V
aas, Vaas, Vaas. The
antagonist is all Far Cry 3
fans go on about. And,
minutes in, I’m furious
because they’re right.
Michael Mando’s scenery-chewing
performance as the evil pirate is
electric, proving that good character
acting is one of videogames’ most
underrated necessities.
But it’s too bad I quickly escape his
clutches, thrown into Rook Islands as
annoying rich kid Jason Brody whose
vacation with his friends has gone
horribly wrong. Vaas is a murdering
monster, sure, but I can’t help loathing
Jason for his meekness combined
with his absurdly good combat skills
from the off. Even without any of the
laboriously crafted upgrades (you
have to hunt specific animals just to
be able to hold two guns at once), he’sa machine who can stealth kill entire
outposts with ease. Though maybe it’s
just because I’m good at the game? It’s
hard not to be, as the camp-clearing,
tower-finding, resource-scavenging
gameplay that might have felt fresh at
the time is now standard in so many
games – and all pretty basic here.
I can’t help but love that simplicity
at times. It sometimes feels nicely
analogue as you manually tag individual
enemies, or fight with the aged cars on
the bumpy roads. But most missions
feel the same. Go here, clear enemies,
find more of the map, then go to the
next symbol-packed area. As Vaas
himself reminds us: “Insanity is doing
the exact... same [blorp!]ing thing... over
and over again expecting... [blorp!] to
change... That. Is. Crazy.” Eight years
on, we’re still doing the same checklist
missions in open world games? Maybe
Vaas can teach us something (possibly
that character performances are
better than countless map icons), but I’ll
be taking his advice and moving on.WHO?
Assassin’s Creed
lover Oscar Taylor-
Kent was studying
the hidden blade
while the rest of us
were studying the
gun, so he’s being
sent on his first
trip into Far Cry’s
muddy world.
Don’t like it. Never tried it. Every month we forceone of our team to play their most feared game
INFO
PUB UBISOFT
DEV UBISOFT
MONTREAL
RELEASED 2018, PS4
(2012, PS3)
GET IT NOW PSN,
£24.99QThe island is fairly open for you to explore from the very beginning, giving you a surprising amount
of freedom to progression (even if it can be a little tiresome at times).MICHAEL MANDO’S
PERFORMANCE AS
THE EVIL PIRATE IS
ELECTRIC.WHAT?
Arguably the game that
laid the template for
Ubisoft’s camps-and-
towers open world
approach. You’re on
a jungle island, and
have to save your
kidnapped friends
from the dangerous
yet charismatic
pirate, Vaas.DON’T MAKE ME PLAY!
FAR CRY 3
CLASSIC EDITION
093retrostationV
aas,Vaas,Vaas.The
antagonistis allFarCry 3
fansgoonabout.And,
minutes in, I’m furious
because they’re right.
Michael Mando’s scenery-chewing
performance as the evil pirate is
electric, proving that good character
acting is one of videogames’ most
underrated necessities.
But it’s too bad I quickly escape his
clutches, thrown into Rook Islands as
annoying rich kid Jason Brody whose
vacation with his friends has gone
horribly wrong. Vaas is a murdering
monster, sure, but I can’t help loathing
Jason for his meekness combined
with his absurdly good combat skills
from the off. Even without any of the
laboriously crafted upgrades (you
have to hunt specific animals just to
beabletoholdtwogunsatonce),he’sa machinewhocanstealthkillentire
outposts with ease. Though maybe it’s
just because I’m good at the game? It’s
hard not to be, as the camp-clearing,
tower-finding, resource-scavenging
gameplay that might have felt fresh at
the time is now standard in so many
games – and all pretty basic here.
I can’t help but love that simplicity
at times. It sometimes feels nicely
analogue as you manually tag individual
enemies, or fight with the aged cars on
the bumpy roads. But most missions
feel the same. Go here, clear enemies,
find more of the map, then go to the
next symbol-packed area. As Vaas
himself reminds us: “Insanity is doing
the exact... same [blorp!]ing thing... over
and over again expecting... [blorp!] to
change... That. Is. Crazy.” Eight years
on, we’re still doing the same checklist
missions in open world games? Maybe
Vaas can teach us something (possibly
that character performances are
better than countless map icons), but I’ll
be taking his advice and moving on.WHO?
Assassin’s Creed
lover Oscar Taylor-
Kent was studying
the hidden blade
while the rest of us
were studying the
gun, so he’s being
sent on his first
trip into Far Cry’s
muddy world.
Don’tlikeit. Nevertriedit. Everymonthweforce
oneof ourteamto playtheirmostfearedgame
INFO
PUBUBISOFT
DEVUBISOFT
MONTREAL
RELEASED2018,PS4
(2012,PS3)
GETIT NOWPSN,
£24.99QThe island is fairly open for you to explore from the very beginning, giving you a surprising amount
of freedom to progression (even if it can be a little tiresome at times).MICHAEL MANDO’S
PERFORMANCE AS
THE EVIL PIRATE IS
ELECTRIC.WHAT?
Arguably the game that
laid the template for
Ubisoft’s camps-and-
towers open world
approach. You’re on
a jungle island, and
have to save your
kidnapped friends
from the dangerous
yet charismatic
pirate, Vaas.DON’T MAKE ME PLAY!
FAR CRY 3
CLASSIC EDITION
093retrostation