Jason Brody and his bunch of partymaker buddies think they've found the perfect tropical getaway, but as Far Cry 3's story trailer relates, it's an off-grid archipelago populated by freaks and psychos, pirates, mad scientists, bears, tigers and sharks -- viscious beasts, the lot of them.

Throwing Brody into a fight for survival and on a mission to rescue his captured friends, Far Cry 3 appears to blend an island playground inspired by the first Far Cry with the unsettling moral ambiguities of Far Cry 2's blood diamond backdrop.

For a combat-based action game, Far Cry 3 releases at an unusual point in this year's calendar, a good few weeks after blockbuster-in-waiting Call of Duty: Black Ops II on November 13.

European and Australian regions get hold of the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Far Cry 3 on November 29 (UK on November 30), with North American retail set for a December 4 release date the following week.