Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the for PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2013. It is a stand-alone expansion to the 2012 video game Far Cry 3 and the eighth overall installment in the Far Cry franchise.
Blood Dragon, a parody of 1980s action films, cartoons and video games, takes place on a retro-futuristic open world island with players assuming the action role of the military cyborg Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt. The game received generally positive reviews upon release.
Gameplay
Blood Dragon is a stand alone expansion of Far Cry 3, meaning players do not need the original game to play it. Gameplay, though akin to Far Cry 3, using the same engine and general mechanics, is streamlined to provide a more linear experience. The skill tree, instead of a chosen path down three "ways of the animal", is replaced with a simpler levelling system that automatically unlocks benefits. The crafting is removed completely.
The gameplay is open world, first-person shooter, with the same vehicles from Far Cry 3. Players will find themselves using high powered explosives, heavily modified firearms, and a large knife in order to kill their way through the main missions. Side missions involve liberating garrisons, killing rare animals, and saving hostages. Stealth is rewarded with extra Cyber Points, the equivalent of Experience Points. The game also includes lots of hidden collectibles which, when found, unlock helpful rewards to assist with play.
Plot
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is set in a dystopian year of 2007, where the world is suffering the aftermath of a nuclear war. Ubisoft described the game as "an 80s VHS vision of the future" where the player must "get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the world."
The player controls an American cybernetic super-soldier named Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt (Michael Biehn). He and another American cyber-soldier known as T.T. "Spider" Brown (Phil LaMarr) travel to an unnamed island to investigate Colonel Sloan (Danny Blanco Hall), an elite agent who has gone rogue. Upon confronting Sloan, he reveals his treachery, kills Spider, and knocks out Rex.
Rex is awoken by Sloan's Canadian assistant Dr. Elizabeth Darling (Grey DeLisle), who, disillusioned with his goals, betrays him. Rex teams up with Dr. Darling to overthrow Sloan's plan to revert the world to a prehistoric-like state with his rockets, armed with the blood of the "blood dragons" that roam the island. After liberating bases, saving scientists, and killing animals, Rex fights Sloan's assistant Dr. Carlyle (Robin Atkin Downes), who has used the blood of blood dragons to turn humans into zombie-like creatures called "the running dead". After Rex fights Dr. Carlyle's cyber soldiers and blood dragons, Dr. Carlyle is killed by his own AI, who had been mistreated and acted out of revenge.
Rex then goes into a parallel dimension, where he fights legions of Colonel Sloan's running dead. Upon defeating them and "testing his might", Rex gets the Killstar, an arm-mounted laser gun that gives Rex the power necessary to defeat Sloan, at the cost of his own vitality. Following a training montage, Rex and Dr. Darling have sex, culminating in Darling's abduction the next morning. Rex then makes an assault on Sloan's base with the assistance of the Killstar and later, the Battle Armored Dragon Assault Strike System (B.A.D.A.S.S.).
Rex confronts Sloan who, having programmed Rex, prevents Rex from attacking him. However, Dr. Darling's and Spider's memories remind Rex of his humanity despite his cybernetic nature. With renewed strength, Rex impales Sloan with his robotic hand and fires the Killstar, killing Sloan. Dr. Darling appears immediately after, informing Rex of his success in stopping Sloan's plans, then proceeds to destroy the base. They embrace while looking on at the destruction, only for Darling to look behind with purple eyes and a sinister gaze.
In March 2013, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was found listed on a Brazilian ratings site. The lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem said: "I'm working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it's announced. But it definitely is a 'strike while the iron's hot' thing, and we'll see." More evidence was seen on 27 March 2013, when Xbox Live achievements were found for the game. The fact that they totalled 400G suggested that the title would be stand-alone on the Xbox Live Arcade, as this is the standard number. On 1 April 2013, Ubisoft released a teaser video and website for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, leading many to believe that it was an April Fools' Day joke. Suspicions that the game was real were further confirmed when retro electronica group Power Glove uploaded music from the soundtrack to music hosting website SoundCloud, and in-game screenshots were leaked.
