Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review
The year is 2007 and nuclear war has devastated the world. Big dinosaurs named Blood Dragons patrol the shattered land firing red lasers from their eyes. Yes you heard me right …red lasers. Dispel your pre -conceived ideas what a Far Cry game should be, embrace the absurd and rock out to the training theme tune in Rocky 4 while blowing up everything in sight. Ubisoft have let their 80’s mullet hair down, giving us a game that no one saw coming. Some industry people even thought it was an April fools when announced.
You are the eighty per cent cyborg-killing machine Rex Power Colt. As you start the game you are introduced to a tutorial like no other and it immediately sets up the style of writing that you will experience for the rest of the game. If like me (OLD) you were brought up in the eighties so you are in for a real treat. Cheesy one-liners, Vangelis type synth soundtracks and dialogue references to films such as Terminator, Aliens, Predator (opening helicopter ride direct homage) and Die Hard. Sometimes this can become tiresome, but mostly I did spend a lot of my time laughing out loud, which does really confuse my dog.
The story is told in traditional 16-bit snippets (think Sega Mega drive) they include a brilliantly funny sex scene and a training montage that Rocky would be proud off. They main narrative isn’t really important and purposely by the makers doesn’t make much sense. What is important through is the how the shooting plays out and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
You start out fully powered up. All the weapons, all the speed and you can fall from any height without dying. There is an upgrade tree like Far Cry 3, but I didn’t really see any difference in my play as I progressed through the levels. The gun upgrades are fun and easy to use. Soon you’re combining your weapon attachments to create enjoyable havoc over the whole island. You finish with a weapon that I won’t spoil for you, but it will unleash hell on a stick.
The island itself seems the same as Fry Cry 3, but just darker and with a future red palate spread everywhere. This can wear on the eye after a while especially after playing through the lush jungles of the original. Wildlife is littered throughout and there is a familiar return for all the sharks, goats, boars etc.…except now they all have glowing eyes and are half machine. The new creature is of course the Blood Dragon itself.
They are brilliant creations. By using robot bait you can use them to destroy an enemy outpost with their funky laser eyes. This can cause a lot of fun as you watch from afar as the chaos occurs without even dirtying your own fingernails. When you feel bold enough to take them on yourselves it feels like a really worthy opponent, while all the other AI can sometimes feel like a bit of a breeze.
I did the main campaign and most of the extras in just over 6 hours, which I think is a great deal for an Xbox live arcade experience. There is no online play as in Far Cry 3. There are leaderboards online and someone I noticed has already got the score 99999999. Apart from the main campaign there is VHS tapes to collect with secret codes, outposts to destroy and numerous side missions. These missions include rescue the hostage and hunt down the predators. I lost interest with these to be honest after the campaign as they tread very familiar ground quite quickly. Although the sandbox experience that the Far Cry series do so well is still very evident here and as always very entertaining to be involved in.
Final Thoughts
If you have not played Far Cry 3 yet, don’t buy this game. Buy that first. You can get it second hand for probably the same price as 1200 MSP. If you have played Far Cry 3 I would seriously recommend entering back into the world of this very entertaining, self-aware and brilliant shooter.
