Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

Let me say Far Cry 3 was for me a very entertaining experience however sadly that come more from the thrill of adventure then from the substance of the game.

The core game play mechanics are there and the are very solid however there is nothing we haven't seen before in other shooters. So the two things that would have to sell this game above others would be story and atmosphere. Now I personally love the atmosphere of the game the Island is beautiful and it is very fun to explore, hunt, and capture enemy bases.

One thing I think that would have been a better idea would have been making activating radio towers unlock weapons so that you can buy them. Not just give you them for free because with a little to no effort the games entire arsenal is at your disposal for free leaving side missions which only award money and EXP sadly pointless.

The story on the other hand... is the weak point. Right off the bat I was annoyed with the game in that we were given no time to meet and grow to like Jason and his friends. Just a quick name splat like this was an episode of some crappy reality TV show. Then BOOM out of nowhere your in a prison cell. Personally I would have preferred to have a 20ish minute intro to the game where you play as Jason enjoying his vacation. (this would also give an easy excuse to have a driving and para sailing tutorial) Let us learn of the characters and their relationships so that we have some reason to care about saving them rather then "the princess has been captured you must save her!"

A second story issue is the glaring lack of a good antagonist, Vaas while a good bully... is nothing more then that. Hes a petty thug on a power trip who thinks that since he (kinda) controls a tiny island in the middle of nowhere that hes some kinda big shot. Not to mention hes guilty of some of the most idiotic Bond villain mistakes that make you just shake your head. I will list a few of them just so you can know...
1) Upon recapturing Jason he chooses to tie him up... AND NOT DISARM HIM!
2) Knows the location of the Hero and his allies... and chooses to never mount an offensive.
3) Instead of outright killing Jason with a single gunshot to the head he on MULTIPLE occasions ops for the (and to quote Dr. Evil) "I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly-elaborate and exotic death"
SPOILERS!!!!!! (you have been warned)

4)He also dies halfway through the game being replaced with a Walmart brand drug lord who is even less interesting then he is!

SPOILERS OVER!!!!

I could say more about how the story drags towards the second half and how the drug segments completely ruin the drama. But honestly harping on the sup par story is as much of a waste of time as it its self the fun game play and amazing exploration are enough to make the game worthwhile in their own rights.

It does make me sad though that a company like ubisoft is able to produce such a quality environment to explore but unable to produce a story match it.