Game rating: FarCry 3

[Art Blade]

Game title
FarCry 3

Category            Rating            Comments Story line 3 The story.. what story? While escaping in a lift from a fistfight in a discotheque, a handful of white rich American party people hear about an island "where you can do anything." Doug, the DJ, recommended it to them. So they skydive into the unknown.. The only soldier, Jason's brother Grant, is the first to die, while young Mr Jason Brody slowly turns into a tattoo-covered killing machine and becomes the only true and worthy warrior of the island while indulging in the natives' mystic tataus and spiritualism. And shroom pill trips. For some reason there is nobody as capable as Jason. Not the Rakyat warriors, not Vaas's pirates, not Hoyt's freelance mercenaries, let alone Vaas himself, Hoyt himself, Dennis, Citra and whomever we meet during the trip. They all seem pathetically limited in their abilities. The only real challenge are animals. The rarest and most dangerous of which need to be killed (by Jason) in order to serve as material to craft bigger pouches and carry bags for a stunning arsenal of weaponry. Arms dealers are useless muppets, too, you better get whatever quantity and quality you need out of magic vending machines that can be found in every safehouse. The story missions are as linear as it gets despite the open world nature of the game and appear to be something that doesn't really belong in this game. As if there were two worlds: Story missions versus the world outside of them. And the red-pills-induced flashbacks to help fix the story background are as strange as the poisonous-drinks-induced trips that make us hallucinate and fight things like an uber-warrior the size of a 15-storey building. Geez, ubi-people.. what were you smoking when creating that story? However, the graphical input we get throughout those missions is in a way cool and fascinating. Loads of cutscenes that are worthwhile for the first time around but the second time around you wish you could hit ESC to cut it short. Graphics 8 Overall a pretty stunning impression they got out of a heavily modded DUNIA2 engine. The game supports DX11 and DX9, and even on an old rig with a GTX260 it runs smoothly on ULTRA high setting. Respect. However, they did not manage to make the horizon right. Whenever you see the ocean, there are fake mountains that stretch out beyond the horizon so it looks as if standing not far away from a ledge, as if the ocean was about to fall down behind the horizon. Indeed it reminds me of a waterfall, when you stand on the "wrong" side of it (the water falls down away from you rather than towards you). Also funny to fly above fake trees that keep trying to show you their "face" -- they are flat 2D models that really spoil the illusion of a 3D world. Speaking of 2D.. as if they missed a third dimension, the random people you get to see, Rakyat in particular, only seem to be clones of a single model. They all look the same, except for tattoos or clothes. They all talk the same, too: same voice, same lines. At least they know more than one line. Two is more than one, isn't it? About the weather.. it makes me grin because it is funny rather than believable. Night literally "falls" -- in a few seconds. Thunderstorms pop up faster than you can say that word and vanish equally quickly. What the hell? Someone forgot to adjust the speed, apparently. Short as it lasts, it does look nice, a sunset or sunrise. You need a few of them to actually start to remember details of them. Water looks rather nice, rivers do have a current (you can drift away in them) and you do believe that you see water flowing. Underwater worlds.. man, again, impressive details. Loads of fish. Animals in general look cool. Not so cool is that after skinning an animal it still has its skin on, only bloody patches indicate that you did something to it. What you grab after skinning it looks like an organ or a chunk of fatty meat. As if originally the animation and graphics were about cutting meat out of animals. Plants look quite cool, I think I've never seen so many blades of grass and leaves on trees in any game. My first impression of this game was indeed, "man, it's so green.." Overall, I like the graphics a lot. It does look very good, despite some flaws. If only they fixed the horizon.. Sound 7 First of all, engines sound nice, I like the car sounds. Animals sound cool, too. You'll know what I mean if you remember a bear or tiger growling outside your safehouse.. some animals, however, are a bit weird. Snakes and komodo dragons sound.. weird. Dogs and dingoes? Same sounds. And I still confuse buffaloes with something I don't know, but I never guess "buffalo" the first time I hear that noise. Voice acting.. well, during the stories they're good. A bit cliché perhaps, like Dennis has to have that afro accent, Citra has to have that "exotic" whatever accent, the natives however have NZ or Oz accents (I'm no expert there but they sound like that as far as I can tell) and some of the main bad guy characters also sound more like from down under than British English, let alone American English. I read somewhere that South African English accents can be heard, too, but I don't know. It's just funny that generally speaking they try to make the whole thing exotic and then they blend in Aussies. Hehe, I never would have guessed that they're that exotic :) Now, the voice acting outside the main story is almost not present at all. If I wanted to be generous, I'd say there are 30 different lines in total that can be heard. FC2 kept surprising us even years after the release, so many chats and individual lines were integrated there. Here? Basically all you think you hear is two or three lines, over and over again. These AI peeps look and sound alike and the voice acting is just as "diverse." This is what makes the whole thing sound like anything but a believable open world, it attacks any attempt of immersion. Game play 5 To make it short: There is the ultra linear main story part which is something I feel just has to be coped with, just to get it over with, and then there is the open world part outside the story mission which is the true gem of this game. However, if you liberate all outposts, you'll have only a handful of bad guys left that keep spawning in very few places. It makes this shooter feel a bit too peaceful. So you might want to deliberately not liberate all outposts, at least during your next playthrough(s), just to have some spawn locations for patrols left to have fun with. During the game progress you will be able to acquire all skills there are, and if you grind hard you'll have all skills and perks and everything really early or at least as soon as they become available. The role playing game aspect that comes with skill trees is rendered useless as you cannot really choose what type of character you want to play. It is only a matter of time, not of choosing, that decides your levelling-up in your skills. And in the end you will have all skills there are. So basically you're just developing your single character until he's finished and polished. Same with crafting, eventually you'll get everything there is, and that quite early. Outside the story mission you have no one to interact with (if we ignore the vending machines..) apart from mini games such as poker or random (but repetitive) encounters with people who want you to fix their cars, given you wield a repair tool.. or people who are being threatened and you can kill the bad guys so you get a little monetary reward from surviving victims. Else the only interaction is combat. Which isn't a bad thing, all things considered.. but it might get a bit boring after all if you achieved all skills, got all weapons, put the main missions behind you.. not much to do if there are no enemies left (so keep a few outposts alive..) but you can still try to collect all relics and lost letters and loot all boxes.. which will present you with either a full rucksack or a full wallet. Or both. So the real challenge will be, "how the flipping heck do I get rid of my money?" Replay value 8 The story missions are really nothing I want to play again. But I have to in order to fully enjoy the open world outside the story mission. The problem is that skills, regions and certain other things will only be unlocked by playing the main story missions. So we just have to endure them. Endure rather than enjoy, because probably 90% of the story is completely, totally and utterly linear. The remaining 10% are framed by "don't leave the mission area" or else. Well, having coped with the main missions or in between the main missions there is the heart of the game, the open world. Man, I love to walk, swim, fly, drive, fall, and whatnot, around on Rook Island and can't help but kill most of the things that move. Hehe. Final thoughts The general spirit of the game is just too good. It makes me forgive all, ALL, those fucking annoying bugs. Exploring and having fun (don't forget to leave a few outposts alone..) is still keeping me happy and I'm talking 320+ hours worth of gameplay during my first two playthroughs. Hell yes, it is still great, and I am waiting for the first really cool mods. :)

