Worst Vacation Ever


The original Far Cry was almost a precursor to the superb Crysis series. It placed you in a wide-open environment and gave you incredible powers with which to take your enemies down. The sequel, Far Cry 2, eschewed all of the supernatural stuff in favor of focusing on being alone in an African country torn apart by war and disease. Far Cry 3 looks like it's aiming to reconcile the two games by being set on an island, despite carrying the themes from the second game.

If you're playing in single player, you'll be cast as Jason Brody, a tourist who has been stranded on a series of islands and separated from his accompanying girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, those islands are crawling with psychotic warlords and teeming with the seeds that will presumably grow into full-fledged rebellions. Your goal? Escape, plain and simple. However, the islands clearly have other plans for Jason, and it isn't long before they start to bring out a dark side.

Gameplay is classic Far Cry, albeit with some new tricks. You'll be given a lot of flexibility in your approach to each combat scenario. If you want to thin out the herd with a sniper rifle, that's certainly an option. If you'd rather go all Sam Fisher on them, you can do that too. And, of course, it wouldn't be a true blue shooter if you couldn't simply go in guns blazing.

The developers at Ubisoft proudly proclaimed that Far Cry 3 is, in fact, two games in one. This third installment will feature a cooperative multiplayer element complete with its own story, as well as its own characters. Players will be able to join up to three others online or partner up with a single buddy for local co-op.

Far Cry 3 will be out September 4, 2012.