Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Blood Dragon is a stand-alone expansion of Far Cry 3, meaning players do not need the original game to play it. Gameplay, though akin to Far Cry 3, using the same engine and general mechanics, is streamlined to provide a more linear experience. The skill tree, instead of a chosen path down three "ways of the animal", is replaced with a simpler leveling system that automatically unlocks benefits. The crafting is removed completely.

The gameplay is open world, first-person shooter, with the same vehicles from Far Cry 3. Players will find themselves using high powered explosives, heavily modified firearms, and a large knife in order to kill their way through the main missions. Side missions involve liberating garrisons, killing rare animals, and saving hostages. Stealth is rewarded with extra Cyber Points, the equivalent of Experience Points. The game also includes many hidden collectibles which, when found, unlock helpful rewards to assist with play.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is set in a dystopian version of 2007, where the world is suffering the aftermath of a nuclear war. Ubisoft described the game as "an 80s VHS vision of the future" where the player must "get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the world."

The player controls an American cybernetic super-soldier named Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt (Michael Biehn). He and another American cyber-soldier known as T.T. "Spider" Brown (Phil LaMarr) travel to an unnamed island to investigate Colonel Sloan (Danny Blanco Hall), an elite agent who has gone rogue. Upon confronting Sloan, he reveals his treachery, kills Spider, and knocks out Rex.

Rex is awoken by Sloan's Canadian assistant Dr. Elizabeth Darling (Grey DeLisle), who, disillusioned with his goals, betrays him. Rex teams up with Dr. Darling to overthrow Sloan's plan to revert the world to a prehistoric-like state with his rockets, armed with the blood of the "blood dragons" that roam the island. After liberating bases, saving scientists, and killing animals, Rex fights Sloan's assistant Dr. Carlyle (Robin Atkin Downes), who has used the blood of blood dragons to turn humans into zombie-like creatures called "the running dead". After Rex fights Dr. Carlyle's cyber soldiers and blood dragons, Dr. Carlyle is killed by his own AI, who had been mistreated and acted out of revenge.

Rex then goes into a parallel dimension, where he fights legions of Colonel Sloan's running dead. Upon defeating them and "testing his might", Rex gets the Killstar, an arm-mounted laser gun that gives Rex the power necessary to defeat Sloan, at the cost of his own vitality. Following a training montage, Rex and Dr. Darling have sex; Darling is abducted the following morning. Rex then makes an assault on Sloan's base with the assistance of the Killstar and later, the Battle Armored Dragon Assault Strike System (B.A.D.A.S.S.).

Rex confronts Sloan who, having programmed Rex, prevents Rex from attacking him. However, Dr. Darling's and Spider's memories remind Rex of his humanity despite his cybernetic nature. With renewed strength, Rex impales Sloan with his robotic hand and fires the Killstar, killing Sloan. Dr. Darling appears immediately after, informing Rex of his success in stopping Sloan's plans, then proceeds to destroy the base. They embrace while looking on at the destruction, only for Darling to look behind with purple eyes and a sinister gaze.

In March 2013, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was found listed on a Brazilian ratings site.[2] The lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem said: "I'm working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it's announced. But it definitely is a 'strike while the iron's hot' thing, and we'll see."[3] More evidence was seen on 27 March 2013, when Xbox Live achievements were found for the game. The fact that they totalled 400G suggested that the title would be stand-alone on the Xbox Live Arcade, as this is the standard number. On 1 April 2013, Ubisoft released a teaser video and website for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, leading many to believe that it was an April Fools' Day joke.[4] Suspicions that the game was real were further confirmed when retro electronica group Power Glove uploaded music from the soundtrack to music hosting website SoundCloud,[5] and in-game screenshots were leaked.

The game was leaked on 7 April 2013, due to an exploit in Ubisoft's digital distribution service, Uplay.[6] This led to the service being closed until the exploit was fixed. On 8 April 2013, the game was listed on the Xbox Live Marketplace with a release date of 1 May.[7] A few days later Ubisoft officially confirmed the game's release with a new trailer, confirming that the game would be released on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Microsoft Windows on 1 May.[8] The trailer was animated in a 1980s style, including all the tropes of poor voice acting and imperfections designed to make the video look like a VHS tape.[9][10] A live-action video titled Blood Dragon: The Cyber War was released on 16 April 2013.[11] It was produced by Corridor Digital and introduces the "Apocalypse's Apocalypse", featuring cyborgs as a threat to the world.[12] On 1 July 2014, a physical copy of the game was released for rental to Redbox.[13] The virtual box art cover for the game was designed by James White, who had previously created artwork for the film Drive.[14]

The game was released on 30 April 2013, for PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network and on 1 May 2013, for Microsoft Windows and for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions of the game were available for free on as part of Ubisoft's 30th Birthday Anniversary and Microsoft's Games with Gold program, respectively in November 2016. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was also available for free as part of the PS Plus monthly games offering in November 2016.[15]

Although no proper sequels to Blood Dragon have yet been released, a Trials game named Trials of the Blood Dragon was developed by RedLynx and released by Ubisoft in 2016.

Australian synthwave duo Power Glove composed the game's soundtrack.[16] Four tracks were made available for streaming on the music sharing site SoundCloud.[5] The soundtrack was released digitally on 1 May 2013.[17] "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard is featured in the beginning of the game, a reference to the film Predator. "Hold On to the Vision" by Kevin Chalfant (the original theme song to No Retreat, No Surrender) plays before the final fight sequence. "War" from the soundtrack of Rocky IV plays during the game's last sequence. "Friends" by Dragon Sound (originally in the film Miami Connection) plays at the beginning of the credits. Another Power Glove track plays during the mission "Summon the Plague", "Hunters" is used throughout this mission but was originally from the film Hobo with a Shotgun.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18][19][20]

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was nominated for several awards including Inside Gaming Award for Best Art,[27][28] D.I.C.E. Award for Downloadable Game of the Year,[29] and National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards for Original Light Mix Score, Franchise and Writing in a Comedy.[30] It won the VGX award for Best DLC.[31]

At gamescom 2013, it was announced that the game had sold over 1 million copies, and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that physical copies of the game may be available at some point.[32] The game is the fastest selling downloadable title in Ubisoft history.[33]

It was announced that Ubisoft are teaming with Adi Shankar to developed an animated series titled Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Vibe.[34]

• Official website