1980s, a decade that was also the
heyday of cheesy Hollywood action
movies. Thirty years later, you don't
have to look hard to see the influence
of one medium on the other. The
ultraviolent power fantasies that seem
so corny today - movies like "Rambo,"
''Commando" and "The Delta Force" -
pretty much provided the template for
popular games like "Call of Duty" and
"Gears of War."
"Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" (Ubisoft,
for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC,
$15) makes that connection more
explicit. It's an affectionate tribute to
a cinematic era in which one guy with
a lot of guns could solve all the world's
problems.
The musclehead here is Rex "Power"
Colt, a cybernetically enhanced
supersoldier who's sent to a remote
island to prevent a madman from
building an unstoppable army. Rex is
voiced by Michael Biehn, a veteran of
genuine '80s classics like "The
Terminator" and "Aliens," and his
growly one-liners contribute as much
to the atmosphere as the game's
pulsing synth-heavy soundtrack.
The story has everything you could
want from the genre, including a
painfully awkward sex scene, a
montage of Rex training and a
flamboyantly over-the-top climax.
The plot is laid out in pixelated,
minimally animated cut scenes,
although most of the action takes
place in the fully up-to-date engine
Ubisoft created for last year's Far Cry
3 ( Review).
You don't need that game to play
"Blood Dragon." Instead, your $15
buys you a scaled-down version of
"FC3" with a smaller map, fewer
weapons and a streamlined leveling-up
system. It takes just six hours or so to
play through, which isn't necessarily a
bad thing if you felt "FC3" dragged on
too long.
"Blood Dragon" is an intriguing
experiment in downloadable content
from a big publisher like Ubisoft. If
you loved the parent game, you get a
fresh new adventure using the same
mechanics. If you didn't play "Far Cry
3," you get a solid sample for one-
quarter of the price. Either way, it's
hard to resist. Three stars out of four.
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