Hello, reader. Before I begin, there are a few things to keep in mind:
-This is a review of the XBOX 360 version of the game, and not for new-gen consoles.
- I'll be comparing story sections of this game to Far Cry 3, and I'll mark these sections with VS FC3. They will contain Far Cry 3 spoilers, so if you don't want to spoil that game, skip those portions.
That being said, let's begin the review.

Far Cry 4 is an excellent installment in the Far Cry franchise. Gameplay-wise, the game feels like a direct sequel to the previously released Far Cry 3, featuring many of the same ideas and gameplay structures as it. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No. It's a classic example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".  The game is a game all about taking down a dictator, going on a few spiritual drug trips, and blowing a lot of stuff up in the process. The experience has plenty of flaws, and fails to outdo its predecessor in most areas, but nonetheless, this journey to the fictional land of Kyrat is still one worth embarking on.

STORY: 6/10
This game has many similarities to the original, and the story is no exception. The game takes place in the fictional place of Kyrat, an exotic country located near the Himalayas. The country is ruled by an evil dictator, Pagan Min. There is a resistance force that your father started, known as the Golden Path. You play as Ajay Ghale, the son of the legendary father who began the revolution. And it's your job to finish what your father started. The story is relatively straightforward, but in a good way. It's all about taking down the bad guy, and it's a good time. As far as the characters go, they're all quite interesting, each with their own motivations. Throughout the story, you get to make a choice on which leader of the Golden Path you want to work for, either choosing a conservative leader who chooses to stick to traditions even if they are a bit irrational, or the liberal leader who values progress and wants to end tradition. Your choices will change which missions you undertake, but will not greatly impact the story, save for a quick epilogue at the end of the game. I think that these choices were very cool, and often tested your moral boundaries, but I wish that they would've had a bigger impact on the overall story, or the ending, because neither of these things chance much except for the obvious fact that whomever you work for ends up becoming the leader. Not very surprising or riveting.

VS FC3: The story of Far Cry 3 had a very B-movie feel to it, but in a really good way. It did a great job of introducing your character as an all-American in a terrifying foreign land. In this one, the story and it's characters are just a little bit less interesting, and a little bit more clichéd.

The antagonist dictator Pagan Min is enjoyable, if not particularly original. He's a flamboyantly-dressed dude who is extremely nonchalant with killing people and speaks in a very elegant manner. If you haven't guessed, this guy's personality has shown up in many villains throughout history. But, although he is clichéd, he is voice acted very well by video game legend Troy Baker and provides for a great enemy for you to grow to hate more and more as the game progresses and you realize how awful of a person he really is.

VS FC3: Compared to Far Cry 3's villain, Vaas, Pagan Min pales in comparison. He wasn't nearly as insanely intimidating or darkly comic as Vaas was, or nearly as original. Although, the game keeps Pagan Min alive until the end of the game, which was nice, unlike Far Cry 3, where one of my main criticisms of the game being that Vaas was killed halfway through.

Your character. Ajay Ghale, isn't all that interesting. The circumstances surrounding him are interesting, what with a father whose cause of death is unknown and a mysterious mother whom he loves and wants to spread her ashes to do her homage, and with the weight of being the son of the starter of the revolution itself. However, Ajay himself is very, and I mean very, bland. The words he says are so bland, that he might as well have been a silent protagonist. Seriously, this guy shows NO emotion with each and every line he delivers, no matter what the circumstances. He sounds bored and slightly drowsy 24/7.

VS FC3: The protagonist of Far Cry 3 was far from amazing, but he worked and felt plausible as a character. I mean, his words had meaning. He had an actual personality, being a total douchebro. Was he amazing? No. But he certainly was a step up from Ajay.

