FarCry 3 Review

Hmmm… FarCry 3 what can I say about this game?

Fucking Awesome! Comes to mind but I don't think that that wholly appropriate statement quite does this game justice.

The game starts out with a group of typical rich d-bags partying and having fun on daddy's dime.
It comes to a point where they're all parachuting down onto an island, suddenly it pauses revealing it all to have been a video on a phone held by Vaas. A high ranking pirate leader.

Let me go off on a tangent here for a second. If it wasn't for the acting by Michael Mando for the character  of Vaas, this game WOULD NOT be as good as it is. E3 footage of the interaction between the main character (Jason Brody) and Vaas completely enthralled me the moment I saw it. Turning a game I didn't give two shits about into a release day pick up.

Now where were we?

You as the character Jason Brody find yourself and your brother trapped inside a cage in the center of a pirate base, your other friends nowhere to be found.
Your brother being a military badass helps you get out, but gets shot in the throat by Vaas just as you escape. Turning the situation into a blood vendetta against Vaas.
The only problem with that is that you are a little bitch. Having never killed another or faced hardship as everyone else on the islands has.

But don't worry about that as the island soon turns you into an unstoppable killing machine capable of taking on the mightiest pirate horde!

There are many things to do other than killing pirates though. You can hunt the many species to gather the necessary items to “flesh” out your kit.

You can hunt for treasure for cash and other storied collectibles (the funniest being the rusty trombone item), and I would highly suggest finding at least five letters of the lost to get the Japanese short sword melee weapon.

If your having trouble finding your way you need to climb the radio towers, which double as mini puzzles, to reveal your gigantic map.

You need to do that because this game is enormous in both size and things to do. There seems to be endless areas to explore from wrecks (both ship and plane) to caves (above and below water) old Japanese bunkers, even older ruins, Mountains, buildings, villages, trucks hanging off a broken bridge. The list goes on.
Unless you are very dedicated most will never see the entirety of the islands.

Or if killing pirates is your thing you can attack the many enemy bases that dot the landscape.
Clearing the base quietly gives you lots of bonus xp, and if your lucky a tiger or bear will be near to do all the work for you.

When I first got into the game I spent over ten hours upgrading, exploring, doing side quests, and generally dicking around despite the story being so good itself.

So if your looking for yet another game to waste away the hours on I'd say FarCry 3 is your best bet. In a year of great games it’s an unexpectedly amazing standout.

-Factualvermin