Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon – A Futuristic Flashback

As a child of the 1980’s my taste in sci-fi, action and adventure was moulded by watching the films and cartoons of that era. Despite experiencing movies like Robocop and Terminator years after their initial release, their stories sparked the concept of a lawless post-apocalyptic future in my imagination, presenting gruff hero’s battling scientific nightmares for the fate of our world. Now, decades after its heyday, Ubisoft has amalgamated the 80’s action experience into a hilarious but incredibly enjoyable first-person shooter, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

In an alternate 2007 – one which could only be imagined during the 80’s – you play as Sergeant Rex ‘Power’ Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando sent to investigate suspicious activity on an isolated island with your partner, Lieutenant T.T. ‘Spider’ Brown. The situation rapidly descends into chaos as lasers fly, a nuclear launch begins, and your old commanding officer, Colonel Ike Sloan, emerges as the traitorous mastermind behind a plot that could end the world! Or at least what’s left of it.

It sounds like something you’d read on the back of an 80’s B-movie, and that’s the point! The story is shallow, stupid and completely pointless but that’s what makes it fun. It’s clear immense effort was made to craft this experience and much of the narrative is intended to make you groan as the predictable plot unravels, groans which will be regularly followed by chuckles or a full blown LOL’s.

They say the devil is in the details, and with Blood Dragon the whole game is in its details. No line of dialogue, item or location exists without obvious forethought and as a result the game vigorously immerses the player in an 80’s experience. The music hums with digitised tones and the UI resembles an old home computer, sporting a green background with white text. Hell, Ubisoft even included a montage sequence before the climactic finale in one of its numerous 8-bit cut-scenes.

It all harkens back to an age which assured itself that laser pistols and robot soldiers would be the reality today.

He never had a head for this sort of thing…

Unlike most of the 80’s, however, Blood Dragon doesn’t sacrifice any substance for style, and similar to its predecessor the gameplay is brain-poppingly awesome. Ubisoft successfully extracted the best traits from Far Cry 3 and infused them with an overwhelming dose of luminescent cyber-warfare, creating a title with sharp shooting controls, rewarding stealth avenues, fun to navigate terrain, and a short but sweet set of diverse missions.

The whole affair kicks off with a grossly tongue-in-cheek tutorial programme aptly titled, “Military Navigation for Idiots.” While poking fun at horrifically in-depth tutorials, it also provided a glimpse of how dark tutorials may become in the future. Will tutorials one day advise you to, “Press jump … to jump?” I shudder at the thought, although I may just be letting the post-apocalyptic theme run away with me.

After this linear introduction, which sets Rex on a vengeful quest against his former Colonel, you are free to explore the island, and similarly to Far Cry 3, this is where Blood Dragon really shines. An open island brimming with enemy garrisons, wild cyber-animals and numerous collectibles creates a fantastic playground to get lost in, albeit for a short time. My only gripe was that in comparison to the incredibly lush environments in FC3, anything outside a garrison in BD is immensely underwhelming. The outside environments are bland and colourless, becoming an indistinguishable mesh of terrain. It isn’t a major issue as you won’t spend much time outside, but it still felt peculiar stepping from the vibrant tech-infused beauty of the garrisons to dreary nothingness everywhere else.

Players returning from FC3 will be pleased to hear that Rex ‘Power’ Colt enters the fray wielding many of the upgrades unlocked late in the previous game. This cyber killing machine enjoys infinite sprinting, no fall damage and chain takedowns as default skills, with many more being gained as you progress and level-up. While this is good news for those who completed the original, there are other key differences which may sour the experience for those expecting a direct extension of the original.

We’re gonna need a bigger gun…

Everything besides the combat has been drastically watered down and as a result this downloadable adventure becomes, much like its protagonist, one-dimensional. First and foremost you have no control over your upgrade path. Instead you’re instantly awarded pre-defined skills as you reach each level – such as reduced damage from explosions or increased health. This maintains the fast pace but removes choice from the player, something I really enjoyed in FC3. Due to not choosing my skills I regularly didn’t notice when and what I had unlocked, as blastin’ cyborgs is far too fun to notice a little pop-up. Luckily you can check your skills in the menu but they appear as a list rather than a tree of potential power-ups.

Blood Dragon also foregoes the inclusion of crafting or gathering mechanisms, and don’t expect to find any kooky items on thugs or climb radio towers to uncover portions of the map. Instead the focus is solely on shooting guns and getting cash, coincidentally the same major plot points of most 80’s actions films! With this cash you buy weapon attachments which, similarly to FC3, are unlocked through a series of hunting and assassination side-missions, which are themselves unlocked as you liberate each garrison. Rex articulated the situation best when during a mission he grunted, “So I find shit, so I can unlock shit, so I can get shit …. Got it.”

These minor differences in gameplay serve to keep the experience fun and frantic, and as the pop-culture references wash over you it’s unlikely that omitted mechanics from FC3 will cause much disappointment.

The biggest difference however is between the protagonists. Don’t expect Rex to experience any moral dilemmas as he mows down his hundredth bad guy, ala Jason Brody, instead he is addicted to the action. Rex ooze’s bravado between each kill, tossing bullets through the air to reload and huzzing throwing stars at unsuspecting foes during chained takedowns, and the only thing better than his killing skills are his well-timed quips. “Don’t lose your head,” is cheered when you remove the head from an Omega Squad goon – Sloan’s cyber soldiers. “He never had a heart for this,” is sneered as you tear the pulsating blue hearts from fresh victims, a disgusting necessity as these hearts are used to control and distract BD’s coolest addition, the Blood Dragons themselves.

These enormous Komodo Dragons tower over each enemy, their thick neon hides changing colour to reflect their state of aggression, and unlike traffic lights, if these big lizards turn red it’s definitely time to go. Between their buckets of health and the powerful laser blasts unleashed from their eyes they’re the most formidable enemy you’ll face by far. Although even they can’t stop you once Rex acquires the omnipotent ‘Kill Star’, a powerful artefact turning you into walking Death Star. Unfortunately these glowing lizards are the only new foe in BD, with remaining enemies being nothing but regurgitations of the enemies encountered in FC3 with a change of costume so they look like they’re heading to Daft Punk concert.

You’ll find us in the club…

In conclusion, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon revels in its absurdity and it welcomes you  with open arms to experience its nostalgic blend of action and adventure. Anyone who enjoys cheesy 80’s flicks is sure to find something they’ll enjoy here, but frankly even if you’ve never seen any film or show from that luminescent period I’m confident you’ll still have fun. Despite being short – lasting only three hours if you focus on the story – I believe it’s length is actually one of its strengths. Like a dying star Blood Dragon shines bright for a short time so as to not overstay its welcome, providing an outrageous over-the-top experience packed with flashing lights, cliché’s and foul language, timing itself perfectly to end just before you grow weary, sick or experience uncontrollable mental spasms.