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Far Cry 3
PlayStation 3
Trapped in Paradise... By Guns and Crazy People
4/5 stars
There is a lot to like about Far Cry 3 if you're a fan of sandbox games. The lush, impressive environment, a large, open world and plenty to do. Yet for all the beauty and even a decent story, the game falls into the same trap that so many lesser games are also a victim of: repetition. Despite the fact there are many ways to go about doing things, when it comes down to it, everything begins to look a bit that same. It's still one hell of a ride, but it does start to get old after awhile.
Presentation
The strongest point of the game is that it is one of the best-looking games for the PS3. This takes place on a tropical island, and it shows. Trees, mountain caves, waterfalls - it looks the part of an island paradise. Too bad about the murderous brigands and paramilitary troops who want nothing more than to put a bullet in your head to ruin the ambiance. The creatures that inhabit the island look just as amazing as the surroundings. From rabid dogs to the dangerous tiger and Asian Black Bear - they look amazing - right up to the point where they maul you to death. But it's the smaller creatures - crabs, rats, birds of paradise, schools of fish and sweeping manta rays that really make the island pop. The only issue I had with the game is that, much like the original Borderlands, sometimes the environment will take a bit of time to load - things will look all washed out and blurry until popping up crisp and HD. It might bother some people more than others, but it is there.
Story
Actually, not too bad for a game where you mostly shoot people. Jason Brody is on vacation with his brothers, his girlfriend and some other friends (enter token rich kid and token stoner) when they take the advice of a club DJ and go on an impromptu skydiving adventure - of course, they guy who recommended they do this is actually an agent for island madman Vaas (the pretty guy on the cover of the game) who wants to ransom off all these pretty white kids for a tidy sum of cash... before selling them into slavery. As Jason watches his older brother, Grant, get brutally gunned down during an escape attempt, Vaas lets him go. He meets up with Dennis, who tells hims about the local Rakyat people - who want nothing more than to escape from the influence of Vaas and his men and return to their former glory.
The Rakyat are led by Citra - a warrior woman - and she views Jason as the warrior they have been waiting for. Soon Jason is out capping every pirate he sees while working to free his friends from Vaas' control. Of course, Vaas isn't the only person to be worried about - he reports to Hoyt Volker, a slave trader who controls the southern island with his privateer army. Jason meets up with a variety of characters, Dr. Earnhardt a man who self-medicates with various mushrooms, CIA operatives Willis Huntley and the deep cover agent Sam Becker and sadistic Australian Bambi "Buck" Hughes. Can you guess how many of these people wind up dead by the end of the game?
The most glaring plot contrivance is that you have to believe that the main character can go from a scared, untrained white boy to freakin' John Rambo in literally the blink of an eye. Some "mystical" tattoos (also how you level up) supposedly provide you with some killer instinct, but, come on - if you were dropped into a jungle and given a gun - how long would you survive against unrelenting killer pirates and dangerous wildlife? Eh - these kind of games can't be taken too seriously or it significantly damages the fun of playing.
Gameplay
While you could go through the game shooting everything in the face with various weapons (and there are quite a few to choose from), Far Cry 3 rewards stealth. Sneaking up on enemies and stabbing them from behind, above or below grants you a nice experience boost. As you unlock abilities you can string together these kills, or kill multiple enemies at once, to increase this. It's not too hard, either - these enemies are not the smartest bananas in the bunch.
Aside from the main story, you can partake in a variety of side missions and mini-games. Main side missions include turning on radio towers (pretty much required as it reveals ares of the map otherwise blacked out), taking over enemy bases (where stealth gives you a rather hefty experience bonus for not setting off alarms and even more for not being seen at all) - once the bases are cleared usually you get a hunting quest and a wanted dead quest. Wanted dead means you sneak into another enemy encampment and take down the leader using just your knife. Hunting quests involve taking out deadly animals with the weapon provided (bow and arrow, handgun, sniper rifle, even a flame thrower!). Certain hunting quests involve taking out a rare (and usually deadlier) version of an animal (Komodo Dragon, Panther, Shark, Bear, etc) but the reward helps you craft the best items in the game. Other things you can do include racing, supply drop missions, knife throwing, poker and target practice.
The main issue with these is that even though you can go about doing things differently (distracting enemies, blowing things up with hand grenades, letting loose animals from cages, using a silent sniper or other weapon) - essentially by the the end of the game I found myself dreading doing yet another base liberation. It's not tough at all to be leveled up completely well before the main mission is through - I even had no problem buying ever single thing in the game and still had my wallet and inventory maxed out. It gets repetitive and that's what prevents me from giving it a higher score.
But there is variety - weapons run from a basic pistol to a high-powered machine gun - to the trusty rocket launcher. Most guns are customizable (silencer, scope, bigger clip, etc) and, by doing enough missions, eventually you unlock the signature weapons. I used the Shredder SMG and Shadow silenced pistol almost exclusively once I got them. The AMR sniper rifle and Ripper LMG are also solid choices. It kind of makes things a bit too easy - but the guns are phenomenal and I had a blast with them.
Although it doesn't take that much to max out your levels, you can decide if you want to focus on health, attack or defense - it's all moot by the end of the game, but early on I would say health and defense (or stamina) come first, then attack. Crafting items and various "syringes" gives you the ability to carry more items, more ammo and more money. I didn't use the drugs (other than straight-up healing) all that much. I didn't see much use in finding animals and plants easier and some of the upper level crafting gives you some interesting abilities (one-hit kill bullets and temporary invulnerability), I never got into any of them.
The collector in me was happy to scour the island for relics, Japanese letters and memory cards - as well as random treasure chests - luckily you can get some in-game maps that essentially tell you where everything is (though sometimes you have do some major spelunking or hang gliding to get to some particularly hidden relics). Trials of the Rakyat drop you into a mini-map where you have to kill enemies using only the weapon provided - the higher your score the better the reward (money or experience). It wasn't too tough to get the top score in most events.
I didn't experience any game-killing bugs. The worst that happened was I got caught in a dead zone area a couple of times - but I just fast-traveled out and everything was good. Other than the repetitive nature, the game is rock solid in my eyes.
Overall
If you like open world games - this should definitely be on your list. Despite eventually feeling like you're going through the motions, this is still one of the best-looking and more interesting games (certainly story-wise) that I have played. The characters are all a little nuts - but I think that's the point. I think you have to be a little crazy to enjoy things to the fullest - but if you get invested in these characters, it makes the game all the better, despite the flaws.
Presentation: 5/5
Story: 4/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Overall (not an average): 4/5
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