...I mean, I know the Bush years were bad, but c’mon, guys…
Political allegories, real or imagined notwithstanding, Blood Dragon’s timeline actually details a nuclear war between the United States and Russia and now the world is suffering in the aftermath. The player takes on the role of American super-soldier, smart-mouth, Bucky cosplayer, and all-around badass known as Sergeant Rex Power Colt (voiced by Hicks, in a far better game than I last heard him in). Betrayed by his commanding officer, Colonel Sloan, Rex hooks up with a sexy Canadian doctor to stop Sloan and save the world from being sent back into the Stone Age.
By the way, if you’re wondering what on Earth this has to do with anything that happened in Far Cry 3, you should stop, because it has absolutely nothing to do with any of it.
In an interesting move that I honestly hope we will see more of in later expansions (not just from Ubisoft, but all over), the development team did not expand upon the story of Far Cry 3 - which I honestly believed was a story very well told and done all on its lonesome with no need to add on to what was already a pretty decent game - and instead chose to make this fully downloadable with no need to even have purchased Far Cry 3 at all! Just download Blood Dragon and you are all set for some post-apocalyptic fun times! While it helps to have played it, as the interfaces are exactly identical in virtually every aspect, it isn’t necessary in the least and the tutorial (rather hilariously) will run you and Rex through everything you need to know.
Really, with the game’s interface, combat, and so on being exactly like the game it’s based on, there’s really nothing to talk about here. If you’ve played Far Cry 3 then, mechanically, you’ve played this. The only major changes come in the changing up of some of the weapons (mostly just aesthetics, though a few new ones are thrown into the mix that are pretty freaking awesome) and the level up system. While the base game had the Tatau and how it was the visual representation of Jason Brody's development from a privileged white pretty boy into a man who was more comfortable with the jungle than the country club - and thus fit thematically for what they were going for - Blood Dragon's has a leveling system built out of practicality, rather than complexity. Instead of going through skill trees, you just get certain upgrades with level. This really isn't a bad thing, especially since it essentially just cuts out the nonsense with having to pick skills. Really, in the end, you had the full Tatau anyway, so it really didn't matter. Where the game really shines through is in the humor. One particular scene, early on where Rex and Doctor Elizabeth Darling discuss the correlation between violence in real life and that in videogames, Dr. Darling pointing out that anyone who believes in that is a F.U.C.K.ing (“Failing to Understand our Capacity for Kindness”) idiot. And then, of course, there are the shameless nods and references to a bunch of the 80's and 90's science-fiction films and other media that range from everywhere to major Hollywood blockbusters to the cult hits that never really saw their big hurrah until the days of VHS tapes (another thing the game playfully throws about, as well. Even Ubisoft describes the game as being an "80's VHS version of the future").
Rex himself being the most obvious, being both a Marine on a dangerous mission in insanely hostile territory in , a killing machine who is learning what humanity is, - though, in Rex’s case, he was already human to begin with, so technically re-learning (and making this an interesting inversion to Far Cry 3 in a way I don’t think the developers were actually intending) - and is trying to get his ass to Mars...okay, all of them but that last one. He’s likeable enough, however. Spouting out (some genuinely good, some eye roll-worthy) one-liners upon killing enemies, being generally snarky and tongue-in cheek (Michael Biehn was clearly having a ball doing the voice for this guy) and yet having all the super-patriotic fervor of Golden Age Captain America. Seriously, this guy is pretty much a perfect blend of Bucky as the Winter Soldier and Golden Age Cap.
...y’know what? Nevermind. Rex is Bucky, in an alternate timeline where the Americans got him after he crashed from Zemo’s rocket. Headcanon accepted (And yes, this guy is a major step up from Jason Brody).
But there are several, scattered all about the place. Which, of course, only help to enrich the experience and get a bit of a chuckle out of you when you get them (such as when someone mentions getting to minimum safe distance, and Rex comments on how he’s sure he’s heard that before). And of course, there are references outside of the 80s camp sci-fi it’s lampooning, but it really enriches the experience to find them all for yourself. Unlike certain...other games I care not to reference further, this one is actually more concerned with giving us an enjoyable experience instead of being a walking reference to anything and everything involving the medium.
Oh, and like any good product of the 1980s, there’s a training montage, complete with a montage song. And it’s so cheesy it’s awesome.
Coming to that, Blood Dragons, one of the biggest new additions to the gameplay and the titular monsters themselves. What are they all about? Well, apparently, using Godzilla’s atomic breath to bring down the wrath of God upon anything and everything that crosses their paths. Luckily, however, they have poor eyesight and can be distracted by the cybernetic hearts you tear out of your enemies, so there’s a way around being flash fried...most of the time, anyway.
Besides a few of the hairier moments with the Blood Dragons, I can’t really fault this game on anything. It’s fun, it’s tongue-in-cheek about what it’s homaging/lampooning, and I really would love seeing the world continued, or even projects like this one in the future. I mean, let's face the facts here - how exactly do I criticize a game that starts out in a helicopter using a minigun to rain down fire upon legions of enemies, and ends with the protaganist riding a dragon that shoots lasers from its mouth...while you have a laser turret taking down everything in sight...with this playing behind you as you do so. From the gameplay to the storyline to the awesome 80s-style synth and rock guitars, right across the board, makes Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon an enjoyable gaming experience. And you can quote me on that! Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is now available from Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin. Thanks to everyone who's stuck around for seventy-five reviews! I couldn't have done it without you! Here's to the next seventy-five!
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