There doesn't seem to be a particularly large pool of comedy-driven games, but Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - published as a stand-alone expansion to Far Cry 3 - stands out as one of the best. Apart from it's retro, hyper stylized look and it's great comedy, it also is an extremely fun game to play. Largely it just takes the formula perfected by Far Cry 3, adds a bit of '80s futuristic style to it, and makes a lot of jokes. That's all it needs though.
Players control the cybernetic hero Rex "Power" Colt as he tries to save the world from further destruction after nuclear strikes laid waste just before 2007. You are assisted by Dr. Darling as you hunt down the former war hero, Colonel Sloan. He's gone crazy and is trying to use the blood of blood dragons to infect human kind with an ailment that turns them into zombie-like creatures referred to as "the running dead." The story unfolds primarily over radio broadcasts with Dr. Darling. When particularly heavy in exposition though, they rely on retro "cutscenes." These videos are made up of SNES-like still images, giving it that old timey feel.
The world is heavily influenced by niche '80s sci-fi action films. Backgrounds are dark and subdued while things in the foreground are often comprised of neon. Everyone wears suits that have glowing bits. Actually, this might be one of the few cases wherein looking at the cover art tells you exactly what you need to know about the game.
All of this is enhanced by its synth-driven score from Powerglove. (Seriously, it's great. Download it!) Meanwhile, the game functions as a bit of a comedy, often mocking many elements commonly found in video games. For example, the tutorial is painstakingly slow and features such dumb and unnecessary directions as, "To look around, look around." If it weren't clear enough the game is making fun of unnecessary tutorials in gaming, Rex Colt spends the entire time complaining about it. He groans, just wanting to get to the game already. There are also collectibles in the game (VHS tapes too), a common trait in open world games especially. Whenever you pick it up, Rex wonders what the hell he's doing, or comments, "At least I'm not collecting flags," a reference to Assassin's Creed and its much maligned flag collecting mission.
The gameplay is fun and very much in the style of your typical Far Cry game or first person shooter in general. You'll still be liberating outposts, only leveling is a lot simpler and more streamlined - one of the other ways it feels retro. Instead of earning skill points that you assign, you just level up and acquire whatever trait is associated with that numerical level. Simple, but straight forward. It's a system typical of older, less complex games.
A nice addition to the Far Cry franchise is the idea of baiting wildlife. While this is a feature of Far Cry 4, it is not a part of Far Cry 3. Indeed, the concept makes its first appearance here, albeit in a smaller fashion. You can't just bait any wildlife to help you, but you can bait blood dragons. These creatures are huge, fast, and deadly beasts that can tear you to shreds with their jaws, or light you up with some kind of laser attack. When they're nearby, it pays to be slow and quiet. However, if there are Omega Force troops around, you can throw a Cybernetic Heart - which you rip out of dead enemies - and draw the blood dragons to them. Though you can only do this when there's a blood dragon around, it's still a lot of fun and adds a nice little element to combat. It was a great little addition, and they improve that a little bit in the following Far Cry game.
Overall, you can pretty much tell right from looking at it if it's something you'd like. Hyper stylized, retro futuristic, and funny, it's just a great, entertaining little game. It's short - the result of being a standalone DLC package rather than its own full length game - but that might be for the best. If it went too long, it may have overstayed its welcome or the joke might have worn off. As it is, that thankfully doesn't happen. But you'll probably know right off the bat if you like it with lines like:
"It's Sloan's bed time, and I'm gonna tuck him in.....under six feet of dirt."
"I'm no hero, Doc. I'm just a regular US Army Mark 4 Cyber Commando."
"Paintings of crying clowns and dogs playing poker: those are incredible. What I did? That's just the job."
"You and me are the same, Rex. We even have the same blue blood!"
"Wrong. My blood is red, white, and blue."
"I swore an oath to a special lady."
"Your...wife?"
"No. Lady Liberty. She taught me that winners...don't do drugs."
"Tell my wife that I died fighting for my country."
"You can tell her that yourself!"
And, of course, when you kill people with a shuriken:
"Sure he can't? Shuriken!"
So, yeah. Pretty fun game! Even the launch trailer was awesome!
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