Did I Ever Tell You the Definition of INSANITY?

Video Game:  Far Cry 3

Medium: PC

Far Cry 2 was a repetitive poorly written FPS that should not have been a sandbox.

Far Cry 3 is a well written adventure that will make you contemplate your humanity.

You play the game as Jason Brody, a lily-white rich white punk.  The standard stereotypical entitled Californian... who has just been captured by pirates with his friends, and is going to be ransomed and then sold as a slave.  This is all before you get control of the character.  NOTHING in this game is wasted.  The tutorial coems across as necessary because your character knows nothing about anything, and you spend it being ninja'd out of captivity by your veteran brother.  You almost get out when you're spotted, and shot at.  Your brother is shot in the neck.   You watch him die while trying desperately to stop the bleeding with a futile quick time event.  Vas, the drug crazed leader of the pirates, sends you running into the jungle, yelling "RUN FORREST RUN,"  and gives you a ten second head start before he sends the entire camp at you with assault rifles.

Barely escaping being perforated, you awaken to find yourself being tattooed by a Rakyat shaman with three mystical symbols, the Tatau.  The Tatau is the ability upgrade system.  As you spend skill points, the tattoo on your arm gets more complex to signify your progress, and forms a full sleeve by endgame.  The Rakyat has accepted you into the tribe as a warrior.

Over the course of the game, you slowly rescue your friends as you dismantle the pirates empire and loose their hold on the island.  You become the feared specter of death, Snow White, as your friends are scared, even horrified by your slow transformation.  By the end of the game, the player is forced to confront how much the character has changed, as well as how thin the line between man and monster truly is.

The game's story is amazing, but the gameplay is no slouch.  The game is a true sandbox, allowing freedom even in tha approach you use to complete your chosen objectives.  If you want to pick off your enemies one by one with a sniper rifle or a recurve bow, take your time.  Feel like runing through a camp mowing down all in your path with a LMG, godspeed.  If you want to assasinate your target by hang gliding over the base, dropping out of the sky, and smashing his skull into his torso like a koopa troopa, godspeed you crazy sonovabitch.

One thing I never thought I'd say is that this game makes excellent use of quicktime events.  You don't see them coming, but they have ample time to react and come off as necessary rather than arbitrary.  Its not like you'd have a dedicated "Fight off tiger" button. Segue:  The world is filled with nonhostile and hostile wildlife.  I was, on several occasions, attacked by a tiger whilst sniping at my foes... but on the other hand, they aren't picky and will gladly get a faceful of NPC as well.

This game is unexpectedly amazing, but I must dock it some points for the publisher.  I have one word for Ubisoft:

ASSHOLE.

That was it.

Ubisoft is a major offender of intrusive piracy protection.  The game, on multiple occasions, STOPPED THE GAME TO CHECK IN WITH THE SERVER.

This was in SINGLE PLAYER MODE.  I had to check in with a server in Bumfuck, Nowhere to play the SOLO CAMPAIGN.  I had no interest in the online multiplayer, yet am required to play with an internet connection.  There is something very wrong with this picture.

I didn't play it, bu tthe game included a co-op multiplayer campaign, which is an excellent touch.  Not everyone likes getting their head blown off by a sniper that's camping the spawn from across the map.

Score: 7/10 Epic game, prickhead publisher.

Pass/Fail-  Pass.  Borrow or rent, but don't give Ubisoft your money.