[fragger]

Very comprehensive review Art. And I'd have to say, I agree with all of it :-D

I actually composed a review a week or so ago but held off posting it until I'd given the game more of a wring-out. It pretty much gelled with what you've written here, so I won't bother belaboring the points :)

Man, FC3 is just so close to being everything I want in a game... In some ways, on the outside, it is and I love it for it, but at its core it ain't and I wish I could change it into what would really send me. Sort of reminds me of my first girlfriend...

[Art Blade]

hahaha, not sure she'd like to hear that :-D  8-X

Thanks mate :) Of course there is more to be said about the game but hey, going too much into detail would inflate that essay even more and the sheer size would repel rather than attract people. We have the FarCry3 boards for that :) I too wanted to write earlier and like you I feared that I wouldn't know enough to do a proper rating. Then again, 320+ hours should qualify and man, I wanted to get this done while we're still in 2012  :-()

[fragger]

She'd probably say the same thing about me, except for the outside part. I've been told that I can crack a mirror from 50 yards in a pea-souper :-D

320+ hours def gets you in :)

[Jim di Griz]

I reckon that DJ in Bangkok has a hand in sending suitable victims to Hoyt for sale on the slaver market. I liked the story, so far, so I'm saying nothing more until the game is completed. There sure is some messed up stuff in there such as the Vaas/Cittra meld seen at the end of the Vaas stronghold mission.

[Art Blade]

Either Doug is involved or just trying to impress people with something he doesn't know much more about than that it exists. If he was involved, it seems not conclusive to merely suggest a trip in a chartered plane so they skydive down without ever knowing whether or not they do it rather than take them there to deliver them. Also, it seems strange that on that island so many people get killed -- if they were slaves you'd keep them for w@&k (see the Vaas scene when he kicks down people into that volcano lake or the mass grave full of people Vaas killed "celebrating Jason's death") -- Hoyt will tell you more when you meet him.  :)

[Jim di Griz]

Vaas, as they say around here, is just a nutter  :)

I see what you are saying about the waste of lives - it does seem inconsistent. However, Doug could be receiving kickbacks for sending solely rich kids out over the island as a specialist commodity. There would certainly be a market for slaves who previously had had everything at their fingertips - wasn't it Fellini who explored the theme of power? Having immense wealth is one thing, but true power is the ability to control people in life and death. It's an old world idea and those old money people seem to hate the new money people with a passion thus making a bunch of nouveau rich kids prime targets for sale so that they can be used however the buyer wants. True, Doug couldn't afford to push too many through, but there was something about his brief, calculating expression in that lift, right before suggesting it. Hoyt has him in his debt/power and knows Doug's strings.

