A barely coherent rant about Far Cry 3

If you’re a gamer it’s likely you've heard of, or even played, Far Cry 3. It’s been well advertised, well reviewed, and it’s hard to avoid seeing it on websites, blogs and forums (which is okay as the gameplay is awesome). However, a few criticisms have been thrown around, mainly due to it’s use of lazy racial stereotypes and casual man-rape, and while those complaints are all well and good, my grudge is a little more basic and it’s do with the villain (or sub-villain) of Rook Island, Vaas. Spoilers ahead.



Vaas was first created when Michael Mando, who was auditioning for the part, veered wildly from the script and went on a huge tangent. Originally, the villain was simply a throw-away meathead, intended to be “stoic and unemotional”- it’s never a good sign when the most interesting person in your game was cooked up on the fly by an actor who ignored your vision for a story. It’s clear Ubisoft underestimated just how big this guy would become, and once the “definition of insanity” video was out, it seems the whole thing got out of hand. From there we have Vaas on the cover of the game and in every piece of marketing for Far Cry 3 you could care to find. Mando did a great job with his dialogue and delivery so it’s no surprise that they wanted to get all they could out of him. You would think that would make him the main villain, or even the leading character, but he really doesn’t appear in the game all that much- even the promotional material with McLovin features more interaction with Vaas than all the in-game cutscenes combined.

Michael Mando

With a story this basic you really need the better characters to shine through and provide good incentive to drive you through the story. Vaas delivers on so many fronts; his charisma and humour gives him great screen presence; he’s intimidating and confident, and his mental instability keeps you on edge. He could do anything, at anytime, and he has your friends at his mercy. You couldn't ask for more from a villain, yet he’s discarded before he can really achieve his potential- Ubisoft were sitting on a possible gaming icon and then smashed it to pieces like a child getting bored with a sandcastle. There really isn’t that much to say because we never get the opportunity to explore the character. Some attempts at backstory are given but it’s long after Vaas is gone, and that’s not even including the attempts to give the impression that something profound is happening during it’s various hallucination segments.

The game begins with the protagonist, Jason Brody, enjoying a trip on a remote island with his friends and family, but quickly escalates as they get captured and held for ransom by a sadistic group of pirates.  With the help of his brother, Jason escapes and soon realises he has to learn how to survive in a hostile environment, gain the respect of the local resistance, and find the strength to get his loved ones back. The setup is simplistic, but it sets the tone nicely and is somewhat believable; until you actually start playing. I've seen so many people comment on how great it is to play as a normal guy instead of some military dude-bro squarejaw. Jason is presented as someone who has trouble dealing with confrontation, keeping calm under pressure and is shocked by death. I would say this is a great character arc, if it lasted for more than 10 minutes. You’ll quickly find there is a regular disconnect between what the game tells you and what it allows you to do; when I spend most of my spare time liberating smugglers outposts and slaughtering mountain bears with a machete, it isn’t very convincing when someone calls me on the radio and says “You need more power!”. The reason I bring this up is that Vaas is the only character who makes me really believe that he could actually take me out and provide any kind of legitimate threat. Once he is gone (about half-way through the game) I lose any sense of danger and the reasons to keep me on the island are almost unintelligible.

In the first stages of the game your motivation is clear: rescue your friends, avenge the death of your brothers, and escape the island. The problem is you pretty much achieve those goals before the game is even halfway done and the story just starts throwing stuff in your direction in an attempt to keep you interested. You thought Vaas was bad? This other guy is fucking mental son! Stay united with your friends and lover? Of course not, Citra needs you! Want to return to your parents and home? Hell no, your place is here with the Rakyat! It just feels completely contrived when for no reason whatsoever you decide to stay behind to deal with all the other assholes you haven’t killed. This story shift would be fine if the game laid some groundwork and actually made you feel like Jason was making a real connection with the people of the island, or better yet, letting us know that his younger brother Riley, was alive and being held captive. Instead someone at Ubisoft decided you would feel more loyalty towards someone you’ve spoken to a grand total of three times, and two of those times treated you like a complete dick. Yes I am referring to Citra, the leader of the Rakyat, and arguably the weakest character in the whole game, which makes it even more of a shame that she’s central to the latter half of the plot. It goes to show you don’t need to justify complete devotion as long as someone gets their tits out. Just go on google search, enter “Far Cry 3 Citra” and you’ll see her full contribution to the narrative.

A mild annoyance for Jason Brody

Then we have Hoyt; this non-character is meant to take up the mantle of head villain, and it’s hard to imagine someone being less intimidating at this stage of the game. Keep in mind by this point you’re butchering the pirates with such ease, that people talk about you in whispers like you’re fucking Batman. Evil henchmen are also lining up to take you out hoping to claim the prize on your head, which at this point is an island, an entire island for your head and we are supposed to be afraid of Hoyt? A poor man’s Tony Montana with one of those annoying South African/Australian accents, give me a break. The game offers only token dialogue to establish Hoyt as a whole different animal from Vaas but it never really takes, there is one scene where Hoyt sets someone on fire but it doesn't have the same power as when Vaas is staring you in the eye as he get’s ready to boot you off of a cliff, not to mention I’ve already taken a flamethrower to a few dozen people already.

I haven’t really talked about Vaas all that much and that’s because when he is removed from the game the experience is weakened, not because he is anything special (nothing Robert LaSardo couldn't do in his sleep) but because the characters we are left with are just bland in comparison. Citra is supposed to be our emotional connection but she’s so monotone and dreary that it’s hard to form any kind of real attachment, and Hoyt comes in so late, with so little backstory, that when he finally does show up he has no real impact and comes off as nothing more than an obstacle you could easily remove.

I’m sorry this whole thing is a little disjointed and it seems like I may as well say “Far Cry 3 would be better if it was better”, but there is nothing worse than a story that is on the verge of something decent, and then not only shoots itself in the foot, but manages to blow the rest of it’s pretentious leg clean off.