Far Cry 4 Reviews
There are two kinds of people that will play Far Cry 4. Those that will look at it and complain about how similar it is to Far Cry 3 and then there will be those that rejoice in those similarities. That is the simplest approach to this title. There's nothing to make it not an enjoyable experience, but for those that lovedFar Cry 3, for all of its beautiful distractions, will find hours upon hours of glorious gameplay waiting for you. Plus, with a villain like Pagan Min, you just can't go wrong with the latest installment of the Far Cry franchise.
The rich setting is fun to explore, but the familiar gameplay experience doesn't stray far from Far Cry 3
While Far Cry 4 doesn't feel like a major upgrade over its predecessor – except on the graphical front – the series still manages to retain its crown as the finest open world first-person shooter. The introduction of player choice to the narrative is great, but the lack of an interesting story makes this addition feel like a step forward followed by a step back. It's fortunate, then, that the game's negatives are eclipsed by its sublime sandbox gameplay.
Far Cry 4 deserves your time. While I don't want to say run out and spend hard earned money on it, that's your choice, but it serves as one of the best games I've played on the new generation of hardware. I look forward to organizing some incredible and random co-op hilarity, and will easily dump hours upon hours in to this game. If you're a fan of shooters, good story, and overall immersive experiences, Far Cry 4 is on a Golden Path of it's own.
Far Cry 4 essentially boils down to a retread of the last game in the series with a different setting, a more polished story, and a handful of new traversal mechanics. It's a strong gameplay template to follow, but one that's much less compelling the second time around.
Ubisoft has a formula for Far Cry and they're sticking to it, as there's very little deviation from what made Far Cry 3 a success. Far Cry 4 is more of what's familiar, including an aging engine. That said, it's a fun formula for open world gameplay enthusiasts.
Would it have been great to see Ubisoft crack the conundrum of delivering open-world freedom with an equally unforgettable storyline? It would, and I challenge them to do exactly that with the inevitable Far Cry 5. But until then, this trip to Kyrat is well worth taking.
Far Cry 4 may not be a huge departure from its predecessor, but it does take the familiar open-world formula to a new height of madness.
The game's cheesy tagline captures it perfectly: every second is a story. I couldn't have said it better myself.
There was heavy skepticism arising when it comes to Ubisoft Montreal being able to top Far Cry 3. Not only was Far Cry 3 a very impressive game with excellent gameplay, it was not even two years ago when it hit store shelves. Despite that, Far Cry 4 tops Far Cry 3 in every single way imaginable. While the story is still not as silly nor as intriguing as it should be, the unpredictable nature of the gameplay continues to leave it as one of the most enjoyable experiences out there. There is a certain magic to riding an elephant, a certain magic that no other game but Far Cry 4 can achieve.
From a very cynical perspective, Far Cry 4 is "more Far Cry," but it's delivered in such a sophisticated fashion that I can't really see how that's a negative. If each iteration is this smart and silly and beautiful and ridiculous, I don't see this series wearing out its welcome with me anytime soon.
Far Cry 4's lavish environment and solid shooting mechanics are stifled by a mediocre story-world that's a hair too serious and an iterative design that's a bit too obvious.
Despite having a lot of flaws, Far Cry 4 is a lot of fun. Ubisoft has set up a massive sandbox full of stuff to do, and though getting between things can be a bit of a hassle and not all of the activities are great, the core of the game – its gunplay – is exceptional.
A great sequel, if not a true next act, for Far Cry.
Far Cry 4 will enchant you with its lush forests, scenic vistas, and hostile wildlife but it's the mission and combat variety that will keep you exploring. You're bound to have a few gameplay oddities manifest themselves as Kyrat is a complex, open-world with many moving parts, but load times are rather pleasant and the textures and lighting are impressive. It doesn't take a lot of risks with the Far Cry formula, but once we enlisted we couldn't rest until the people of Kyrat were free of tyranny, and all the icons on the map were checked off.
The story isn't always fantastic, but when it hits the mark (read: when Pagan Min shows up), it can be absolutely wonderful. In this game, there's tons to do, and you'll really enjoy doing all of it, particularly if you're riding an elephant as you go.
Far Cry 4 builds on the features of the Far Cry franchise and remains true to the quality of storytelling, delivery of mechanics and awe of the environment that we’ve come to expect. A Game of the Year contender without a doubt but the franchise will need a little freshening up with its next installment.
It's hard to imagine that Ubisoft had a hard time working on Far Cry 4; all they had to do was build upon what Far Cry 3 established, and that is exactly what they have done. Far Cry 4 is by far the most complete and well crafted game in the series thus far; it has none of its predecessors' faults and all of their strengths, and as a result this is an easy game to recommend. However, it is unfortunate that the developer didn't put a little extra effort into changing the formula up a bit. Far Cry 4 is sure to keep its players entertained for a good while, and I'm hoping that Ubisoft spends a little more time to expand on the series more dramatically in order to prevent it from going stale.
Whether Far Cry 4 is worth it to you depends on whether you've played Far Cry 3 and are keen for more; or failing that, whether the changed-up setting and handful of new gameplay mechanics make it worth another suckle from that Far Cry teat.
UbiSoft Montreal's latest first-person open world shooter is crudely violent and frequently illogical, but it is beauty in motion when it's not killing things that move.