to do these after to kill some time.

 

 

"I was anxious to see what happened in the story."

 

 

There is also a co-op and a multiplayer mode that do add to re-playability to an extent. The multiplayer, predictably, has an unlock system similar to that of big name multiplayer shooters such as Call of Duty or Battlefield. The actual multiplayer itself is indeed fun, but it doesn't stack up to the likes of the aforementioned multiplayer giants. When you play it you can feel that multiplayer wasn't the number one focus, and for me; that's a good thing. Not many games engage me in a story as well as Far Cry 3 does anymore. Really only the likes of a Max Payne or an Elder Scrolls game would give this any real competition from a single player quality standpoint.

 

The game does feature a crafting system, a skill system, a weapon upgrade system and an inventory system, speaking of Elder Scrolls, but I found it to be more of a bother than something that enriches the game. Unless you actively hunt the various animals on the island, you don't get things you need to expand your inventory or gain more holsters for weapons and ammo. Plant life however, is on the complete other end of the spectrum. Plants are so readily available for you that I never once had less than a hand full of medicine syringes on me with more “green leaves” ready to make some more at the drop of a hat. Weapon upgrades are earned with money which you can get by selling stuff you hunt, harvest or pick up off of your fallen enemies or allies. The further you are along in the game, the more money you'll get from dropped items. I find this most useful for upgrades such as extended clips or silencers since guns can be picked up from dead enemies for free, or “purchased permanently” by scaling a radio tower.

 

The skill system makes a little more sense to have in this game since your character is not a born warrior (unless you ask the local tribes-people, who think you're a god among men). So you have to learn how to effectively take out people with your melee weapon, sneak around, shoot properly and be an effective self healer. There are three skill tress, and from what I can tell, you can unlock all skills in all three trees, rather than having to be picky about what you get. As stated earlier, I did almost exclusively the storyline quests, and I had nearly every skill unlocked by the time I finished the game. The storyline itself will likely last you longer than a Call of Duty game since there is some actual traveling involved in the game unless you rely solely on waypoints to warp around the map, and there will be multiple approaches to each objective.

 

Taking all of those things into consideration, Far Cry 3 stacks up to be everything the developers and reviewers said it would be. It features competent multiplayer, a great storyline, a beautiful, sprawling environment with its own fake history and solid shooter mechanics mixed with some RPG goodness that give you a reason to buy something other than your yearly Call of Duty or Battlefield game.

 

Score: 8/10

 

Overall: 8.5/10

 

The Good:

 

-Great story.

-Effective voice acting.

-Fantastic graphics and performance.

-Lots to do on the map and multiplayer when you're done with that.

 

The Bad:

 

-Bullet damage realism is hit or miss (no pun intended).

-Nobody seems to be able to hand you a normal paper map, so you have to do jumping puzzles instead.

-Little point in having a weapons dealer or the radio towers if you can just grab the gun you want off of a dead enemy.

-Some aspects of the inventory and crafting system seem like a waste of time.

 

Far Cry 3 is definitely one of the best shooters I've played in a while. It makes me miss Far Cry 2, and excited for a Far Cry 4 which I'm sure Ubisoft is hoping to do after the great reception this latest game received.

 

*All screenshots shown taken by me using the normal game engine, no CGI cut scenes.*

Edited April 1, 201412 yr by unr3al

Incredible games , Im a huge fan of Ubisoft games  did all Farcry series, splinter cell series, assassin's creed series, Ghost recons series, rainbow six series since day 1. thoses game are just getting better and better . Watch dogs , the division and the crew will see day light real soon! 

 

 

Michael Mando Excellent acting performance on Farcry 3!

1

 

ACTION and DRIVING are just insane!  

 

My favorite long range weapon : m14  

Close range secondary: m1911 silenced

medium range special: the bow,

favorite ride  jeep with PKP

 

here some official ingame screenshots:

Edited April 1, 201412 yr by MindnessTango

Those pictures are all photoshopped, but the game does look good nevertheless.

the official screenshot may be photshopped but you have the same quality ingame , if you play on pc with a good computer at max setting. like your screens.

I enjoyed playing Far Cry 3, but I felt some things were a little tedious and that the story dropped when 

...Vaas got killed and they suddenly introduced a new boss.

Other than that, it was a solid shooter and it was a lot better than I expected it to be. 

I enjoyed playing Far Cry 3, but I felt some things were a little tedious and that the story dropped when (spoiler)

To be fair, I believe he was mentioned before that major event, albeit only briefly. I think what it probably came down to was that it was going to be a plot hole in the story, somebody noticed it, so the writer(s) patched it. There's always room for improvement, but compared to the other games I've reviewed, it stands on its own really well.