Far Cry 3: Skyrim with guns? Not quite.

By Ethan Hall,

Webmaster–

Skyrim with guns? Not quite, but Ubisoft definitely delivered an excellent game with their recent release of Far Cry 3. If you are looking for Skyrim with guns, your best bet is the Fallout series – it’s even made by the same people. Far Cry 3 does share some aspects with Skyrim. They are both open world games and Far Cry 3 incorporates some similar RPG elements, like experience points, skill trees, and a crafting system. The big difference is that Far Cry 3 is a first-person shooter, packed with tons of action, guns and explosions.

The game takes place on a tropical island that can be explored by the player on foot, by vehicle or even from the skies. You play as Jason Brody, who came to the island with his friends for vacation. Jason and his friends are quickly kidnapped by the local rebel group who intend to collect a ransom for your lives. You escape but are sick with revenge since both your brothers have been killed in the commotion. Thanks to the local resistance group on the island, you are given the opportunity to pick up a gun and save your friends’ lives. The story behind Far Cry 3 could have been a lot better, but it’s the gameplay that matters.

If you only play the story missions, Far Cry 3 should entertain you for around 20 hours of gameplay, but if you explore the vast island and complete the side missions that go hand in hand with the exploration, you are easily looking at 30 or more hours of gameplay. Game mechanics are simple and well executed. As you gain experience, you can unlock special skills. Some skills increase your health points, while others give you special combat skills, including combo melee kills. The huge collection of customizable weapons is not only to protect yourself from human enemies: wildlife, including bears, tigers and wild dogs, pose a formidable foe that can even be used to assist you in combat.

Released on the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3 and PC, each version has its own flaws. The graphics are spectacular and vibrant, but on the consoles frame rates are limited to 30 fps and often drop down to 20-25 fps during scenes of intense action. On PC it is not recommended to use in-game anti-aliasing due to its colossal toll on framerate, 2x anti-aliasing can drop framerates by 40%.

No game is without its flaws, that said, Far Cry 3 does an excellent job. Its open-world map is free for the player to explore, teeming with hidden caves, old WWII structures, enemy outposts and dangerous wildlife. The game addressed gameplay issues that made Far Cry 2 a sometimes tedious game; for example, enemy outposts can now be liberated which prevents enemies from spawning in the area and allows you to fast travel to the location. Far Cry 3 is a must play game of 2012.