Does some things right, and other things it misses completely
First off, the graphics are great. Not amazing, but great. The textures are smooth, and the lighting is realistic all around. Sometimes, I had difficulty trying to look for shadows while sneaking up on bad guys. Maybe it was the lack thereof that made things hard. As a sidenote, everything from the water to the grass and the sky itself is very polished and smooth. It's not easy to find something that's not rendered well.
The gameplay is pretty standard. By gameplay, I mean basic "I shoot you, then duck for cover, you shoot me" kind of stuff. Getting around the island is fun, but firefights are where all of your improvements and tactics come into play. While it's thrilling to decide your attack plan, implementing it becomes tiresome when it takes three, four, five or more bullets to take down your enemies. It's like Call of Duty and Halo nowadays: everybody else can kill you in one or two shots, but your bullets are like Nerf darts. It's extremely frustrating! Some redeeming qualities shine through though, like the fact that bullets can travel through walls and other objects. Grenades DO blow up vehicles, although the logic behind them escapes me. A small rock can distract one guard from his post for a few seconds, but absolutely everybody freaks out and knows where you are if you quietly roll a grenade outside of their view. This type of hypocritical A.I. hinders the experience a little.
Traversing the island itself is a blast. Run through the jungle with reckless abandon! I was pleasantly surprised when I plopped my butt into the seat of a Jeep-like vehicle, and took off into the trees. I was even more shocked when the game let me drive straight off a cliff, and the car went into full on car-crash-simulator mode. That type of realism is awesome! My mind is already reeling with plans of attack that involve crashing through the enemy encampments. Sometimes, the player's limits are rudely made clear though. Slide a little too far, or drop too hard, and your senses will be filled with "Ouchie" noises and lights. It's this type of vulnerable and brutal gameplay that makes Far Cry 3 more fun than it should. Two complaints: you can't climb ledges unless it's scripted into the game, or you're at a context-sensitive area. Also, there is no actual button to stash your gun. So if you were planning on doing any imaginative role-playing while you're walking around the island, you can forget about it. Your character can resist the burning of his muscles while he holds up his gun forever.
So far, I am looking forward to the RPG elements of the game. The experience system creates the illusion that you have options, which is very important. I say "illusion" because the word seems appropriate, you might disagree depending on your playstyle.
I am NOT looking forward to running into a shark. Sharks are scary, and even to this day I do still have trouble with underwater sequences in video games.
Lastly, I really love the crafting system. It makes you work for improvements. Even though I felt screwed when I first could only carry one gun at a time, I knew it was only fair. Every game protagonist can't be Master Chief, swapping between weapons willy-nilly. My only complaint is that the animals seem to be few and far between, but maybe more time with the game will change that.
If you're into open-world games, Far Cry 3 is a good buy for you. While I've yet to see just how deep the game goes, I'm not doubting it yet. Some things are very frustrating, and would tempt me to dock it some points, but I give it credit for trying.