Your regular host, Kris, has sent a sick note in today so you’re going to have to put up with me hosting this weeks WeView. Unfortunately this week we are discussing Far Cry 4, which is a game that I thought was a bit pants.
Compared to Assassin’s Creed Unity, this particular game launched quite successfully, although there were teething problems with digital editions and some people complained about similarities between Far Cry 3 and 4. In our review, Blair noted, “It’s very much the same as the previous title”, and the developers eventually admitted that this was due in part to having to release the game on both current and last gen consoles. “That gave us a lot of constraints as we had to keep the last-gen working, which affected a lot of our decisions throughout the project,” explained Stephen McAuley, the technical lead Far Cry 4.
However, when ‘more of the same’ means hang gliding from cliffs, rampaging through settlements on elephants and racing about on a quad bike, who is going to complain? Well, apart from me.
Far Cry 4 also included multiplayer and a map creation system so you could design and share your own battles. “This portion of the game does have many traits from the story mode, with wingsuits, vehicles, and even large areas,” noted Blair. “These can feel a bit too big for 5v5, and this really brings the multiplayer down, though it isn’t really anything special compared to other games available already.”
We gave Far Cry a very decent 8/10 in our review and since then it’s gone on to sell millions of copies and gained a fairly large amount of DLC. This is soon to be repackaged in the inevitable ‘Complete Edition’ out later this month, so you will want to know what Blair’s final thoughts on the game if you are thinking about picking it up.
Although Far Cry 4 has learned a lot from its predecessor, it hasn’t quite evolved those mechanics enough in some places. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though: those systems are just as brilliant as they have always been and the world of Kyrat only accentuates the fun to be found in these activities, providing a more vertical world for you to play in.
The story isn’t always fantastic, but when it hits the mark (read: when Pagan Min shows up), it can be absolutely wonderful. In this game, there’s tons to do, and you’ll really enjoy doing all of it, particularly if you’re riding an elephant as you go.
Now it’s time to ask you what you thought of the game. Long time readers will know how this works, but for anyone who’s new to WeView, all you need to do is post your thoughts on the game in the comment section below. It doesn’t matter whether you loved it or hated it, or even if you played it for two hours and couldn’t be bothered to sit through the unskippable cut scenes and went back to Destiny instead (that’s what I did).
Remember to include a rating for the game on the Buy It, Sale It, Plus It, Avoid It scale, so we can sum up you opinions as one homogenised lump of opinion next Monday.
JR.
I really enjoyed Far Cry 3 (my first Far Cry game) so I was looking forward to seeing what they could do with Far Cry on the new consoles.
Well, I was a bit disappointed to be honest. It looks great and plays great but the story was awful with not a single likeable character in the whole game.
Still, nothing beats trying to capture an enemy base without raising the alarm. Finding a good vantage point with suitable cover, picking off any easy targets with your trusty bow, then sneaking inside and stealthily taking down any stragglers. Great fun.
I also enjoyed the hunting challenges. Tigers, oh yeah bring it on. Rhinos, piece of cake. Bears, no problem. Honey Badger, WTF!?! WTF!!! Dead.
Overall not a bad game but not a brilliant one either. I’m more looking forward to (or hoping for) another spin off like Blood Dragon.
JR.
Ooops, SALE IT.
tactical20
Nothing groundbreaking in itself, but when compared to the majority of PS4 games (or lack of them), it’s definitely one of the best. I enjoyed it, although lost interest once the story was over, so many side missions remain uncompleted. At the time it was a definite buy it, but now there are a few other games available, I’d say sale it.
Lieutenant Fatman
Not bad, but it certainly seems to lack the soul that Far Cry 3 had, probably because if it feels like it’s mostly a copy and paste job of the previous game. And the stories and characters are less memorable.
I had some fun with it though despite that so I’d say ‘Sale It.’ Co-op has been improved in my opinion, so teaming up with a good friend is well worth doing.
Youles
For the most part its a great and impressive looking game. But once you scratch the surface you do find a few annoyances:
– the main charismatic bad-guy Pagan Min who provides a fair amount of the games humour is not present nearly enough.
