Game     Pandemic

When Far Cry 3 was first revealed, gamers were stunned with the fantastic direction the game was headed; even after all the years of hype and hopefulness, I am pleased to say that Far Cry 3 matches my expectations.

The single player is a phenomenal example of how you can implement ‘focus’ into an open world campaign. Rook Island in FC3 feels just as expansive as Africa of FC2, but is also much denser. There is so much more to do and explore on Rook Island, it’ll actually make you ignore your primary objectives just to see what other places exist on this insane island. Additionally, the respawning enemy AI does not return from the previous installment, instead, once you conquer a stronghold, you own it and the place becomes a ‘fast-travel’ option on your over -world map.

The campaign feels luscious and well-designed, with new gameplay features constantly being thrown at you. As Jason, you will go from innocent tourist to mass murderer in no time flat. Although, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t much like the obnoxious teenagers you have to inevitably save; I would much prefer to save myself and then let the tigers deal with their shitty Jersey Shore personalities. Vaas is a much more memorable character though, giving the game a Heith Ledger’s Joker caliber villain. Through killing and narcotics and general insanity, you will slowly lose control of yourself—a well-implemented theme in the game.

Stealth attacks and a menagerie of kill styles keep murder fresh, no matter how man drug-dealers and savaged you stab in the throat. Since writing this review, I have even begun a second play through of the campaign on a higher difficulty level, making sure this games longevity is endless. Whether you’re being mauled by a tiger or thrown over a waterfall being pronounced dead; this game will excite and disturb you in the best possible way.

Multiplayer is not as genre-defining as the single player campaign though, it is at the very best, a tromp that’ll bide your time until returning to Halo 4 or BLOPS2. The maps are, in general, much smaller than previous iterations which make death matches more high-action and exciting. Whether you are a lover of the tropical atmosphere or not, you will inevitably feel a sense of familiarity from other popular first person multiplayer shooters (which will remain unmentioned).

The final feature of which I will take about is the infamous map-editor. As Game Pandemic has previously written, Ubisoft kept its mouth very tightly shut around this issue, and now it is quite easy to see why. Despite having over 3 years to work on the game, the map editor is not a revolution but instead an improved iteration. That being said, many of the new features and settings are well worth the wait. For example, you can place animals, enemy AI and ally AI in the maps creating scenarios that could potentially provide endless entertainment.

The editor feels familiar with the same terrain manipulation tools and some repeated props, but it also adds the ability to place waterfalls and miraculously, to create cavers. You still can’t truly create your own buildings in a “The Sims” style, but maybe in Far Cry 4. Overall, the map editor is a sizable improvement and should satisfy gamers looking to get their creative juices flowing.