Looking at Far Cry 4 on the surface will, at first glance, give you the impression that it is very much like Far Cry 3, and you'd be right. Principally, 4, operates much in the same way that 3 does, but it's what the game does with these 3's mechanics and ideas that make it a truly enjoyable game to play.
Playing Far Cry 4 will see you take on the role of Ajay Ghale, a native of the Himalayan nation of Kyrat, who fled his native country years ago, only to return now to spread his mothers ashes after her death. The game begins with with an opening cinematic of you attempting to smuggle your way in to the country, only to be stopped by the games poster boy villain, Pagan Min, who, to your surprise, both expected your arrival and seems to know you. Pagan Min, much like Far Cry 3's Vaas, is a interesting and great character. He's witty and charming, elements that hide his darker qualities of absolute cruelty and rage. Unfortunately, these engaging interactions do not last, as Pagan soon disappears from the story almost entirely, returning only for a few brief moments throughout and in at the ending, leaving you to deal with the games more shallow and boring characters. These characters and their writing, feel like more of an afterthought to the entire game, serving only to push the games main quests forward, which would be fine, if the game didn't put such a large amount of forced interactions with these characters in to the game. Rather than just having them briefly inform you of your duties and leaving you to cause chaos in the world, the story attempts to build an emotional connection to these characters on a foundation that is weak at best. One of the more positive story points is the choice system, allowing you to favor certain leaders and kill or spare some enemies. While these choices are interesting, they are ultimately overshadowed by the poor writing of the story, as it is hard to make choices regarding characters that you barely connect with or possibly even care about.
While the story may be a bit shoddy, the gameplay in no way follows this trend. Far Cry 4's gameplay, while not bringing much in the way of major innovations like its predecessor, is still an extremely fun experience that builds and learns from the mistakes of the last game. The world of Far Cry 4 seems to take itself a lot less seriously than that of 3. While this in no way means the the game is unrealistic or over the top, it makes the gameplay much more engaging and fun. New perks allow for you to jump from moving cars to hijack enemy vehicles, and animals such as eagles can be found flying down upon you or your enemies and clawing at you. You can throw bait to attract wild animals, or you can jump on a mortar and rain explosive death upon your foes. These are just a few of the things one could do, as there are endless opportunities to have fun in Far Cry 4. The gameplay itself provides for the same exciting variety of its predecessor as well. Entire levels can be finished using stealth techniques, taking enemies down from the shadows and dragging bodies in to the brush, or you can go in loud, riding in to the area with grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to blow your foes away. The wide array of weapons, both new and old from the previous game, ensure that there is a tool to fit any play style, and the format of the missions very rarely forces you to choose one technique the other, as well as an easy to use perk system that allows you to upgrade your character in any way you wish to suit your needs.
But of course, the thing that makes Far Cry Far Cry is the environment, and 4 is no different. Kyrat is an extremely diverse and beautiful world to explore, full of colorful plants and dangerous and beautiful wildlife. Where Far Cry 3 had what some might call a poor location system, with very few points of interest being marked on the map, Far Cry 4 wastes no space, and by capturing bell towers, your map will soon become full of blips marking caves to explore and outposts to take control of. The new verticality of the Himalayas allows for new types of equipment to be used to navigate. The wingsuit is available for purchase much earlier in the game, and works with the addition of a new tool, the grappling hook. The grappling hook is an innovative new addition to the Far Cry arsenal, allowing you to scale mountains and swing across gaps with ease. Though the hook can only be applied in pre set locations marked with orange rope, these locations are by no means rare, and it is fairly easy to find a location to grab attach and climb with your rope. And of course, the wildlife plays an important role as well. The animals of Kyrat are extremely unique and as deadly as they are beautiful. The crafting system of the last game makes a welcomed reappearance in this game, and gives you all the more reason to track down and find all of the beautiful wildlife Kyrat has to offer.
Where I found that Far Cry 4 truly shined was in its side activities. Once I had finished the main quests i looked at my map and was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of activities I saw. Far Cry 4 has a wide variety of missions, from killing anted soldiers, killing rogue animals, and participating in timed races, so much so that there is something for almost anybody in the game. Each mission feels unique, and almost all have a quest giver or minor story behind them, providing every mission with its own identity and feel, and with unique reward that always make you feel like your efforts were well spent. Another welcome feature to the Far Cry world is the inclusion of Karma events. These are open world events that will appear in any location on the map, and can be anything assassinating a member of the military, to saving a hostage from and armed guard. but of course, the main open world activity is still the outposts. These takeovers have been largely unchanged from the last game, without much need for it either, as these open ended activities are still just as interesting as ever, and provide the same opportunities to use your stealth or combat skills to conquer these locations. There is also a new arena mode, where you can choose to complete certain challenges or simply see how long you can survive while facing endless waves of enemies. These many different activities through the world ensure that Far Cry is an extremely enjoyable experience, one that will frequently distract you from your current objective with promises of adventure in every corner of the world.
As a person who didn't enjoy Far Cry 3's multiplayer, I didn't have very high expectations for the multiplayer this time around. I soon found that I was wrong to underestimate the series's online potential, as I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Far Cry 4 multiplayer. The game pits two very different teams against each other in varying game modes. One team has a focus on magical abilities like teleportation and summoning animals, but is limited in fire power, being only equipped with a simple bow. the other possess no such magical abilities, but have a full range of modern weapons and vehicles to overpower the opposition with. While I generally am very cautious when it comes to asymmetric gameplay, as I find there are many ways to go wrong with the distribution of power and abilities, yet, Far Cry seems to have done a rather good job with it. It may still not be completely flawless, and it may still be overlooked by some, but while it's hardly the most innovative or exciting feature ever, Far cry 4's multiplayer does provide new innovations that could be used in future games in the series to make a more enjoyable and engaging online experience. The true gem of Far Cry 4's online gameplay is its co op. playing with a friend, while it may not yield any rewards in the way of physical content, it is an extremely fun and engaging experience. taking outposts and hunting wildlife take on a completely new role with friends, and exploring the environment with a wing suit or in one of the new gyrocopters all feel extremely rewarding. The world of Kyrat is a beautiful one, one that can not only be enjoyed alone, but with others as well.
While Far Cry 4 may be an elaborate copy of the previous game in the series, the many changes to its world and gameplay make it an engaging and exciting experience, bogged only by its story. If it's your first time with the series or you are a returning fan, Far Cry 4 is an engaging experience that no open world fan can pass on.