The standalone DLC for Far Cry 3, Blood Dragon, is out now, and the reviews have begun trickling in. According to the reviews so far, it's not game of the year material, but the 80's cheesiness and storyline will send anyone who remembers VHS spiraling back to a time when Schwarzenegger could be found in the VCR and the closet was chock full of Bugle Boy clothing. And with Michael Biehn giving voice to one of the most powerfully named characters ever seen in fiction, Rex Power Colt, he's definitely making up for the atrocious Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Now, read what the consensus is for Blood Dragon, then file your choice review in your No Fear trapper keeper.
8/10, IGN - "Through my scope, I watch a neon-lit dinosaur shoot laser beams from its face in a fierce battle with evil robots. When it's done roasting our mutual enemies, I blow the beast up with sniper-rockets. Suddenly, there's a 16-bit style sex montage. Nobody in their right mind would create something as wonderfully absurd as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - so I'm glad someone in charge at Ubisoft is at least a little nuts. Don't go in expecting a traditional Far Cry game. Blood Dragon is philosophically, tonally, and mechanically the fundamental opposite of its straight-faced predecessors. It's like entering the imagination of a nine-year-old boy. Or my mind at age 25, honestly: These are action figures and super-powers come to life for an action-packed six-hours of open-world first-person shooting."
4.5/5, Joystiq - "a retro-fueled standalone commando powered by the twin suns of Parody and Crazy. That game is Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon...The game lovingly mocks the awkward sci-fi and testosterone-fueled action that dominated films from in and around the 80s, stuff like The Terminator, Die Hard, and Predator. Parody is a tricky tightrope to walk, and games often struggle with it; Blood Dragon itself missteps with a tutorial that, while amusingly poor, is still poor. Thankfully it's not an omen, because Blood Dragon does what Far Cry 3 didn't: combine crazy ideas with classy writing."
7/10, Destructoid - " Blood Dragon is well made, and thoroughly entertaining to lovers of the eighties, but in many ways, it becomes a victim of its own success -- the core ideas are so fun, so lavishly crafted, one aches to see them in a game equal to their quality. Blood Dragon is a good little game, and I highly recommend checking it out, with the caveat that it's one of those games that does a few things well enough to inadvertently highlight its own flaws. As critical as I may be, however, I'd rather have Blood Dragon exist as it does than not exist at all. A game this delightfully stupid can only make the world a better place, and I sincerely hope this isn't the last we see of Rex Colt."
8.5/10, Game Informer - "As much as I grew bored with freeing nerds from captivity, earning weapons capable of eviscerating entire legions in a matter of seconds is highly recommended. Like many of the '80s action flicks it mimics, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has the potential to alienate people with its crass sense of humor and repetitive one-liners. But if you long for an era when smart-mouthed badasses were more concerned with making things go boom than catering to social sensitivities, Rex Power Colt is your man, and Blood Dragon is your game."
8.5/10, GameSpot - "Blood Dragon isn't just an homage to great memories, however, but a terrific game in its own right. If you played Far Cry 3, you will recognize the structure...You don't have to love the decade of Rubik's Cubes and Pac-Man Fever to get a kick out of Blood Dragon. But if you do, then all the better: this action-packed shooter will strike all the right synth-pop power chords."
8/10, Polygon - "Blood Dragon tries harder than just about any retro-flavored release I've ever played to fit in as much of its inspiration and, at times, points of ridicule as it can. It drips John Carpenter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McTiernan, cult action movies with audiences grown through mom and pop video stores, even the bizarre tough guy/tender emotions dichotomy that pushes so far through the cheese barrier that it circles around ironic and back again. It also aggressively courts memories of NES-era gaming conventions with its weapons, enemies and even cutscenes...Though not as deep as it seems, Blood Dragon borrows and steals well enough to work. And that's the elephant in this particular room: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a downloadable, stand-alone title that could stand with many AAA offerings on the shelves. It's not as deep, it's not as long, it's not as developed — but at 15 bucks, it doesn't need to be. As an experiment in nostalgia and appreciation of '80s movies filtered through '80s video games (filtered through modern game design and visuals), Blood Dragon is a good time that borrows and steals artfully enough to get away with it."
Here's a trailer to help you make up your mind. It's totally tubular.