"Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is?" Apparently not, Vaas. Apparently not.
We thought insanity meant watching a crew of privileged white kids survive your outlandish antics amid the unrelenting jungles of Rook island with Far Cry 3. We thought insanity meant watching an everyday tourist turn into a trained assassin to save himself and his friends from rape, slavery and eventually murder. Insanity meant plastering our arm with a warrior's tatau, gutting sharks for precious skins and becoming a not-so honorary freedom fighter for a native tribe.
Our boy, Vaas, left a couple things out.
This particular brand of insanity is a fever dream playing on a warped VHS tape. It's a low budget, "so bad, it's good" 80's sci-fi flick that riffs itself like an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's about jumping the shark instead of skinning it. It's about Mark IV style instead of embodying the way of the warrior.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon relishes in its own preposterous hilarity with a similar sense of self-awareness as Saints Row, but used in a manner that elicits more smart humor than pure slapstick, despite there being plenty of the latter in the campaign. Whether it's satirical jabs at modern gaming tropes or the 1980's film and gaming archetypes it both mocks and salutes, Blood Dragon will leave you stunned and in stitches with how well it merges these themes together.
This journey into a retro-idealistic vision of the future will intoxicate players with immersion; and much like Blood Dragon's older brother, Far Cry 3, the Dunia Engine takes the bulk of the credit. Apart from a few framerate issues in the console versions, Blood Dragon graphically supersedes everything we've seen out of arcade titles thus far. It's dark, red hued style helps cut a few corners when it comes to the miniscule details, but that sacrifice helped ensure that the rest of the engine's capabilities were fully utilized. The stunning lighting, explosions, effects and textures that were par for the course in Far Cry 3 are just as stunning in its new counterpart.
Cinematics, however, cast aside gorgeous visuals for something way cooler. Thank goodness. One of the weaker aspects of the original Far Cry 3 was its plain Jane in-engine cutscenes that were more focused on showing off extreme facial detail than enhancing the narrative. That's not the case at all with Blood Dragon. Now, cinematics are an old school, 16-bit spectacle that preserves the campy dialogue and cheese-ball imagery from gaming's nostalgic glory days.
But, the greatest aspect of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon's throwback presentation is the sweet, sweet sound of its 80's-inspired synth score from Power Glove. From the title screen to the credits, this Australia-based electronic duo knocks it out of the park with their spot-on renditions of murky, heart-pounding Terminator music.
Such an emulation isn't too far off base when it comes to the premise of Blood Dragon's campaign. Players assume the role of a half human, half machine that goes by the name of Rex Power Colt -- and yes, that most certainly is his first, middle and last name.
After being upgraded to a Mark IV Cyber Commando, Rex Power Colt sets his red-eyed sights on Omega Force, an evil cyborg army led by good guy agent gone rogue, Colonial Sloan, who seeks complete power over a world rocked by a nuclear apocalypse. If that isn't the recipe for mindless, good old fashioned sci-fi than I don't know what is.
There's nothing remotely old fashioned about the gameplay, though. At its core, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is essentially the same experience players enjoyed in Far Cry 3, but re-purposed to match the coat of paint. Everything from moves, upgrades, controls and the ebb and flow of the campaign's pacing is nearly identical in fashion, just more streamlined to cater to Blood Dragon's downloadable appeal.
For example, leveling up in Blood Dragon not only happens quicker, but it automatically awards players with unlockable skills without having to pick and choose upgrades from a skill tree. There's even a handful of skills that used to be unlockable in Far Cry 3 that are available from the outset. This cuts down the dozens of hours it used to take to acquire the sweet bonuses that make the series so unique.
Also similar to Far Cry 3 is Blood Dragon's open-world backdrop that allows players to explore vast lands rich with ancient ruins, collectibles, wildlife, conquerable garrisons and skirmishes galore. Side-quests pop up after commandeering Omega bases, rewarding players with XP and weapon attachments upon completion, while a handful of beautifully crafted main missions drive the wacky narrative forward.
Taking what was one of 2012's finest first-person shooter formulas and carrying it over to Blood Dragon does come with a slight 'been there, done that' feeling, but the way in which those assets are reused are compelling enough to do again. In fact, they're handled so well that you'll almost wish you never played the original Far Cry 3 just so Blood Dragon would feel even fresher.
The downfall to that logic is that you'd be limiting yourself to Blood Dragon's 7-8 hour single-player only product, which is why some will still favor the original Far Cry 3 for its more robust feature-set. Imagining the possibilities of what a Blood Dragon multiplayer component would be like will make you wish this was a full-fledged product instead of Ubisoft's pet project.
You can only expect so much out of a $15 game, but make no mistake: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a steal for what it is. Most shooters of today make no bones about single-player campaigns being the sacrificial lambs of a product, especially when it's easier -- and far more profitable -- to pour their resources into online multiplayer. But, even if you're the type that likes your shooter with a dash of multiplayer, it'll still be hard not to appreciate what this short, sweet, standalone campaign brings to the scene.
Lets face it, labeling a title as demented as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon a 'statement game' would be a hard sell because I don't think a studio like Ubisoft would be intent on going that meta. But at the same time, isn't there something oddly rebellious about all this? Why would a premiere developer take a detour on bigger, grander projects to make a game like Blood Dragon to not make waves? I think it stretches far beyond a team simply getting more use out of Far Cry 3's successful foundation.
Blood Dragon strikes me as a game that answers the question of just how much the industry has changed; and it does so by putting us in a very intriguing 'what if' scenario -- what if the pitfalls of modern gaming happened twenty years ago? And if it did, what would gaming be like in our present day? Would games as unglued as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon be the norm?
Perhaps this game is an open forum for gamers to ponder where this medium was, is and where it's going. Or, perhaps it really is just a game about slaying the hell out of some blood dragons.
But, that right there is what makes Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon so brilliant -- its versatility with face value and esoteric depth. Somewhere underneath all the inside jokes, references and archetypes lies some kind of point, but players that are either too young to appreciate the innuendos or simply in it for fun won't be penalized for not getting that point. Either way, the game has heart.
So, whether you see it as a digital time capsule, holistic symbolism or a game that's just having a little fun at the tail end of this convoluted generation, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon excels in any regard.