Review: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a standalone game set in an alternate reality affected by nuclear war. You take control of Rex Power Colt, a part-man part-machine cybernetic commando freshly resurrected from the Vietnam War II. He is also appropriately voiced by Michael Biehn, an 80s star who rose to fame through sci-fi action movies like Terminator and Aliens. Rex and another super solider called Spider travel to a remote island where they have been tasked with tracking down the renegade Colonel Solan who is attempting to take over the world.

Now, if any of this sounds even remotely ridiculous, that’s because it is. Taking a major influence from classic 80’s action movies, Blood Dragon encapsulates what was great about that era of cinema and wraps it up into a video game that tries to have a load of fun without taking itself too seriously.

Most of the mechanics and features from Far Cry 3 have been transitioned across to Blood Dragon, with a lot of them being simplified to allow for a quicker and more streamlined approach. You can still go hunting for animals, complete side missions and clear out a number garrisons which are spread out over the island. As you’re doing all of these objectives,you are able to level up Rex, but unlike Far Cry 3 the abilities gained are predetermined and you do not get to choose what you get next.

So how does the title of the game fit into all of this? Well the island is home to a dangerous species of creatures called Blood Dragons. These monstrous animals become enraged if you get up too close and start making a lot of noise; naturally the result of such behaviour will be them taking aim and shooting giant laser beams out of their eyes. This means the Blood Dragons aren’t really something you want to go up and start messing with, however they can come in quite handy if you want to cause a bit of a distraction. They can be lured into certain areas to cause an immense amount of destruction by throwing cybernetic hearts that can be obtained from enemy cyborgs after looting their bodies.

Overall, the look and style of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon perfectly captures the vibe of those classic 80s movies. The game separates itself from Far Cry 3 by using a unique colour pallet of predominately blues and reds. The dialogue from the main characters is really bad, but in the best possible way. It channels 80s one-liners and takes them to the extreme, all the while throwing familiar reference after reference at the player. It’s absolutely brilliant. Combine all of this with a fantastic soundtrack composed by Australian electronic duo Power Glove, and you’ve got yourself a true homage to the era.

Unfortunately, where Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon fails is in its attempt to make you want to explore parts of the island. The island itself is fairly large but feels quite empty. Far Cry 3 had this rich environment with plenty of eye candy in the surroundings; here the landscape is just very bland and boring. The main story campaign is just a few hours long and only requires the player to visit a handful of areas. This means that by the time you’ve completed the story there’s still a huge chunk of the island left unexplored, and by that point I just didn’t feel compelled to go around searching for collectibles. Additionally the side missions become fairly monotonous due to the unlocks you receive at the end game.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an excellent example of how publishers and developers can approach the creation of additional content for their game. While there are some underlying issues with the layout of the island, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon delivers a load of fun and is definitely a game worth checking out.