A Cold Blooded Killer – Far Cry 3. 11 video games with a powerful message
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To be honest, I've been wondering for a few minutes what should I choose. I had a huge dilemma whether to save my friends or choose a beautiful girl. Actually, it was all boiling down to save my friends from the very beginning, but I couldn't get Citra out of my head...
Editor of Gamepressure
Far Cry 3 is one of the best-remembered hits of the series. However, we won't discuss the character of Vaas as the most cruel antagonist of all time in this article. The game's ending serves us a small plot twist and a kind of moral dilemma. However, the ethical weight of the latter is certainly much lesser than those available in Spec-Ops: The Line. Beware – SPOILERS ahead! Our hero, Jason Brody, has to make a decision – either to save his imprisoned friends (which was generally the main objective of the whole game) or to murder his girlfriend and join the local tribe as a great warrior with a beautiful and exotic Citra at his side.
Jason's choice may seem a bit trivial, especially considering the fact that we won't find any gloomy and depressing themes in Ubisoft's games that would leave us with different thoughts long after the game is over. However, taking into account everything that has happened to the hero before, it is quite an interesting narrative trick. In addition to the rather obvious issue of loyalty, during the game Jason is evolving from a holiday beach boy, that is terrified of violence, into a professional killer who is increasingly improving his extermination skills. Over time, he even starts to enjoy it.
It seems that he acts in a just cause, but murder is murder. This changes him, affects his mental state and he even notices that on his own, by saying – "I've killed so many people I've lost count. I can't come back from this. I'm a monster". In this respect, Far Cry 3 is even sometimes compared to Spec-Ops: The Line, but as a more shallow alternative. Both heroes, convinced that they are doing the right thing, wreak havoc and kill lots of enemies – the death toll is extremely high. However, both these characters struggle with their inner-demons due to all the events that literally shatter their mental health. As a result, Jason may choose a new lifestyle as a great warrior, or return to the past with the burden expressed in the words quoted above. Anyway, he's going to be a completely different person than the young easy-going party boy from the beginning of the game.
I remember how long I've stared at the ending credits of Far Cry 3, when I finished the game late at night. The game's ending had a powerful impact on me because it wasn't my hero who suddenly woke up from his dream, but me. That simple, shallow, primitive first person shooter, at the very end reminded me that it was me – an ordinary young man that goes to work every day has just spent the last 20 hours on killing people, and I enjoyed it.
Martin Strzyzewski
