Welcome to the first 5 Reasons entry on the blog. This is where I take some sort of game, movie, or comic, and I list 5 reasons why you should or shouldn't play, watch, or read it. (These aren't top 5 lists, by the way. No reason is as important as the others.) These lists are going to be kind of long, so I hope you like reading

So, let's begin.

1. Plot: I've played so many FPS's with a plot that is BARELY worth following, mainly from the COD franchise. But, Farcry 3 has a pretty decent plot that's easy to follow. The game's plot is that Jason Brody and his friends went on an island vacation to Rook Island, a fictional band of small pieces of land in the Southern Pacific. While going on a skydiving trip on the island, they land strait smack into a ransom camp, where they're kidnapped and held for ransom for millions of dollars. Jason barely makes his escape and goes on a quest to rescue his friends, all the while learning how to survive on the island with the ransom pirates looking for him.

In my opinion, that sounds pretty good.

2. Character Development: The characters in this game are pretty good, too. Jason is very likable in his feeling of not giving up, even when the events he has to go through seem dangerous to him. Over time, his passive side goes away and he begins to becomes more violent and independent. The villains is also pretty fun. Vaas, the crazy ransom mob leader, can be a pretty intimidating villain for some. For me, he had me laughing at some points. But that's just me.

3. Gunplay: Using your firearms in Farcry 3 couldn't be simpler. You get to carry up to four firearms at one time and you have the little wheel thing from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood for switching them out. The guns also have a really satisfying impact when you use them on enemies. Locking down your sights and shoot from hip is pretty fluent and easy to do, too. Most people who play FPS's wouldn't normally shoot from the hip. They'd by instinct lock down their sights. In Farcry 3, it doesn't really matter either way.

4. Free roam: Farcry 3 is, in fact, a free roam game. But Ubisoft took full advantage of that. The game gives you a beautiful open world to explore however long you want to. The island is GIGANTIC, too. However, you'll need to make a good chunk of actual progress in order to fully explore the whole thing. There are also animals to hunt, too. After you kill an animal, you can take their pelts and use them to upgrade your equipment or sell them at one of the outpost lodges. You also get the option to drive around in vehicles, from jeeps, to jet skis, to hang gliders.

5. Side quests: There are 36 ransom pirate outposts in Farcry 3. You have the option to infiltrate the outpost and attempt to liberate it. You don't have to, but if you do, it takes out all pirate activity in the area and gives you a new respawn point, as well as the outpost's shop and side quests. There are two types of side quests; assassination and hunt. I the assassination side quests, you're contracted to kill a notorious pirate outlaw on the island, as well as his cronies. I wouldn't recommend doing these quests unless you need a few quick bucks. The hunt side quests occasionally have a rare animal for you to hunt. If you hunt it, you can use it's pelt to fully upgrade a specific object to full later on. You also have the option to liberate the radio towers. If you liberate one, it shows the map of the surrounding area and the specific locations of the outposts in the area. It doesn't show the collectibles, though. You'll need to buy maps at the stores in order to show those.

Conclusion: To me, Farcry 3 is just short of gaming nirvana. I've played it more than any Battlefield or Call of Duty games I've played combined. It's easily one of my favorite video games of this generation, and I don't really like many FPS's. Play Farcry 3 if you haven't yet. You might be missing out on some really good stuff.