History VideoGame / FarCry3

** Some of the more advanced takedowns, like the Grenade Takedown, might look and sound awesome, but are so situational you'll never get the chance to use them. The main exception is the Heavy Beatdown, since the only other way to instakill a Heavy or Flamer is a headshot with a specific weapon.

** The Zoology 101 perk, which lets you get two skins for every one animal, would be helpful by reducing the amount of time needed to hunt specific animals and skinning them to craft upgrades... if the skill weren't locked away until you unlock the second tier of skills, which isn't too bad purely from the number of missions, but [[QuicksandBox considering the nature of the game]] means that anyone who isn't rushing through the game as fast as possible, thus gimping themselves on ammo and supplies, will probably already ''have'' all the upgrades that don't require hunting unique animals (which the skill is useless for, since you only get and only need one skin per final upgrade), and by that point it's only useful if the player needs to make a quick buck to buy ammo (where it's still less than ideal over regular loot, because you have to manually select and confirm skin sales even if you have every upgrade). ''Far Cry 4'' notable removed the skill entirely in favor of making the ability to get two skins from one animal an innate property of hunting with the kukri or any of the bows, and added checks to the auto-sell feature so that it will include skins if you've crafted everything that requires that type of skin. The similar "Horticulture 101" skill, which gives you two leaves from every plant, subverts this (and made it into the sequel) since it's one of the earliest skills you can get, and even if it wasn't, you'll run out of space to store leaves hundreds of times over before you'll run out of uses for them.

** The Anti-Materiel Rifle has the highest range, accuracy and damage of any firearm. Awesome! However, it cannot mount a silencer, which severely limits its usefulness for players with an interest in stealth. Still, due to its massive firepower (it blows up a car with only one or two hits to the engine - it's anti-'''materiel''', after all), even stealthy players will often find it useful. And let's not forget that if two opponents are standing right next to each other (which happens surprisingly often; those pirates sure are a chatty bunch), shooting one of them will outright kill or at least severely injure the other one due to the AMR's explosive ammunition. [[OneHitPolykill So much for]] one shot, one kill.

** The penultimate mission actually gives you armed backup in the form of Sam manning a .50 machine gun that's mounted to an armored jeep. Yay, someone to watch your back, finally! Until you're forced to realize that Sam's such a horrible shot even with so much MoreDakka at his disposal that he's no help whatsoever, and that he's so fragile even behind armor plates that bringing him anywhere near a firefight is almost guaranteed to get him killed in twenty seconds or less, which is an instant game over. The presence of numerous [[OneHitKill RPG soldiers]] in the area, coupled with the many, many {{Teleporting Keycard Squad}}s in this mission, means you have little choice but to park Sam as far away from the action as possible and take on the small army of privateers on your own like you've already been doing anyway.

* MadeOfIncendium: The variety of things that catch fire at the slightest opportunity is staggering, but worst of them is everything even remotely related to plants. Any use of molotovs or flamethrowers in generous vicinity to grass or jungle will inevitably cause a raging bushfire that's instantly lethal to anything that's not a Heavy because all humans and animals in this game seem to have gasoline for blood. That includes Jason as well to some extent, and although being set on fire doesn't kill him on the spot, it still deals heavy damage very quickly.

** Rook Islands' indigineous fauna includes scores of completely harmless, defenseless animal species like birds of paradise, turtoises, turtles or monkeys. No, they don't drop any crafting components. Yes, you can kill them any way you want. Nobody, not even the game, will call you out on it. Just don't tell PETA.

* DeathGlare: During Vaas's speech about insanity to Jason in their second encounter, he stopped and started to get ticked off because he "doesn't the way Jason looks at him." Considering, all the things Vaas put Jason through this is the most accurate expression on him.

* DemotedToDragon: Despite appearing on [[TrailersAlwaysLie all the commercials]] and being the [[LaughablyEvil more quirky villain]], not too long into the plot it's revealed Vaas actually works for ''someone more terrifying.''[[note]]Vaas is a pirate that kidnaps and kills people, and that's bad. Hoyt, his boss, gets Vaas to kidnap people so that he can ransom them off, sell them into slavery anyway, and runs a massive drug empire that's also built on the murder of both the indigenous people and anyone who gets in his way.[[/note]]

* MadeOfIron: Some of the wildlife can soak up ludicrous amount of fire, especially [[FeatheredFiend Cassowary]] and Comodo Dragons which sometimes take over one full rifle magazine to go down. It spells certain doom to you as the former just loves to [[ZergRush swarm you en-masse]] at slightest provocation.

