Far Cry 4: is paging Min, paging Min…

It’s a story as old as time itself. Boy visits his ancestral homeland to honour mother’s dying wish. Gets kidnapped by insane murderous dictator. Joins rebels to free fictional region of not Nepal aka Kyrat. Hunts and skins wildlife. Drops more bodies than Arnie in his prime. Makes Machete’s cousin, Kukri, proud. Hang-glides and wingsuits to the extreme. Bro-ops his journey with harpoon gun toting Yank named Hurk. Liberates said fictional region. Honours his father’s memory. Scatters mother’s ashes. Credits. Cue Blood Dragon 2: Not Tibetan Boogaloo. You know, that old chestnut.

JUST COZ TOO
Welcome to Kyrat, home to blood-soaked revolutions, breathtaking peaks, enormous fortresses, one-man whirlybirds, rideable elephants, Dr Doolittle enemies and the ever so deadly honey badger. Far Cry 4 takes everything which worked in its predecessor, lets you to co-op anything but the main story and tosses the rest aside. Oh yeah, you also get a grappling hook to get your Rico Rodriguez on.

Mainstays from Far Cry 3 all return with herb gathering to craft powerful syringes, hunting for skins to upgrade supplies, climbing radio towers to reveal key locations, liberating outposts to control regions and a multitude of side activities to keep you entertained for days on end. Larger style outposts now come in the form of fortresses and can be tackled by either a high levelled up player or calling in a co-op partner. The strategic element this brings is ridiculous, as is the potential for trolling your partner. This is where Far Cry 4 exceeds expectations.

it's hard to shake the feeling ubisoft montreal could have taken it further

The new enemy type, the Hunter, can ping you with fire or explosive arrows and command wildlife to fight by their side, which often makes the whole ‘I’ma free this outpost by unleashing a caged tiger and watching it chow down’ thingy a moot point. Choice comes into play as well with the rebels, known as The Golden Path, offering two leaders with very different tactics, alternate missions and specific repercussions for following one or the other. It’s going to take you on quite a ride, so
where exactly does it falter?

DIVERGENT PATH
While Far Cry 4 may be a laugh riot to play through it’s hard to shake the feeling Ubisoft Montreal could have taken it further. Troy Baker’s masterful work voicing Pagin Min is woefully underutilised. The grappling hook could have been given a much wider scope, and some returning traversal issues (such as not being able to climb over a half foot rock uphill and massive fall damage from a two foot drop) are a tad disappointing, dissipating some of the air of wonder in this mystical magical sandbox.