Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review - Unapologetically 80s

[Callate]

The tone of the thing is what Duke Nukem Forever should have been- aware of its tropes without having to beat you over the head with the assumption you wouldn't catch the joke otherwise, pretending the ridiculous is dead serious business, and never, ever letting a hackneyed idea of how the game or games of its type "should be played" get in the way of the fun.

It's ridiculous that my gun now fires lasers because I killed all the different species of mutant cyber animals to earn the upgrade? I'm sorry; I couldn't hear you over the awesome.

Also keep an ear out for one of the scientists making catty observations about the original Far Cry 3's plot.

 

[2fish]

Why is no one talking about the

Spoiler

BEST SEX SCENE EVER?

I mean come on guys.

It was a fun game and one more could work if done right after all many of the cheese points will not work again.

 

[FFP2]

I knew that I would like it more than FC3 the second I heard "Mark IV-style, muthafucka!" and I saw the handshake with the bulging biceps.

And then the part at the end where you

Spoiler

RIDE A BLOOD DRAGON. It was so hype!

The game truly shines if you can understand all the references. Anyone else realised what the "AJM" and "Galleria" names of the pistol and shotty are referring to?

 

[gphjr14]

As someone who grew up in the late 80s early 90s I absolutely love this games. I just finished and collected everything at about 8 hours so definitely got my $15 worth.

Supposedly this game exceeded Ubisoft's expectations so they're might be a chance for a full game.

http://slumz.boxden.com/f13/far-cry-3-blood-dragon-becoming-franchise-getting-sequel-1921390/

 

[josemlopes]

Why not? A sequel from the same creative team would be great since B-movies is basically their passion, they've tackled movies like Russian Terminator and Miami Connection even before Redlettermedia tackled said movies.

The team behind Far Cry 3 can pull off the same miracle because cheesy B-movies is something they enjoy with passion, I really hope the sequel is a full-fledged game instead of a small DLC.

Because then you get exactly what we have now, except with bright neon and fucktons of cheese instead of grey-brown quasi-realistic and gritty corridors.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a sequel to Blood Dragon, but if they do it, they'll make it fairly clear that they didn't learn the most valuable lesson from the game in the first place: That a wider variety of options, produced with a lower budget and at less cost to the consumer, is a recipe for success.

The AAA industry has this incredibly backwards and aggravating habit of taking the same business model they use for things like Madden and trying to apply it to everything. And something like Blood Dragon will get stale and old in incredibly rapid succession. I like it too much to wish that upon it.

I liked the game a lot and I have the same opinion as you, it was great but it already had its stay, go do something diferent and suprise me like you did with Blood Dragon. They basicly adapted Far Cry 3 to Blood Dragon, why not adapt Assassins Creed 3 (or 4 now) for a pre-historic game with dinossaurs?

A 60$ full fledged Blood Dragon sequel would just be milking a perfectly fine game and turning it into another franchise.

 

[sXeth]

I wouldn't mind seeing a full game that wasn't 95% stuck in Far Crys mechanics (Some more interesting weapons or enemy types stand out as lacking in BD), I don't see this working beyond that as a franchise though. The proverbial "lightning in a bottle" will wear out fast with over-exposure, and its at least partly attributed to how they've stepped out of the dominant "realistic" standard shooter.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

This game is an excellent value for the money, a nice breath of fresh air, all of that. I'm with you guys. But this review...it seemed like it was just saying what the game was and what you do in it. This could pretty much be a cliff's notes of a walkthrough of the game. The sentence "a dream come true" was pretty much the only thing preventing it from being that mystical "100% objective" review.

 

[Doclector]

Had such a blast with this. The power you wield for the charge leading up to the final battle was reminiscent of Half Life 2. However....

Spoiler

Having that final battle unfold via cutscene soured the experience a bit.

Spoiler

I was more than pleased to have it play out before me after rampaging through the base with an arm mounted heat ray then riding a blood dragon through the rest of it.