A stand-alone expansion, titled ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', was also released May 1st, 2013. Related [[InNameOnly only by game engine and title]], ''Blood Dragon'' is an AffectionateParody of 80's sci-fi action flicks such as ''Franchise/{{Robocop}}'', ''{{Film/Aliens}}'', and ''Film/TheTerminator'' (among others); set in the distant, {{cyberpunk}} year of 2007, it features retro cutscenes, [=VHS=] tracking, a synth-heavy soundtrack, Creator/MichaelBiehn, and other elements of 80's goodness. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDwXped8Bc Watch the trailer here.]] See also ''WebVideo/TheFarCryExperience'', a web series created to advertise the game, starring Michael Mando as Vaas and Creator/ChristopherMintzPlasse {{as himself}}.

* FiveManBand: Jason and his allies.
** TheHero: Jason
** TheLancer: Dennis
** TheSmartGuy: Willis and Dr. Alec Earnhardt
** TheBigGuy: Sam
** TheChick: Jason's friends and his girlfriend, Liza (All of whom he has to rescue)

* LeParkour: Jason can automatically vault over obstructions and climb up ledges by pressing jump, and even [[ClimbSlipHangClimb grab ledges and pull himself]] up if he [[AntiFrustrationFeatures comes up short on a leap]]. All this is necessary if you want to [[CollectionSidequest activate every radio tower as well as find certain relics and letters]][[spoiler:, in order to earn the Bushman assault rifle and be well on the way to earning many other rewards]].

* StoryOverwrite: Whichever of [[MultipleEndings the two endings you choose]], the game concludes on a jarring note of GameplayAndStorySegregation. After the last mission[[spoiler:, Jason either leaves the islands with his friends, or kills them for Citra; the former choice results in him and his friends finally leaving the island behind, while the latter results in his DeathBySex. However, after the credits roll, Jason is inexplicably returned to the island, alive and [[FinGore (mostly)]] unharmed, and]] you are able to complete any remaining {{Side Quest}}s as you please.

* DeathBySex: [[spoiler:The bad ending, which has Jason being the victim of post-coital stabbing by Citra.]]

When Jason Brody (Creator/EliasToufexis), an aimless twenty-something who channels his energy into extreme sports, skydives onto the wrong island with a group of his friends, they are all captured by a group of RuthlessModernPirates under the command of the deranged Vaas Montenegro (Creator/MichaelMando). Jason escapes with the help of his ex-military brother, but soon finds himself alone and trapped in a hostile and untamed world.

When Jason Brody, an aimless twenty-something who channels his energy into extreme sports, skydives onto the wrong island with a group of his friends, they are all captured by a group of RuthlessModernPirates under the command of the deranged Vaas Montenegro (Creator/MichaelMando). Jason escapes with the help of his ex-military brother, but soon finds himself alone and trapped in a hostile and untamed world.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Citra and her Rakyat take this to an extreme that would be simply impractical in real life ([[spoiler: including ritually sacrificing Jason once he gets Citra pregnant, so he can die as a warrior instead of facing the terrible fate of growing old, fat, and settled.]])

When Jason Brody (Creator/EliasToufexis), an aimless twenty-something who channels his energy into extreme sports, skydives onto the wrong island with a group of his friends, they are all captured by a group of RuthlessModernPirates under the command of the deranged Vaas Montenegro (Creator/MichaelMando). Jason escapes with the help of his ex-military brother, but soon finds himself alone and trapped in a hostile and untamed world.

* SimpleYetAwesome: The humble flare gun. Most don't use it because its projectile is slow moving and it only has one shot before reloading, but the flare gun can, and does, one shot Heavies. However, the flaming arrow does the same thing while moving at a ''much'' faster speed, and a fraction of the reload time. About the only time most people actually use the flare gun is during a mission where that, mines, C4 and your machete are [[NoGearLevel all the game gives you until you can get the rest of your stuff back]], where the only enemy you can't easily sneak past or take care of with just your machete is exactly one Heavy guarding the building your stuff is in.

