Nominees: Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, New Super Mario U: New Super Luigi, Saint’s Row IV: Enter the Dominatrix
When Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was first announced, it seemed like it was just a massively elaborate April Fool’s joke. However, when the game actually launched, it was a glorious work of 80’s schlock. Using the full Far Cry 3 engine, but with a heavily modified color pallet, the game was a retro-futuristic take on what the year 2007 would have, likely, looked like to a 1980’s sci-fi, B-movie director.
Everything from the VHS, like, camera filter to the synth-rock soundtrack from Power Glove played to the strengths of the writing. The inclusion of Michael Biehn as the games protagonist, Rex Powercolt, added to its near perfection as a work of parody. As if all of that weren’t enough, the game still had all of the awesome things that Far Cry 3 had. There was a fairly deep crafting system in place, as well as a refined experience point system.
There were new “futuristic” animals to hunt, as well, like a cybernetic shark. Adding to the ridiculousness was the crazy way that these animals were described in-game. The Cyber-Panter is described as, “(A) black panther is the kind of badass you’d expect to see painted on velvet or on heavy metal albums or tattooed on the arm of sailors…It’s got cybernetics. Cyber-Panther, bitches. Yeah, we did that.”
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a near perfect 80’s homage and that’s why it is one of the two best DLC’s of 2013.
