The Case

Far Cry 3 sets you off on an adventure unlike anything else in the video game world. It follows up the second game and fulfills everything it did not accomplish. You better have all of your senses honed, in this jungle everything will try to kill you. Does this sequel succeed where the second game faltered or is this one jungle that should have been left untouched.

The Trial

Have I ever told you the definition of insanity? It is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. In some ways Far Cry 3 falls into that very insanity, but oh how wonderful it is. This is a hostile environment, where everything is out to harm you. The animals, people, treacherous terrain. You name it, it will stop your heart. You are in the role of Jason Brody, and he is not really used to such a harsh environment.

Far Cry 3 may have one of the best openings in recent memory for any videogame. Everything starts with a video of young, overprivileged youth having exotic adventures on a beautiful tropical island. Things stop being fun when you see that your character and his brother are confined by a lunatic named Vaas. I will just get it out there right now, Vaas will go down as one of the best villains of all time, and you are stuck with him. The story starts out strong, but ends up not being as great as the first part.

Vaas is only one of the many crazy inhabitants on Rook Island, but not all of them are as fleshed out. Vaas certainly stands out, but there is a crazy doctor that is also wonderful to interact with. All of this is very early on, but the story does not fire on all cylinders. At first, Jason is out to rescue his friends that were captured by Vaas, but then heads in a weird mystical direction. There are tons of side quests, but their storylines are boring. I was shocked to find myself finding plants for some jerk in a shack like I was in the most recent MMO. Some parts are better than others, but this game is not really about the story. It can be fun to be involved with the plot at times, but where Far Cry 3 really shines is in the open world lunacy department.

Rarely does a game come along that is an absolute treat to walk around in. Just strolling through the jungle is amazing. To say that this is a great looking game would be an understatement, but more on that later. There are a ton of things for the player to do in Far Cry 3, and most of them are fun. There are story missions, side quests, racing, time trials, challenges, hunting, assassinations, and just running around collecting things. These things facilitate the other part of Far Cry 3 that is fantastic: the gameplay.

Jason moves around the environment so fluidly, it was amazing just to slide down hillsides or sprint through the jungle. Over the course of the game Jason becomes a ruthless killing machine with a huge arsenal. At first he is horrified by the violence on Rook Island, but eventually he becomes just as violent. There is even some RPG elements thrown into the gameplay. When you do certain actions XP will be earned for it. These can be spent on upgrading Jason’s skills. It is fun getting a new skill and trying it for the first time. Far Cry 3 is an action game, but you will loot boxes and enemies throughout the game. Some of the loot you will find on enemies will make you laugh, which is an accomplishment in its own right. Looting a meth pipe from an enemy never gets old.

There are two main islands in Far Cry 3, but you cannot travel everywhere right away. You will need to find radio towers, climb up to the top, and activate them. This will reveal parts of the map. These radio towers were another surprise because they start out easy, but become quite challenging later on. They are fun to climb up, and once you are at the top they even sway your character back and forth. You can then zipline down to safety. It is fun to do for sure.

Once you open up a part of the map there is tons of information on the screen including where particular animals can be found, enemy outposts, safe houses, and general quest information. Enemy outposts were annoying in Far Cry 2 because they would spawn enemies again after you killed them. Thankfully in Far Cry 3 they do not come back. Each outpost is like a puzzle, and you can approach it anyway you like. Scouting the enemy positions is important, and you can even mark each enemy if you get a clear view of them with your camera or weapon. You can then see them no matter where they are, which is useful. Once you kill everyone in the outpost, it is yours, and you can fast travel to it or buy items. Clearing outposts never becomes boring, and it is always a delight to figure out the best way to dispatch your enemies.

The skills you unlock throughout the game will mold your playstyle. There are stealthy options, damage reduction, foraging, traversal, etc. Killing enemies, clearing outposts, and many other actions will give you points to spend in three skill trees. By the end you will have all of them, but you determine what you unlock first. As you progress through them, Jason turns into a complete badass. Early in the game you certainly have some lethal tools at your disposal, but once some skills are unlocked you are a force to be reckoned with. It all feels smooth, and amazingly fun. Each encounter with an enemy or animal is its own self contained story, and never play out the same way.

Hunting and crafting are also a major part of the game. It is amazing how fun these two things are in Far Cry 3. The developers should be applauded for how many animals are in the game. There are not many games that have such a diverse population of creatures. There are jungle cats, tropical birds, alligators, sharks, pigs, manta rays, turtles, komodo dragons, and the list goes on! Some are friendly, some want to rip your guts out. You can craft a variety of things like bigger wallets, loot sacks, ammo pouches, and many other things. You need to find animals, kill them, and then skin them in order to craft higher level stuff. It is a blast to stalk animals, but sometimes they may be stalking you. Not all animals are threatening, but you will still need them to craft better gear. The ecosystem in Far Cry 3 is unrivaled, and feels authentic. Walking down the street you may witness an alligator attack a person that was too close to the water, or a pack of wild dogs attack a harmless pig! It is so unpredictable, and amazing as a result.

Traversing Rook Island will be one of the best things in gaming this year. The short and sweet answer: it looks amazing. Graphically Far Cry 3 is up there with the big boys, and actually surpassess most of them. Walking through the jungle will leave you jaw on the floor the whole time, whereas most games occasionally give you some nice vistas to look at. You can dive into the ocean and witness a stunning underwater world filled with life. What other game does that? Rook Island feels alive, and is the real star of the show. To run it on the highest settings you will need a beefy system, but man is it worth it. There are some open world glitchy moments, but nothing that ruins the experience. The sound is also well designed, but it is puzzling why there are not more sound options. Sometimes the music would be to loud, and there is only a master volume option. On the other hand hearing this world live and breath not only visually, but hearing everything is stunning. Stalking a certain animal can be nerve racking when you hear growls and realize you were the one being stalked! The guns sound fantastic, and explosions will rattle you skull. Overall really well done.

Far Cry 3 is mostly a single-player campaign, but there are multiplayer options as well. They are there, but not as noteworthy as the single-player. There is of course player versus player action, but has a Call Of Duty feeling. It has some interesting twists like battle shouts. You can use these to buff your teammates health or other attributes. Unfortunately, it is very cookie cutter in many ways and would have been nice if they would have been as creative with the multiplayer as the solo campaign. To put a final dent in the competitive multiplayer, there are no dedicated servers on the PC version. Needless to say, it all feels like an afterthought. There are four player co-op that feels like Left For Dead, but not as good. It was difficult to play both the co-op and pvp multiplayer because of frequent disconnects with the server and friends.

Not everything is perfect in Far Cry 3, and at times brought frustration. Many people seem to be having issues with the game running smoothly (including myself). Ubisoft was given the benefit of the doubt, but they still have not patched the game. Stuttering on SLI machines, blue screen errors, DirectX 11 not running well, etc. My rig is more than capable of running the game, but it was not always smooth. Hopefully Ubisoft patches this absolutely wonderful game. It should not deter you from playing it, just be aware of some of the issues.

The Verdict

Far Cry 3 is my favorite game of 2012. Running around Rook Island, hunting, and murdering pirates was an absolute blast. Jason Brody becomes an amazing killer, just as efficient as the tigers in the jungle. Whether stopping and taking in magnificent vistas, or being attacked by a shark; Far Cry 3 has experiences that no other game will give you. It may have some issues with the story, and technical stuff. Those are small problems in light of the amazing accomplishments the single-player is. So, I told you the definition of insanity. However, another definition of insanity is skipping Far Cry 3. Go, be one with the jungle.

Case Review