Ubisoft rips off Assassin's Creed 3 in this uninspired FPS, where you play as a spoiled rich kid douchebag.
To start, the game opens with a quote from Alice In Wonderland, which a character in AC3 also says in the game opening. Obviously, the Ubisoft teams were short on material and I guess snuck into the adjacent offices to steal some material for Far Cry 3.
Not only did they steal a direct quote, (which is taboo enough happening in the same year, but within months of each other?), but they steal the basic game structure and gameplay as well.
You spend most of your time in Far Cry 3 trying to hunt animals so you can craft larger loot bags or weapons or syringes for medicine, etc. This is a lot like AC3 in the respect that half of AC3 is about hunting, which drove the fun down immensely. If you're an assassin, you don't want to spend time hunting, just as if you're trying to escape pirates on an island, you don't want to spend time hunting.
Another way they've ripped off AC3 is that you have to activate these towers to open areas of the island, much like Viewpoints in AC3. There was no need to include this, and to make things more annoying, there's no haybale you can simply dive into. You have to climb back down the tower when you're done activating it.
The entire game is just a blatant, boring rip off of AC3 in FPS form.
On top of that, you play as a gigantic douchebag, horribly voice acted by someone who sounds perfect for the part. In the opening sequence, I immediately hated all the characters. No one wants to play as a pretentious rich kid dbag. I kind of want the pirates to win. None of these spoiled brats deserve to get out alive.
You'll spend most of your time doing stupid side missions as well, like trying to save children who are trying to commit suicide, scaring spouses to leave the graves of their loved ones alone, and gathering dog tags from soldiers who have been dead for over 50 years... Yeah, the missions are that freaking stupid.
Then we get into the leveling system... I never understood why none of the FC sequels followed the events of the first game, and simply became these FPS shooters with their own individual story, much like a Final Fantasy game. This story lost all elements of realism when you suddenly become able to learn upgrades and special talents by gaining tattoos that are tied with a magical essence on the island. Just get a tat, and all of the sudden you can do stealth kills, swim twice as fast, or improve your gun shooting skills.
However, the game isn't without some good points. The stealth elements are done well, and it's nice to get XP with every stealth kill. That's about the only thing that's done well.
Otherwise, this is a ripoff of a game that was a letdown itself (AC3), and just another FPS come and gone. There's nothing special about it, and while many will say it's revolutionary, or amazing, if you look closer and spend time playing it, you'll realize that they are just caught up in the hype that the first game created, and the second game squandered.