Just one of the many benefits of being a Mark IV Cyber Commando.Īnd this particular is from whence most of the (very minor) departures from Far Cry 3’s gameplay stem. This time around, however, that last one won’t kill you. Through the course of the 3-4 hour campaign, you’ll liberate garrisons (Blood Dragon’s version of FC3’s outposts), chain-kill hapless guards, do some mild platforming, throw grenades under jeeps, use a mounted gun (that never overheats) to blow up a helicopter, collect Blood Dragon’s take on FC3’s relics, and jump off of a 100 meter embankment because why not. Freeroaming, emergent gameplay, stealth kills, well-executed shooting mechanics, ziplines… stabbings.Ībove: …cyberpunk Jeep driving … Muthafucka! That’s all I’m saying.įar Cry 3’s gameplay is back, brightly colored, and more explodey.Īs mentioned, everything that made Far Cry 3 a joy to play has been rounded up, dumped in a vat of neon paint, and wrapped in LEDs from the set of Tron: Legacy. The game is the references. So I’ll just mention one: The shotgun is called the Galleria ’91.
These references are so chiefly important in setting Blood Dragon apart from the original Far Cry 3, that I could very easily spoil the whole experience for you if I mention too many of them. Title and menu screens, dialogue and weaponry, characters and cosumes all referential.
In fact, Blood Dragon is one gigantic 80s/very early 90s reference. From the opening cut scene, to the tutorial, to a musical montage straight from Rocky IV, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon nearly drowns in its reference-based humor. They are the very core of a tale designed to elicit nostalgia at all costs. Try to melee attack when there’s nothing to melee and watch Rex give nothing-in-particular the finger.Īnd these one-liners and this sense of humor aren’t just an aside, they are the driving force of the story. Headshot? “He really lost his head.” Blow something up? “Now that’s what I call a blowjob.” Even the character animations echo this “who gives a shit, I’m a badass American Hero” attitude. He barks one liners at nearly every opportunity, cut scene or otherwise. The movies in which he starred from 1984-1988 are the direct inspiration for not only Rex Powercolt, but for much of the game itself. It makes perfect sense that Michael Biehn voices the main character. Every box checked in Blood Dragon, and presented in wonderfully low-fi animatic cut scenes reminiscent of those found in Ninja Gaiden for NES. Nuclear holocaust, Raegan-era politics served on a thick slice of ham, post-Vietnam War perspectives on war and the warrior, sexist and racist stereotypes so blatant they have to be laughed at the driving ethos of many 80s cyberpunk films. The ridiculous and hilarious dialogue and plot. Everything you remember from Far Cry 3 is present and accounted for, though it’s been put through a filter usually reserved those members of the populace who have indulged in one-too-many disco biscuits. The rave-drenched, post apocalyptic hellscape of 2007 whirrs and clicks like a long-disused VCR, red scan lines blanketing the draw distance. From the second you boot up the game, you’ll be bombarded with neon and cliches with a frequency and severity that will drive you to hum Journey songs. If that reads like the back of a VHS case in a forgotten corner of a video store in 1986, there’s a perfectly good explanation for that.īlood Dragon is a love letter to 1980s cyberpunk written on a brick C4 and stuffed in an anthrax envelope. Backed in a corner and outgunned, you’ll lead Rex Powercolt on a quest to kill bad guys with extreme prejudice (re: tear out their blue, glowing cyber-hearts), avoid death at the claws of ultimate beast machine: The Blood Dragon, and learn whether a cyber commando can have a soul … And learn to love. That elegant bit of dialogue is uttered by one Rex Powercolt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando (good guy) on a mission to rid the world of Colonel Ike Sloan and his Omega Squad (bad guys) in a post Vietnam War II world.