Back when the third game was released it really surprised a lot of people, me included. For you see, even though I loved the second game it was really rough around the edges and had a lot to be desired. However, with the way FC3 was not only built but in fact polished, I found myself absolutely hooked with the addictive gameplay that lay under the cover of a beautiful, but dangerous world. Building up more on that, we saw the release of Far Cry 4 this year that promised bigger, better, more explosive gameplay, all set in a beautiful new location Kyrat, which is inspired by the geography of Nepal, including the Himalayas. Like the setting in the third game, the place looks breathtakingly beautiful, but is just as dangerous.
In Far Cry 4, you take on the role of Ajay Ghale, a native who had fled with his mother to America when he was just an infant. A few decades later, after her death, his mother pleads him to fulfil her dying wish, “Bring my ashes to Lakshmana in Kyrat.” However, little does he know, the darkness of his family’s past will catch up with him and he will have to go through alarming situations in order to fulfil his mother’s dying wish. Not only does he have to face-off against the tyrant Pagan Min, but also find out what Lakshmana exactly is.
To be honest, I was excited as heck the moment I first saw the game’s intro. No, it wasn’t because of how brutal it was, or even how beautiful the setting was, but in fact it was due to the authentic Hindi that was spoken in it. You see, when a location inspired by the Nepalese culture was announced, I was really interested to know how the locals would sound, as to whether they would speak Nepalese, Hindi or just plain English. Turns out it is a mixture of Nepalese, Hindi and English.
However, what stands out most isn’t that they are using those languages, but in fact how authentically they have been used. From the accents to the slangs, everything is as you’d expect. I especially like how you hear the locals humming their tunes whenever they are working. Speaking of tunes, the songs played on the radio, even though made for the game, sound like something you’d hear from actual Bollywood movies due to the special attention given to the rhythm and vocal method. It is so good, that I genuinely want to know who sang, recorded and performed these pieces of music.
Now to talk about the story, it is actually very well told. Sure it isn’t as spicy as a Bollywood movie, which a lot of tropes seem inspired by (like the scattering ashes plot line), but it has its moments that keep you interested for more. Especially strong is the voice acting and dialogue writing which is delivered with force by the talented actors. The line that stood out to me was the repercussions speech by Sabal in the beginning if you had chosen Amita’s mission earlier. Overall I didn’t find anything extremely bad with the storyline and it was generally interesting.
To talk about the gameplay, I can write a novel with how much you can see and do in this game, but I am just going to list out some of the best. One of the new additions I have to talk about is the automated driving. There are two ways this works. Basically in order to make the long journeys easier for you, you can activate automated drive which automatically drives you to your waypoint, it also automatically turns on when you are aiming with your gun while driving, this way you can focus on shooting your enemies. You can of course turn this off at the options menu if you want to always be in full control. Also yes, the shooting while driving mechanic is a new and much welcomed edition to the game. The shooting for the most part feels solid and very close to FC3 with added stealth options that actually work. What is more impressive is the addition of brand new weapons, especially the mortar that is extremely fun to use!
Even getting around has changed this time as the plain is not as flat like FC3, but in fact quite varied in terms of the altitude level, so you have to usually navigate the terrain in various ways. The most interesting ways are by wingsuit or grappling hook. Unlike FC3 where you got the wingsuit halfway through the game, this time you can buy it right at the very beginning and it is not that expensive and will help you perform a variety of wicked moves.
Speaking of moves, levelling up is back yet again, and you can now unlock variety of new moves. Some which are new, and some that are reminiscent of earlier games in the series. This time in order to encourage you to try out the game’s various side activities; some skills require you to meet specific challenges in order to get a chance at unlocking them. I would really recommend that you meet all the pre-requisites as some of the skills can really level the playing field for you. The skills are divided into two sections, survival and combat. Survival gives you perks such as increased health, crafting and the like, while combat unlocks more offensive abilities
Other than the XP option, this time you have Karma as well. You get Karma depending on what you do for your allies, and lose it if you cause them harm. Unlocking different levels of Karma will allow you to unlock different items in the marketplace, which interestingly is much easier to access now due to the travelling salesmen that will show up around the map, cutting down on the need to return to a safehouse. So make sure you focus on your karma level, as some of the signature weapons are pretty cool.
