Far Cry 3 for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

When I sat down to play Far Cry 3, I honestly wasn’t as familiar with the title as a true gamer should be. I was surprised when I saw the Ubisoft logo pop up onto my screen. I was even more pleasantly surprised at every single thing that happened after that! A massively open world, engaging combat, and near-mastery of FPS mechanics make Far Cry’s third chapter one of the best games I’ve played on the PS3.

FC3 follows a young adrenaline junkie named Jason who in the beginning seems like a character who isn’t cut out to last 5 minutes walking his dog let alone surviving an island full of pirates. Aligned opposite is a very deeply troubling character named Vaas who’s out to capture young people to sell on the black market. A paradise vacation takes a horrifying turn when your party’s skydiving excursion goes belly-up. Immediately the story starts to evolve and you’re running for your life, barely surviving each moment. The action never seems to stop. Even the cut-scenes leave you feeling uneasy due to their unpredictability. Even when you get your bearing you may be being stalked by a different predator, like a tiger or even a bear. This game keeps you on your toes like nothing you’ve ever seen!

Simply put, the game’s open environment will keep a three year-old engaged. Where this game really shines, though, is in the way characters and the actions of the characters around Jason change him in a believable way. It gives you a reason to fight and a means to do so. The more you kill, the more XP you gain and the more you can upgrade Jason to become a monstrous killing machine. You can also choose to flank your enemies, snipe them from a distance, or perhaps run right up to them and shoot them in the eye with a flamethrower.

A dark, chilling story and spot-on character performances are really what will keep you exploring, hunting, and killing across Rook Island. Far Cry 3 will keep you firmly nailed to your seat!

I'd rate it a 10, but then that would mean it is perfect, and it's close to that, but not quite. I think they built on FC2 without losing too much that I loved about that title. I can't say enough good stuff about this engine, although it gets little of the accolades it deserves compared to the other name brand engines like Unreal, etc. The realism is simply amazing, from lighting effects, to fire, etc. One nitpick, is they added lens flaring, and it's a pet peeve of mine because, well, the word "lens" says it all. It's first person, and I don't think Jason has glasses.

But anyway, I love the added stealth elements, I love the wildlife, two frequently requested items regarding FC2. They fixed the two most complained about items in FC2, namely the respawning checkpoints, and weapon jamming.

The "acting" I thought was absolutely brilliant, easily rivaling Uncharted. Vaas was terrifying and incredible. I predict this character will become a memorable character that people recognize by name years from now.

I have to find something to nitpick though. The multiplayer has a number of flaws compared to it's predecessor. It seems they gave up and tried to copy COD. Which I suppose is ok, but they got rid of some things that I liked about FC2 multiplayer. The match search and select is gone. You can only choose a match type and then it will throw you into a room that has 6 people and then it starts for you. So gone are the days you could wait a bit for a room to fill up before starting the match. And there is nothing more boring that playing 6 player matches on a large map. Also the party play mechanism seems to need some fixing. I couldn't get into a match with a buddy.

BTW, it seems that they have followed the lead of other companies making multiplayer require a code...meaning renting this game has limited value, if you want multiplayer. Ultimately this hurts those who actually buy the game, because it's less opponents for us to play against. But oh well...