Far Cry 3 Game Review (PS3)

Since it first started with Crytek in 2004, the Far Cry series has prided itself on offering versatile and varied FPS gameplay placed against backdrops of excellent technical prowess. The latest game in the series, Far Cry 3 is no exception, offering one of the best single player campaigns seen in recent memory.

Far Cry 3 is all about Jason Brody, a rich kid on holiday with his friends; after a brief spot of skydiving his group is kidnapped by the sadistic Vaas and his band of pirates to be auctioned off as slaves. After a narrow escape Jason is taken in by Dennis and the Rakyat tribe who train him to rescue his friends. But as things go on a question arises; just how far will Jason let go and journey deeper down the rabbit hole? It’s this trait amongst prominent themes such as insanity, drug addiction and tribal tradition rather reminiscent of the 1979 classic Apocalypse Now that sets Far Cry 3’s story apart from previous entries in the series; whilst Jason and his friends aren’t the most interesting bunch, the story is still intriguing because over the course of the game you’ll see Jason transform from an ordinary scared survivor to hardened killer. It's often a very grim and dark story too with numerous atrocities committed that reminded me a lot of 2008's Rambo. Ironically it is Vaas and the other supporting characters that make the biggest impressions; each villain you’ll face is insane in their own way and their detailed and impactful monologues relayed to Jason over the course of the game will both fascinate and disturb you, making them some of the best villains ever conceived in a modern first person shooter.

Far Cry 3’s island setting is vast and expansive with a plethora of things to do; as has become common in recent Ubisoft titles, gameplay facets such as climbing to reveal the map (in this case radio towers), hunting wildlife and clearing out strongholds (Pirate camps) have made their way into the game, but where previous titles from the publisher didn’t properly flesh some of these out, Far Cry 3 makes a real effort to make everything you do worthwhile. The hunting has a proper purpose as you need the skins and pelts of different animals to craft all kinds of worthwhile items such as weapon holsters, ammo pouches and wallets; this goes hand-in-hand with “Path of the Hunter” missions where you must kill legendary animals to craft special versions of each item. Strongholds are given extra replayability with stealth; by taking out all the pirates in the area without being spotted or tripping any alarms nets you earn much more experience points than you would just running in guns blazing. In addition, there’s also “Wanted Dead” where you must eliminate a pirate general and his platoon, missions where you have to ferry supplies within a time limit and “Trials of the Rakyat” which pit you against your friends on online leader boards. There’s even collectables to find, adding even more incentive to explore the island. Just about everything you do in Far Cry 3 feeds into a new skill tree system; by gaining experience points you gain skill points which can be spent under heron, shark or spider which grant Jason new abilities. Heron is all about weapon handling; Shark is based on brute force and Spider homes in on stealth and you’ll be dishing out points into all three, feeling a great sense of progression as more skills show as tattoos on Jason’s arm. The story missions are often brilliant, taking you into crumbling Japanese bases to eliminate pirates and even underground temples to search for long forgotten secrets; most of these missions also incorporate both combat and stealth whilst also throwing some memorable set pieces moments into the mix. But because these missions are so strong, other elements can feel weak by comparison; the side missions seem really basic, only tasking you with going to an area and intimidating a target or finding a certain item. The economy is also quite unbalanced; over the course of the campaign, you’ll be purchasing and customising weapons from vendors; but because climbing radio towers makes weapons free to purchase you’ll end up having a lot of money in Jason’s wallet, but little to spend it on. These issues may be troublesome but all told the length and scale of Far Cry 3’s campaign more than makes up for its shortcomings.

On top of its single-player campaign, Ubisoft saw fit to include multiplayer which is competent but ultimately not very memorable. In competitive player, teams of pirates and the Rakyat tribe battle each other on fairly small infantry only maps with fairly standard gunplay seen in countless other modern shooters. The mode also includes the usual level-up and class creation systems. There are a few good ideas here such as a fully featured map editor, humiliation moves at the end of each match and a decoding system which gives timed rewards during your time online but you won’t be that interested for very long. Cooperative multiplayer fares a little better; whilst it doesn’t carry the same gameplay versatility as the single-player, it’s still quite fun to take on the hordes with three other friends. The mode has an arcade style to it with certain activities (such as a race to see who can collect the most dynamite to blow up an obstacle) coming into play. Its novel for a little while but when the campaign is far more enjoyable, you’ll just end up ignoring the coop altogether.

Far Cry 3 continues the series tradition of blending first person action with more intimate stealth and the game is successful in this regard. Stealth is defined by a detection meter which allows Jason to perform executions on his foes and once the ability to drag bodes out of sight is unlocked, it’s really enjoyable to use. Jason can also use his camera to mark enemies and in series tradition, throw a rock to distract enemies which goes far to alleviate frustration. The shooting is relatively intuitive though Jason’s inexperience with weaponry means that it won’t always be an easy ride. The enemy AI is quite good no matter which approach you take; if they see a dead body, they’ll become more cautious and if Jason is spotted they are quick to swarm and raise alarms in a stronghold. The combat as a whole is intense as you eventually have to put up with heavily armoured mercenaries, kamikaze melee pirates and large numbers of foot soldiers all at once. The same holds true for hunting; often times you’ll come across predators which can be a help or hindrance depending on how you use them. Jason might suddenly be attacked by a tiger when infiltrating a stronghold or he could release one from its cage to wreak havoc amongst the pirates. It’s this unpredictability that gives Far Cry’s combat its edge and this is only enhanced by the syringes you can craft and use to heal yourself, reduce fire damage or enhance Jason’s perception. All is not perfect though; the drive for realism and immersion has resulted in some overzealous fall damage which forces players to waste healing syringes many times over the course of the game. The in-game prompts could have used some tuning up as well; this may seem like a nit-pick but often times you’ll go to execute a takedown on an enemy, only to flail at nothing and meet the butt of an assault rifle instead. The fast-travel screen suffers from a similar problem where the icon has to flash up rather than just letting the player hover over and select it, resulting in a few tedious moments. Aside from some fiddly moments the gameplay in Far Cry 3 is commendable for its versatility which adds to the detailed open world setting.

The island setting of Far Cry 3 is simply one of the best looking open worlds in modern gaming; it not only represents how far we’ve come from the original Far Cry but highlights that shooters should be more than just dank grey corridors. From beginning to end, the game looks stunning and every time you climb a radio tower or pilot a hang glider over the scenery, you’re constantly reminded of that. The game also makes big strides for immersion with animals grazing and fighting each other as you explore as well as some great animations of Jason traversing the environment. The music features some pulse-pounding tracks that play during combat put against more tense notes whenever the villains are on-screen, as well as a special number for the story mission “Kick the Hornet’s Nest”. The game runs fluidly, despite a few glitches here and there which have become the norm for open world games. Overall the technical presentation of Far Cry 3 is just as extensive and detailed as the open world it illustrates.

Far Cry 3 does stumble in a few areas but regardless this is still a solid and all around enjoyable title that is easily the best in the series. The the islands of Bangkok might be filled with pirates, dangerous creatures and endless peril but Far Cry 3 will draw you in with its deep open world and polished gameplay.

Rating: 8.5/10