Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review
-For the Uncensored!
As someone who came pretty late to the Far Cry series, and after reviewing Far Cry 3, I thought I had to come to Blood Dragon, a stand alone game to Far Cry 3, but the question a lot of people asked is “why wasn’t it just called Blood Dragon?” With the re-release of a remastered Blood Dragon (and this game being my ultimate favorite of the Far Cry series) packaged together with the DLC (downloadable content) of Far Cry 6 as an add on. Ultimately I think this is akin to Activision selling a remastered version of Call of Duty 4 with Infinite Warfare. Ubisoft knows they have there players by the balls on this deal. I mean, when I played it for the first time in 2021, I said, “this game doesn’t need a remaster.”
(mock movie trailer directed by Michael Dahlquist, the lead singer of Silkworm)
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, released in 2013, had everything I love in a story. A post apocalyptic first person shooter heavy on 80’s nostalgia, big heavy guns, and a soundtrack by Power Glove that inspires an erection every time I hear it.
I can see why Ubisoft controls there fans, and the word “Blood Dragon” is the most logical examination of what makes a shooter great. Also, I can see why so many Far Cry fans can be disappointed by the series after playing Blood Dragon. If Far Cry 3 is akin to Survivor turned into Cannibal Holocaust, Blood Dragon is the series Terminator and every 80’s action sci-fi movie combined. Even Michal Biehn, who played John Conner in The Terminator, plays Sergeant Rex Power Colt, a cyborg who has to stop an threat, “and save the world.” The world is ravaged by nuclear war, dubbed Vietnam 2, and it’s Rex’s job to save the world, after he finds a scientist, Darling, who aids him in his quest.
With a AKM 9 (pistol), Fazertron (assault rifle) Galleria (shotgun), Kobracan (sniper rifle) and Terror 4000 (a chaingun which made me think of Terminator 2), Rex has to liberate the island garrison’s. While liberating the garrison could be tedious, the rewards are simple. You do the tasks and you can access better equipment for your guns. While this might seem tedious in games like the Division 2, I would give up easily in those games. The problem is, I gravitate more to the sci-fi aspects of a game that when presented in games like the Division, become trivial and standard to most modern games in 2021. I come to expect this in games, but Blood Dragon’s achievements seem fun and also worth my time. Which is what kills
Far Cry 3’s tower climbing challenge became tedious and doing them became a chore, and I didn’t spend my time in those missions. Plus, it seemed in consequential to my play through. Freeing the Garrison’s felt important to the play through in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon because the setting and playing as an unstoppable character, Rex, created progression through my weapons in a sci-fi setting is the main attraction people have with Blood Dragon.
What the impossible question I asked is, “How the hell didn’t I know about this game” and shame on me if anyone told me about it and I just forgot or I was off in Call of Duty land. I know I’m late to the party, but this was merely out of curiosity, too. But getting older and all that sentimental shit is why I can judge things more critically. Hype trains, as I have said before, deter me from buying into fads. I want to see if the legacy of a game in the moment can outlive the fad a series has over fans. If people still talk about it three or five years, it’s how fads often last, but near a ten year span, is when I start paying attention. That’s when I can only recommend it to people.
But also, when I played it for the first time on the XBOX S, I did notice a few things. When I managed to look down at a stone, it glitched out. I think this might be the reason why the remaster is happening, but also the lighting could be fixed too inside the cave. But other than that it seemed to run fine. The way Rex moves is so nimble, and it makes you feel like you’re a complete cyborg bad ass.
I know that’s a very long game view of things, but I want to approach games, books, movies, with a less fan boy attitude of things, unless I am very interested in the said game, etc, at release. And most times, I’m disappointed upon release and waste my money.
If Blood Dragon does anything best is that it captivates me as someone who is just playing it in 2021. Nearly ten years later. I know, call me late all you want, but that’s unfair when that’s my process. I guess what makes a classic is a person’s perspective, and how much it can hold up in a person’s imagination. I do feel bad for everyone who thought “thisis getting a remaster?” My bias is showing but it’s a hell of a bias when even
I mean, looking at this today, I can’t help but admire the retro aesthetic that somehow compliments the appeal that people saw in Blood Dragon in 2012. I would be a hypocrite to criticize the graphics, because it’s like judging the visual effects in Terminator vs. Terminator Genisys. It would be disingenuous to compare the two, because both films are so different, based on time and years between the films, and criticizing the 80’s for me is hard, because 80’s science fiction has its place in the culture.
So, I can only criticize myself for being late to the party, and damn, am I an idiot for this one. So, I can humbly say that if you’re into video games, and you’re just hearing about Blood Dragon re master, you definitely need to play Blood Dragon anyway before seeing the remaster.
Again, why perfect perfection is the question I have for Ubisoft. If you like big guns, 80’s sci-fi, sardonic humor, and video games, you’re not going to get better than Blood Dragon. And I might do a separate review of the remaster if I decide to get Far Cry 6.
Final Analysis: 10/10
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 15 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline, Apocalypse Soldier, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. Also, he writes on https://louisbruno.substack.com, where you can support him directly, and where he will post one article a day (the bulk of his work will appear on substack officially). Also he can be found on Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4