Far Cry 4 has lived for its own entirety in the shadow of its predecessor, Far Cry 3. It was such a big game at the time that almost everyone ignored Far Cry 4 for what it was and compared it to the third installment. Usually if you ask someone which game is better, they would instantly say Far Cry 3 and I know people who say this without even playing the game. That’s because Far Cry 3 has a huge classic reputation to its name. Far Cry 4 was released too soon after the third one but in my opinion Far Cry 4 still to this day is a better game in almost every category.
What I really like about Far Cry 4 is it’s open world, even though the setting is not as interesting as the last title’s. It takes place in Kyrat, an isolated country near the Himalayas which is really distant from the western civilization. Kyrat is controlled by a psychotic and very charismatic dictator called Pagan Min. Game’s scenery is very beautiful, there are lots of mountains surrounding you and the game can look stunning at its best. Even though it's a 7-year-old game.
But what I really like is what the open world offers. I can travel it with countless vehicles from dune buggies and hovercrafts to self-made helicopters. I have a grappling hook to traverse through the mountains and I also have the trusty old wingsuit from the last game. The world is filled with events, there are rarely dull moments in there. There are lots of random activities and these things called karma events, where you need to do something to get more karma level, and higher karma levels unlock different kinds of benefits. For example you need to chase down an enemy courier who drives past you suddenly and steal his documents to help the rebellion. Even though this game doesn’t have the same kind of survival feeling to it like the last title has, I really think Far Cry 4 has a better open world with more content to it. Although the setting is not as good, the open world in this game is like Far Cry 3’s open world that took some steroids. It is just an upgraded version from the last one.
Far Cry 4’s story has a really fast tempo right from the get go. Maybe a little too fast start. It has no build up like the last title where you first killed someone, the protagonist reacted to that, because after all he was just an ordinary guy. He isn’t used to killing. In this title on the other hand it seems like the protagonist has killed and seen violence for his whole life. There are no reactions or emotions for what’s happening around him. It seems like he has been killing bad guys for his entire life, which is not true because he is from the USA and he probably sees guns for the first time ever when visiting Kyrat. It is just really weird to me and it gives off this feeling that the developers were just too lazy when writing this game in the start. The game’s story overall isn’t anything out of the ordinary except the relationship between Ajay and Pagan. The ending is cool because you can again choose what you want to do and there is also a secret ending at the start of the game which is also really cool. If you wait for about ten minutes for Pagan when he says “wait for me here” and don’t go exploring the temple. He comes back and the game ends. Personally I prefer Ajay, the protagonist of Far Cry 4 over Jason, protagonist of Far Cry 3. That’s because Ajay has a clear motive and he is linked to what is happening in Kyrat, it’s his destiny to continue his fathers work, when he comes there to scatter his mom’s ashes on the mountains of Kyrat. And free Kyrat from the tyran Pagan Min who is the antagonist of this game. Jason is just a frat boy with no character development whatsoever. Also right from the start you learn that Ajay is linked to Pagan Min which too deepens the story.
Talking about Pagan Min, I think he is one of the best things about this whole game. He is insane but extremely charismatic and unpredictable. As the cherry on top of the cake Pagan is being voiced by one of the most legendary voice actors, Troy Baker. Who is familiar from the Batman-games and Joel from the Last of us. Pagan min almost gives this anti-hero feeling. He doesn’t feel like the absolute bad guy of the story, at least not for me. He has his own motives and he explains them to me so I can really understand where he is coming from. So he is really different from the last game’s antagonist, Vaas. But I really can’t decide which one is better, because they are both really unique bad guys and both deliver their characters amazingly to the audience. But again, I am not a fan of what the developers did with the character. First it was with Vaas and now it is with Pagan.The villains don’t get enough screen time that they deserve! I really hope that they nail this big problem in the future. First they write these good characters, I mean really good for Far Cry’s standards, but then they hide them in the shadows and appear a couple of times on screen. Of course Pagan always chats with Ajay through the walkie-talkie across the whole game but i really would like to also see the villain. Speaking about the characters, I really don’t like any of the side characters. Sabal and amita, who are the main side characters are both pretty unlikable and I really wasn’t sure whose side I was on during the main story. Longinus was just the generic priest who only spoke in bible references and Yogi & Reggie were typical stoners whose side missions I didn't enjoy. Only one I really liked was Rabi Ray Rana, the voice from the radio. Even though I've heard that some people find him annoying, I think he really gave some depth to the rebellion storyline. Another interesting character was De Pleur, who tried to run a double life and lied to his family, who were in the USA, about going on a work trip although in fact he was torturing people in Kyrat and was Pagan’s right hand man.
