Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Far Cry 3 Review - "Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity"?


By Sam Coles:

The Far Cry series has dropped in quality since the fourth game not to say that Far Cry 4 was a bad game but it tread in familiar territory and it felt more like more of an expansion rather than a standalone game. Far Cry 3 is easily one of the best games in the series with a dark and interesting plot with scary and charismatic villains especially Vaas.

Far Cry 3 ditches the deserts of North Africa from the first game and goes back to the tropical island of the first. You play as Jason Brody a spoilt rich kid in his twenties on holiday with his other rich friends who rely on their parents black cards. He is then kidnapped by pirates where they are kept for ransom or to be sold off to slavery, Jason and his brother who use to be in the army escape. However it’s not long until Jason’s brother is shot clean through the throat by the psychotic pirate Vaas. Jason flees into the jungle and then the local tribe take him in and this is where Jason learns how to fight and he then goes on an adventure to save his friends get revenge on Vaas.

The game’s story is fantastic especially the scenes with Vaas as they are very tense as you don’t know when he is going to flip and go absolutely nuts at you. Jason is a great character too with an arch as he goes from whiny trust fund kid to ultimate mercenary bad ass that loves violence and forgets why he is doing it in the first place.  

The gameplay is a step up from Far Cry 2 but it does take a few things out that I liked such as the gun jamming which added to the situation when you’re in tense firefights but it does not break my immersion in this game. The controls have been tweaked and feel extremely tight when you’re shooting and moving as well as the driving feel more responsive compared to the second game as it felt a bit stilted and stiff. Crafting is a big element in this game and trust me you will need to do it at the start of the game as your weapon holsters and inventory space is pathetic as you can only carry one gun and very little resources. You can craft medicines that help restore health or see wildlife through walls and bushes etc.

It is the classic Ubisoft sandbox where you feel like you’re going down a checklist as you liberate several strongholds and climb countless radio towers. My problem with the strongholds is that you find a method that is effective then boredom ensues because once you have a silenced sniper rifle you’re sorted.

You won’t only be up against human enemies as you will have to contend with the wildlife which they are not annoying but relentless as you’re scoping out an area and then you hear growl from a tiger as he has your leg half way down their throat.

The presentation is fantastic and this game came out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 5 years ago almost and it still holds visually with lush tropical jungles where the grass sways in the wind to the character models that very good with excellent animation. The only problem I have on console is that the frame rate has a habit of dropping to 20 frames per second when things get really busy with lots of explosions and enemies on screen.


Far Cry 3 is one of the best games on the Xbox 360 and PS3 and is a must play if you own these consoles or PC you should pick it up it is super cheap and easy to find so go and get it.

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