– enemies all look and dress the same (maybe 2-3 variances), it’s like playing the Wolfenstein 3D.
– side missions were repetitive (as with most sand-box games), but in Far Cry’s defence they weren’t all required, not even for the platinum so there is a silver lining to that criticism.
– the DLC was rubbish, they even made the Yeti DLC boring. Hurk’s harpoon gun was the only exception.
– Co-op. Why the hell didn’t they make the entire game Co-op, they were half-way there in allowing you to access the whole map together, and the bases. I appreciate this would have meant the story and dialogue may have had to be changed, but again they were half-way there since they had done a good job as explaining Hurk as a side-kick mercenary. A game of a similar style and time, Dying Light, manages 4-player co-op with ease.
On the positive side the co-op that was there was very good fun. There was a nice selection of weapons and customisation. I mentioned it looked great, right? The variety of animals was good – same applied to the vehicles.
Surprisingly – although I haven’t played much of it – I thought the multiplayer was pretty good and I like the dynamic of the radar tower and how whichever faction controls it can see the enemy. In the few games I did play there were smaller battles going on with the radar tower aside from the main objectives. The factions were also explored nicely in multiplayer with the Rakshasa’s having supernatural abilities.
Something that is probably worth mentioning is the map/level customisation. I know little about it but it seems like a very nice thing to have in the game for hardcore fans (adding longevity) and any creative players.
Youles
My verdict is to SALE IT.
SamBeThyName
Good game, not different enough from FC3 and like assassins creed I find myself pointlessly trying to clear the map which is a thankless chore.
And as JR says – Honey Badgers – What The Actual Fuck?
Sell it
JustTaylorNow
Far cry 3 was absolutely brilliant, a huge leap from 2.
Far cry 4 was visually beautiful but the moment you step in that world it wore off really quickly, just couldn’t get into grips with it, it felt like I already played this game. It’s packed somewhere next to destiny on my list of games that might be played again for another chance to prove themselves.
Plus it
NicholasHeathfield
Far Cry 4 has a lot in common with 3, but although they improved on the story in every aspect with this outing, there are certain problems in the game that bring the whole experience down.
The enemies have become tougher, and silenced weapons no longer really cut it. They also have heightened senses and a greater ability to track you down. Super heavy armoured soldiers, reminiscient of those in Splinter Cell Blacklist, are common. While it is still possible to sneak around and liberate a base undetected, it is now so difficult that a single error will result in your having to kill yourself and try again. It takes about as long to reload as in Deus Ex Human Revolution. Annoying.
The eagles are bad enough, but your character will put away his gun to allow himself to be killed, just at the moment you’d most want to hit the fire button. The wild animals, with the exception of the really deadly ones, have become omnipresently annoying.
Random events in general can be a lot deadlier and a lot more common than you might like. It’s annoying.
The frame rate can be a bit funky now and then, which might give you a wee bit of a headache, and sometimes the game will freeze altogether for about thirty seconds. That’s annoying.
Your character is a dunce, who will go along with anything he’s told. It is almost amusing that your allies will casually send you to certain death with no more hesitation than if they’d told you to buy a pint of milk from the shop across the road. Almost. But it isn’t, especially when you have to watch these cutscenes again every time you restart the mission. It’s so annoying.
Should you be smart enough to break the narrative around the beginning of the third act by blowing up a certain vehicle, you will be punished and made to start again. The game yanks your chain for spotting the weak point in its own, which is annoying.
On that note, we are made to see that the Authentic Cutscene Ajay Gale is so stupid that a couple of stoned hippies could take him. That’s very annoying.
The radio guy doesn’t mind repeating himself over and over and over again, which is quite annoying.
In order to get some of the more popular weapons from Far Cry 3 – like the Bushman or the Shredder or something, you have to play about fifty bajillion rounds of gladitorial combat. Super annoying.
THERE IS NO POKER.
I was annoyed. The ending’s quite good though. I’d say Sale it, but there’s a very good chance it’ll end up on PS+ in a year or so, and since Far Cry 3 exists there’s no big rush.
Plus it.