Episodes
Wednesday Apr 08, 2015
TNIAB Reviews - Far Cry 4
Wednesday Apr 08, 2015
Wednesday Apr 08, 2015
Author: Anthony Fallucco
Twitter: @Killroycantkill
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oEgHpVkl2s]
The Far Cry series has changed dramatically over the years. The original was pretty much cult PC hit, number 2 had really interesting gameplay features like degrading weapons, weapon jamming, and fire spreading mechanics. Far Cry 3 went for a more mainstream approach by focusing on the single player story and introduced us to the psychopath, Vaas that everyone loves to hate. While Far Cry 4 on the other hand is the first game to introduce nothing really new or noteworthy to a sequel in the franchise. It’s the safest play the Ubisoft could have made, and it is made more disappointing than usual because of the stagnant state of videogames at this point in time.
The game takes place in Kyrat, which is pretty much a fictional take on Nepal. You take the role of new comer Ajay Ghale; a young man who wants to simply visit the country to spread his recently deceased mother’s ashes in the place of her birth. But obviously, things can’t go as planned. Shortly into the story, you meet the games antagonist, Pagan Min. A loveable, but oh so evil dictator of the country who totally doesn’t realize that stabbing someone to death with a fountain pen is a messed up thing to do. Ajay has to team up with a rebel faction called the Golden Path in order to take down Pagan Min and change the country of Kyrat forever. The story sounds pretty interesting on paper but I felt it hit pretty much all the same notes at Far Cry 3’s story. Young man who knows nothing of the region must gather all the courage to mold a country or future in a way he seems fit and take down the high functioning sociopath who’s tormenting him throughout the journey. It was really hard to get those similarities out of my head, but if you haven’t played the previous entry in the series, or just force yourself to forget everything that happened last time the story is very enjoyable.
There are points within the story where you have to make choices about which one of the two leaders in the Golden Path will have control until you hit your next story mission roadblock. And in the beginning these don’t seem like that big of a deal but depending on your choice it can really change up what’s happening in the back fourth of the game. Story missions are pretty straight forwards but the side missions are where a lot of the fun with Far Cry 4 happen. Side missions like hunting, races, survival modes, taking down outposts, a battle arena where you fight through waves of enemies both human and animal and even traversing Shangri-la and fighting off demons.
All of these great side missions are complimented by a very refined gameplay system that allows you to choose if strapping heavy machine guns and rocket launchers to you side is your style, or maybe take the stealth approach and silently dispatch your foes with a bow and arrow or silenced weapons. It controls in a refined way that only a big developer like Ubisoft can do. You’ll be running on foot, flying through the air with hang-glides or using your wingsuit, and even driving feel great with cars having appropriate weight to them. It makes Far Cry 4 so enjoyable to play that it makes me forget that I feel like a monster having to kill 5 rhinos to make a single wallet.
Far Cry 4 also has some multiplayer modes in the form of co-op and 5 versus 5 online matches. The co-op is a very fun experience especially when playing with friends. It changes up the dynamics of certain side missions and the way you take over outposts. While the competitive portion of the multiplayer is something that didn’t need to be included in the game. The maps are quarantined areas of the open world map and, just overall, it isn’t that fun to play or what I come to the Far Cry series for.
While Far Cry 4 is a very fun game, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth for how similar it is too Far Cry 3 in a lot of respects. The story hits most of the same points that Far Cry 3 did, to the point of it almost feeling like some sort of alternate reality. And that what bums me out, it just feels like a better version of something I’ve already experienced. Rather than in the previous game where every sequel felt new and exciting. It leaves me with a split conclusion which I don’t like to have with reviews. If you’ve never played Far Cry 3, picking this game up will be a great experience for you. But if you’ve already played it, like I have, it’s not a game you need to play.
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