Far Cry 3 -The Open World Gameplay You've been Waiting For

It’s been harder and harder to find the inspiration to write up some blogs like this, that or I’m just too distracted to come back here consistently, but as of late I have some time on my hands, AND I picked up a game after Christmas that really knocked my socks off.

Far Cry 3 came out at the end of November 2012 and could probably be considered the caboose of the release train of AAA titles for the 2012 holidays.  This game was on my radar from the media publicity, but I had not played any of the previous games and really didn’t know or care what this game was about.  Yes it looked pretty, and the video outtakes of the core villain Vaas was very intriguing, but by this point in the holiday season I had my game cash already doled out to released games or pre-orders.  It took a large number of gamers on my Xbox friends list playing the game and recommending it for various things to finally inspire me to pick up a copy.

This game really blew me away and I hope it would for anyone else looking for open world adventure gameplay.   I’ve heard many analogies for the gameplay to help relate it to those on the outside looking in, but here is my take at it.  This game plays like Skyrim in terms of the 3D dynamic world you play on.  It is gorgeous and vast and adds a wonderful element of NPC random encounters and interactions, almost like you would experience in Red Dead Redemption.  In terms of general gameplay, I felt the game was very much like a grand theft auto in the sense that you can check the main map and see numerous icons indicating various missions, objects, or loot items to find scoured across the landscape.

So, I must say this game was one of those that I knew the overall set up and gameplay would be fun and enjoyable for me, but wow, putting in hours exploring and trying things out I started to notice the small features built in and I have been astonished a number of times.  I really love the small inclusions and fine details made to create this interactive and dynamic world.   I’ll try to list out everything I recall that I loved and hopefully it will not be too drawn out to lose your interest in this write up.

The plot of the game and the whole set up is that you play as Jason Brody a white kid from the US who is on vacation w/ his friends in a tropical paradise.  You can find bits of the backstory through various interactions during the game, but essentially your crew of adventure friends decided to sky dive over an island that ended up being inhabited by pirates.  The pirates kidnap you and your friends to hold you for ransom and then sell you off to a slave trade.  You escape and find yourself as a stand out foreigner in this 3^rd world island which is inhabited by both pirates and then simple local villagers.    You make friends with some locals and they assist and guide you as you grow from suburban softie rich kid into a hardened warrior dedicated to freeing your friends, and eventually killing and extracting revenge on precarious pirates.

Immediately upon escaping the pirate camp and finding my first friendly local, I was set on unlocking map areas by climbing radio towers to release the blocking mechanisms on my HUD so I can see nearby landmarks and icons.   The thrill in all this is knowing that anywhere you go on the island you’re like to be hunted by pirates dead set on bringing you down, that and the anxiety that a wild animal could be unseen nearby and may ruin your plans and your health! 

A major feature of the game that surprised and highly impressed me is the use of fire in game.  You can start a fire in a number of ways; flamethrower and Molotov cocktail are direct methods, but sometimes you can set an object on fire through explosion using a grenade or C4.  The real treat in this is that if the fire is started near flammable objects, it will spread and continue to burn anything in its path.  I had a couple of key moments in game, but one of the big ones for me was finishing off a campaign mission that had me infiltrate a pirate base.  I don’t recall how I ended up on the roof of a warehouse building, but I recall the inside of it was caught on fire, so this was my escape route.  During this sequence though I completely lost track of trying to escape and instead focused on killing all enemies within site.  This attempted action only lasted about 30 seconds before I realized the fire from inside the building had now spread completely throughout and the roof I stood on was on fire.  As I turned to run, the game indicated that my arm was on fire and I need to put it out pronto or else I would sizzle up like a sausage in a pan and die.   That was fun, but the real moments using fire are jungle battles w/ pirates.   Whether I choose to light something on fire or it is a consequence of other actions, there is real delight in watching and listening to fire spread into the jungle as it burns down anything (even green plant matter).  You can hear Pirates run and yell and scream to death if they get caught, just make sure you’re aware of the fire spread and have an escape plan because nothing can be as disheartening as watching pirates burn in front of you only to realize, you’re trapped w/ no where to go in the ring of fire.  It is a great animation and I recommend you try it out if playing, otherwise look up some videos on Youtube!!

If you follow the story line you’ll still be directed around the majority of the island.  You can drive, walk, hang-glide, or boat towards your destinations.  I would often set a market and just walk to the next location.  This allowed me experience the map and areas off the beaten path per se.  There were always random encounters with pirates animals, or even sometimes just friendly NPCs.  I would often set my Xbox capture device on record during these roaming adventures since so many neat and fun things would occur.  There is a fast travel option if you want a fast track back to the storyline gameplay. 

I confess that this game wrapped me up like no other experience except Skyrim this past year.  I really love immersion in games and this one let me right in the front door.  I grabbed the game on sale, but is easily worth the full price of $59.99. I put in 40 hours on this game over 5 days because I could not get enough.  I even started up a 2^nd play through, which is something I hardly ever do.  Keep in mind that the game is through Ubisoft, so you would need a new copy of the game or an online pass if you wish to play the multiplayer and coop.  I have not tried the competitive multiplayer, but I did get into the coop.  The coop is a lot of fun, but I recommend playing w/ friends.  Public games were good, but it’s all shooting and fast action instead of tactics and planning.    Also, the game seems to have been built for 4 players, so it was really rough on just 2 of us attempting to play through.   I’m not sure if they scaled the difficulty properly.  Keep an eye on the game, as I’ve seen it drop down to $35 on sale through various retailers!

Catch ya later Snow White!