Signature weapons are back and much better than ever before. These are weapons that have already been modified for a certain effect, and on them you cannot modify the attachments or change their visual colours. They are some of the strongest weapons the game has to offer, so you definitely need to keep an eye out on your Karma meter. Otherwise most of the content the game has is similar to what was offered before. The open world and collectible structure is the same, requiring you to search for specific items. You use different flowers to craft syringes with different effects, like health or enemy awareness boost. The animals are brand new, but the item crafting structure is the same, where the low levels of items require basic animal skins and the last upgrade requires a unique animal that can only be found through the special hunting quests. Just a tip though, never underestimate those mother-f###ing Honey Badgers. Those bastards are hard as nails and tough to kill!
Also this time, there are different ways to kill an animal and each method provides a different result. For example, if you are to kill an animal using your bow and arrow or your kukri, you will get a clean kill bonus that grants you double the amount of items from an animal. However, shooting them with bullets will give you just one and killing them with explosives will now give you a damaged skin that is completely useless other than for selling. This time the developers want you to pay attention to how you kill and use thought and skill to do so.
You also still have your radio towers, which have now been rehauled as watch towers and impressively each tower is designed differently, so climbing them is a different challenge each time. Furthermore, they are usually either protected by the enemies or the wildlife, so you have to be very careful when approaching them. The outposts are also back, which like Far Cry 3; you can take over in order to lower the enemy presence around it. However this time you have fortresses as well, which are much harder and bigger than your regular enemy outposts. These are recommended to be played via co-op. The Co-op and PVP are the brand new features of FC4 that have been made in order to provide you with more replay-ability. In co-op you can have your friends or other players join you as you look for collectibles or conquer outposts and fortresses.
However PVP it is a bit more complicated than the co-op elements. Presented for the first time you launch the mode with authentic Hindi, the PVP mode sees two warring factions fighting for control. The Rakshasa and the Golden Path. The Rakshasa are Pagan’s elite outfit while the Golden Path are the rebels fighting for their Kyrat. The Rakshasa have mythical abilities that helps them call the aid of different animals and perform unique abilities. They use more subtle and quiet weapons such as the bow and arrow. The Golden Path on the other hand are armed to the teeth and use explosive and weapons that cut like razors. I haven’t played much of this mode as of yet, but from what I have played, it is really intense with the different abilities available for different sides. It is much better than the bland shoot ‘em up fest that was Far Cry 3’s PVP multiplayer.
Now if I had to talk about shortcomings, it would have to be two things. The outposts you need to save and the new hunter enemy class. This time, whenever you are near an outpost, it may trigger a siege event where the enemy is trying to take back the outpost. Now, this usually means that you have to forget wherever you were going and head to keep what you fought so hard for, safe. Sure it sounds really interesting, but in my opinion is nothing but frustrating and can grow quite repetitive quite quickly. The hunter class (members of the elite Rakshasa) on the other hand, doesn’t make much sense and even though they are cool to look at, they just seem shoe-horned in for the sake of challenge. If you tag them, their tags will disappear after a while, even though they are standing right in front of you the whole time. I mean sure, if they ran for cover or went to hide it’d make sense, but this doesn’t. Furthermore they always charm the animals around them, making it even harder if any wildlife is about. Overall this aspect should have been designed better and there should’ve been a 50/50 chance for them to successfully charm the animals. If they are successful, they turn the animals on you; otherwise they get their faces eaten. Unfortunately though, with the way it stands at the moment, it is quite badly designed. Now for the best feature of the game, one that I have saved for the last! Mother-freaking elephants! You can ride them and crush your enemies like the toothpicks they are! Oh the mayhem! Ahem…
Overall the game is fantastically varied and contains a lot of activities for the players. It has not only got the best of Far Cry 3, but also includes some notable new features that really spice up your experience. However, this was Ubisoft’s wildcard which they have just used. Next time this just won’t cut it and they will really have to go beyond and over. Still this is an excellent game that will grab your attention and not let go until you are done with the game’s intense storyline that comes to a very shocking conclusion. The Lakshmana reveal is very sweet as well when you finally find out what it means, it makes sense as to why she would send her son to such a war torn place. I won’t say no more and I’ll leave it for you to discover by picking up Far Cry 4, if you haven’t done so already.