Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: A Blast from the Past

Do you miss the 1980s? The neon lights, the hairdos, the action packed movies that you had so much fun watching despite their preposterous plot? Then this is the perfect game for you. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is refreshingly camp, with unbelievable characters and intentionally awful writing. In a nutshell, it’s so ridiculous that it’s actually quite good!

Blood Dragon is a standalone expansion of Ubisoft’s open world first person shooter Far Cry 3, released last year. But that’s as far as the similarities go, as Blood Dragon is so much more than DLC for an already played game. It is set in a different world and has completely new characters.

Besides the plot, settings and the concept itself, what sets this game apart from its predecessors is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. It has a unique feel, silly missions and dialogue laden with hilarious one-liners, pop culture references and bad jokes.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is set in a dystopian 2007 where gamers get to play as eye-patched cyborg Sergeant Rex Power Colt. Reminds you of Terminator? If it does, you’ll be happy to learn that Rex is voiced by none other than Michael Biehn, the original Kyle Reese in James Cameron’s 1984 The Terminator.

Following the usual plotline of getting the girl, killing the bad guys, saving the world, Rex is like the typical no-nonsense action hero who shoots first and asks questions later. If he feels like it, that is. The character is so fun to play because he is so unreasonably strong, since the very beginning of the game. He can carry dozens of weapons, he can breathe underwater, he doesn’t get tired – just like in the old school video games where nobody really cared about their characters being realistic.

And this superhuman strength will come in handy when having to go against the game’s titular blood dragons: beastly dinosaurs that shoot laser beams from their eyes. They’re not that hard to take down, but they are nonetheless an intimidating foe.

All in all, you don’t necessarily have to be a fan of the 1980s and VHS cassette action movies to enjoy Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. Its exaggerated action makes it equally entertaining for those unfamiliar with that decade. This is not a game that tackles social issues or poses important dilemmas, it is an extremely entertaining first person shooter meant to remind us that video games can and occasionally should be just all-out fun.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is available for $15, for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

[Image via onlysp]