I've been playing the game almost non-stop since then! Before getting into specifics, I'd just like to say right up front what a great game I think this is. I'm not new to the Farcry franchise. I played the first game on the PC when it came out as GOTY(game of the year) and got the Farcry2 the day it came out. I loved the open-ended world gameplay of both games and this one is no different.
Before I get into the gameplay itself, let's talk for a minute about the graphical quality of the game. Let me point out once again that I'm talking about the PC version of the game, I'm not familiar with any of the console versions. My initial impression of the game after booting it up the first time was one of disappointment. The game defaulted to "medium" settings and I was looking at a screen full of graphical glitches, colors popping all over the screen and other nuisance artifacts that were threatening to make the game unplayable. I had to turn the graphics down to "low" on everything to make it playable. At this point I guess I should list the specs of what I'm playing it on:
Dell Inspiron laptop
Model N5110
I-5 2450 M CPU @ 2.50Ghz
6Gb of Ram
64-bit operating system
512Mb Nvidia GPU
I know this setup is far from being a "gamers laptop", but I have to say that I've also been playing Skyrim, Max Payne 3 and Dishonored on this laptop and had each of those games set to high and have run them with no problem what-so-ever. So I was kind of disappointed that Ubisoft hasn't optomized the Farcry3 engine so that it could run better on lower end machines. The other games I've mentioned obviously went to more work on optimization, and it shows. On the other hand, even with the settings at "low", Farcry3 still looks amazing! Making me wonder how great it must look on a high-end PC. The environments are simply gorgeous, lush tropical jungles, beautiful skies with atmospheric effects, weather, day-night cycles. You feel like you're really walking around on a tropical island. The characters all have fluid, detailed animations that make you feel like you're interacting with real people, and the animals on the island bring the world to life like no other game has ever done.
Speaking of the animals in the game, they are varied and bring a whole new level of gameplay. In many games, the animals you see moving around, if there are any, are there merely as background noise. In Farcry3 not only can you hunt the animals to use their hides to craft useful items, the animals can hunt you! I've never played a game in which the wildlife could be so dangerous to the player, as well as to the other NPC's in the game! I'm probably only about 30% through the game and I've been killed by a shark, a crocodile, a bear, a leopard, a tiger, a large Emu-like bird, (I think it's called a Carroway), rabid dogs, dingos, a komodo dragon, and several other animals I'm forgetting about! The environment in this game is as likely to kill you as an NPC!
One of the things I'm really loving about Farcry3 is the fact that you don't have to wait around to get to the "good stuff". In many games, they dole out the high-end weaponry only at certain points, or only let you access a certain vehicle when you have reached a certain point. In Farcry3 you can basically find or buy anything you want anytime. I've already driven most of the vehicles, and if you're willing to hunt for the hidden treasures and money in the game, it's easy to outfit your character with just about any weapon you want to early in the game. I mostly use the "re-cured bow" since it allows me to kill silently using stealthy tactics which is the way I like to play. I wish I could carry more than 10 arrows at a time, but at least you can gather your spent arrows to re-use.
The only other thing that I can complain about this game, other than the graphics engine not being as optimized as it could have been, is the inclusion of "quick-time" events in the game. It's bad enough when you get to a point in a fight or a narrow escape from some calamity and you have to push a certain button to grab a ledge or avoid a falling boulder, but the first "boss fight" I reached was simply ridiculous. SPOILER ALERT! Skip the next paragraph if you want no spoilers!
For several "chapters" of the game, you are doing missions for a character named "Buck". He's a real dick-head! Once you've completed your missions for him, you get into a knife-fight with him. The entire thing is one horrible quick-time event. I died four times trying to defeat him. Basically you'll just keep dying until you have learned the required button presses to finish the fight. I think it only takes like five button presses to defeat him. Quick-time events like this simply ruin an otherwise perfect game! Why couldn't the developers have simply had Buck run from you in the village where you're at and you have to chase him down in a running gun battle? It would have been so much better and would have stayed in keeping with the rest of the game. I know from other reviews that there are at least one or two more of these quick-time boss battles in the game, I guess I'll just have to endure them to enjoy the rest of it!
All in all though, I love Farcry3 and recommend it to anyone who loves FPS games, particularly open-world games that allow you plenty of freedom in what you want to do. If you have a lower-end gaming computer, expect to play it on low settings and still see graphical glitches, particularly in the inside environments like caves and ships. If you've got a high-end gaming system, well, I'm jealous because I can only imagine how beautiful the game looks for you!
