One thing’s for sure the experience has now left me much more cautious about making repeat excursions to games from my past, as I fear any current goodwill held towards them will surely be soured by a return trip. "What was once an exciting step forward into the future of open-world games now feels like an unflattering trip down memory lane." Has the game simply aged poorly, or have I just become more critical in my 20s? Was my brain lying to me, or did I consciously dress up my memories of Far Cry 3 with a fanciful, nostalgic haze, only to realise the reality was far less interesting than I was willing to admit? Do my revised thoughts on the game invalidate my previous convictions, or vice versa?
Playing Far Cry 3: Classic Edition has left me feeling far less fond of a title that, had I not replayed it, would have remained safely in my recollections as a cherished gaming highlight. In fact, it’s easy to forget that Vaas wasn’t even the primary antagonist of Far Cry 3, but the luxury was instead given to Hoyt Volker, the shouty South African warlord who is so obsessed with committing some misanthropic no-no in every scene, you suspect he realises he’s being outshone by Vaas and is desperately trying to one-up him at every turn. Yes, that infamous “definition of insanity” speech is still a well written monologue (albeit an ironic portent predicting Ubisoft’s future obsession with gameplay repetition), and Michael Mando is clearly having a lot of fun chewing up the scenery, but it’s more pantomime than multi-act play. He’s been immortalised in popular culture as one of gaming’s best villains but, after seeing his story unfold for a second time in 2018, you begin to wonder why. Far Cry 3’s user interface, on the other hand, practically screams 2012, with chunky fonts and gaudy colour themes that wouldn’t look out of place on the kid’s menu of a tacky steakhouse.Īnd then there’s Vaas.
#How long is far cry 3 series
The tropical jungles of the Rook Islands originally seem like a generic setting for a series which likes to challenge itself with distinctive backdrops, but when you start to notice all the dynamic activity rustling amongst the shrubbery, you can begin to appreciate the efforts Ubisoft took with the impeccable foliage, lighting, and physics effects. What was once an exciting step forward into the future of open-world games now feels like an unflattering trip down memory lane, and the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia are doing nothing to ease the pain.Īt least Far Cry 3 still looks good, which speaks to its lasting visual prowess when you realise the Classic Edition hasn’t been manually remastered to any considerable degree. the busywork is forced on the player in ways that future Far Cry games became much better at circumnavigating. Being asked to liberate yet more outposts, hunt for yet more resources and, yes, climb yet more towers. Hindsight is a cruel mistress, and playing Far Cry 3 after years of follow up Ubisoft games makes it all the more miserable to play in 2018. And that’s precisely what makes returning to Far Cry 3 so excruciating.