The Far Cry series has been in a state of constant change ever since its first entry in 2004. Beginning as a PC exclusive semi-linear FPS tech demo made by Crytek, the guys behind Crysis. Then slowly being downgraded for two or three iterations when it was ported to consoles before getting a proper sequel in the form of the super disappointing Far Cry 2. Its not until the games 3rd entry in 2012 that Things started to work out for the series, achieving critical acclaim and introducing us to one of gamings greatest villains, Vaas Montenegro. One hilarious 80's action flick spoof spin off later and here we are Far Cry 4. One thing that kept me awake at night after the announcement of Far Cry 4 was that it had only been two years since Far Cry 3 so surely it wouldn't have had time to become its own game, to separate itself from its predecessor and when videos of the gameplay started rolling in alongside the demo I played at EGX 2014, my fears were confirmed, it was just a next gen Far Cry 3! But alas this was Ubisoft's devious intention. Why make Far Cry 4 stand apart from its predecessor, it will automatically be seen as inferior, instead Far Cry 4 makes Far Cry 3 look like its demo, its sneak peak at what was to come. A mere appetiser for what awaited us in the Himalayas, in the war torn country of Kyrat.
Following the death of his mother Ishwali, Ajay Ghale travels to Kyrat in order to fulfil her final wishes and place her ashes at Lakshmana. However when Ajay arrives in the country torn apart by a civil war he is greeted by the country's king, Pagan Min, who wishes to help Ajay spread his mothers ashes as he knew her before she left Kyrat. After being 'rescued' by a group known as the Golden Path, Ajay is recruited into the civil war to fight against Pagan Min and free Kyrat from his rule, much like his father tried to do many years before.
The Far Cry games have always focussed on a central pressing issue different from the previous games. The original had genetic experimentation, 2 had civil war, 3 had human trafficking, and 4 has...civil war? Yes to a degree, but the focus is not on the war itself but what the war is fought with, and in the case of Far Cry 4 that is propaganda. The driving force of the story is both sides trying to appeal to the population of Kyrat to make them believe that they are the good guys, by spreading propaganda through posters, radio, and television. Its an interesting way to look at war and certainly a pretty original way in terms of videogames and really helps to push home some of the moral dilemmas you will find yourself in over the course of the 12-15 hour campaign. During that time you'll meet some eccentric new characters, some old faces from Far Cry 3 (the first time a Far Cry game has been canon to another, though its not necessary to have played FC3 beforehand) and of course be given complete freedom over the absolute chaos that is Far Cry's gameplay.
Following the death of his mother Ishwali, Ajay Ghale travels to Kyrat in order to fulfil her final wishes and place her ashes at Lakshmana. However when Ajay arrives in the country torn apart by a civil war he is greeted by the country's king, Pagan Min, who wishes to help Ajay spread his mothers ashes as he knew her before she left Kyrat. After being 'rescued' by a group known as the Golden Path, Ajay is recruited into the civil war to fight against Pagan Min and free Kyrat from his rule, much like his father tried to do many years before.
The Far Cry games have always focussed on a central pressing issue different from the previous games. The original had genetic experimentation, 2 had civil war, 3 had human trafficking, and 4 has...civil war? Yes to a degree, but the focus is not on the war itself but what the war is fought with, and in the case of Far Cry 4 that is propaganda. The driving force of the story is both sides trying to appeal to the population of Kyrat to make them believe that they are the good guys, by spreading propaganda through posters, radio, and television. Its an interesting way to look at war and certainly a pretty original way in terms of videogames and really helps to push home some of the moral dilemmas you will find yourself in over the course of the 12-15 hour campaign. During that time you'll meet some eccentric new characters, some old faces from Far Cry 3 (the first time a Far Cry game has been canon to another, though its not necessary to have played FC3 beforehand) and of course be given complete freedom over the absolute chaos that is Far Cry's gameplay.
On the surface Far Cry 4 is everything Far Cry 3 was, which in retrospect is not a bad thing at all. Fans of 3 will feel right at home with 4 as almost no major changes to the core gameplay have been made, however a lot of major new additions have been put in that make the game an unbelievable amount bigger than FC3. For starters the map is bigger, a simple and expected upgrade for a sequel, but the thing is it's not just bigger in the area it covers, but also in the height. Being set in a mountainous region, a large proportion of the map is covered by mountains and uneven terrain, bringing forth some of the new additions. First up is grappling, Ajay is equipped with a grappling hook and some rope allowing him to traverse cliff faces and buildings that have grapple points on them. This is an invaluable tool that not only cuts the outrageous amount of time you'll be search for routes up a mountain to reach an objective (I have many fond memories of those in Far Cry 3) but also adds great new platforming abilities to the game, allowing bell towers (FC4's equivalent to radio towers) to be much more varied and complex this time round, it also gives you plenty more strategic options when taking part in missions or liberating outposts. The second new addition to do with map height is the addition of a flyable gyrocopter, this vehicle allows you to soar through the skies of Kyrat to reach objectives quickly and with ease...assuming you can find one to use.
Hunting was a fan favourite from FC3, allowing you to upgrade gear by killing the indigenous wildlife (because if humans are good at anything its killing animals and destroying their habitats...am I right?). Far Cry 4 makes a welcome return to that mechanic and expands on it by giving us much more and varied wildlife to hunt, as well as upgraded animal A.I to make Kyrat a living world. Animals are much more prominent in the world than they were in FC3 and have their own behaviour patterns, for example you wont now get attacked by a leopard out of nowhere; instead the leopard will stand its ground against you to contest its territory before attacking you. It will also hide amongst the plantlife to pounce at prey, rather than just seeing it and sprinting straight to it. It helps the game to feel much more lifelike in its representation of wild animals. That being said sort them damn eagles out Ubisoft! Its like the game decides you're doing too well every now and again so it automatically wants to deduct a life bar away from you for no good reason and with very little chance to fight back. Also included is a Karma level system that rewards players with bonus XP and store discounts by helping the Golden Path soldiers outside of missions, being a good hunter and collecting certain collectibles.
