Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

It's rare these days to find a game that fully immerses you into it's world.
Batman Arkham City and Red Dead Redemption did just that. You actually feel like Batman, not like you're playing as Batman. Same goes for a wild west outlaw. Far Cry 3 does exactly that. You feel like you are the main character. You feel his struggle and desperation to survive, and it feels bloody fantastic.
The world is big, there are heaps of things to do, loads of side quests - this game will take you probably around 30 hours to get through most of it. But there are letters, collectables, relics to find, caves to explore. So this may take a while. A long while. Don't worry, that's a good thing.
The voice acting is top notch, the open world is gorgeous, the controls are slick, responsive and easy to handle. It all works, and it works brilliantly.

You actually feel like you are on this island.
Many moments where you'll be hunting and quickly become the hunted. The wildlife in game is amazing - and at times terrifying. Each animal behaves incredibly real and genuine. Hunting and crafting aren't just for novelty value - you'll need them to upgrade your character and serve a real purpose. Using plants to craft health and hunting syringes, skinning animals to upgrade your carrying capacity. It all blends into Far Cry seamlessly.

This took Far Cry 2, kept all the great things and ditched the bad.
No more scrambling for Malaria pills. No more weapon jamming during a firefight (thank god!)
FC3 also includes the ability to tag enemies and wildlife. For me, this is very helpful. This allows you to tag from a distance and approach each situation, however the hell you want.
Snipe from a distance? Sure!
Go in guns blazing? Why not!
Some FC purists will scoff at this inclusion, complaining it takes away the realism. I don't want to play a realistic video game, I want the game to take me to a different world. No more frustrating firefights, trying to work out just where the hell you are getting shot from in the dead of night in the middle of the jungle. Having to wait to get shot, just to see which direction you are getting shot from is very very annoying. Still real enough for you purists???
It's okay though. Enemies aren't automatically tagged. so you can CHOOSE to do it.

The only reason I did not rate this a 10 was for the multi player. The modes are very "been there, done that" nothing new. Which is a shame. FC3 multi player has so much potential, but instead, it's just the basic modes you find in most mp shooters.
The map editor is brilliant and possibly even better than Halo's Forge.

Why are you still reading this?
Go buy this game!

NOW!!!!!