This...just play this. It's such a breath of fresh air from the realistic, gritty shooters, and it's just...so much fun.

 

[romxxii]

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. If it was any more 80s, you'd have to use dial up to download it.

No, it would just come on 5.25" floppies (about 8000 of them). I don't think many people had internet in the 80s, even dial-up.

File that huge would probably come in tape drive.

 

[romxxii]

Why not? A sequel from the same creative team would be great since B-movies is basically their passion, they've tackled movies like Russian Terminator and Miami Connection even before Redlettermedia tackled said movies.

The team behind Far Cry 3 can pull off the same miracle because cheesy B-movies is something they enjoy with passion, I really hope the sequel is a full-fledged game instead of a small DLC.

Because then you get exactly what we have now, except with bright neon and fucktons of cheese instead of grey-brown quasi-realistic and gritty corridors.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a sequel to Blood Dragon, but if they do it, they'll make it fairly clear that they didn't learn the most valuable lesson from the game in the first place: That a wider variety of options, produced with a lower budget and at less cost to the consumer, is a recipe for success.

The AAA industry has this incredibly backwards and aggravating habit of taking the same business model they use for things like Madden and trying to apply it to everything. And something like Blood Dragon will get stale and old in incredibly rapid succession. I like it too much to wish that upon it.

As Tarantino has proven, it's quite feasible to recycle retro themes and tropes consistently, so long as it's good.

 

[Agayek]

As Tarantino has proven, it's quite feasible to recycle retro themes and tropes consistently, so long as it's good.

See, the problem with that, is that the movie industry isn't almost entirely Michael Bay blockbusters. There's variety, which is something the gaming industry sorely lacks. The indie scene is making a decent stab at it, but they can only do so much when everything with 6+ figure budgets is Modern Military Grit to fuck and back.

My problem isn't sequels to Blood Dragon (though it does stand to be said that it doesn't need one at all). My issue is that if they do sequelize it, they will almost certainly do it the same way they do literally everything else: turn it into a franchise and produce nothing but that over and over again until well after it outstays its welcome.

They need to learn from what Blood Dragon represents, not what it is, if that makes any sense.

 

[WarpZone]

Sorry, all I heard was "exactly like Gears of War except Green and Blue exist." Can you be more specific? How AREN'T all other modern games a non-stop mess of explosions, one-liners, and over-the-top nonsense?

 

[Gregory Weldon]

As Tarantino has proven, it's quite feasible to recycle retro themes and tropes consistently, so long as it's good.

See, the problem with that, is that the movie industry isn't almost entirely Michael Bay blockbusters. There's variety, which is something the gaming industry sorely lacks. The indie scene is making a decent stab at it, but they can only do so much when everything with 6+ figure budgets is Modern Military Grit to fuck and back.

My problem isn't sequels to Blood Dragon (though it does stand to be said that it doesn't need one at all). My issue is that if they do sequelize it, they will almost certainly do it the same way they do literally everything else: turn it into a franchise and produce nothing but that over and over again until well after it outstays its welcome.

They need to learn from what Blood Dragon represents, not what it is, if that makes any sense.

Exactly. I whole-heartedly agree with you. My friend and I recently beat the game, and I was smiling from ear to ear the whole time because I was having just so much fun. Then we started discussing it, and he was somewhat in disagreeance with me as I told him a sequel wasn't necessary. He was having so much fun, as was I, that a sequel seemed befitting. But as I told him before, this kind of game can only survive as that game alone. Otherwise it overstays its welcome, as has been mentioned before.

What I did say is that I'd like to see Ubisoft (and other game companies) take that idea that BD represents: a game based on the same engine a normal AAA title, but just get creative and think so far outside the box. Also, making it standalone is also one of the best decisions ever. I applaud Ubisoft for that. It still blows my mind how this game got past anyone. NO ONE has probably ever thought to create such a thing, and it's just brilliant.

