Ubisoft continues to knock it out of the park in 2012 with Far Cry 3, which is a series I previously cared less about until now. During Far Cry 3's development, I paid little attention to the coverage and remembered all of the flaws that irked me in the second Far Cry title (like getting malaria... yeah) and simply wrote the game off. It was not until the stellar reviews blossomed all over the internet that I decided to give the game a rent on the Xbox 360. The framerate was atrocious, but the game hooked me instantly and I ended up buying a copy on the PC. Before I dive deeper into this game, heed my warning: if you have a PC capable of running this game, do yourself a favor and skip the console versions due to the massive framerate issues. If you can only experience this game on a console, please do not give it a pass; however, brace yourself for some poor performance.
The first thing any gamer will notice about Far Cry 3 is the graphics engine; the game is simply gorgeous. The entire game takes place on a lush tropical island that can be fully explored to the player's discretion. The physics involved with vegetation, water, and explosions are all very impressive and life-like. I can't really say the game is photo-realistic, but it looks remarkable and gives the Crytek engine a run for it's money. The game is chock full of content, ranging from a 12+ hour story path, a good number of sidequests, and other activities such as hunting, assassinating, and racing the clock to deliver medical supplies to islanders. For a $60 title, the amount of content is very pleasing for a single player romp. The multiplayer and co-op campaign are nice diversions, but neither is really as appealing as the story mode.
Speaking of the story, Far Cry 3 knocks it out of the park as far as putting the player in a perilous adventure. The game opens with a group of young, wealthy vacationers being lead to a beautiful island in search of thrills and fun. Unfortunately for our vacationers, their fun quickly ends when they're kidnapped by a ruthless pirate militia ran by a man named Vaas who holds the group for ransom. Playing as Jason (the main character), you barely escape with your life and are picked up by a member of the Rakyat tribe who helps Jason seek out his kidnapped friends and take revenge on Vaas. During the beginning of the game, the characters within the group of friends are pretty unlikable and all seem like rich Jersey Shore rejects that sort of make the player care less about their fates; however, after experiencing what Jason and his friends must go through in order to survive, I started to actually care whether or not these people make it out alive. The game includes a zany cast of characters along the way and the villain Vaas is quite possibly one of the best villains I've seen in a video game in years. The voice actor portraying Vaas is fantastic and does a great job of making him feel likable, yet also look like a massive psychopath.
After the game takes the player through a thrilling first hour or so, the game really starts to shine when the world completely opens up and allows the player to tackle objectives as they please. The enemy A.I. isn't the smartest around, but when you stir them up enough they will become quite a challenge to handle. The random checkpoint spawns found in the previous game are gone (thankfully), but this also makes the game feel a little empty at times. No worries though, because the island wildlife will keep anyone busy between fire fights. Hunting and gathering pelts throughout the game will allow the player to craft upgrade items that will greatly aid the player on their journey. The wildlife can also be used to aid the player against the militia, but if not handled correctly the wildlife can quickly turn on the player. Each successful kill or skilled takedown will result in experience points earned, which will allow the player to level up and upgrade their abilities. Each ability adds a new tattoo to Jason's arm, which by the games end will make Jason look like an employee on Miami Ink.
Far Cry 3's shooting mechanics are on point, giving the player a fairly large arsenal to experiment with. At the start of the game, the player only has two weapon slots, but after a bit of hunting and gathering materials, the player can max out at four weapon slots. Having the four weapon slots is something I would recommend any player shoot for as soon as they can, because the amount of gun types will allow the player to fully customize what weapons they carry with them and how they want to handle any situation they may be thrown into. I personally always kept a shotgun on me in-case any lethal animals got a little too close for comfort, a sniper rifle for the stealthy route, an assault rifle to take down multiple enemies in a pinch, and a rocket launcher to deal with any heavily armored units. Using stealth was my favorite tactic in the game and I found taking down enemy outposts (which are scattered around the map and can be taken over for added save points) a thrilling task.
With the mixture of different gameplay types, a ton of content to explore, and an engaging story that is worth seeing till the end, Far Cry 3 is a must play. The reason the game is so high on my list is due to the sheer amount of fun I had with the game; I was literally hooked on the game from start to finish. Even after I completed the main quest, I found myself coming back for more in order to unlock all the achievements and complete all of the sidequests. Ubisoft took the complaints from previous entries along with the strengths and forged a terrific shooter. Far Cry 3 is has the complete package and this is why the game is my #1 favorite game of 2012.
Thank you to everyone who read my 2012 top ten list. I put a lot of time into this and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read it. Here's hoping 2013 brings us many more amazing games!
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