Absolutely epic. Thank you, Ubisoft.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon really is a cool game that not only older kids and younger adults will enjoy. Blood Dragon is however aimed at the younger adults out there who still play video games. That is because Blood Dragon is filled with references to old movies and shows that I used to enjoy as a child. I have to admit, though, that I didn’t get all the jokes and references. But the jokes were funny nonetheless.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a standalone that you can pick up on Steam for 15€ (same on Playstation Store I believe) and on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points. That is very good value for money, let me tell you that.
Blood Dragon is also partly so awesome because it doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s not a serious game and I like that. It’s the sort of game that you can pick up, have some fun with and relax while playing. Some people say that Ubisoft wanted to make Blood Dragon because people didn’t get the “deeper meaning” of the story in Far Cry 3. So they made Blood Dragon to basically say “ok, fuck it… You didn’t see the deeper meaning? Well have this. Is this satire enough for you?” No, I mean yes it is, but Far Cry 3′s story didn’t have a deeper meaning. Far Cry 3 had a very simple story, that’s the end of it. I believe Blood Dragon is more of an experiment than anything.
If you want to sum it up into one sentence, I think you could say Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is Far Cry 3 on drugs. There is however so much more to it. Blood Dragon is a statement that you can make new great games out of old ones. You take the old game, “mod” it, write a new story and slap a $10-$20 price tag on it. That has now been done a few times already and it seems to work for the most part. The only problem Ubisoft faced with Blood Dragon was that it unfortunately leaked weeks before release. That could have hurt Blood Dragon’s sales a lot, but fortunately BD was still a success.
Anyways, instead of playing as some sensitive douchebag in Blood Dragon, you play as this strong cyborg named Sgt. Rex Powercolt. Sgt. Rex is basically the complete opposite of the main character in Far Cry 3. It’s the year 2007, however it’s not the year 2007 we know and love(?) but it’s a retro futuristic take on the year 2007 and there has been a nuclear war. Being the awesome Sgt. Rex super-soldier that you are, you venture out
Blood dragons be crazy
The graphics in Blood Dragon are great, even on low settings. That isn’t really a surprise because Far Cry 3 also looked absolutely fantastic. While the crazy neon effects look cool and sort of are the image of Blood Dragon, they are sometimes very distracting and may hurt your eyes a little bit. This was a big problem I had with Blood Dragon, I love playing it but I can’t for very long because I get a headache. It would be great to have the option to reduce the amount of neon lighting.
Sound design in Blood Dragon was great. The soundtrack is quite awesome, the guns sound good, the actual blood dragons sound good, explosions sound good etc. but there was something I did have a problem with, and that was the voice acting. While some of the characters did a great job, others… not so much. For instance the character you’re playing, Sgt. Rex Powercolt, is voiced by Michael Biehn who is known for acting in some very good 80′s movies like the Terminator and Aliens. He seemed like the perfect fit for the job, but I didn’t really like him in Blood Dragon all that much. He was trying too hard to sound “badass.” Which might have been the intention, but it just annoyed me more than anything.
Flipped him off for dying… because why not?
What did come as a surprise was how huge the world was. And just like in Far Cry 3 you can run around and explore the whole world by yourself. The world is now, however, filled with blood dragons and other dangerous robotic-laser-animals – yes, that is the correct term for it. The huge open world came as a surprise because I wasn’t expecting that from a game that costs only 15€. This was achieved by reusing a lot of textures and shapes from Far Cry 3. Something similar to this should be done with every AAA title.
The gameplay in Blood Dragon is good. The combat system and the weapons can make you feel totally badass sometimes, but don’t you get carried away because it’s not hard to die if you aren’t careful. Like in Far Cry 3 money doesn’t seem to be a problem. When you’ve played the game (after a rather long intro) for about half an hour you should have already made a fortune. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found over $5,000 in-game money in your first 30 minutes of playing the game. With this money you can buy different items from the shop, like medical equipment, ammo, weapon attachments and armor. Very similar to Far Cry 3 but in Blood Dragon everything has neon lights on it and the weapon attachments are just bonkers.
The bow is great for stealth because it has bright neon lights on it.
Something I am really thankful for is the increased running and swimming speeds and the increased jumping height. You are a cyborg after all, so why shouldn’t you be able to run 40 mph without ever getting tired? Falling damage doesn’t exist either.
Questing in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is fairly limited. As far as I know there are only two different types of side quests you can do. You can either save “nerds” or or kill high profile enemies. As you complete these side quests you unlock the funky weapon attachments. However, once you’ve done a few of these, you just feel like fucking around until your eyes are bleeding from all the strong neon lights. You do also have the main quests to do in case you get bored and you still want to play Blood Dragon. The main story isn’t that long or great by the way.
The game’s difficulty is a little bit too easy on normal mode. So when you play this game, do yourself a favor and turn up the difficulty to hard. You’re welcome.
The Verdict
Blood Dragon feels a lot like Far Cry 3, but is still a completely different game. Blood Dragon is a game that looks good, sounds good but falls short on voice acting, side quest variety and difficulty. The game’s soundtrack couldn’t possibly be more appropriate and best of all is the price, which is as low as $15. You can’t beat that. I really did like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon a lot and it’s a game that will stay with me for a while. Would I recommend Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon to you? Yes, absolutely. Whoever or whatever you are, you should be able to get at least a little bit of enjoyment out of Blood Dragon. You can flip people off for fuck’s sake!
Score: 8 out of 10
