Vaas orders you to read!
Farcry 3 is an inspiring title from Ubisoft Montreal and takes the player on a journey to Rook Island as Jason Brody. He is one of a group of trust fund junkies who try their hand at skydiving only to land on an uncharted island where they end up captured by slave trading pirates led by the psychotic Vaas Montenegro.
There’s a lot to be said about a game that quite literally takes me by surprise and this one is especially surprising. The previous Farcry games, at least in my opinion, were not that great and lacked the stuff that makes a good sandbox. Farcry 3 however eliminates the flaws of its predecessors and creates an experience unlike anything before it.
The best part of a sandbox game should be the sandbox itself and Rook island is the bar setting example for being one of the most organic game worlds ever created. Lush jungles, sandy beaches, and pirate infested strongholds give the game a great look and feel from beginning to end without a glitch to be found.
Of course beauty is only skin deep but fortunately another strength of the game is in its strong narrative presented through the first person perspective as you go from being a preppy jock to island warrior. The game progresses with the narrative and the player grows his skills and upgrades via a tattoo that also has a heavy place in the story itself. This kind of meshing of both gameplay and story is why story has a place in games, it’s supposed to influence and support the game, not be the whole meal. It’s not the greatest story and can be seen as rather messy at times but it still has a point, it’s a part of the experience not window dressing to be pushed aside.
Now to the bare bones of a video game, the actual part you play and this is the final jewel in the crown that is Farcry 3. Guns are weighty but accessible, the weapons in your arsenal all have a place in the game and it also sports some of the tightest controls since Red Dead Redemption. Even after upgrading a majority of the skills and getting your perfect load out there’s still a ton of stuff to do in both the main story and the cavalcade of side missions.
This game isn’t perfect but it holds its own and ends up being a stand out title that is worth the price of admission for the main campaign alone but it also has a pretty decent multiplayer aspect for after the game. I definitely give this game two swollen thumbs up and hope some DLC will come expanding on both the game and its story.
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