Like I say though, I have yet to encounter the whole story, so I could be wrong  :)

The 'greatest warrior' thing does seem less thought out. True, certain people can rise to the challenge unexpectedly but the gun-for-hire idea of FC2 was far more believable. Maybe Jason should have been replaced by a merc/friend of the family hired to keep an eye on the rich kids during the holiday - anything to get rid of the Californian type idiot girlfriend...

[Art Blade]

  You may get rid of her if you're so inclined..  >:D

[Jim di Griz]

Oh, I did  :)

[PZ]

Excellent review, Mr. B  :-X

Like the others, I can agree with all you wrote  ^-^

[Art Blade]

Thank you, PZ  :)

[fragger]

Where are you guys seeing this Doug character and hearing a conversation about the island? When I watch the intro, I see the kids on the beach with their names appearing celebrating Riley getting his pilot's licence, then I see them doing stuff like getting coconuts and high diving into a river as well as driving and hang-gliding, intercut with some wildlife shots and a couple of other things. Then I see a disco sequence, but all I see of that is a few very brief, rapid-fire scenes that flash on so quickly they're almost subliminal - people dancing for a second or two and a DJ (no doubt "Doug", but I never see or hear his name), a pole dancer, an extremely brief impression of a brawl (which I totally missed until Art mentioned it in his review, and still barely even notice when I watch the intro while keeping an eye out for it) and then about a one-second, first-person shot of Jason bolting into the lift yelling "Hold the door!" and someone answering, "Yo Jason, get in, get in!" Immediately after that the kids are all jumping out of a plane for their skydive. The whole disco scene lasts for about five seconds, and if I blink when the lift appears I miss it. I never see that Doug guy in there or hear any conversation about an island "where you can do anything" ???? I'd never even heard of Doug, not even his name, until I read about him here.

I've also watched the intro on You Tube and the sequence was the same - no conversation in the lift, which appears for about a second and a half. Is this the same intro you guys have seen, or am I missing something somewhere?

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxG5l7DRVQg

[Jim di Griz]

It should be that bit you mentioned when Jason runs for the lift - though it's from another drug induced memory sequence/flashback in the Doc's cave after Jason tells the irritating girlfriend that he's 'staying to find his destiny'.

In the lift, Doug says his piece.

[fragger]

I don't remember that. Maybe I tuned it out along with Liza's whinging ::)

I'll pay attention this time around when I get to that bit, cheers :)

[Jim di Griz]

No probs - just go to the Doc's little pill stash in the cave after you've tuned her out of your life and take the pill - the sequence follows.

[fragger]

I'll be... I never thought of doing that. I'd seen the "eat me" sign next to the pills but thought it was just a joke... :D

Thanks!

[Jim di Griz]

 :) I think the first time you explore the cave and see the 'Eat Me' sign it isn't interactive - it is every time thereafter though   :-()

[Art Blade]

right, you can either eat one pill every time you bring someone to the cave or eat all three (or was it even four) of them at the end; the pills will stack up there if you missed an opportunity :)

[JRD]

I ate them all and had a looooooooooooooong trip 

When I came back for more and found nothing I almost killed those backstabbing bastards!  >:D >:D >:D

[PZ]

I don't remember that. Maybe I tuned it out along with Liza's whinging ::)

That's OK fragger; the next time you finish the game you can cut Liza's throat to get your reward  :-()

[fragger]

 :-D Oh yeah... I'm gonna rock with Citra for a change this time around, even if I do get a knife in the guts for it >:D I'll still get to come back from the dead to muck around in the islands afterwards anyway, so why not get a bit first? After all, Liza never puts out...

I've wondered if maybe they deliberately made Liza so annoying, so that you wouldn't get too upset about offing her later.

I can't believe I missed all that pill stuff - I've got some tripping to catch up on! See you on the dark side of the moon...

[Art Blade]

just don't take the blue pill. And follow the white rabbit. :-D

[Jim di Griz]

just don't take the blue pill. And follow the white rabbit. :-D

Or follow the white rabbit and take the blue pill and end up seeing The Matrix

[Art Blade]

you got that right, Jim  :-X

[Binnatics]

 

Good review Art! I've missed quite a bit on the forum the last few months. Too busy soaking myself in the MP madness I guess, trying to level the stress of my current job. I agree with it completely, but I miss the MP and co-op stuff. We spoke about it already and I will make a review about the MP part. Hope it fits a bit in the review frame, any I'll give it a try :)