It is still Far Cry 3 at its core. It has boring outposts, it has nauseating camera shake that you can’t turn off, it has the same generic enemy types, and the enemy AI is comically stupid.
But there are so many spins to the game’s aspects that it feels different enough. The leveling system makes it a lot less tedious, and stealth is thankfully not a requirement. Guns blazing was the main way I beat missions, and it was way more fun that way. It doesn’t have any walking missions where you follow people or sneak behind bad guys to spy on them. It doesn’t have any towers you need to go out of your way to climb to pointlessly reveal more of the map. The blood dragons themselves prove to be very formidable bosses, and they can be rewarding to take down. These are all good changes, and it’s insane that they took such a garbage game like Far Cry 3 and made it tolerable.
I also loved the 80’s art styles and OST. I’m actually going to keep listening to it.
