Far Cry 4

When a game comes out which plays a lot like its predecessor, it's easy to say that the sequel is not doing anything new, that it's simply capitalizing on the prequel's popularity. However, it is important to distinguish between this very legitimate complaint and when a game recognizes the faults of its previous incarnation and rectifies them while also building upon what made it good. Far Cry 4 is such a game. It takes the open-world, first-person-shooter power fantasy that was Far Cry 3 and shapes it into one of the absolute best games of 2014. Far Cry 4 puts you in control of Ajay Ghale, a young man who, in the game's opening, travels to the fictional nation of Kyrat, in the Himalayas. His mission is simple: honor his mother's dying wish and spread her ashes at "Lakshmana", a shrine located somewhere in Kyrat, her homeland. However, mere hours after stepping off the plane, Ajay is thrust into the civil war turmoil rampant in Kyrat. The totalitarianist regime of "King" Pagan Min is being undermined by the rebellious Golden Path army. You learn that your father Mohan was the leader of the Golden Path when your mother left him and travelled with you - as an infant - to America. As the so-called prodigal son, this revelation basically puts you at the center of the war against Min, whether you like it or not. In the war against Min, you are required to side with one of two Golden Path lieutenants: Amita or Sabal. Every few missions, these two will plead their case as to how a situation should be handled, and it's up to you to both choose which plan is best and also carry it out (for reasons unexplained, Ajay is a battle-hardened commando once he gets his hands on a gun, despite no allusion to former training. It's in the blood, I guess). Your choice affects who will lead the Golden Path for a duration and also how future events unfold. Hearing these two make their arguments for the first time is a real treat and makes the choice truly difficult. It's a shame then, that in future missions the arguments simply become regurgitations of their basic views, without much further development. Still, the choices serve their purpose as a reason to care about the mission you're undertaking; and considering how fun the gameplay experience is, I think it can be forgiven. There are shoot-em-up elimination style missions, sneaky rescue missions, bomb defusals and enemy encampment takeover missions. In all of these, Far Cry shines brilliantly. In most cases, there is no real penalty for being spotted unless the game denotes otherwise. So, while stealth is very fun in its own right, this design encourages the player to not worry too much if they are spotted and just eliminate the enemy. Which of course feels appropriately empowering. Whether you're running through a camp with a shotgun, doing your best impression of Norman Stansfield or sitting atop a hill 150 yards away sniping your enemies as they scurry away in an attempt to find safety, shooting people never gets old. Don't misunderstand though, you are not invincible. Far Cry 4 handles the narrow precipice of a power fantasy well, by making you look cool when you do cool things, but punishing you when you don't play smart. Now, it would be fair to say that much of the shooting experience in this game could easily be found in its predecessor. There honestly was not very much the development team could have done to improve on Far Cry 3's shooting, but it really is the little things. The animation on the reloading of guns or the appropriately greusome self-healing techniques (eg. resetting a broken wrist) all look tremendous; so, while the shooting itself remains relatively unchanged - and it should be mentioned this is likely because it didn't NEED to be - these touches make you feel like you're controlling the hero of a particularly violent action movie. Which is appropriate considering a specific pattern running through this game: nobody - and I mean nobody - is a complete good guy in this story. Everyone is either power hungry, a dictator, murderer, sadist, or a drug addict. Even you, Ajay, come to Kyrat to honor your mother and soon become caught up with fighting and killing countless people instead. In a game that has just the right mixture of aloof and somber, this theme fits right in. Now, all this? That's just the main course. There's plenty of appetizers to enjoy along the way. Multiple types of collectibles - including one with more written work than I've ever seen for something of its kind; - side missions - which for the most part take main story mission types and put interesting limits upon them - and outpost takeovers, in which you simply kill everyone within an encampment to capture it. The latter is of special mention because it was a fan favorite in 3, with the only complaint being: eventually it's over. So, Far Cry 4 fixes that problem by first giving the option to reset your captured outposts and retake them once more. However, if you're already bored after capturing it once, then head over to the Map Browser, a game mode that allows you to challenge player-created outposts (or make your own), essentially providing limitless game time. I already mentioned how good the self-healing animations look, but the same could be said of everything else in this game. Running through bright, lush forests is just as exhilirating as climbing atop a hill and gazing upon the mountainous, foggy vistas around you. This game is drop dead gorgeous. Extra attention seems to have been paid to the facial models of characters, where scars, stubble and crows feet stand out beautifully. It adds a dimension to the characters themselves that could easily go overlooked. Which is a good thing, because honestly, the story in Far Cry 4 feels like a consequence of the characters. This is in sharp contrast to Far Cry 3, where many characters felt forced and boring. Wondering something big like, "how is the Golden Path going to take down the entire Royal Army?" won't end in any mesmerizing twist. Whereas if you invest yourself in the characters, like power-hungry Amita, Mohan-emulating Sabal or even the mysterious man at the center of the Yalung Mask side mission, the stories told there are much more interesting. This is actually a good metaphor for Far Cry 4: don't think of it as another Far Cry 3, but rather more of the best parts of it, as well as an improvement on some of its setbacks.