One of the spin-offs The craziest generation of Xbox Live Arcade and co left us was Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The reason was simple: it radically changed the look of Far Cry 3 and plunged us fully into a story where they met cyborgs and dinosaurs, all by paying homage to the culture of the eighties.
The gradient of VHS tapes, their fantastic soundtrack synthwave by Power Glove … Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon exuded good vibes and the joke was breathed from the first minute. That’s why I wanted to go back after completing it when it came out in 2013, now through its remastering, under the moniker of Classic Edition, which has been salvaged after the recent release of Far Cry 6.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Ubisoft’s surprise
I always had that good memory. It never seemed perfect to me, but it did leave me a great taste in my mouth by assuming a refreshing experience within the Far Cry universe. Long before Ubisoft got out of the hat Far Cry Primal, which also brought changes and news to its well-known saga, Blood Dragon was a radical facelift that began with a very striking colorful aesthetic.
That contrast between dark tones with other typical neon lights was one of her main hallmarks, seeing herself covered by that old spirit before which one of his main influences, that of Terminator. Already from the very introduction scene certain frames were vilely copied, adapted to the carefree style of this adventure by Sergeant Rex Colt: “half man, half machine, totally American.” It’s just that you couldn’t take it seriously … It was a game that conquered you from its tutorial. Yes, the bloody tutorial!
One of the great blights of the 21st century was solved with much sarcasm to the despair of Rex himself while we outlined more than one smile. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon made his sense of humor clear, which was splashing throughout its short (about 7 hours at 100%) but intense adventure.
Not that it revolutionized the Far Cry formulaBut it was more to the point while the appeal of his universe did the rest. In addition, in no other of the saga did we feel so vulnerable as in this one at the beginning because of how fearsome the dragons with their laser. There were fewer objectives on the map, but that also translated into a greater sense for the secondary missions, which ultimately gave us improvements for our arsenal with a retro-futuristic touch.
Between the classic hostage rescue and predator’s path for those missions, we had the greatest chance of liberating enemy-controlled garrisons. The good news is that we could steal the hearts of the soldiers (after killing them) to use it as bait for the dragons. The most effective method (as well as spectacular) to free a position from the rival. And that there was a story to follow to defeat our former commander … with surprise.
It was, in short, a short but intense downloadable experience, which drew attention for coming out as standalone product from Far Cry 3. No, it was not an expansion as such, no matter how much it adopted part of the style established since then by that Jason Brody adventure in 2012, as in relation to control. So what Blood dragon It was tougher due to a certain abruptness at the time of shooting, without as much precision as it was not possible to customize the response time of the triggers, only their sensitivity. With its remastering I have remembered it …
A remastering that doesn’t improve anything at all
Unfortunately, this Classic Edition does not upgrade to the 2013 classic. It seems a short and paste where you cannot see at first glance a greater optimization if we compare it with the original version from Xbox Series X, taking advantage of its backward compatibility.
Everything remains the same, for better and for worse. And what once captivated me has now lost much of its spark. What’s more, not optimized for PS5 or Xbox Series X being a product for PS4 and Xbox One (in addition to the PC, of course). Visually it is out of date, as happened with the Classic Edition of the aforementioned Jason Brody adventure; apart from that somewhat rigid control when it comes to targeting due to a lack of options (unless auto-targeting is checked, which I never use). Today rare is the FPS that does not provide greater control in this regard.
Almost a decade has passed since its release and this has not translated into a price reduction in this remastering, as replicate the 14.99 euros that it cost in its day. Therefore, if you played it from those on PS3, Xbox 360 or Steam, it is not worth doing it again now … unless you have purchased the Far Cry 6 Season Pass, where it is included as standard. But here the DLC Vaas – Locura is more worthwhile, in the absence of seeing what those of Pagan Min and Joseph Seed will be like.
That Ubisoft Pune hasn’t done a good job with this Classic Edition It is more than evident as there is no pampering involved or any extra incentive. But if it has served any purpose, it is to bring the focus of attention back to need for a Far Cry: Blood Dragon 2. And it is that as much as we liked (or surprised) Trials of the Blood Dragon as a nod to this universe of Rex Colt, it was not the same. A large-scale, next-generation sequel is needed, leaving behind its conception of a humble downloadable game. Because the idea seems great to us.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon – Classic Edition