Far Cry 3 was miles better than the first two. In fact it was because of the success of 3 that every later game was just a copy of it, and the franchise stagnated.
Far Cry 3 and subsequent games were pop fun with little replayability. FC2 was a game I've lived in, with a printout of the map, marked up for patrols, so I could navigate safely from A to B for each mission.
Better? I'd rather say less challenging, more accessible, but also far less rewarding. More successful, no doubt. But the only sequel I spent a lot of time in was Blood Dragon.
