Ubisoft has started rolling out patch 1.05 for Far Cry 3, bringing shiny new features including the promised option to reset outposts and the new 'Master' difficulty level. If the archipelago's feeling a little tired and fusty for you, huzzah, you can now explore new and exciting ways to kill men.

Read more: Adjusted health and AI in Master difficulty »

"The definition of insanity," Ubisoft made a point of having Far Cry 3 antagonist Vaas declare in trailers, "is doing the exact same fucking thing over and over again, expecting sh-t to change." If you like to get a little crazy, though, Ubi is working on an option to reset all outposts, letting you retake them and retake them to your heart's content. A new, harder 'Master' difficulty level is coming too, along with new multiplayer and map-making features.

Read more: Making things a little more Far Cry 2-y »

Publishers often save their biggest games for October and November, hoping to capitalize on pre-holiday shopping and Black Friday sales. Rarely does a AAA game come out in December--that's usually a time reserved for games sent out to die. However, Ubisoft made quite a curious move last year. It released Far Cry 3 on December 4, well after the holiday's heaviest hitters made their debut. Did the strategy work for them? Apparently.

Read more: 4.5 million units sold »

Spoiler alert. You'd think Vaas is the main character of Far Cry 3, given his prominence on the game's box, and his frequent appearances in the game's trailers. The villain commands such a captivating presence, that his early exit in the game struck many as odd--even disappointing. What was the reasoning behind making such a compelling character leave the narrative so early? Lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem explained that Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse inspired that decision.

Read more: 'Absence' is 'daring' »

Ubisoft likes offering a number of digital bonuses through various pre-order promos. If you haven't been able to keep track of all the add-ons available for Far Cry 3, the "Deluxe Bundle" gives you access to a boatload of content for one flat price.

The Deluxe Bundle includes all downloadable content from The Lost Expeditions, The Monkey Business Pack, The Warrior, and The Predator Pack. If you haven't earned any promo DLC, that means the bundle adds six player missions, four new animals to hunt, and two new single player weapons.

Read more: 'On-going television program' »

Far Cry 3's PlayStation 3 exclusive co-op downloadable content will be coming next week. The "High Tides" pack will hit the PlayStation Store on Tuesday, January 15, for the super-low price of zero dollars.

Read more: Two new epilogue chapters »

Update - Ubisoft has confirmed the content is PS3-only

Far Cry 3 is out today on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. If you want the game but haven't decided on which platform to go for, Sony is making a case for its console with an exclusive co-op downloadable content pack, due early next year.

Read more: Two chapters show the 'final moments' of co-op »

Making your own Far Cry 3 maps will be as simple as slopping down some terrain, painting on foliage, then plopping in plops. Ubisoft today released a new trailer for the open-world FPS's in-game map editor, which will let players make levels for multiplayer and single-player.

Watch: Map a map-map »

Far Cry 3's single-player has been the focus of much of the news coming out of Ubisoft as the game approaches release on December 4. But a new trailer offers a glimpse of the new multiplayer modes, and a fun little side perk of letting the winning team's best player choose the fate of the best losing player.

Watch: Firestorm and Transmission modes »

You know how it goes. You're on a vacation on a remote island, skydiving, drinking beers, and visiting strip clubs. Then all of a sudden, violent militias kidnap your friends to sell them into slavery. Obviously, the only way to save your friends and escape is to take massive amounts of mysterious island drugs that somehow turn you into a militia murder machine. Thus is the plot of Far Cry 3.

Watch: The story in action; lots of action »

Far Cry 3's drug-induced jaunt through a tropical island paradise continues to get more interesting with the introduction of a new bad guy to hate. A new trailer shows off Hoyt, a human trafficker that you will need to eliminate with the help of one of his key lieutenants.

The weasel has an affinity for fire and things that go boom. Please do not try this at home.

Watch: Learn about Hoyt's rules »

Everything you need to know about Far Cry 3 is bound up in a quote from Alice in Wonderland that appears near the beginning of the adventure: "For some minutes Alice stood without speaking, looking out in all directions over the country -- and a most curious country it was."

The Alice in question is Jason -- an American frat boy who, according to producer Dan Hay, "jumped into the rabbit hole without looking." Soon enough, Jason and his friends are kidnapped by pirates planning to make a killing on the slave trade. To survive, he has to transcend his soft upbringing and learn to make his way on a dangerous island.

Read more: 'White man gets in touch with nature ... with guns' »

The Far Cry series has always demanded a bit of muscle to run well on PC, though of course the advantage is that it's looked best on PC. Ubisoft today confirmed Far Cry 3's system requirements, so see if your computerator has the grunt to run the latest open-world-y FPS.

Read more: DRM is one-time activation »

Far Cry 3 is not going to be easy. You'll have to deal with drugs and a few distractions. And, according to a new video released by Ubisoft, you're going to have to know all your weapons and refine your tactics to live through your time on this island that is far from a tropical paradise.

Watch: Survival of the fittest »

Between the gratuitous sexy wiggles and daft antagonist, I'm a bit put-off by what we've seen of Far Cry 3 lately, especially as a big Far Cry 2 fan. Chin up, killers. A new narrated walkthrough of its co-op mode shows that even if the campaign does seem silly, the four-player fun looks swish.

Far Cry 3's co-op mode is separate from the campaign, with four other characters on a mission taking them through a different area of the island. You'll have to work together to complete objectives, and, of course, shoot men. There'll be special breaks in missions where players can compete for high scores by casually sniping at far-away enemies.

Watch: The trailer »