Reviews// Far Cry 4

Neither choice is an outright good or bad one. Whatever you choose you’ll always feel as though you’ve made the wrong decision, much like in TellTale’s The Walking Dead. However, here the choices lack the weight thanks to these two particular characters being the weakest in the game.

That’s a great shame, since Far Cry 4 is full of wonderful characters. From Pagan Min, the psychotic lead antagonist to an arms-dealing priest and a brainless American who doesn’t even know what side he’s on, the game is full of memorable personalities who are wonderfully voice-acted and although usually over-played, never cross the line of irritation.

The story is decent. It’s certainly better than the undirected mess that Far Cry 3 was, but I was more interested in individuals than the plot itself, which sometimes feels draped around the open world activities rather than the focus of the game.

As you progress, so does Ajay. The perk system works really well to turn him from a confused and quibbling mess into a warrior. By the end you’ll feel like a god. Far Cry 4 never gets easy, the default difficulty setting remains challenging throughout. But when you’ve upgraded enough you can do things that look like they belong in a big budget action film as you quickly dispose of your enemies before they even realise there’s a threat.

You’ll grow with Ajay in the same way you grew with Jason in Far Cry 3, but this time you control someone that you don’t hate on every level.

It must be said though, the familiarities you feel with this don’t just end with progression. In fact Far Cry 4 can sometimes feel like a disc of deja vu. You’ll be doing the same things as you did last time with just a few extras chucked in. That’ll be an issue for those who didn’t like Far Cry 3 - there’s nothing here to drag you back on board.

I, on the other hand, am more than happy to re-tread old ground. Outposts still feel fresh with a number of ways to tackle them, and driving through forest at top speed to deliver a package is as thrilling as ever.

The new additions may be few and far between but they all add something. There are some new vehicles. Most notable is The Buzzer - a small single-passenger helicopter that offers a fast way to travel, as well as some of the game's best views. It also has new game activities like the excellent Gladiator mini-game, a single-player horde mode featuring humans and animals all taking place in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty locals.

Unfortunately, though, with all the genius that comes from cloning Far Cry 3, the warts still remain. I’ve said this time and time again but in an open-world game I never want to be told that I’m leaving a mission area. It only happens in story missions, but if I want to approach a base from a different angle I should be allowed to do that.

Sometimes you’ll even fail a mission for walking off of a specific path that the game wants you to walk down, then it’s back to the last checkpoint and you’re forced to repeat what you’ve already done. When those checkpoints land before an un-skipable cutscene... well, it’s face-palm time.

There’s also the unavoidable problem of wildlife disrupting a mission. Your focus on the last enemy being interrupted by a bear ripping your back apart is annoying, but if that’s countered by a tense stand off ending with a rhino butting a bad guy into the air, then it’s just something I have to put up with.

Overall, though, Far Cry 4 brings all its elements together to make an excellent action game. Although everything is a little familiar, it has enough in it to justify every one of your hard-earned pound coins. It’s engaging, fun and will show off what your new hardware is capable of.

If you like shooters then you’ll find it hard not to fall in love with this.

Pros:

+ Some of the best open world gaming to date
+ One of the best looking games to date
+ The best Elephants in gaming to date

Cons:

- Not much of an update since the last game in terms of gameplay
- DON’T TELL ME I’M LEAVING A MISSION AREA

SPOnG Score: 9/10