To be brief, Far Cry 3 is the best sandbox game i have ever played....
For those who arent sure, far cry 3 is an open world FPS action-adventure hybrid with fantastic visuals in a massive, interactive environment with driveable vehicles, caves, waterfalls, ancient ruins etc. AND fantastic FPS action were the guns feel heavy and powerful, the customization of guns gives you a personal feel when you shoot stuff, the story is driven and exciting PLUS there are elements of RPG thrown in so you can level up to buy more awesome perks to make the game more fun and exciting.
The Good: Huge gorgeous,varied,interactive environment - guns feel heavy and powerful(even the weakest pistols) - vehicles are fun to drive and make for some spectacular action- amazingly real animal eco system means animals frequently mix with battles and hunts- LOADS to do including poker, knife throwing, races, deliveries, quests, hunting missions, assassination missions, free roam hunting, caving, hand-gliding and way more- story has some very memorable characters
The Bad: some minor graphical issues, music is annoying (can be switched of) - guns being free is a bit odd
So in my "the good" section i pretty much summed up that if you like FPS's or open world games or both then Far cry 3 will take your breath away and it is worth any price. And another great thing about far cry 3 is its improvement over far cry 2 , all the annoying re spawning enemies are gone, the bullet proof enemies are gone, the annoyingly spaced save points are gone, the tedious travel is gone, the stupid and confusing story is gone. So basically the developers have taken all far cry's strengths , none of its weaknesses and turned it into the best game in 5 odd years.
I had to be really fussy to find anything bad to say about it one of which being the music is really weird in that its oddly programmed e.g your picking plants in a sunny and quiet field and the game will start playing tense fast paced music as if your about to get attacked but you dont so it just gets your heart beating for nothing which annoyed me so i turned it of.
And before i go play far cry 3 , i'll say one last thing, the animals are amazing, they not only bring the world alive and proved something to do in hunting them and skinning them for materials to craft things BUT they very often get involved in conflict which makes things feel very real e.g im in a road and 3 enemies are running at me from either side shooting and as i run away a bear leaps out from a ridge and starts tearing the enemies to pieces but after finishing with them it turned me into mince meat, you also frequently see dangerous animals that would kill you e.g tigers, bears, komodo dragons, but they are to busy stalking a chicken/tapir/buffalo to bother with you. When animals hunt you it is epic because your in a quiet field or something and you hear a growl but the game makes it sound like it is coming from every direction so you dont know which way your being stalked from so you have to get to higher ground while cradling something powerful like a shotgun as the developers have made the animals realistically dangerous and a tiger or bear can kill you in 2-4 hits or when they jump on you.
Ok enough said i must get back to far cry 3 , so my conclusion is go buy it , right now, there are loads more excellent things i havent mentioned about far cry 3 like its brand new animations for deaths, jumping , climbing and diving, but i'll leave the rest of these things as pleasant suprises for you when you get the game.
Far Cry 3
Graphics: 9/10 The islands look amazing but close up you do see jagged edges and grainy textures
Sound 8/10: guns and explosions sound great but music can be a pain
Gameplay: 10/10 Unbelievably good animations of movement, death etc. loads of epic ways to kill, stealth works great. Very impressive
Replayability 9/10: i havent finished far cry 3 yet, in fact im not even near half way through but ive played over 15 hours and there is sooo much to do i cant imagine getting bored until a 3rd or 4th playthrough and that would be hundreads of hours by then