Overall, the story is sold. It's good. Not great, but certainly not bad. It's straightforward and to the point. The ending can change based on your decisions made on whether to kill certain characters or not, and the endgame plot twists are quite interesting. The amount of answers you receive to questions you may have about the plot are decided entirely by certain endgame choices. These endgame choices, which I will not be specifying for the sake of spoilers, ARE well done and have genuine impact on not just the ending, as well as what you find out about the overarching story as well.
The most interesting portions of the story lie within the side character's quests, leading to some awesome drug trip sequences. The side story characters are often engaging and humorous, and I love them. There is also a sidequest that allows you to embody a mythical figure in the spirit world of Shangri-La, and it's totally awesome as well. These side-story portions are very well done and, in my opinion, often more interestingly executed than the core story itself.


GAMEPLAY: 9/10

If Far Cry 4 is one thing, it's fun. And this game is REALLY fun. It's a first-person shooter, with tons of stuff to do in its open world. There are also fun RPG-like upgrading mechanics, and you can earn these upgrades through experience points gained through completing quests and killing enemies. Certain upgrades are obtained through hunting down animals as well. There are an endless amount of things to do in the game, with a huge variety of mission types available as well. Certain side-portions are basically necessary to completing the game, such as taking over outposts to make fast travel available, which is something you're definitely going to need later in the game, and taking over bell towers, which unlock portions of the map for viewing. However, these never feel laborious, because they're so much fun. Although, I personally didn't do all of the side missions, because there are simply so many, and the game can feel a bit repetitious with the amount of quests that there are. There may be, in fact, too much to do in this game. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's very easy to feel overwhelmed with the amount of side quests to do, when in fact you don't actually need to do any if you don't want to. But if you're a completion, get ready, because this game has a LOT to throw at you. However, if you play this game for the core story, it'll run you about 15 hours, which is a solid amount of time for an action game. As far as differences from the 3rd game go, there aren't many. There are a few more side-mission types, a few more different animals to kill, and you can totally ride elephants now, which is pretty sweet.

SOUND: 9/10
The sound is awesome. The game's soundtrack employs a lot of ambient music for when you are venturing about the mountains, and it fits the mood perfectly. It reminds me of mirror's edge, in the best way. There is also quite a bit of licensed rock music and world music that comes in at key points in the story, and it's always very well utilized and sets the tone perfectly.
The bottom line: this game's music absolutely ROCKS.
The soundtrack itself gets a 10/10. Now, the reason it gets an 9 is because the voice acting sounds a bit compressed most of the time. It sounds a bit outdated for a late 360 release. But, it's a minor complaint.

GRAPHICS: 7/10
This game is beautiful. That's all I have to say. Simply beautiful. The mountains look breathtaking, the rivers look, well, like actual water, and the overall nature is fantastic. This game has really fantastic visuals. Now, what's less fantastic is the screen tearing. And in this game, at least, on the 360 version, is extremely frequent. So frequent, in fact, that you simply just have to get used to it and accept that it's part of the game itself. If you can look past this, the game will seem beautiful. If you can't, it'll look like a mess.

OVERALL: 8.2/10
This game is really fun. Is it perfect? No, far from it. It's got quite a few technical flaws, such as screen tearing and compressed voice audio, and pales in comparison to its predecessor when it comes to the story, or innovation. But honestly, this game is still really well done, with tons of content to explore, and offers some really chaotic, awesome action experiences that are great, ultraviolent fun. And isn't that the point of video games? To have fun? Yes, I thought so. Give this game a go; you won't regret it. Just...do yourself a favor and play the 3rd one first. Then if you want more, run to this one, to continue feeding your Far Cry primal instincts.

You started your review with great strength. You clearly announced there would be spoilers, you make abundant comparisons with the previous game and you give great details... about the story. Unfortunately, the rest of the review, in my opinion, falls a little flat because you barely talk about the graphics and music, and much less compare them to Far Cry 3.

Nevertheless, it is worth a 4 in my book.

janus : Thank you! I appreciate the criticism. A big reason why I play video games is for the story, and so discussing the story is a very important aspect for me. But I can see how it might look a bit odd to have those other aspects of the review to have less depth. I'll consider this in the future.

Do not worry, all reviewers get throught that stage . FOr the longest time I basically talked for half my review about the story, basically narrating half the game.