Action Mayday: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon and Zeno Clash II!

Had the day off yesterday so it was time for some much-needed gaming. Two games unlocked for PC May 1st/2nd. The more renowned and anticipated of the two must surely be Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, the tongue in cheek cyber ninja shooter that takes place in the fancy future of 2007.

While we've only known about this one for a month or so, it quickly became a hot item thanks to its association with Far Cry 3 and the clearly humorous approach.

Zeno Clash II also came out yesterday, and is in many regards the complete opposite of Blood Dragon. It's an indie title, very few people have heard about it, there's little chatter involved, and the humor (if any) is subtle and implied, not in your face like with Blood Dragon.

We'll start with the more famous release, which indeed is quite hysterical. Most of you have probably seen the videos online, so you know it pokes fun at 80's cyborg movies and gaming conventions (like tutorials). Most of it is pretty obvious stuff, but it is very funny. It's possible this was supposed to be just a Far Cry 3 mod or DLC. Blood Dragon is an FC3 re-skin, featuring neon colors instead of Rook Island. It's got the same controls, the same opponent animations, the same detection meter, the same...you get the picture. I didn't check, but it won't surprise me if the voice actors are the same, too.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

One more thing Blood Dragon has in common with Far Cry 3 is the rather perplexing save system. Keep in mind checkpoint reached DOES NOT mean progress saved. Just like in the main game, Blood Dragon only properly saves when you fully complete a mission and the identical "saving..." wording appears on screen. Sorry for the pun, but save yourself the grief of playing the first hour or so three times before realizing this - as just happened to yours truly! You'd think Ubisoft would make this friendlier and simpler seeing as Blood Dragon is more of a lighthearted experience, but I suppose that's what you get when the code is basically untouched from the parent game!

Of course, Blood Dragon has none of the moral dilemma displayed in its source game, it's a comedic shooter, and everything's either over the top or pared down when put next to FC3. One problem I did have when downloading it from Steam was that initially the file was 500MB, which took a few minutes to install. When I tried to run it, it said missing executable. Then a couple of minutes later a 2.4GB file began downloading, and then the game ran. This lends much credence to speculation that Blood Dragon is an FC3 skinjob, but that's besides the point. For $15, this is a cool game and I applaud Ubisoft for not making Far Cry 3 ownership a requirement.

Yes, maybe captions are not the way to go with Blood Dragon. Besides, it has a great coin-op arcade era-styled attract sequence of the "all your base" variety, which tells of how in the future (again, that's 2007), WWIII has left the world in ruins and called for the creation of a cyborg force. Our hero Rex Colt is one of these guys, bionic glowy-red eye and all.

I didn't get FAR into it, but it does start with a bang. Possibly a shout out to action movies, or just another helicopter side gunner sequence....this instance does have exponentially more things blowing up, though. When that's done, the game proper commences, with the by-now famous joke tutorial section.

Go beyond the faux tutorials and Blood Dragon is essentially Far Cry 3 in new clothing, except it has a very simple leveling system, and you get to carry tons of weapons right from the start. All of them have appropriately OTT names, naturally. The action is identical to Far Cry 3, and feels slightly sluggish using the Xbox controller on PC, which shouldn't happen. For graphics settings, Blood Dragon uses those you have for Far Cry 3, if any (surprise), but generally seems to run better due to less complex assets.

Gunplay is good if a little stiff, and the AI is just as effective as in Far Cry 3. Some stealth is advised. Go into it guns blazing like a REAL 80's action hero, and you won't last long even on easy. Perhaps that's part of the message.

Blood Dragon is definitely a must-play release, especially at its price point. If you're not a big shooter fan, have some odd aversion to nostalgia, or simply don't like cyborgs, then maybe avoid it, but otherwise it's bolts of fun.

Onwards to Zeno Clash II! Should you find Blood Dragon too obvious, this game is the antidote. It's the sequel to one of the most artistic and surreal games in recorded history, and maintains that fully. Actually it goes beyond it, with even more outlandish and beautiful designs. But, now we have more of a story, and play mechanics are much better.

Zeno Clash II is a first person brawler and shooter with a weirded-out story and oddball characters. The sequel does have very good navigation, and a somewhat open world design. Maps are huge, and you're free to move around them as you see fit - for the most part. There are some decision moments, and character development. You can even enlist allies along the way, who fight on your side as AI or human co-op partners. In short, developers ACE Team have really put a lot more content and features into their second foray. But best let the pics speak for themselves!

 

 

All in all, it was a good day of gaming, even if I didn't spend that much time actually playing. Two great games, each in its own way. I do recommend you check both of them out, they're on your favorite online PC game retailer as we speak. Did you pick up either of these titles? Let us know in the forums!