Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 took players into the fictional Himalayan kingdom of Kyrat, oppressed by the brutal dictatorship of the eccentric despot Pagan Min, one of the series' most memorable villains. The player takes on the role of Ajay Ghale, who, while on a journey to scatter his mother's ashes, gets caught up in a civil war between the government regime and the rebel Golden Path, and must decide which side he ultimately stands on.

The game continued the recipe of the previous entry, an open world full of towers to unlock the map, animal hunting to upgrade gear, and networks of outposts to capture, but enriched it with mountainous verticality, jetpack-like wingsuit gliding, and for the first time a full two-player cooperative mode for story missions. Kyrat, with its temples, villages, and wildlife ranging from tigers to elephants, offered a visually rich and colorful setting on PS4, accompanied by striking music inspired by South Asian culture. The AI of both animals and enemies gave the world a sense of a living, unpredictable place, where a plan to storm an outpost could be ruined at any moment by a wild rhino attack.

Optional co-op let a second player join directly into the host's world and go through story missions and side activities together, a new and welcomed shared-fun element for the series. Side activities ranging from hunting rare animals through rescuing hostages to liberating enemy outposts gave Kyrat the feel of a living, densely layered world that could be explored in many different ways.

Both critics and players praised Far Cry 4 above all for its charismatic villain Pagan Min and for its refined, more accessible gameplay compared to the third entry, though some noted the similarity of its structure to the previous game. The game became a commercial success and cemented the series' position as a synonym for open worlds full of towers, outposts, and emergent moments that defined an entire generation of sandbox action games.

Why play it: For fans of open worlds full of towers, outposts, and the charismatic villain Pagan Min, Far Cry 4 offers more accessible and refined gameplay compared to the third entry.