* SymbolicWeaponDiscarding: In the good ending, if the player makes Jason decide to rescue his friends instead of [[SlashedThroat cutting their throats]] to join the [[ProudWarriorRace Rakyat]], after cutting two of his friends free, Jason throws his [[{{MacGuffin}} silver dragon knife]] to the floor at [[JunglePrincess Citra's]] feet, making it clear that "This violence is over. I'm done. No more blood." The pre-credits scene takes this even further by showing Jason and his friends riding their ship away from the [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou Rook Islands]], whilst the dragon knife is left embedded in the sand.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The game ''mocks'' the general expectations players tend to have toward your typical open sandbox shooter.
** Jason's friends do not react well to his growing bloodlust. Liza even completely freaks out over how much fun he is having while fighting the pirates during their escape.
** Jason is set up as a bog standard Adventure FPS protagonist. A somewhat average guy winds up in an exotic location and becomes what amounts to "the chosen one" to save the locals and is given an enemy he can kill ''Carte Blanche'' without consequence. [[spoiler: The result isn't a hero, it's an AxCrazy BloodKnight.]]
** When Jason starts killing the pirates, he eventually starts enjoying it the more he does it because they are faceless soldiers and because he can justify their deaths to himself. That all changes when he meets Buck, a sociopathic rapist holding one of Jason's friends as sex slave and is using him as leverage for Jason's services. [[spoiler:By sending Jason on multiple suicide missions and then finishing their business by telling Jason he had no intention of releasing Jason and Keith, Buck breaks Jason's already fractured sanity and naivety. Buck is the first real threat Jason encounters and was not a faceless soldier like the pirates. Buck had to die and his death is not played heroically or justly as Jason primalistically and tribalistically stabs him with the dagger for the first time.]]
** Hoyt is [[spoiler: implied to have died ''much'' earlier than his boss fight suggests and that Jason hallucinated an extended fight with him while slaughtering his guards due to the reality of killing his enemy being anticlimactic.]]

* ArbitraryMaximumRange: No weapon, not even the most powerful sniper rifle, can hit targets at distances beyond roughly 150 meters, which is ''waaay'' below their effective range in RealLife. You can still see and shoot at the enemy, but the bullet simply disappears before it hits them. If you're using handguns, submachine guns or - of course - [[ShortRangeShotgun shotguns]], expect your shots to dissipate ''a lot'' sooner than that.

** Most of the co-op characters run on this. Callum, however, takes this UpToEleven by using f- and c-bombs as every other verb/adjective/noun/punctuation mark.

* DemotedToDragon: Despite appearing on [[TrailersAlwaysLie all the commercials]] and being the [[LaughablyEvil more quirky villain]], not too long into the plot it's revealed Vaas actually works for ''[[UpToEleven someone more terrifying.]]''[[note]]Vaas is a pirate that kidnaps and kills people, and that's bad. Hoyt, his boss, gets Vaas to kidnap people so that he can ransom them off, sell them into slavery anyway, and runs a massive drug empire that's also built on the murder of both the indigenous people and anyone who gets in his way.[[/note]]

** On the non-gun front, soon as the player learns the Knife Throw Takedown, Jason immediately becomes a master-level knife thrower as well, able to hit anyone square in the head from ridiculous ranges (sometimes even ''[[UpToEleven through walls]]'' if the target is moving in the right direction).

* INeedAFreakingDrink: [[spoiler:Sam, after watching Jason torture his own brother]].

** Played straight by Hoyt when he [[spoiler: sends Jason, who is disguised as a mercenary recruit, to torture Riley]]. Also done at the end when [[spoiler:Citra tries to make Jason kill his friends as the last step towards becoming a Rakyat]].

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Nearly every major character who dies goes out this way. [[spoiler:The exception known is [[SlashedThroat Liza]] if Jason kills her, and the rest of his friends and brother are implied to have died the same way]].

* KnifeNut:
** One of the special enemy types is a guy armed with a machete who charges straight at you upon spotting you. There's also [[StealthPun Buck, who seems really into knives.]]
** Jason and, by extension, the player. Many of the stealth mechanics in the game center around using BackStab attacks to quickly and silently eliminate enemies. You also see plenty of Jason holding a knife in cutscenes.
** The Wanted Dead missions all specify kill your target with a knife like a true Rakyat Warrior.

* ViolenceReallyIstheAnswer: The first time Jason has to kill someone, he's horrified by the act. But from that point on, he never has any more problems with it. In fact, it isn't too long before he's laughing about his killings.

** Two different driving mini games, one against the clock and one against NPCs.

* VendorTrash: An absolute flippin' ton of it, and we really do mean ''trash.'' We're talking crumpled cigarettes, lost poker chips, random cards from a deck of 52, broken trinkets like compasses and used syringes, and other knick-knacks that do nothing but take up space in your loot bag and wait to be sold. Once you've gotten all possible upgrades for your gear, all animals skins become effectively vendor trash too. On the other hand, you'll need to pawn a lot of this stuff to keep a reliable cashflow for ammunition and armor.