Farcry 3

[lightsout]

I have not played the first two Farcry titles. I got this because I had a lot of games to trade in at Gamestop, I had heard great things about Farcry 3, and the guy at Gamestop recommended it heavily. I realize the game isn't exactly BRAND new, but it has only been a few months since it was released. On to my review anyway.

Holy. fuging. poo.

That is my take on the game after about 35-40% of the main story is completed (and I have a LOT of side-mission stuff I'm about to dive into to slow down this play-through of the game and to maximize my abilities, guns, etc).

Without giving too much away, here's the basic idea. You are Jason, a privileged 20-something who goes with his brother, girlfriend, and friends on a thrill-seeking vacation. They end up in a slave trade camp, and this is where we meet Vaas. He is that villain you absolutely love. He's crazy (literally), funny, and just does enough to keep you hating him at the same time. Seriously, you will think, after the opening scene (which is lengthy, but awesome) that you are watching a movie. Anyway, you escape and end up with this tribe that rivals the slave traders. This tribe is pretty straight up and work well as "the good guys" in this game. You are introduced to the "abilities" system, which comes down to earning XP in order to purchase new abilities. Pretty straight forward. As you gain these, your tattoo on your arm looks more awesome (it's apparently just something that happens, it's some tribal magic or some poo).

The voice-acting is superb. Literally the best I can remember seeing in a game. It's that good.

The world in which you play is pretty damn big and honestly, really fuging terrifying. For the first few hours, you'll find yourself sort of playing it slow because you don't want to get attacked by that pack of wild dogs, or that tiger, or that shark, or that alligator. Yes, you heard right. Tiger. Shark. Alligator. And those are just SOME of the animals. Of course, with these predators, there are the prey. Deer, sea turtles, pigs, etc. And each of these animals are absolutely important. But I'll get to that in a bit. Oh, one more thing...yes, you can watch the predators feed on prey. I've seen it once just by stumbling on a tiger mauling a deer, but it happens.

The main story itself is pretty cliched, yet well done. There are basically two ways to play this game. Fast, aggressive, and very hectic. Or, like me, slow, methodical, and stealthy. And there are plenty of weapons that can make either approach effective and very fun. Currently, for example, most of my killing (both people and animals) comes from the bow and arrow. It's a one-hit kill on most of your non-aggressive animals (pigs, deer, boars, dogs, etc) and people. There is a drop to the arrow though, so if you're farther than about 30 meters, you have to account for it. You can be pretty damn sure to get a kill from 50-60 meters though without too much effort. And even though it's a great little weapon, it's damn near useless if you can't judge distance past that 50-60 meter mark.

Did I mention how crazy awesome the game looks? Well, it looks crazy awesome. And I'm viewing it through a piece of poo Sanyo TV from the '90s (yes, I still have this old ass TV, and yes, it is on it's last leg, and no, I will not go spend the money on a better TV because this one gets the job done with no real issue other than not being high def.). I can only imagine how it'd look with a good TV. The sounds, also great. You are terrified when you hear tigers and other predators. You can hear the wind and crazy creaking when climbing radio towers (as well as get this crazy vertigo, which honestly makes you dread going up them if you're like me, but they are necessary).

Customization in this game is what makes it. Basically, here's the idea. You start off with basic gear. Basically, nothing. One gun, one machete, and a couple quick missions that sort of introduce you to the crafting system. You have to kill certain animals and skin them, then use those hides to make whatever it is you need. Not what you want...what you need (not that there is a difference in those two things with this game, I'm just emphasizing the importance of crafting here). Your starter wallet holds $1000....pretty much nothing awesome in the way of weapons costs that little. You're gonna have to go hunting, get the hides, and craft a better wallet. And keep doing it, because it's never enough (you'll find out quickly). You starter gun holster holds 1 gun. There are 4 slots total. You get the idea. Craft a better one until you can carry 4 guns at a time (you will need it). This goes for literally EVERYTHING. Flowers are also cultivated. These are used for certain syringes. Not going into those deeply, but basically, some are for medical purposes, some help you in combat, some help you in hunting. Your loot/skins/flowers all go in your rucksack. Craft the biggest rucksack ASAP, otherwise you'll be tossing things left and right in order to fit that new hide you were running down to kill for 300 meters. Sell anything that isn't a flower or animal hide (no use for me so far, anyway). They just take up space, and space is valuable. Plus, you need the money. You get free guns, but only by doing a certain part of the game which you're gonna found out about pretty quickly if you give the game just one hour of your time.

Don't play this game straight through on the story. Reasons why: 1) it'll be too damn hard when you're carrying one weapon, very limited ammo, and run into a compound of 20 pirates. No bueno. 2) you miss out on a LOT. 3) it's just stupid. Take your time, enjoy the game, enjoy the mini-games, side-missions, and seemingly mundane tasks like clearing outposts, hunting, and crafting, because that is the bulk of the game and that is what makes it fun (at least, for me). The story is a good backdrop, and eventually you will start to see the effects of you gaining so much from doing the mundane tasks because you'll be overpowering small groups of pirates all by yourself and it feels like you're fuging Rambo, which is obviously rewarding in and of itself.

This may literally be the best game I have ever played. I can't stop playing it. Haven't touched the online multiplayer, and probably won't, but I've heard it's "meh" anyway. As far as the single player....amazing. Simply amazing. This is how FPS role-players are supposed to be done.

[C47]

Yea it's bad ass. I got it for Christmas from my wife, and stretched it out through the month of January just because I didn't want to finish. The only thing wrong with it imo, is that the multiplayer blows.....

[stankowalski]

Loved it. Almost as good as Red Dead Redemption, as far as sand box type games go. But Red Dead Redemption wins because of the awesome story.

[stankowalski]

Yea it's bad ass. I got it for Christmas from my wife, and stretched it out through the month of January just because I didn't want to finish. The only thing wrong with it imo, is that the multiplayer blows.....

I wouldn't say it blows. Not as polished as BF3 or BO2 but it can be fun. Not nearly the amount of people play it though.