Far Cry 4
PlayStation 4
I've been slowly making my way through the Far Cry series over the last ten years. I played the original game back in 2015. There was a seven year gap before I played the second game in 2022. I then played the third game in 2023, followed by its Blood Dragon DLC in 2024. Now here in 2025, it is time to tackle Far Cry 4.
I've always liked the series. The first game was just okay, which is why it took me seven years to move onto its sequel. But all the ensuing games have been pretty darn good. For this reason, I was optimistic about 4. How would I feel about it? Well, my opinion of the game kept going up and down repeatedly as I played it.
Let's see why.
Story:
If you've played a Far Cry game in the past, you should recognize a lot of the series' tropes in this one. Playing as a man named Ajay, you return to your parents home country of Kyrat (inspired by India) to scatter your dead father's ashes. Kyrat is currently experiencing a civil war which makes things murky for our dear hero. Quickly you are caught between two warring factions: the faction with the tyrannical yet charismatic leader, and the faction that is rebelling against him. You have to team up with the rebels to take the bad guy out.
This is just the super quick, Cliff's Notes version of things. There are many characters and side quests. You have two different rebel leaders vying for power and you must back one of them. There are a few choices you can make at the end of the game that can change the ending. But honestly, I did not find myself caring about any of that stuff AT ALL. I am here for the gameplay.
I'll admit, I wasn't "feeling" this game the first week or so that I was playing it. It felt an awful lot like previous entries in the Far Cry series, particularly 3. There are some nice quality of life features added to Far Cry 4, but the gameplay itself is nearly identical to the last few games in the series. It felt like I was playing the same old game, but with better graphics and a new setting.
There are a lot of similarities. Let's start with the basics. You explore the land, uncovering the map a bit at a time. You can walk or you can hop in a car and drive. There are mission markers that you can drive to. Accept a mission for the Golden Path (the rebellion) to advance the storyline. Or you can just explore. The map is huge and filled with hundreds and hundreds of things to do. You can climb towers which allow you to see specific items and locations on the map. You go into battle against enemy outposts, who will trigger an alarm and call for backup if you are spotted. You collect herbs. You hunt animals. You use their skin to craft new items for your inventory.
As you explore, you pick up a ton of little treasure boxes that give you money or items to sell at the store. The map is filled with collectible items, like hidden journals, Mani Wheels, and Masks of Yalung. Buildings are littered with propaganda posters to burn or tear down. There's just so much shit literally everywhere. And I'm not even done yet. There are dozens of small, money-earning quests that aren't really essential to the plot of the game that you can complete. Hunting missions, assassinations, and hostage rescue quests will take up a lot of your time. You can destroy convoys. You can hijack enemy supply vehicles. Mini "karma" missions always pop up on the map. These missions never take more than a minute or two to complete. Beating karma missions earns you money, EXP, and a positive reputation among the NPCs in the game.
I'm still not done. The game also has a Gladiator-esque fighting arena in it where you must defeat waves of enemies to earn EXP and money. At one point in the game, you move back into your parents' house, and you can spend money to upgrade it. The appearance, the functionality of it, etc. You can plant a garden, raise some hogs, buy a personal helicopter, etc.
Long story short, there is a LOT to do in the game. You can spend hours and hours looking for collectibles, earning money, and doing side quests. You can completely ignore the main plot of the game for the longest time if you want to. Eventually you will have to tackle some main missions if you want to unlock the second part of the map. But damn, this is one huge game.
The controls are good. This is easily the most polished Far Cry game I've played to date. Everything is smooth and responsive. Very easy to pick up and play. There's a grappling mechanic introduced in this game, and it works pretty well. Combat is fun. You can go in with guns blazing or you can take a more stealthy approach. I always try to start with stealth, but then quickly adapt to "just shoot everyone" if I am spotted. My favorite weapon was the grenade launcher. I had that in my inventory at all times. Can take out enemies and vehicles with one hit. And you don't need to be accurate with your shot, as long as the enemy is hit by the blast. It was like a cheat code as I was playing. You can take out waves of enemies at a time. I can't imagine making it through this game without one.
On the whole. I'd say this game took me about 40ish hours to complete. I am not sure. I didn't look at my stats, and the game did not tell me how long I'd been playing when I beat it. But it seemed like a really long time.
Like I said before, I didn't really like the game at first. It felt too familiar, too "been there done that" for my tastes. And that's not wrong. There is nothing in Far Cry 4 that I have not seen dozens of times in other open world games like The Witcher, Horizon Zero Dawn, GTA, Nier, Infamous, Assassin's Creed, and the other Far Cry games. But once I got a few hours into the game and I became more comfortable with the game mechanics, I started to have a good time. I loved searching for masks, taking on side missions, hunting animals, and exploring as much as I could on the game map. There is ALWAYS something to do in this game. It is very addicting.
Graphics:
No doubt about it: this is a beautiful game. The series definitely looks and plays a lot better on the PS4. All the other Far Cry games I have played were on the PS3.
I like the lush India-inspired setting. It's pretty unique. You don't see a lot of games set in this location. Right off the bat, the monkey brain thing reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It is fun to explore the rich forests or ride a boat on the crystal clear rivers and lakes. It's when you get up high on the mountains that you can really take in the grand scope and size of this massive open world.
I love the ornate interior design of the game. The palaces are very luxurious, while the living conditions of the "little people" are ramshackle and destroyed by war. Enemies look good. The animal wildlife you encounter looks good. The game has some fun cinematic moments, too. Like the opening scene. And there's other moments in the game where you "trip out" that are very fun and colorful.
Sound:
The game sounds pretty good. I wouldn't say there's really any memorable original songs from the game. Nothing that I'll hear and make me immediately think: "That's Far Cry 4!" I do like the continued use of pop culture songs in the Far Cry series. It's something I've come to expect and look forward to. In this game it is the use of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" that steals the show.
Voice acting is pretty good, as is the norm for Far Cry games. The charismatic villain in this game is Pagan Min. Right off the bat, the game makes it clear that this guy is going to be one of the big, memorable stars of the game.
I have to give a shout out to the game for its small audio cues, particularly as you are looking for the hidden masks. As you get near them, they emit this eerie chanting sound. You have to follow the sound to find the mask, most of which blend right into the environment.
Overall:
I'm glad I stuck with this game. Like I mentioned earlier in the review, I was not having a good time when I first started playing this. The game is just so incredibly similar to previous entries in the Far Cry series. All I could think while I was playing was: "ugh, this is so unoriginal." I've definitely been there, done that many times.
As the game progressed and things started to open up a little bit, I started to enjoy the game more. Yeah, it's still incredibly similar to previous entries in the series, but those games are fun. So this game is fun. Not horribly original or groundbreaking, but still fun. And it does a lot of things right. Great graphics, great voice acting, smooth gameplay, and a world full of things to see and do.
But one of the main reasons I enjoyed this game is because, for the first time ever, my son started to express interest in a video game and watching me play it. Now, an M-rated game full of violence and death isn't exactly what you want your 4-year old to show interest in. So when he was watching, I would make sure to tackle more "family friendly" tasks like finding the hidden masks. My son loved helping me scour the blue circles on the map, looking for them. It was very cute when he'd say "I hear one!" when the chanting started. In fact, this actually led to a pre bedtime ritual where he and I would "look for the masks" in our house. I'd hide things like Lite Brite pegs around his room. When he would get close to finding one, I would start making the chanting noise to show that he was close.
He highly enjoyed the garden that I planted outside the Ghale Homestead as well. He often wanted me to go back and "pick all the flowers." He also liked helping me find the propaganda posters scattered around the game. He started to refer to them as "Donald Trump" posters. I have no idea where he got that from. He probably heard me call it a propaganda poster (as they are called in the game) and put two and two together in his mind. I don't even know he knows the word propaganda, but apparently he does. It's funny how the mind of a 4-year old works.
So yeah. Not only is this a pretty decent Far Cry game, it holds a special place in my heart because my son liked watching me play it so much. He's nearly five now. I bet when he is older, he is going to associate Far Cry with me, and with some of his first gaming memories. And that's awesome. But I can't let that cloud my judgement here. As cute as it was that he liked watching me play, and as much as I did like the game, there is no denying that there is NOTHING original to be found here. It's essentially Far Cry 3 with a more polished skin. Same fetch quest style missions. Same combat. Same towers to climb. Same mechanics when raiding an enemy base. Same hunting mechanics. Same driving mechanics. Same, same, same. Now, more of a good thing isn't necessarily bad. But in a game like this, it can get tiring.
My final ruling: this is a good game, but not a great one. If you've never played a Far Cry game before, and this is your first experience with one, you'll probably love it. If you've played all the previous games in the series before, you're probably going to have a similar experience with the game like I had. So while this technically may be "the best" Far Cry game, it is only going to get a B from me. That puts it below Far Cry 3, Blood Dragon, and the original Far Cry on my grading scale. It does get a slightly better score than Far Cry 2, though. That said, despite the inconsistency in the scoring, I still think this may be the "best" game in the series. Take that however you may.
THE GRADE:
B
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