Far Cry 3 is a 2012 open world action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Massive, Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubsioft released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.  Serving as the third installment in the Far Cry series, set on a tropical island, the story follows protagonist Jason Brody who must save his friends, who have been kidnapped by pirates and escape from the island and its unhinged inhabitants.

Positives:

• Massive open-world
• Great graphics
• Great characters
• Great voice performances
• Great soundtrack
• Compelling story
• Immersive gameplay

Negatives:

• Lackluster multiplayer

Campaign:  The main campaign is really extensive especially considering the various side missions and subplots. It does tell a pretty compelling story will a lot of likable characters the most prominent being Jason Brody, Citra Montenegro and her brother Vaas Montenegro, Liza Snow and Hoyt Volker. Something that I that could’ve made the campaign better would have been branching the storylines. There are three basic factions there’s the pirates, the tribal people, and the main protagonist’s friends. If the game story would allowed the player to pick which faction they would stick with and that would change the gameplay it would not only allow for a more immersive gameplay experience but also a high level of replayability. Unfortunately, the campaign is only single player featuring no online co-op. (4 out of 5)

Graphics:  Visually the game is bordering epic. The island is so active and very vibrant that just exploration alone is recommended to admire this beautifully crafted world. The animals and vegetation have great detail to them. The water looks absolutely beautiful not only when you’re swimming in it but watching the sunset and sunrise is just a beauty to behold. The character detail as well as NPCs look pretty good but lack the depth that the environment has. (5 out of 5)

Score:  The score is just beautiful. The soundtrack has a very vibrant yet very tribalistic theme to it that makes not only dealing with these pirates and tribal people good but also emphasized the jungle elements while during exploration. The voice performances are just fantastic and definitely give life to the characters. The sound effects are on point. While exploring the jungle you can hear leaves blowing in the wind, ocean, wild animals in the distance, shooting from other people fighting, everything that makes an active world outside of the main characters view. (4 out of 5)

Gameplay:  The gameplay is actually pretty fun. It’s like the typical first-person shooter but does grant players the ability to craft items, weapons, and paraphernalia.   Can also hunt animals, collect bounty, swim, climb, glide, drive vehicles, etc. The gameplay can be a bit challenging especially when engaging enemies who will use strategy to try to flush out the players. Animals will tend to attack the players if they’re caught off-guard which provides authentic feeling as encounters are random and unpredictable.  The multiplayer aspects could’ve been better (incorporated into the main campaign) although it is fun going on missions with others. (4 out of 5)

Replay Value:  The game has a crap ton of replayability. Not only do those the campaign allowed for certain choices to be made during the game to alter the storyline and certain aspects but the world has such a massive feel to it that players can embark on so many various side missions. There’s so much hidden content; letters, tokens, players can literally spend hours just searching for this loot. Again what could have helped the campaign out with the replayability would have been branching storylines especially considering the different factions.  (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Far Cry 3 is not only a great game but also one of the most memorable in video game history.  Despite the multiplayer (which we can agree could’ve been handled better) the game excels with its graphics, great voice performances, immersive open world, great score, immersive gameplay, great story, and tons of hidden content.  Far Cry 3 gets 5 out of 5. Thanks for checking out the review.  In the comment section below let us know what you thought about Far Cry 3.