Far Cry 4<\/i>, the latest sequel in the long-running open-world first person survival series, is released today and expectations are high.<\/p>\n
However, this year hasn\u2019t been kind to big budget blockbusters. Destiny<\/i>, one of the most anticipated games of all time, was met with slight derision and apathy, while Assassin\u2019s Creed: Unity<\/i> was (and is still being) criticised for its poor design and familiar gameplay.<\/p>\n
So, how will Far Cry 4 <\/i>fare with the great and good of games journalism? Read on to find out…<\/p>\n
\nFar Cry 4: What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n
Far Cry <\/i>is a series of open-world action adventure games in which you use the wilderness to survive. The series is renowned for letting players come up with their own solutions to problems; you can sneak around a military base picking off baddies one-by-one, or blow it to smithereens.<\/p>\n
Far Cry 4<\/i> revolves around a young American caught up in a revolution in a far-flung country called Kyrat, which is ruled by an evil (and flamboyant) dictator called Pagan Min. You\u2019re torn between two leaders of resistance movement and, like in previous games, have to use your surroundings as both a weapon of destruction and a tool for survival.<\/p>\n
\nGamespot<\/h4>\n
The narrative of Gamespot\u2019s review<\/a> has become all too familiar recently, painting Far Cry 4 <\/i>as a big budget game that rehashes old ideas and doesn\u2019t live up to expectations.<\/p>\n The plot comes in for particular criticism: while it starts positively, it soon collapses into clich\u00c3\u00a9 and watered-down politics. The characters aren\u2019t the most interesting either, with the best one \u201d\u201c Pagan Min \u201d\u201c absent for most of the game.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not all bad news though. Gamespot praises the freedom Far Cry 4 <\/i>gives to players, especially the numerous ways players can tackle missions; for instance, you can lure wild animals into battle to eat your enemies (and, if you hang around long enough, you).<\/p>\n The game\u2019s economy receives praise for giving players a good reason to grind through the game\u2019s subquests too.<\/p>\n Rating: 7\/10<\/b><\/p>\n Well, here\u2019s a turn-up for the books: Joystiq love Far Cry 4<\/i><\/a>!<\/p>\n They praise the game\u2019s excellent open-world, going as far as to suggest that the developers should have given players the ability to take photographs and pursue other careers in Kyrat\u2019s lush surroundings.<\/p>\n Equal praise is bestowed upon the games\u2019 improvisational combat (i.e. the aforementioned introduction of tigers and elephants into battle) and its willingness to let players tackle missions any way they see fit, as well as the brilliant co-op mode.<\/p>\n The main story is the only aspect to be criticised, because of the restrictions it imposes on players and the occasionally lacking storytelling.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t stop Joystiq from calling Far Cry 4<\/i> the \u201d\u02dcundisputed king of the open-world shooter\u2019, though.<\/p>\n Rating: 4\/5<\/b><\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s review<\/a> reiterates many of the points raised by Joystiq, leading to an equally positive review.<\/p>\n The plus points include the \u201d\u02dcvast and hostile\u2019 environment, a narrative that twists and turns depending on the choices you make, and the intelligence of enemies and animals.<\/p>\n The game is praised for encouraging exploration through the number of activities it offers, including overthrowing outposts, races, hostage rescue missions and hunting.<\/p>\n As with Joystiq\u2019s review, one of the only gripes is that the story sometimes limits the otherwise amazing freedom offered to the player. But again, it\u2019s not enough of a gripe to stop the Guardian giving Far Cry 4<\/i> a perfect score.<\/p>\n Rating: 5\/5<\/b><\/p>\n Once again, Far Cry 4\u2019s <\/i>freedom is praised although Eurogamer temper their praise slightly<\/a> by suggesting the game is a slightly inferior version of Far Cry 3<\/i>.<\/p>\n Among their reasons for this comparison is a landscape that isn\u2019t quite as compelling as its predecessor. It gets a bit same-y, although there are more than a few flashes of beauty.<\/p>\n The game does give gamers a lot more to do than Far Cry 3<\/i>, though.<\/p>\n All in all, Eurogamer like the game but describe it as \u201d\u02dcmore of a backpacker\u2019s delight than a 5-star island resort\u2019.<\/p>\n Rating: 8\/10<\/b><\/p>\n Metro reference Assassin\u2019s Creed Unity<\/i> a lot in their review<\/a>, which is fair enough: both games are made by Ubisoft.<\/p>\n However, most of the comparisons are positive. Indeed, the biggest difference between the two, according to Metro, is that \u201d\u02dcFar Cry 4<\/i> is fun to play\u2019.<\/p>\n Like Eurogamer, Metro also draw a lot of comparisons with Far Cry 4\u2019s <\/i>predecessor, even writing that: \u201d\u02dcFar Cry 4<\/i> is essentially the same game as Far Cry 3<\/i>, only with a different setting, better graphics, and some new co-op features.\u2019<\/p>\n That, in case you hadn\u2019t realised, is a good thing. The game\u2019s level of freedom and the co-op mode are both, again, heavily praised.<\/p>\n However, the game\u2019s characters are once again criticised for not being particularly likeable. There\u2019s also a warning for animal lovers, who may be put off by the hunting and skinning of critters featured in the game.<\/p>\n Rating: 9\/10<\/b><\/p>\n If you\u2019re planning to buy Far Cry 4<\/i>, why not sell some of your games<\/a>? Click here to start selling<\/a>.<\/p>\n Or, if you\u2019ve already played the game, share your opinion with us \u201d\u201c and other gamers \u201d\u201c in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Far Cry 4, the latest sequel in the long-running open-world first person survival series, is released today and expectations are high. However, this year hasn\u2019t been kind to big budget blockbusters. Destiny, one of the most anticipated games of all time, was met with slight derision and apathy, while Assassin\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[593],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2496"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2500,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496\/revisions\/2500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJoystiq<\/h4>\n
\nThe Guardian<\/h4>\n
\nEurogamer<\/h4>\n
\nMetro<\/h4>\n
\n