Far Cry 3 Classic Edition Reviews

TL:DR, Yo this game has some really, really awesome stealth and close quarter mechanics. It's both a worthy continuation of the franchises key concepts and now, with hindsight, its easy to see how it paved the way for easily the best of the series. Pick this up for a remarkably good looking re-release that offers as much to nostalgia seekers as newcomers. Oh and its a real easy 1000 Gamer Score.

To Dive a little deeper, I feel somewhat torn when it comes to reviews; whether to give unbiased information for the general public or my honest opinion. My honest opinion is that this game's largest short coming, besides minor technical bugs in the mechanics which can occasionally be quite frustrating, no by far its largest shortcoming is its narrative. Its halfway between a fairly run of the mill 'average man vs. rustic ethnic stereotypes' survival storey crossed with a consideration (read critique) of modern masculinity. Think if Deliverance had vapid college students; and somehow kept quoting Alice in wonderland from the corner of the room while another person beat you over the head with a philosophy 101 text book. Some people might find the story quite enlightening, others will terminally apathetic in the face of what else the game has to offer; but i find it grating. Fuck there's a mountain more gripes I have about the story but I'll save them if only to avoid having to put spoiler warnings. But spoiler alert, the awesome Latino joker pirate guy on the box dies halfway through and it is DISAPPOINTING.

On to what else the game has to offer, Rook Island is gorgeous, and as a dweller of the pacific region I can safely say they have masterfully recreated typical pacific topography in a convincing manner. As an added detail i truly adore the bountiful layers of historical remains, from the ancient shrines to the WW2 era fortifications. It gives Rook Island real character.
Added sidenote, I really really like that they make Rook Island's native inhabitants very closely modelled (read Xerox copies) on Maori culture, again as a resident of the pacific region its nice to see familiar things from my region in games. If only the one Aussie character wasn't a sadistic rapist.

The side quests are largely meh, so apart from ignoring the narrative and enjoying the story missions only for the spectacle you'll be thriving on the outpost clearing euphoria.
I say again, Well worth the price of admission, but unless you suck at video games or are struggling to hunny percent she's a solid ten hours of fun.

Far Cry 3: Classic Edition

Update: As of 6/27/18, the two glitched achievements that remained locked for about a month after I finished the game popped. This happened while I was logged off. Just FYI.

Sight:

FC3 looks great. I don't think Ubisoft updated the graphics, but it wasn't an issue at all. In fact, the game probably benefits from not being enhanced graphically, in that loading times are absurdly short on the X.

Sound:

The soundtrack to this game is largely forgettable. The music that plays in vehicles sounds like something Pitbull would request at a wedding. The AI (both friend and foe) have a list of maybe 5 things they can say (and boy do they say them). Listening to NPCs repeat the same ridiculous lines over and over might have been acceptable in 2012, but there's no excuse for it now.

Story:

The best part of Far Cry games is how well they lend themselves to immersion. You don't start this game as a superhero sharpshooter impervious to bullets, but you might get there by the end. Jason's goals are relatable and authentic. With the exception of a few weak points (detailed below), you'll feel like you're watching a smart, action-packed film in which you're also the star.

Virtually insignificant spoilers incoming!



Gameplay:

95% of the time the game plays fine. The other 5% made me consider the health benefits of throwing my controller through my TV. Let's talk about the latter.

Maybe there's something in the water on these islands, because the enemy AI clearly have
some type of clairvoyance. They react to Jason's presence even when there's no possible way they could know he's there. If you're the type of player who likes to be stealthy, just be ready to restart an outpost or two because an enemy erratically changes his behavior the moment you have him in your sights.

Just FYI: Ubisoft designed the vehicles in this game as an elaborate attack on our mental health. Maybe they have some sort of deal with pharmaceutical companies? Who knows... But I am absolutely certain that they designed each and every vehicle to crash as soon as you turn the key. "Maybe you're just a bad driver, Vinny!" While this is true in general, I submit the following video evidence that all FC3 cars are death traps, regardless of who's behind the wheel:



That's a non-enemy NPC "driving." Death traps I tell you! For driver, passenger and pedestrian alike.

Last and definitely least: broken/delayed achievements. As you may have read and/or noticed, some of the achievements in this game aren't popping for some people. For me (at this moment, at least), I'm missing two story-related achievements. I beat the game, so there's no way that I haven't met the requirements.

Some people have reported getting the missing ones days after actually unlocking them. Hopefully I can count myself amongst them soon, but it's not a big deal if they never pop. I mean, as a community, it's not like any of us here really care about the arbitrary quantifications of our collective loneliness known as achievements... OMG I AM DYING PLEASE UNLOCK. Right?