Reviews / Video Games

December 11, 2015

Rainbow Six Siege is the latest outing in a long line of solid tactical first person shooters that fall under the Tom Clancy brand. As a 5 vs 5 team tactical shooter, I didn’t…

Reviews / Video Games

December 6, 2015

Rico Rodriguez is back for some more insane fun with his grappling hook and parachute combo, this time however he’s having a ménages à trois with the addition of a wingsuit. This three way…

Reviews / Video Games

December 4, 2015

Back in 1996 an adventurous lady named Lara Croft made her debut in the game Tomb Raider, and it made quite the impact. Whilst Lara didn’t help the Sega Saturn much, Tomb Raider is…

Reviews / Video Games

November 20, 2015

Music is a powerful thing. It stirs up the emotions. It can get adrenaline surging through your body in anticipation. Music has got me all excited in two games recently. The first was Fallout…

Reviews / Video Games

November 18, 2015

War. War never changes. And for the core gaming experience, neither dies Fallout. In preparation for Fallout 4’s release, I dusted off my old 360 and started a fresh game of Fallout 3. Despite…

Reviews / Video Games

November 11, 2015

The Call of Duty series began life as a solid World War II shooter, competing against the mighty Medal of Honor series. But as with all things, you have to evolve or die, and…

Reviews / Video Games

November 9, 2015

EA’s Need For Speed reboot places you in a perpetual rainy night, the kind of setting you’d expect from a b-grade horror film. A cliched setting that lends itself to slippery driving and, yes,…

Reviews / Video Games

November 7, 2015

The first time I played Assassin’s Creed, my mouth hit the floor. I think this is probably the same for most people, especially those of us who played the original on the XBox 360…

Reviews / Video Games

October 29, 2015

I’m just gonna go ahead and say it. I’m not a big Halo fan. But Halo does offer a great place for some mindless multiplayer fun, even if I don’t understand or care about…

Reviews / Video Games

October 28, 2015

I haven’t played a proper rally game since Codemasters dropped Colin McRae for the more diverse Dirt. But that doesn’t mean I’ve left my love for driving games behind, it’s just that I’ve embraced…

You play the part of rich, privileged kid, Jason Brody, on holiday with your college buddies, enjoying the tropical paradise of Rook Island.  But then you get captured by the island’s marauding slavers, an you become a sniveling wreak, waiting on your brother to help you break out of the cage you’re in and kill the first guard.  Soon however, you’ve got blood on your hands, and then you’ll find yourself all alone and having to fend for yourself on this Island paradise turned nightmare.

The character progression that Jason goes through is nice, but the reality is that if you’re anything like me, you’ll be chomping at the restraints waiting till you get the chance to kill something.  Or maybe I’m just sick.  It’s possible, especially when you see me play Far Cry 3 and witness the glint of joy in my eyes as a run over a couple of slavers with my jeep, slam on the brakes, jump out and loot their bodies before driving off.

Far Cry 3 is of course more than just a revenge story, it’s an open world experience.  You get to explore a living breathing island.  One of the first things you’ll be wanting to do, is take over all the radio towers, in doing so, make available more guns and equipment to you through the local gun shops.

The first radio tower I took over introduced me to one of the many dangers of the island – the wildlife.  As I approached a snake jumped out and bit me on the hand, loosing valuable health points.  It was easy to kill, but it alerted me to the fact that the island was inhabited by not only slavers but also all manor of animals, most of whom, like the slavers, would rather kill me than ignore me.  When I started to climb the tower, the creaking of the structure had me worried the whole thing might fall over if I got too high, and as it got higher, the whistling wind – along with the stunning views, gave a real sense of hight.  Far Cry 3 was turing into a stunning game and I had only just started.

Play through the game just completing the storyline and you’ll miss the point.  Start by taking over the radio towers and hunting the wildlife and you’ll be better suited for what’s to come.  Wildlife will help you craft new things, like bigger wallets that allow you to carry more cash – for the more expensive times – or the ability to carry up to four weapons at a time, or more loot.

Complete side quests – like taking over strong points or delivering medical supplies, and you’ll upgrade your character quicker, giving you ore options as you go along.

Whilst most things can be achieved by running in with guns blazing, you can have more fun by scoping out the area.  Look for little things, like an outpost that has some caged animals – let these loose and they’ll start to kill the slavers for you.  Shoot the exploding barrels and watch the fire spread and cause mayhem, or sneak in for the silent kill with knife in hand.

How you approach Far Cry 3 will determine what you get out of it.

The storyline on it’s own is a blast, with some great characters and even better acting – Far Cry 3’s story missions are full of cut scenes that you’ll enjoy watching, with crazy characters that seem and act plausibly.

It’s the combination of an engaging storyline with real open world playability that makes Far Cry 3 a blast to play, and something that will have you coming back for more.

And that’s even without looking at the online play!