Far Cry 2 was a unique open-world sandbox shooter that suffered from a tad too much realism. Far Cry 3 doesn't have that problem.
After playing Far Cry 3's single player campaign for several hours recently, we can attest that many of Far Cry 2's issues have been trimmed away, leaving a wide-open playground that falls somewhere between Crysis and Just Cause 2—you won't be grappling to planes, but you will fly a lot of hang gliders.
The game opens with a tense escape sequence, not bothering with any tedious build-up. You and your friends were on vacation, you were captured by pirates, and at least one of you has already been killed. That's all you need to know before you're thrust into the action.
Over the course of the demo, we escaped from the evil asshole Vaas, activated several radio towers (that view! it's incredible), fought off tigers, sharks and komodo dragons, and tripped out on psychedelic cave mushrooms.
Most of all, we just enjoyed the open world of Far Cry 3. Here are ten of our favorite things about it.