The Far Cry 3 Experience



How does Far Cry 3 tell a story?

The story is big. There is main story with really good plot-twists and very (some VERY) special characters. It's all very convincing. Voice acting is great, animations as well, dialogues are fun and sometimes mind-boggling. The story made me think and ponder about things, and that's when I know it is a good one.

Then there are small stories. Things you see out in the jungle. You are on top of the hill and you are viewing the coast-line. Not far from it in the ocean there is an island, and you immediately want to see what's there. Maybe you will find ruins of an old temple with relics and some treasure inside. Maybe there will be a campfire with shovels laying around. Somebody definitely was digging for something here. Or maybe you will just find trees and nothing else, but even so - the stunning graphic detail is so good at channeling atmosphere that it will still add to the experience. You will end up lingering on that small island, viewing the horizon in all directions and thinking for yourself "this should be my island. Once this is all over I will move here and do awesome things".

And there is a huge living world. Do you know the only thing it lacks? Insects. A jungle like this should have so many insects that it should be uncomfortable. Spiders, lizards, mosquitos, beatles, and maggots that eat corpses because naturally there are so many of them. Back to the stories of the living world: things animals and people do and how they interact with each other add very much to the immersion of the Jungle.

My two favorite free-time passing things in Far Cry 3 Jungle are skydiving and cave exploring. The former is stunningly beautiful and always lasts a tiny minute not long enough making you do it again next time you get the opportunity. The latter is caves. Once you enter one, the jungle sounds disappear and everything is silent, except for some distant echoes in case something is going on nearby. Maybe you find a door in the cave that won't let you pass, and you plant explosives in it, step back many meters and push the button. BOOM! And a tiny second later you may hear a an eco of a surprised and pissed off voice in the distance: "what the hell!?". A random native probably already had his share of bloodthirsty pirates, tigers and sunshine that day. All he needs is random explosives somewhere deep in the earth below him. And these caves are countless!

What's awesome in Far Cry 3:
-fire!
-exploration and freedom without disturbing the context
-absolutely beautiful
-story with interesting and special characters and great plot-twists
-there is a joke about your mother

What could be better:
-sunset, sunrise, and rain could last longer
-saving system shouldn't reboot back to safehouse. When relic hunting, it's annoying to run back to the cliff you have to jump from and not die.
-some caves could be bigger and more dangerous to explore. Some of them could randomly have you fighting monsters to uncover something old and forgotten. There could be mushrooms to find and eat which would open interesting dimensions that extend your perception of the mind and make it all psychedelic. Just as it happened in one of the quests.

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