What I really think this game crushes its predecessor is all the gameplay mechanics. Far Cry 3 just doesn't stand a chance with Far Cry 4 with the gameplay mechanics. That’s of course what to expect because it is a newer title so the developers should innovate and restructure on the base of the last game. Shooting feels much more raw and badass in this title and they also upgraded the fire-effects, I mean especially on PC the fire can spread to an enormous area. There are lots and lots of more weapons compared to the last title and all of the weapons and the signature weapons feel unique and fun to use. There are also some additions like throwing knives, sticky grenades and my personal favourite, auto-crossbow. I can throw baits so that it lures animals to attack enemies and if I remember correctly the animals didn’t fight each other in the last game, because I was really amused when I saw a bear versus tiger deathmatch in the middle of the forest. There are also mortars, which are extremely cool additions to this title. What was missing from the last title was dragging dead enemies is finally added to this title. It is much more fun to do stealth when I can lift up the dead bodies and hide them somewhere from plain sight. On the other hand, stealth is much more difficult in this game. It was almost frustrating at times, because if I were sneaking on someone he would suddenly do a 180-turn on me and spot me. What I really didn’t understand was that in those kinds of situations if I killed the guy who spotted me in seconds and nobody else saw me or he didn’t shoot or shout, he just saw me and I killed him in silence. Then how everyone in the whole base suddenly knows that their friend is killed when nobody saw that murder. And all of a sudden everyone knows my location, knows it's me, Ajay, and continues to kill me. That’s why I personally enjoyed Far Cry 3’s stealth more. Also the spot time in Far Cry 4 can be ridiculous at times.
Even though being a newer game, Far Cry 4 couldn’t outstand its predecessor in performance. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks stunning compared to Far Cry 3, but it has two times more bugs and lags which can really affect the gameplay. I had issues with fps at the start of the game. I played on high/very high settings and I got steady 80-90fps but when something happened on the screen it sometimes dropped to 50 to 60 fps and that certainly affected the gameplay experience for me. I found a video online on how to fix those issues and they helped but didn’t remove them completely. Far Cry 3 had the same issues but even worse. I don’t understand how hard it is to make a game playable even with new hardware. To add to that I had lags where Ajay would go completely deaf for a moment and bugs where my field of view zoomed really close even though I hadn’t changed it from the settings and it would only go away if I got into a car or similar. In some missions the mission area is way too small, especially in those Himalaya missions. I failed the mission once because I went back for about 50 meters to get my snowmobile back. “You left the mission area”. So that’s the player freedom in Far Cry 4. The game has a really cool soundtrack which totally fits the feeling of this game. There is lots of this Indian style of music that blasts on the radio and I really liked some of the licensed songs like the “Should I stay or should I go” which plays in the beginning of the game. Game’s sound design is pretty average and there is nothing special that I noticed.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed Far Cry 4 despite all the flaws affecting my experience of the game. I love the beginning of this game because it starts strongly off with a bang like the last title. If someone asked me which game I should play now in 2021, I would definitely recommend Far Cry 4 over Far Cry 3. As a warning ubisoft launcher is still a thing in this title also which I don’t understand. I imagine it like Far Cry 4 is Far Cry 3 on steroids. There is so much more content on this newer title, the open world is full of content and there are much more missions and side missions. You can get much more enjoyment and playtime from this title if you ask me. I played this game in 27 hours and I completed all of the missions, got all the crafting upgrades, almost upgraded all my skills to max (excluding the syringe upgrades), liberated all of the outposts, castles and bell towers, got the maximum karma level and there is still so much more to do. There are also nice additions like Ghale’s homestead. If you buy the dlc’s for this game you get even more playtime. It is currently 30 euros on steam but I would wait for sales. I got this game for 8 euros and it's definitely worth that much. So wait for a sale if you haven’t played this game already because it's absolutely a game that you should play and experience.