And as far another Far Cry 3 standalone title......what about Far Cry 3: Venture Brothers?

 

[Agayek]

Sorry, all I heard was "exactly like Gears of War except Green and Blue exist." Can you be more specific? How AREN'T all other modern games a non-stop mess of explosions, one-liners, and over-the-top nonsense?

Blood Dragon is nothing like Gears of War. It's blatantly taking the piss out of everything, there's not a hint of seriousness to be had within it. Plus, there's no cover-based anything.

And as far another Far Cry 3 standalone title......what about Far Cry 3: Venture Brothers?

Pretty much wholly agree with everything else you said, but this I gotta contest. Venture Bros doesn't lend itself well to a game. It's a fun cartoon, but being interactive makes it less interesting, especially since it's just another form of IP milking. They should come up with more original stuff.

Like, say, a game using the Assassin's Creed engine/framework/etc for a game set in a cyberpunk future where everyone has brain implants and you play as a hacker trying to steal information from said implants. In order to do this, your method of choice is to strand both yourself and your victim in a modeled portion of an ancient city, where the guards, doors, etc between you represent the victim's security measures and you have to fight or sneak your way to the memories you want. When you win, or lose, you get ejected back into meatspace and have to then exfiltrate.

Or use the Prince of Persia engine in a game that puts the player in the role of Meathead #237 from the Supreme Evil Overlord's Mook Training Facility when the heroes break in. The heroes clash with Meathead's training class and wipe them all out. But unknown to anyone, Meathead has an impossibly thick skull and survives what would otherwise be a fatal blow. When he awakens, he discovers that the heroes unknowingly looted, along with the Supreme Evil Overlord's Scepter of Command that was being held at the facility, the "Mook of the Year" trophy that he was sure he was going to finally win this year. Overcome by a deep seated need to reclaim the trophy, Meathead has to chase them to the Supreme Evil Overlord's Tower of Unspeakable Evil, which has a disturbingly Arabian theme, and has to platform after them as they ascend, through the utter ruin they leave in their wake. Until finally he reaches the top of the tower just in time to be the expendable meat shield the Supreme Evil Overlord uses to absorb what would have been an otherwise fatal attack.

Use of time manipulation powers and/or the Evil Overlord list is preferred, but not required.

Edit: Thinking about it more, I would play the fuck out of the second one. Somebody make this happen.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

So I've played it for a bit now and I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's Far Cry 3! On the other, it's Far Cry 3.. almost exactly. Minus the deliberate cheesiness and neon lights. Also minus the allure and sensible progression mechanics. In my first hour alone I unlocked the explosive sniper bullets, capable of one-shotting helicopters and heavies. What the hell game! I'm not supposed to be able to do that yet! Where's the lovely sense of progression you had in FC3?
More gripes.. the humor gets stale very, VERY quickly ("it's the heart of the matter" huehue so clever) and the guns seem to be locked in place. Only things that change are the attachments as you unlock them. (and where the fuck is the silencer attachment for my sniper rifle! It's not a sniper rifle until it has one! AND WHY IS THE PISTOL SO SHITTY /nerd rage). And last but not least, the interface is overly intrusive, often blocking targets or simply just distracting.

I think this review is far too positive. Despite not having completed it yet, I give this game a 2 out of 5.

 

[CZ_Rage]

This is very funny to read and most likely also very funny to play.

You have to understand that all that what made the 80ies for you, came to my home in Eastern Europe in the 90ies - and was embraced and cultivated. In rural regions throughout the Czech republic, Slowakia, Poland e.t.c. many people still wear clothes and listen to music from the 80ies. So all the 80ies revival parties, movies and games, hit another nerve here than in the former "West".

 

[DRes82]

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. If it was any more 80s, you'd have to use dial up to download it.

You're about a decade off.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I approve of this review, even though I'm months off.

I blame the time-warp value of the game.