Game Review: Far Cry 3

Commonly referred to as "Skyrim" (or Elder Scrolls) with guns, Far Cry 3 is an interesting, epic-scale video game of vast proportions. However, the question remains: does that make it a good video game?

Genre

First Person Shooter RPG

Platform

PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Story

Jason Brody was on vacation with friends and family when they suddenly found themselves on the wrong island. Captured by pirates, Jason escapes, walking into the open arms of the island locals, the Rakata. In order to save everyone he loves, Jason must learn to battle the armed pirates, the wild animals, and even the island itself in a battle where there will only be one victor.

Mechanics

This game is fairly straightforward.  If you've ever played a FPS, these mechanics are downright easy. The player can craft and modify their own weapons, wielding a vast array of weapons, from land mines, Molotov cocktails, grenades, flamethrowers, flare guns, and a variety of pistols, submachineguns and assault rifles. There are multiple types of vehicles, several types of cars, boats, in addition to a glider for easy transport along the island.

After killing a pirate or an animal, the player can loot the corpse or skin the animal, using the skins to carry a greater quantity of weapons, ammunition, or loot.

The skills one can develop are along a basic tree, anything from greater lung capacity while swimming underwater, to how much more loot and plant life Jason can harvest.

Gameplay

Did I mention that the entire island has great AI? The animals will attack each other, the enemy, or you, instead of the entire island being out to get ONLY you.

There is some great voice acting here, mostly by our #2 enemy, Vaas, who gets surprisingly little screen time for the impact he makes on the plot, and on the player. He's a foulmouthed, utterly deranged psychopath, but there's also a person in there.  He's a person who's having fun being evil, but also seems to understand that, yes, he's made his choices, and in his lucid moments, he's not very happy about it. But he's still the bad guy, and trust me, he is going to try and kill you. A lot.

Music/Graphics

The music is very "African regional," chanting, heavy on the drums ... it's okay, but nothing that will take my breath away.

The graphics, however, are stellar. Like Crysis 2, Far Cry 3 doesn't need cut scenes.  The graphics are detailed and usually quite good, and the voice work is outstanding.

Morals/Appropriateness

Argh.  This is where the game started to get sketchy, even for me. Even without knowing the game's ending, the entire storyline had a omnious feel to it.  Even the allies, the Rakata, gave off a bad vibe.

There are drugs all over this game. There's drugs that you yourself make for healing, exploring, and fighting. However, what you pick up off of bodies include cocaine packets, there are multiple kilos of white power just lying around. There is swearing all over the game, including in the loading screens.  There's torture, nudity, hookers calling out for customers, and general unpleasantness.

Community/Multiplayer

None.

Addiction Danger

I don't think so. While the gameplay is fun, it starts to feel like work after a while. The mini-missions don't really grab me, and there are only two outcomes to the game.  There's not a lot of variety here.  Would I play it again? Maybe. I'm not sure.

Problems/Ending Comments

ESRB Rating: M for Mature, 17+. For once, I won't argue.  At all. For language, nudity, and for when Jason is on fire, or being mauled by an animal.

My Rating: For gameplay alone, it's 10/10.  Overall, with the story and the content, 8/10. It's a great RPG, and I liked everything about it but the story.

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Copyright 2014 John Konecsni