Ubisoft sure has been having one hell of a time lately. With Assassin's Creed: Unity being unplayable at launch, Assassin's Creed: Rogue feeling like something that was left behind to satisfy previous console generation owners, and The Crew not really able to identify what it is trying to be, they needed a sure fire hit to bring the masses back into its corner. Is Far Cry 4 the answer to their woes?
...Mostly.
In Far Cry 4, you play as Ajay Gahle. A man headed to the mysterious region of Kyrat to fulfill his mother's last wish. Shortly after his arrival however, his bus is attacked by government Zulu forces. Ajay and his guide (who is tortured, of course) are taken prisoner by all around psychopath Pagan Min. Min reveals that he knew Ajay's mother and they were once romantically involved. Ajay eventually escapes his confines with a rebel faction called The Golden Path and agrees to assist them in their fight against Pagan Min and his forces.
The story is compelling and exciting, yet I never felt too attached to Ajay or the other characters like I did those in Far Cry 3. There was no real sense of loss or pain or really any caring. It was mostly just moment after moment and fight after fight. That's not a bad thing, I was just surprised that I didn't find myself caring more for Ajay and his situation. Pagan Min is a great character and is well acted. I still found myself longing for more scenes like we had in Far Cry 3 with Vaas, however. The use of different endings based on choice is a nice touch, but the game relies on one crucial choice near end game instead of making choices throughout the game that affect the outcome which is a shame because Ubisoft really had a chance to implement something like TellTale would have done with this game and didn't.
As Ajay's "controller", you experience the world of Kyrat as he would and I noticed that the story shifted its focus subtley from being a story about Ajay himself to a story about the world of Kyrat. A world that is gorgeous and beautiful to look at but one that is also rife with inner turmoil. That was a pretty deep and bold move on Ubisoft's part and it pays off well for the most part. A few loose ends and unfinished side quests kept me frustrated but that comes with any open world game like this. The animal control systems (riding on the back of an elephant to engage in combat) is insanely fun and brings new strategy and thinking to how one would approach a situation. The new vehicles and new weapons are all insanely fun to use as well, and I really liked the customization options given to you which were somewhat updated from Far Cry 3.
That being said, Far Cry 4 really feels like Far Cry 3.5. With the same style of gameplay being used, the same kind of story, a mysterious bad guy who has some significance to you, and the same method of unlocking map content and guns, skinning animals to craft items, picking up flowers/herbs to craft syringes it just feels like more of the same. Even the side missions and exploration stuff all feels plucked directly from Far Cry 3. Again, this isn't a total deal breaker, but after a two year wait for Far Cry 4, you'd think Ubisoft would have pushed the envelope a little more rather than stick to the “If It Ain't Broke...” policy of game series sequels. Playing it safe is not always the best play to make.
Running on max PC settings the game is absolutely gorgeous. Standing on massive cliffs overlooking forests, rivers, waterfalls, and everything Kyrat has to offer is as satisfying as it has ever been in a Far Cry game. Ubisoft obviously learned from some of the issues in Far Cry 3 and addressed many of them in the gameplay mechanics of 4. I was really pleased and honestly surprised to see this as most AAA studios seem to be having a hard time taking constructive criticism lately. I did notice a few screen tearing issues during fast paced, scripted action sequences but after reading some user experiences online, this was the least of some issues. Again, the PC port had crippling bugs and Uplay issues that plagued some users at launch. While the issues were not as severe as Assassin's Creed: Unity, they were still annoying enough to get the Ubisoft forums reeling for the second time in as many weeks.
The co-op play is where they really missed the mark. I was hoping for the chance to play through the story missions (maybe not in the actual campaign itself, but in a seperate mode) with a friend or group of friends that would give you more challenge with harder/more enemies and different rewards for successfully completing certain co-op challenges. What we got was open world exploration with missions thrown in. Which is fun, but not something that strives to keep me playing the game past beating the single player campaign. Gone are the co-op missions from Far Cry 3 where it tells a seperate story in the same world with new content released alongside single player DLC. That's a shame because those co-op missions kept my friends and I going back to Far Cry 3 almost a year after release to see what was new in the world of co-op play and it allowed more than just two of us to take on the vast world before us. Why there is no four player co-op is a huge mystery and one that I am hoping Ubisoft will address in the future with a patch or DLC.