Coming in at second place for our Game of the Year picks is Far Cry 4. Leaving behind the lush island jungles of Far Cry 3, the latest addition to the series takes players to the land of Kyrat - a country found in the Himalayan mountains. The country is filled with violence, thanks to an ongoing civil war against its crazed and ruthless dictator, Pagan Min, but patrolling soldiers aren't the only things players need to stay on the lookout for. There's plenty of dangerous wildlife roaming around, ready to ambush an unsuspecting traveler for a free meal.
You play as Ajay Ghale, who travels to Kyrat to fulfill his mother's dying wish, but you get caught up in all the madness instead. As it turns out, Ajay's father is the one who founded the rebellion group, The Golden Path, and as his son, it's up to you to determine the fate of an entire country. You decide the balance of power between two leaders with very different views of what a liberated Kyrat will look like. Sabal seeks to return the country to its old traditions, heritage, and religious teachings. On the other side is Amita, who wants to modernize Kyrat by completely cutting ties with its traditions and fund the future by turning the country into a narco state.
There's plenty to do in the game, even if you put off getting involved in Kyrat's politics. Weaken Pagan's hold on the country by taking over outposts, bell towers, and fortresses. Side missions include becoming a sort of mythological spirit warrior in the Shangri-La quests. Or you can inject yourself with something strange and trip out on a Yogi & Reggie mission. Far Cry 4 has a long list of interesting, multi-layered, characters to meet.
However, the wild animals of Kyrat might be the real stars of the game. From Bengal Tigers to rampaging rhinos, you can go around killing rare animals with reckless abandon, because they might just come after you first. After spending some time traveling Kyrat's vast countryside, and being attacked by wolves, a bear, and an eagle all in quick succession of each other, you have to ask yourself... are YOU the endangered species here?
Best of all, the journey doesn't have to be taken alone. Far Cry 4 features campaign multiplayer, so players can invite a friend to join them in taking out an outpost or fortress. You'll just have to decide who gets to ride the elephant and who uses the gyrocopter.
More Game of the Year Coverage:
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replySteven Wong posted a new article, 2014 Game of the Year 2: Far Cry 4
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Kyrat was robbed!
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how is it Far Cry 4's fault that Assassins Creed turned out to be a dud? Different teams.
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Far Cry 4 isn't our game if the year. It's our runner up.
In Olympics terms, Far Cry 4 ended up with a silver medal.
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That good eh?
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It's lots of fun but not GOTY material, IMO. Top 10 for the year, sure, but not GOTY.
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Correct.
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So it's game of the year runner up?
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I get it, was confused by the title.
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What's the secret ending? I think I got the normal ending and it was lame
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Nope. Not in front of Mordor. And I'm probably the biggest Far Cry series fan on the Shack. Hell, I'd say Far Cry 3 is better.
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Alien Isolation was absolutely amazing.
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Far Cry 4 is brilliant. There is nothing WRONG with the game. So its safe. Ubi added more to the formula from part 3 which is not a bad thing. When you compare it to something like Mordor, you may ask well "why not make Mordor second?" truth is lots of gamers blasted Mordor for being nothing more than an Orc killing game. I was not not one of them, I thought Monolith's focus was razor sharp and brought fresh air to a stale genre on both sides of the equation. That being Middle Earth and Assassins Creed, and made it wholly their own in the process, yet their focus was singular. Where as in Far Cry 4 there are many, many activities to do and the landscape is easily 5 times as vast as Mordor. I can see why it ran away with the silver. Plus, no real bugs, comes with an editor and you can play coop. Where the downside?
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