Whew. This is probably the first game I ever really got to try on my own merit. I had played the first half at 20FPS thanks to my terrible integrated graphics, but with the know-how of installing a 750 TI, the game ran at nearly 100FPS at the highest settings, and I thought it was worth a restart.
I've played this game countless times, but one thing I'll never say anything bad about is the gameplay. For the time, this just felt so beyond where it should be. The guns were completely customizable, the takedowns were quick and brutal, and flying through the skies was seamless if you didn't run into a hawk. Tagging out an enemy base, being able to see them through walls as the enemies did extremely human actions, like taking a piss while you shove a blade through their back, everything about the gameplay was amazing. I think there's a good reason this series hasn't messed with that formula for nearly 10 years. It works, and to play it back in 2012, and even today, it still feels original and akin to a new game you'd buy in 2022.
The story is such a mixed bag, and it's probably the one thing that holds me back from being over the moon about this game. Vaas is great. I think he came when his character trope wasn't being overdone or replicated like every game wants to do now. He was this guy who was often sentimental, bipolar, and completely sadistic while giving Jason every chance to take his life. He was just the right amount of crazy, mixed with the right amount of profound.
Then, you realize that's the first half of the game. Oh man, who is bigger than Vaas for the second half? Hoyt. This literal weirdo human trafficking guy who is less of a pirate, and more of an FBI's Most Wanted dude. But he is much more in line with most villains in gaming, being dumb, obtuse, rarely shown, and completely lacking any coherent ideology than "I am a villain and I take what I want." He really sours the second half as there's no real good moment with him, until he kills arguably the best character in Far Cry history just to scare the player, which is...okay.
I don't even want to talk about the multiple endings or how weird the final cutscene is, on either side. I kind of hate the Act 2 and Act 3 with most of my heart, so, yeah. It really sucks that this game was so so close to probably being perfect in my eyes, but it seems like they took the great writers out after Vaas is "killed".
A great game though that's worth a try to anyone who wants to see one of the better Ubisoft open world games. This really is more profound than their new fodder with Assassin's Creed, or even Far Cry 5 and 6.
I've played this game countless times, but one thing I'll never say anything bad about is the gameplay. For the time, this just felt so beyond where it should be. The guns were completely customizable, the takedowns were quick and brutal, and flying through the skies was seamless if you didn't run into a hawk. Tagging out an enemy base, being able to see them through walls as the enemies did extremely human actions, like taking a piss while you shove a blade through their back, everything about the gameplay was amazing. I think there's a good reason this series hasn't messed with that formula for nearly 10 years. It works, and to play it back in 2012, and even today, it still feels original and akin to a new game you'd buy in 2022.
The story is such a mixed bag, and it's probably the one thing that holds me back from being over the moon about this game. Vaas is great. I think he came when his character trope wasn't being overdone or replicated like every game wants to do now. He was this guy who was often sentimental, bipolar, and completely sadistic while giving Jason every chance to take his life. He was just the right amount of crazy, mixed with the right amount of profound.
Then, you realize that's the first half of the game. Oh man, who is bigger than Vaas for the second half? Hoyt. This literal weirdo human trafficking guy who is less of a pirate, and more of an FBI's Most Wanted dude. But he is much more in line with most villains in gaming, being dumb, obtuse, rarely shown, and completely lacking any coherent ideology than "I am a villain and I take what I want." He really sours the second half as there's no real good moment with him, until he kills arguably the best character in Far Cry history just to scare the player, which is...okay.
I don't even want to talk about the multiple endings or how weird the final cutscene is, on either side. I kind of hate the Act 2 and Act 3 with most of my heart, so, yeah. It really sucks that this game was so so close to probably being perfect in my eyes, but it seems like they took the great writers out after Vaas is "killed".
A great game though that's worth a try to anyone who wants to see one of the better Ubisoft open world games. This really is more profound than their new fodder with Assassin's Creed, or even Far Cry 5 and 6.