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Guys, I’m hooked on Far Cry 3. Seriously, somebody pull me away from this thing. I’ve beaten the story, cleared out all the outposts, and collected all the relics, letters, and memory cards. And now I’m considering starting it all over again because there’s no one left to kill.
But when you spend this much time with a game, you really start to notice all the minor flaws. After spending dozens of hours running, swimming, gliding, spelunking, and parachuting over every inch of Rook Island, I’m starting to notice the seams.
Even great games have little niggling issues, and this game is no different. They don’t detract significantly from the overall experience, but they’re there nonetheless. Here are all the things that have been bugging me while playing Far Cry 3.
Constant Notifications
Every time you pick up a relic. Every time you pick up a letter. Every time you pick up a memory card. Every time you fill up your loot rucksack. Every time you get a skill point. Every time there’s a new objective. Every time you harvest a new plant. Every time you skin a new animal. Every time you meet a new person. Every time you go to a new location, drive a new vehicle, or use a new weapon.
Far Cry 3 is always bugging you to read something, manage something, or spend something, and it all totally breaks the flow. I don’t care about the description of a bear while it’s mauling me. I don’t care about the description of a hibiscus flower when I’m just trying to make a healing syringe in the middle of a firefight. And good lord, I don’t care about the descriptions of any of the relics ever because they’re all the same description.
There’s no option to turn any of it off (yet) so for right now, you’ll just have to endure all the nagging pop-ups.
Mountain Climbing
How am I even supposed to scale this? I’ll tell you how: by going all the way around and finding the developer-designated pathway up. Sometimes you can finesse your way up by continually sprinting and jumping, but it feels really clunky and you might end up sliding all the way down to the bottom.
For a game that gives you easy access to cars, ATVs, jet skis, hang gliders, infinite parachutes, and eventually a badass wingsuit, it feels a little prudish that you don’t just have a grappling hook or some climbing pickaxes.
Context-Sensitive Buttons
In the middle of a chaotic firefight, this can mean a swift (and frustrating) death. Sometimes, when I’m low on health and I start holding triangle, the game thinks I’m trying to switch weapons. Sometimes, it decides that I didn’t actually want it to do anything at all, that I just wanted it to know I’m still here. But no, game, I’m trying to hurry up and start the long heal animation so I don’t die.
It’s even worse in co-op and multiplayer where you’ll launch into a reload animation instead of reviving a downed teammate and end up dying yourself as you just stand there over your friend like an idiot, reloading.
Lack Of Healing Options
In Far Cry 3, you heal yourself with medical syringes you craft from specific green plants you can harvest around the island. If you don’t have any syringes, you’ll launch into a painful-looking animation like the one above.
Now, when I’m embroiled in a hectic shootout with a dozen guys and a tiger on a burning hilltop, I don’t mind burning one of my syringes to quickly heal and get back in the game. But when I’m alone and safe and have plenty of time for a long animation, I shouldn’t have to waste a syringe.
For whatever reason, the medical syringes are the only type mapped to a face button instead of to a customizable spot on the directional pad. Two spots are reserved for your camera and for rocks. If I want to, I should have the option to swap one of them out for a medical syringe, which would make healing in a pinch easier and would allow me to heal manually outside of combat.
The Frame Rate
I’m playing the PlayStation 3 version of Far Cry 3, and for as fun and engaging as it is, it’s not so hot on the technical side. After you’ve seen how gorgeous and smooth the PC version is, it’s hard to look at the console versions the same way.
I can deal with a game having a paltry presentation because it needed to simplify geometry and remove effects to maintain a smooth frame rate, but Far Cry 3 on consoles doesn’t have a smooth frame rate. Mind you, it’s not nearly as bad as the atrocious Assassin’s Creed III, but it still holds the game back.
Far Cry 3 makes some pretty major missteps too, and I’ll be covering those as well, but these minor ones are what stick with me because they’re always there. It’s unfortunate that the game has these little flaws here and there, but it’s still a fantastic experience overall.