FAR CRY 4

Nowadays, video game sequels tend to be prettied-up rehashes of their predecessors. This trend has been rigidly followed by several popular game franchises like Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, etc. At first glance, Far Cry 4 seems to be the game that ushers in the series' dip into mediocrity and repetition. However, upon further inspection it is apparent that Far Cry 4 holds its own identity as a game built upon the foundations laid by Far Cry 3.

The game puts you in the role of Ajay Ghale, an American whose roots lie in the fictional region of Kyrat. Ajay returns to his homeland to scatter his mother's ashes as per her will. A simple journey of paying respects goes horribly wrong as he finds that Kyrat is engulfed in a civil war between the false king Pagan Min, the main villain, and the Golden Path, the rebellious militia who seek to overthrow him. The flimsy premise is held together by a cast of interesting characters and variations in the main campaign missions.

Kyrat is eerily beautiful for a land filled with atrocities around every corner. The vast landscapes are dotted by interesting activities such as opportunities to hunt for animals, enemy outposts to liberate, fortresses to conquer, racing activities, hostages to rescue etc. The region has been made much more dangerous than that of Far Cry 3. This forces you to be on your toes all the time, lest you are ambushed by a pack of wolves or caught in crossfire between the Golden Path and the Royal Army.

The game does a great job of just throwing you out into the world and allowing you to play the way you want to. There are several approaches to one single mission/objective. Suppose, if you want to capture an outpost, you can go in guns blazing and slaughter everyone there or you can let loose a berserk elephant and watch it wreak havoc on the hapless soldiers while you sip some tea on a nearby hill or you can exercise your creativity and accelerate a pickup truck filled with C4 through the main road, get out half way and then click the detonation button so that the vehicle blows up in your enemies' faces. The possibilities are almost endless.

Online co-op is available as well which will allow you and a friend to journey across Kyrat together, weaving all sorts of mischief. Having trouble taking down a fortress? Invite a friend and tell him to provide grenade launcher support from the air on a gyrocopter. An outpost is too hard to take? Perch yourself on high ground and snipe key targets from afar while your friend goes in with a silenced weapon and takes down stragglers. The multitude of strategies that can be crafted provide added flavor to the game's usual activities. There is also PvP multiplayer with several special touches.

Far Cry 4, while bearing many similarities with its predecessor, is an open-world game that does a lot of things right. You will never feel as if Kyrat is bland nor will you feel that some aspects of the game feel overused. The game sucks you in and does not let you go for hours on end.