Far Cry 3 is a game I am sure most of us have heard of, heck, played before. We all know how much FC3 shook up the whole of Ubisoft back in the day. Whatever Far Cry 2 gave us, FC3 reinvented that, expanded on that and blew onto our screens with style and very, VERY well known villain - Vaas.
The story, gameplay and villains of Far Cry 3 are arguably the best in the entire franchise - yes, you read that correctly. For a game made in 2012 it still holds it's own in 2025. Yeah it's dated now but its still one of the best games Ubisoft has ever given us.
Before I get into anything a quick disclaimer below!!
This review is MY opinion, MY own personal experience and MY thoughts. I am brutally honest when it comes to reviewing games. If you do not like my opinion, my time or respect my personal experience, please move on.
Did I ever tell you the definition of Insanity?
Pros
⚫Far Cry 3 has one of the best villains Ubisoft has ever graced our screens with - Vaas Montenegro. Not only is he "the best" villain but we all know his line. He is also expertly voice acted and he just makes the game so much more than what it should be.
⚫You get to explore a fully open-world, tropical archipelago (fictional) Rook Islands. This was one of my favourite aspects of FC3 back in the day and it still holds it's own against some of these NEW open-world games.
⚫I know I mentioned Vaas, but the other characters... you - Jason Brody who is also expertly voice acted, who is just an American man on a vacation who has to learn the ways of the jungle and escape from the clutches of Vaas and the island. The game has so many amazing characters you need to meet, I don't want to spoil anything else!!
⚫The story of Far Cry 3 is amazing from start to finish. I ask you this - how far are you willing to go to protect the people you love?. From the start of the game being, witnessing Jason run away to the very end, from coward to killer... Jason's transformation is beyond amazing. You truly see a man change.
⚫From taking over merc bases, slave trader bases, racing, supply drops, hunting e.t.c the game has so much content embedded inside of it, there is a possibility you will be here for hours just having fun!!
⚫FIRE - FIRE SPREADS - RUN - RUN LIKE THE WIND!!! I love the flamethrower, sorry, I must have had some PTSD a moment ago.
⚫The graphics are still gorgeous to this date. I am amazed at how good this game still looks, even against all these new games (that seem to be disasters haha). No mods, no "addons" e.t.c, have a look yourself and yes, it's Vaas: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3410793426
⚫As of 17/01/25 - Ubisoft has finally added in achievements (and fixed the achievement issue). They also removed the MP achievements for us achievements hunters that want 100% (due to MP being shut down): https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/220240/view/508443269496046059
Cons
⚫The multiplayer and all online features are now no longer supported for FC3. It's a real shame because it was so fun. I understand though.
⚫Sadly, Far Cry 3 suffers from major performance issues on modern computers. I crashed about 100 times returning to it in 2025, sadly. I am not sure what causes it, cores? Graphics cards? Cpus? Windows 11 (XD)? Whatever causes this, its never been fixed. Going to quote a friend (WolfPax) - "scroll through the PCGamingWiki and finding 3 pages of unsolved performance issues". Yeah, he was not lying... it's crazy.
Insanity is doing the exact same fu**ing thing over and over again, expecting sh*t to change
My Verdict
After all is said and done, Far Cry 3 is a staple of what was once a company to be rivalled with. A masterpiece of a game with villains, characters, combat, exploation, lore... all done to perfection. To see how far Ubi has fallen really makes me sad but that is a different topic.
Far Cry 3 is worth every penny. I would pay double to experience this game again, it's that good. A Villain that will never be forgotten. A stunning tropical archipelago full of history, secrets and killer animals. Characters that you will do anything to protect, or kill and a man twisted, warped into something else to do whatever he can for his loved one. Far Cry 3 is unforgettable.
10/10 Story. 10/10 Villain. 10/10 Exploration. 2/10 performance. A masterpiece of a game (if you can look past the crashing)