Following in the footsteps of Ubisoft’s celebrated 2012 open world shooter Far Cry 3 was no easy task for the Far Cry 4 development team, especially since many fans were hoping that the next entry in the series would smooth off the rough edges and flaws that held Far Cry 3 back and deliver the best entry in the series so far.
This, in fact, was exactly what narrative director Mark Thompson promised in interviews about the game: a subversion of Far Cry 3’s story in which the foreigner arriving in the game’s main setting is a villain, not a hero, and the protagonist is a native tasked with taking his country back. Thus, players are cast in the role of Ajay Ghale, a native of the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat, who becomes embroiled in a civil war after returning to scatter his mother’s ashes.
The first reviews for Far Cry 4 are now in, with some exceptions. PC Gamer explained that Ubisoft was unwilling to send a PC review code, making it impossible for the site to review the game on its platform of choice. Polygon, meanwhile, received a non-functioning copy of the game on PS4. Both sites will presumably have reviews up sooner or later, but for now here’s the roundup of published reviews. For us, only dev kit builds were available and we’re awaiting a retail launch copy.
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Destructoid - Chris Carter:
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Joystiq - Ludwig Keitzmann:
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Games Radar - Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Eurogamer - Aoife Wilson:
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IGN - Mitch Dyer:
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CVG - John Robertson:
When it comes to the characters, reviewers are pretty much in agreement that Ajay is a blank slate and Pagan Min is disappointing, especially in light of how much the character has been hyped in marketing. Similarly, Min’s lieutenants (the mini-bosses) aren’t in the game enough to ever get interesting. Overall the story and characters are considered one of the weakest aspects of Far Cry 4, though The Golden Path’s argumentative leaders Sabal and Amita, and the moral choices offered by them to the player, were generally praised.
The strengths include the vast, atmospheric open world of Kyrat and the often chaotic blend of gameplay elements that lead to plenty of unique circumstances in combat. The combination of wildlife, human enemies and the many different weapons and approaches offered mean that things frequently take a turn for the insane.
Far Cry 4, like the previous game, has a multiplayer mode and the general consensus is that it doesn’t add much and some reviews are withholding a score until the actual servers and full functionality are live. Players who have a burning desire for PvP may want to check it out, but it sounds like there’ll be plenty to do in both single player campaign and co-op without ever needing to delve into the unimaginative competitive multiplayer. Luckily it doesn’t sound like Far Cry 4 has been plagued with as many bugs as Ubisoft’s other big release this week, Assassin’s Creed Unity, so this could be a title worth snapping up right away.
Far Cry 4 releases November 18, 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
