Far Cry 3 review

Far Cry 3 provides a fascinating journey to the heart of darkness in an ambitious and exciting open-world shooter.

• Formats Xbox 360 (tested), PlayStation 3, PC
• Developer Ubisoft
• Publisher Ubisoft
• Released 30 November 2012

In the build-up to the release of Far Cry 3, Ubisoft's
superb open-world shooter, there was an almost unwavering focus on the sociopathic tendencies of Vaas Montenegro. Far Cry 3's psychotic villain glowers at you from the game box, he pops up in video trailers waxing lyrical about the nature of insanity before doing, ooh, horrible horrible things. But while Vaas is one of the best video game baddies in some time, with fabulous dialogue performed with unsettling verve, he is not the star. The island that lies behind him is.
Rook Island is a magnificent creation. The lush foliage of the Pacific island's heart is bordered by golden sand and crystal-blue waters, the kind of idyllic setting that recalls rum on the beach and dips in the sea. Go for a paddle around Rook Island, though, and you'll get eaten by a shark. Dally on the beach and you may end up kidnapped by a gang of pirates. Go for a stroll in the jungle and you'll see lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Leopards prowl the verges of the dusty roads that sprawl through Rook's foliage, pouncing on a group of pirates travelling in a rickety truck. Rabid dogs chase pigs across the tundra. Which made me wonder, are there really pigs in the jungle? Maybe not, but given that the only way to make a new holster for my pistol is by skinning a wild goat, I didn't think about it too much.
Far Cry 3 is a video game happily indebted to systems rather than reality, but doesn't let that stop it creating a world that teems with life in an ecosystem that is fantastical but believable. Hunting gives you the most obvious peek into the behaviour of the island's fauna, as you collect (entirely arbitrary) animal skins to craft new items, travelling halfway across the map because you heard there was a rare tiger to be hunted and skinned. Good luck with that, and remember that tigers usually come in pairs.

Letting yourself loose across Far Cry 3's huge map sees the game at its very best, as well as hunting and exploring off your own steam --finding caves, nooks and crannies harbouring goodies-- Ubisoft provide a vast amount of tasks and missions. One of the main attractions is securing 34 pirate outposts scattered all over the island. The setup is always the same: reach the outpost, eliminate the pirates within. It sounds incredibly repetitive on the surface, but each outpost is defended differently and, more importantly, the land around it is never the same. The outposts throw up some terrific tactical quandaries. You are equipped with a camera, which you can use to tag bad guys, allowing you to follow their movements through walls. Then you face the choice of how to approach the encampment: all guns blazing, sniping from distance, or sneaking in and using a machete to keep things quiet. The different layouts, enemy formations and locations of alarms forces you to think on your feet and approach each outpost as it comes. Alternatively, a bear could happen upon the area at the same time, mauling every pirate in sight and leaving you to wander in and secure the area once big grizzly has got bored and returned to the treeline.
suorcetelegraph