Before playing this game, I had never really been down the long road, that is, Far Cry games. I briefly played the one on Xbox 360 at a friend’s house one time, for maybe 20 minutes. So, as you can tell, my experience with the Far Cry series is top-notch. I am being sarcastic of course. I didn’t know what was going to drive me to play this game nor even attempt to try playing anything from the series. I was doomed.
Then came along a holiday sale on PlayStation Network. I hunted around and to no avail, the games I really wanted to buy or did not own yet, were ones that were still on there for full price. Before making some sort of stupid choice (because when there is a sale, you have to add to your backlog, it’s a rule) I whipped out the ole’ cell phone and texted my cousin. I knew he was familiar with the series in the past, playing co-op with my brother, so I knew he would have an answer for me. Basically, I told him that Far Cry 4 & 5 were part of a group pack for $20. It also came with Far Cry 3, but it was the classic version. I did try Far Cry 3 for about an hour or two, but I could not bare the 15-20 frames per second and the chunkiness as they had not remade it for modern consoles. Either way, he told me to buy it.
Far Cry 4 was what I thought it was going to be, dumb fun. Sure, they try and give you a little story of going to a fictitious village near the Himalayan Mountains where you are traveling back to rid your late mother’s ashes, but I knew that strapping C4 to an SUV and blowing up elephants was just around the corner. This is exactly what I thought it would be. Mindless collecting items, destroying radio towers, exploring ruins, doing races, time trials, and everything else they put in Ubisoft games. To be honest with you, it was actually kind of fun. I had not played a mindless game like this in a long time and this really hit the spot.
Collecting items (you can buy maps for), managing your weaponry from a handgun to a rocket launcher, and doing side missions (racing, hunting, etc.) was really scratching that itch I forgot I had. The hunting aspect of the game is cool too. Sure, it is simple; find a collect said skin and upgrade your inventory and ammo pouches, but it was still checking off that to do list. If you have played a Far Cry game before, then from what I have heard this is still in the same reference as that, maybe except the earlier ones, but I wouldn’t know, this was a small gem I found and played and actually enjoyed it. This sparked some of the interest back in me so much that it has also made me clean up my backlog and start mucking through it. Well it is safe to say my backlog project begins with Far Cry 4.
Old games from a holiday sale can be fun too! 4 out 5.