Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
PlayStation 3
Before playing:
I normally do not review DLC, but when it is essentially an entirely separate game like this (and not just an extension of the original game), I am willing to make an exception.
I've been aware of this game for years and years now, and I've really been wanting to play it. The whole 80's action movie aesthetic really appealed to me. But I'm someone who plays things in order. I was not going to skip ahead and play this when I hadn't played the other games in the series yet. Well, I finally played through Far Cry 3 late in 2023. As soon as I finished up that game, I thought to myself: I can finally play Blood Dragon now!
Nearly a year has passed since I finished that game. What happened? I started playing other things and kind of forgot about it, to be honest with you. Well, the game popped back into my head again when I was looking through my collection for a new game to check out, and I finally decided to circle around and dive in. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon... how would I like it? Let's find out!
Story:
To be honest, I did not really care too much for this game's storyline. The game really tries to keep you invested, with its cutscenes before the game and between missions. But it just wasn't doing anything for me. Go here, shoot these people, rescue this hostage, take over this outpost, hack this. It doesn't help that the game just kind of throws you into this strange, unique world with little to no explanation of who these characters are, what this island is, or what the state of the world even is in this game.
From what I was able to gather, the plot is similar to Heart of Darkness? There is a bad guy on this island who has defected from the military, and is running genetic experiments on these giant dinosaur things, even ingesting their blood to give him special powers. The game starts with you dropped in via helicopter. You have to travel the island, shut down all his outposts, and defeat him.
There is other stuff going on, too. But like I said I didn't really care for it. Once I lose interest in a game's story, it is hard for me to get that interest back. I just kind of zone out during the cutscenes. I remember a sex scene, and a few other odd things happening in the cutscenes. But really, I was just here for the gameplay. I did not care about any of that.
Gameplay:
Here we go: the gameplay. The whole reason I am here to begin with. So how is it?
Well, if you have played a Far Cry game in the past, you should know what to expect here. It is a first person shooter. You can run, walk, crouch, and jump. You have a weapon wheel full of different weapons to pull up. There's a scope where you can highlight enemy targets. There are stealth elements, like crouching, hiding, and performing instant sneak kills. Picking people off with a bow from long distance is always the *chef's kiss* in video games, and it is here, too.
There's an open world map full of things to collect, like VHS tapes and notes from the scientist. There are enemy outposts to take over. There are side missions to take on, like hunting animals and rescuing hostages. If you've played Far Cry 3, the gameplay is very similar. Only major difference is that this game is more forgiving in its difficulty. If you ignore stealth and run in, guns blazing, you aren't automatically screwed. In fact, this is often a perfectly valid approach. On the whole, this game feels like it focuses more on the shooting aspects and less on the stealth.
The element that makes this game unique: the dinosaurs. That's right, this game has dinosaurs. They act as a big, difficult opponent that you encounter in the open world. Early in the game, you want to avoid them. But you can use them to your advantage, luring them into enemy outposts and having them do your dirty work for you. Fighting them, avoiding them, and using them to your advantage is a giant part of this game - and part of what sets it apart from the other games in the series (aside from the 80s aesthetic, which we will get to shortly).
The game is a blast to play, and it never gets old or repetitive. I found myself staying up waaaay too late at night playing this, trying to collect just one more tape or take over one more outpost. The decision between using stealth versus just charging in and fighting makes the game so much fun. The dinosauts are nice wrinkle, too.
The game is short, only six to ten hours in length, depending on how much you want to do. Personally, I completed the game to 100%. I was having so much fun with it, I didn't want to stop playing after the final credits rolled. I was kind of disappointed it was not longer.
Graphics:
As you can tell from the screenshots I posted, this game definitely has a specific vibe to it. Neon purple lights, glowing weapons, cyborg soldiers. Very, very 1980s. This may be a PS3 game, but I still think it looks pretty darn good. The whole atmosphere of the game just makes it so unique and easy to lose yourself in.
You are going to find lots of little Easter Eggs as you play, like pizza boxes in the sewer when you are trying to kill mutated turtle creatures. Small stuff like that which really adds to the charm of the game. I also enjoy the presentation of the cutscenes and how they are done with pixel art that reminds me of the 16-bit era. Big time Snatcher vibes.
Sound:
This game has some terrific music. Mainly you are going to be hearing a lot of 80s synth, reminiscent of the Stranger Things intro music, or something you'd hear in the movie Manhunter. You'll also hear some pretty intense battle themes, too. One of the songs used in this game sounds like the Terminator theme, and I am certain that this was not by accident.
The highlight of the game musically for me is during the helicopter introduction scene. Little Richard's Long Tall Sally plays during this action sequence, and it is freaking great. Really gets you pumped to play this game.
Voice acting is okay. The main character is voiced by Michael Biehn of Terminator and The Abyss game. I almost did not recognize his voice. He is so gruff and brooding sounding. I do enjoy all the one-liners, many of which are most definitely NOT politically correct. This game would get canceled if it came out today. And I freaking love it.
Anyway, here is a link to a playlist featuring some of the game's music, if you are interested in checking it out:
Overall:
This was a very enjoyable game for me. Short, but enjoyable. I had fun almost the whole way through, and encountered very few flaws that irritated me. I suppose one flaw is the same thing I noticed in the Far Cry 3 base game - my controller would often freak out during battle. My character would keep putting his goggles on or throwing rocks as I was trying to shoot enemies. I was like WHHHHHY???! I was not hitting these buttons. And this would only happen during battle. It is like the controller completely grew a mind of its own all of a sudden. And like I said, this happened to me with the base game, too. I've googled it online and only saw one person who had the same issue, and all the responses were: "it's your controller." But it happened to me too, and on two different controllers. Is it the game or my controllers? Hmm....
Aside from that, I find very little to gripe about. This was a fun little excursion. I don't think it was necessarily an amazing game or anything I am going to be remembering 20 years from now as an "all-time classic." But it was fun! And that's all that matters to me. Is it fun or not. And this game definitely was.
THE GRADE:
A-
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
>HERE<
No comments:
Post a Comment