Pfernando27's Top Video Game Pick of 2013

                                                              Far cry 3 Blood Dragon

                                               Or how I learned to have fun and fall in love with games again.

At a time where games are going for darker settings, bigger than Hollywood  cinematics  or trying to elevate game as Interactive Narrative Experiences, It's nice to see an old school game like Far Cry 3. Don't get me wrong here, I Love and do enjoy  games like Tomb Raider, GTA V, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead and Beyond Two Souls, but these games are long and leave the player emotionally drained at the end their experiences. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is a call back to the fun mindless action shooter of yesteryear reminiscent of  Duke Nukem in both for its  superb graphics, tight gameplay mechanics and cheesy storyline. Boasting a fantastic and heart pumping cyberpunk soundtrack to go with its  post-apocalyptic Vietnam War II setting where the land has been ravaged by a nuclear war between the U.S and U.S.S.R . Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon's 80s inspired background is a breath of fresh air for this worn out gamer.

Blood Dragon is an open world  first-person shooter with similar gameplay to Far Cry 3. Although simpler in terms of character progression and more streamlined in its mechanics, it allows for a more linear progression within the storyline and acts to keep the player engaged in frantic fights rather than managing inventory and various skill branches as the original game did. Blood Dragon puts the devastating  power of Sgt.Rex Cole against an overwhelming numbers of omega force troops,  running undead, cybernetically-enhanced wild life, including cyber sharks and cyber dogs. Cyber. You get the picture. Blood Dragon also allows for stealth gameplay and in some instances becomes essential in order to save valuable personnel. The game also boast many of the vehicles from Far Cry 3 such as jet skis, hang  gliders, jeeps and boats to navigate the various terrain on the unnamed island. All of this 80s throwback is brought together wonderfully with 16 bit style cutscenes, reaching to the point where the cutscenes don't fill out the entire screen. The backstory is equally 80s. Sgt. Rex Cole must prevent a nuclear missile from destroying the world, and as Ubisoft puts it, "get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the world". Blood Dragon was a very  fun experience in both gameplay and story with an average gameplay time of five hours and a completionist average of eight hours. Although, my own gameplay session lasted 11hrs. Wow.

In a very difficult time in the gaming industry where the pressures of recovering multimillion dollar budgets just to break even results in decisions to stick to old and tired designs, Blood Dragon is  the kind of game you get when developers have a chance to really let their imagination run wild and free from the expectations of these millions dollar returns, allowing developers the freedom to take risk and form new and exciting experiences. In a way, it's  very reminiscent of another great and lauded title built atop of its predecessor engine, The legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask, a game that may have never stood the chance or  budget to be produce within only a year to both critical and financial success. In very much the same way, Blood Dragon was built atop of the Dunia 2 Engine used in FC3. Not only has it allowed for a quick release of Blood Dragon in six months time, but also at a very cut-rate prize of $15 on release day. Not to mention, a holiday sale price of  $7.49 on steam, on top of it being a standalone release not requiring FC3, makes Blood Dragon truly hard to pass up.

In all seriousness, it's a very exciting time to see where gaming is heading today and in the very near future. Games have increased in both scale of detail and in scope, allowing developers to bring games such as Far Cry 3 and also new types of gaming genres such as Interactive Narrative Experiences. Think Quantic Dream developer and their games, Beyond two souls, Heavy rain, Fahrenheit, which will only become more immersive as new technologies emerge like the occulus rift, which i will be getting as soon as it is released. 

But in all this excitement and grandeur that has occurred during 2013, it is honestly just very refreshing to have a game revolving around mindless fun with excellent gameplay mechanics, and a storyline to BOOT(sorry bad computer pun). Blood Dragon boasts superb graphics, unique aesthetics, an ultra 80s cheesy story line accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, some of which you can actually unlock trough in-game points or can directly purchase on iTunes/amazon, and with its initial price all make Blood Dragon my top pick of the year. And last but not least, here's the very trailer that got me to jump into this frantic and ludicrous experience that is Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon.