Far Cry 4 First Impressions: Living off the Land

I finished Far Cry 3 about 2 weeks before I got Far Cry 4. Now I’m sitting in my room writing this article having played a good 2 hours of Ubisoft’s newest game. And since I vividly remember the way Far Cry 3 felt and having just played Far Cry 4, I decided to make this first impressions article.

Kyrat Looks Gorgeous

Obviously there’s a new location for the new game. Although I really enjoyed diving through the ocean killing sharks and lurking around the jungle sniping deer in Far Cry 3’s famous Rook Island, Kyrat is a much more facinating and breath-taking setting for the new entry. That and, of course, the environments and lighting are all beefed up with new next-gen graphics. 

Along the outposts stationed on steep cliffs and mountains is the breath-taking view of snow-capped peaks and peaceful valleys. All of which is fully explorable. In fact, Kyrat is basically inviting you to get lost in their beautiful yet dangerous setpieces. The environment is more rich with life than Rook Island was. There are more animals to hunt and they’re more aggresive and tough to kill. You might come across a group of people that are battling it out in open fire where you can jump it and help. These are the things you can expect when exploring Kyrat and they’re a joy to do as well. 

Controls

Breathtaking visuals aside, the controls are basically the same as Far Cry 3. That can be a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you played the previous game. I wish they changed up the controls, stopped making us use the square button all the time. I feel like my square button will break from holding it too long.

There is a new feature where you can drive and shoot at the same time, but this comes at the expense of the old driving control scheme. Instead of using the trigger buttons (R2, L2) the left analog stick is all you need when you drive. It doesn’t make the driving, especially sharp turns, feel tight anymore. Thankfully, you can change this setting in the options menu. 

Other than that everything as of how much I played the game is same old same old. Platforming has a new twist to it though which I won’t spoil for you guys. Stealth is same, shooting is same as before as well. There is this new feature where you can throw bait that attracts predators so they help you kill bad guys for you. But be careful where you throw it. Throw the bait too close and the predator will end up attacking you instead. So much for discretion. 

Anyways, that’s all I can say for the first impressions of Far Cry 4. Overall it’s a good experience and I want to go back and explore Kyrat and do the side missions. I will have a full review up some time soon but until then, I can say Far Cry 4 has been a good game so far.