I've decided to try to make my reviews more critical, coming at games from a particular angle rather than simply evaluating their visuals, sound, story, and so on. This look at 'style over substance' in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is my first attempt.
‘Style
over substance’ is a phrase I often see in video game reviews. I came
dangerously close to using it in my own review of Metal Gear Rising: Revenegence, and can think of scores of other
games I’ve played that it could apply to. But what does it really mean? To me,
substance refers to a game’s controls, systems, and mechanics, whilst style covers
sound design, art direction, and narrative. A game that prioritises style over
substance, then, is one where attention has been lavished on the game’s
aesthetic and the expense of its gameplay, or at least one where the selling
point is the former rather than the latter. Since the vanilla version of Far Cry 3 is near identical in substance,
it’s clear that Blood Dragon’s main
selling point is its distinct, 80s
throwback style.