Speaking of which there are a lot more collectibles this time round, as if FC3 didn't have enough as it was we now have even more of them. With a total of six different types of collectible. One of which, the journal entries of Mohan Ghale, provide back story to Ajay's father. Another sees the return of the Lost Letters side story, following the final moments of deceased adventurers. Alongside this however you have the propaganda posters which whilst reinforcing the whole point of the story, actually do nothing as a collectible item. Then put all 150 of them against the 40 Mani prayer wheels you must spin and the 55 masks of the devil 'Yalung' makes the game's total collectible count hit 285. Luckily you can still buy maps to reveal their locations, but this makes Far Cry 3's 180 collectibles look meagre in comparison. Add this to the 66 activities (Across 12 different types) you can do, 61 weapons to get, 39 items to craft, 48 skills to unlock, 34 main missions, 13 side missions, 24 outposts, 17 bell towers, 4 fortresses, and 8 karma levels; you have one hell of a game on your hands here. Where most titles have the problem of often running thin on content, Far Cry 4 has the problem of bursting at the seams with it. Aside from these new additions, you're playing nearly the exact same game you were playing in Far Cry 3, explore a massive island, shoot things and cause general mayhem.
Hunting was a fan favourite from FC3, allowing you to upgrade gear by killing the indigenous wildlife (because if humans are good at anything its killing animals and destroying their habitats...am I right?). Far Cry 4 makes a welcome return to that mechanic and expands on it by giving us much more and varied wildlife to hunt, as well as upgraded animal A.I to make Kyrat a living world. Animals are much more prominent in the world than they were in FC3 and have their own behaviour patterns, for example you wont now get attacked by a leopard out of nowhere; instead the leopard will stand its ground against you to contest its territory before attacking you. It will also hide amongst the plantlife to pounce at prey, rather than just seeing it and sprinting straight to it. It helps the game to feel much more lifelike in its representation of wild animals. That being said sort them damn eagles out Ubisoft! Its like the game decides you're doing too well every now and again so it automatically wants to deduct a life bar away from you for no good reason and with very little chance to fight back. Also included is a Karma level system that rewards players with bonus XP and store discounts by helping the Golden Path soldiers outside of missions, being a good hunter and collecting certain collectibles.
Speaking of which there are a lot more collectibles this time round, as if FC3 didn't have enough as it was we now have even more of them. With a total of six different types of collectible. One of which, the journal entries of Mohan Ghale, provide back story to Ajay's father. Another sees the return of the Lost Letters side story, following the final moments of deceased adventurers. Alongside this however you have the propaganda posters which whilst reinforcing the whole point of the story, actually do nothing as a collectible item. Then put all 150 of them against the 40 Mani prayer wheels you must spin and the 55 masks of the devil 'Yalung' makes the game's total collectible count hit 285. Luckily you can still buy maps to reveal their locations, but this makes Far Cry 3's 180 collectibles look meagre in comparison. Add this to the 66 activities (Across 12 different types) you can do, 61 weapons to get, 39 items to craft, 48 skills to unlock, 34 main missions, 13 side missions, 24 outposts, 17 bell towers, 4 fortresses, and 8 karma levels; you have one hell of a game on your hands here. Where most titles have the problem of often running thin on content, Far Cry 4 has the problem of bursting at the seams with it. Aside from these new additions, you're playing nearly the exact same game you were playing in Far Cry 3, explore a massive island, shoot things and cause general mayhem.
Far Cry 4 is a good looking game, much like Far Cry 3 was. However there is not that much of a difference between the two, both run on the same engine and use many of the same assets. This may be due to FC4 being cross generation, but also due to the significantly shorter development time that FC4 has had compared to other FC games. The current gen versions of the game are graphically superior to the last gen versions as expected, with no version suffering from major frame rate issues. The PS4 version does have a higher resolution than the Xbox One, running at native 1080p on PS4 compared to 1440x1080 on Xbox One, all console versions run at 30FPS. There is significant pop-in, as with most open world games, but FC4 brings it to our attention more thanks to the ability to fly around. Though this isn't a huge deal as it only really happens in the games most open areas, it is still a minor technical problem. The games sound is good, with a host of believable voice talent and the ever amazing Troy Baker as Pagan Min and some great effects behind the weapons, vehicles and animals. The soundtrack is also good, though not necessarily one I would listen to outside of the game. Employing licensed tracks in the games larger scale moments to make them feel even more epic is effective, though the choice of tracks themselves are a little odd.
As a whole product Far Cry 4 is extremely impressive with only a few minor niggles. For any newcomer to the series, Far Cry 4 is one of the shining examples of what an open world game should be, what it should include, how it should present itself and how to improve upon its predecessor. However for returning fans, you will often get the feeling of deja-vu, of having been here and done it all before. But you have to ask the question of did we really want anything to change?
As a whole product Far Cry 4 is extremely impressive with only a few minor niggles. For any newcomer to the series, Far Cry 4 is one of the shining examples of what an open world game should be, what it should include, how it should present itself and how to improve upon its predecessor. However for returning fans, you will often get the feeling of deja-vu, of having been here and done it all before. But you have to ask the question of did we really want anything to change?
STORY: 7/10
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
PRESENTATION: 9/10
LIFESPAN: 8/10
SCORE: 8/10
With Far Cry 3 being as perfect as it was, surely the same but with more is not such a bad thing after all in this case. I guess it just depends on how much you liked Far Cry 3 that will ultimately dictate whether you like Far Cry 4.