Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is coming to Xbox Live on May 1

Get ready for a healthy serving of 80s sci-fi clichés. Ubisoft’s rather strange return to the Rook Islands in the form of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon finally has a release date - May 1 - and it will only be available on the Xbox 360 through the Xbox Live Marketplace. There is no word from the company about a release on other platforms.

According to the story of the game, the year is 2007 and you are Sergeant Rex Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando who’s fighting against a cyborg army gone rogue. Your mission is simple and cliché-ridden - get the girl, kill the baddies and save the world. According to Ubisoft, the game takes inspiration from Terminator, Aliens and Navy Seals.

The screenshots for the game look just as pulpy as the description. A very Aliens-eqsue aesthetic can be seen, and the developers have even gone as far as adding scanlines to give you the feeling that you’re playing a game on a CRT off a VHS tape.

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The screenshot shows scanlines and looks like it was lifted straight from a CRT TV

The game got a teaser trailer last week, and because of the timing, it was widely believed to be an April Fool’s joke. The trailer looks rather strange and doesn’t seem to have any of the standard Far Cry themes at all, let alone that of its namesake – Far Cry 3. The only thing it seems to have in common with Far Cry 3 is that it will take place on a tropical island, which may possibly be one of the Rook archipalego.

It follows a cheesy 80s sci-fi aesthetics and looks like something straight out of a VHS tape. Even the game’s website follows the same aesthetic, and it pitches the game as a fake Far Cry movie from the 80s.

Here is the description of the game, according to the website: “The year is 2007. It is the future. Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution: a powerful bioweapon on a distant island. A Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on.”

The website also has a shop where you can buy various things from the 80s era, but clicking the image for the “game for your home entertainment system” item opens an image that lists what appears to be achievements from the game. These achievements range from killing a number of dragons to becoming “the ultimate badass”.

Considering the fact that the teaser was revealed on April 1, it could be an April Fools’ joke, but news about the game has been floating around for quite some time now, making the idea that it’s an April Fools’ joke unlikely.