I describe Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon as a cheesy take on famous sci-fi and action films of the 1980s. It purposely reminds you of famous films like Terminator, Die Hard, Commando, Predator, Robocop, and Rocky IV. Being cheesy doesn’t mean it’s not fun at all. It is actually quite a lot of fun to play in the permanently neon environments. The protagonist is Rex Colt, whose voiceover is played by actor Michael Biehn from the 1984 Terminator movie. Rex is a cyber-commando with a cybernetic left hand and a human right hand. He regularly comes up with one-liners after kills and after his data console tells him what his next objective is.
The cut scenes play out in 8-bit and 16-bit form like a VHS tape whereas the gameplay is in modern 3D. The soundtrack is outstanding as it is from Power Glove and it genuinely sounds like ‘80s music. The gameplay will feel very familiar to Far Cry 3 players since the control scheme is the same and the ability to take over territory is the same. The outposts in Far Cry 3 are referred to as garrisons in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Rex’s killer moves such as death from above and death from below feel very much the Jason Brody’s moves from Far Cry 3. However, there is no such thing as taking damage from any falls since Rex is a cybernetic guy. The main antagonist, Sloan, strongly resembles Bennett from the movie Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The weapons you possess are the handgun, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, all with attachments that you can acquire as you progress. Later you will have access to the bow, a chaingun, and proximity mines. Those with experience with Far Cry 3 will feel at home playing Blood Dragon. The island has random battles between scientists who are part of your faction and members of the Omega Force.
Blood Dragons are an integral part of the game and they appear all over the map. They’re quirky in that they fire lasers from their eyes. These dragons are powerful and take a lot of bullets to kill but you can lure them to cyber hearts that you can throw near them so that you can attack them while they’re eating cyber hearts. Cyber hearts are the hearts of the Omega Force soldiers that you can collect after killing them.
There are still cool RPG elements similar to those in Far Cry 3. For every kill you earn cybernetic points that help you level up Rex. The RPG aspect of the game is simpler than it is in Far Cry 3, but it’s still fun to apply. Therefore, it would be wise to take on the side missions such as hostage rescues and hunting down special animals for leveling up and for earning attachments for the weapons.
The environments do feel a bit monotonous since it always feels like night and the neon lights are the same. There doesn’t seem to be a day-night cycle at any time as you progress through the story. This game contains a lot of quirkiness paying homage to the 1980s. It’s not as fun as the classic Far Cry 3, but it’s still worth playing.