Concealed in the monstrous Himalayas lies a country ingrained in tradition and brutality. You become Ajay Ghale, returning to the country of his birth, the this forests and formidable snow capped summits of Kyrat, to fulfill your mother’s dying wish of spreading her ashes. This bitter and unpredictable country offers visitors opportunity and danger.
You quickly find yourself ensnared in a rebellion to overthrow the thorny regime of Pagan Min, a statesman known as much for his sense of style and charisma as for his cruelty and naked brutality. Navigating the treacherous landscape, you find your fate increasingly linked to the choices you make because in Kyrat, and every second is a story. In Far Cry 4, you’ll conquer fortress outposts from the back of a 6-ton elephant and hit the skies as you rain down explosives from your moving perch in the gyrocopter.
The vertical landscape of the Himalayas isn’t just a gorgeous backdrop, but a playground that encourages the player to fight, hunt and explore, grappling cliffs or launching into the air, plummeting to the valley underneath your feet in a controlled free fall with your wing suit. You’ll carry with you a unique arsenal of weaponry that lets you play as you will, whether it’s sniping, sneaking or all-out assault. When all else fails, animals can be your biggest allies or your greatest peril.
An absurdly entertaining open world playground that’s at its best when it breaks away from script. Shame about those tailing missions.
Quotation forthcoming.
A worthy purchase certainly, but only if you’re prepared to accept Far Cry 3.5 rather than Far Cry 4.
It also runs great on PC, where the higher potential resolution and better image quality really stands out. That's the version to play, if you have a PC that's capable of running it properly.
It's Far Cry 3 sporting a likable psychotic antagonist and a less douchy protagonist. Baby steps by Ubisoft, but steps none-the-less. [Jan 2015, p.60]
It takes what the last game did, and makes it better, but at the same time it's because of this that it doesn't break new ground.
For all its visual appeal, however, Far Cry 4 remains a shallow experience. It has loads of things in it, but having a lot of things is not the same thing as having depth. With a vapid story, activities that rely more on regurgitation than anything else, and a campaign that is exciting only for as long as you can ignore how insincere it all is, this is a game that affects a meaningful experience, rather than manage to be one.
April 10, 2017
Alex Hutchinson (Far Cry 4 & AC 3 creative director) leaves Ubisoft to form Typhoon Studios.
