I decided to stray from my typical category format and knock out this Far Cry 3 review using my alternative “Quick Review” method. On YouTube, this is where I break down a game’s high points in two minutes or less. If you’ve been in a cave for the last several months, Far Cry 3 is an open-world FPS with a fairly versatile – if parochial – character leveling and development system. I will disclaim this review by saying that I do not believe Far Cry 3 was by any means a bad game. However, I seriously felt the need to balance out what I believe to be over-hype by a journalist community who’ve lost their critical edge.
Far Cry 3 boasts a large – but not too large – gorgeous open world for you to explore and encounter all types of mayhem. Unfortunately, you won’t have enough incentives to see all the world has to offer. After you’ve unlocked all the radio towers and liberated all the enemy-held camps, there aren’t any significant rewards to be found out in the bush. This issue is made worse by the fact that leveling is tied to story progression and money becomes unnecessary beyond buying ammunition.
The FPS aspects grant you great freedom and the action is fast-paced. Unfortunately the fun is held back by inconsistent shooting mechanics, annoying information pop-ups and enemy artificial intelligence that is – at times – a bit too intelligent
As with most games that attempt a grandiose story, Far Cry 3 tries way too hard and comes off as rushed and contrived. The main character develops toward his inevitable end far too quickly and the plot is too over-the-top to be taken seriously. The one saving grace to the overblown storytelling was Vaas – the story’s main antagonist. However, even with his well-acted antics, the plot’s failure to deliver made it seem as if the game was little more than mindless killing with no real point.
Overall, Far Cry 3 is a decent game, but no where near the 9.0 standard many other reviewers have given it. If you dig mindless shooting and average FPS mechanics in a gorgeous open world, go for it. However, if you need your sandbox games to have a bit more depth, polish and a likeable plot just wait for a price drop. Or you can wait for another developer to take what I consider to be a great concept and flesh it out better than Far Cry 3 did.
