The Top 10 Games of Christmas 2014

02. Far Cry 4

ESRB Rating: M (for Mature)

Price: $59.99

Very few AAA game series work so hard to establish a new voice with each new title, and that is a factor that really sets the Far Cry games apart from the usual mix.

In fact that is really the point here - flying in the face of the established traditions, the wizards behind the game feel no compunctions whatsoever with abandoning the protagonists that they worked so hard in the previous games to establish, choosing instead to begin that process all over again with a new and unknown protagonist.

Created by Ubisoft Monrteal and published by Ubisoft in November 2014, Far Cry 4 is the sequel to the previous game in the series, Far Cry 3, and the fourth game in the series.

While there is certainly a difference in terms of capabilities between the previous generation and the current generation of games console, Ubisoft made the choice to release versions of the game for each, so gamers who are fans of the FC series will be happy to learn that it is offered for both Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS33, PS4 as well as Windows PC.

We do qualify it as a sequel in terms of the usual use of that word - you should take that to mean just that it happens to take place in the same universe and world, and with the same basic rules.

That does not mean that there is no connection to the previous games mind you - for instance there are some tacit connections to previous titles, they just happen to be subtle ones.

In FC4 the CIA agent who provides the narrative is the same agent from FC3. And of course a lot of the kit in the game is familiar to players from the previous games, so sequel successor makes a more apt label than plain old sequel. But there you have it.

The choice to bring it large by the developer means that players not only get a very entertaining story but also get dropped into a huge game world that is packed with dangers in many forms.

It is so easy to trip into a spoiler that we have to be very circumspect in our descriptions here, because the story in FC4 is very worthy of wide-eyed experience.

Any spoiler would be too much in other words, because this bloody and visceral world of rebellion, revolution, and anarchy also happens to tell the story of one young man and his honest attempt to honor the last wishes of his dying mother, and that sort of setup in the right hands has very great potential. Happily it ended up in the right hands!

Put a different way, the wizards took a common theme and built into it a supporting world that is packed with entertainment content. From fascinating personalities to textbook characters, a very good and complex story is complimented by a stunning environment and game world that is huge and filled with natural beauty.

With so much to do it is very easy to become distracted while playing - a temptation that can very easily take a game that under ordinary circumstances might only require 50 hours to complete with respect to its story mode eat up 100 hours just to reach the halfway point!

A major element in the secret to its success is down to the format of building a new story and new characters with each new game. We say it is a secret to its success because it creates this really strange situation in which you don't have to be a fan of the series - or have played any of the previous games - to really fall in like with it. But if you happen to BE a fan of the series than that process is all the easier.

Thanks to a cinematic approach to its opening scenes that very quickly establishes the identity of the protagonist while nearly instantly creating attachment for the gamer with that character, the story makes the process of suspension of disbelief transparent and fast. It really is that sort of story that grabs you by the jewels and retains its grip throughout, and that my friends is a good thing.

Basically they took a strong story with lots of interesting characters, added in a customization system that allows for the creation of a unique character, a very large and intensive crafting system that fully supports the player and game in the sense that by diving into it the player directly improves the life of their character as well as its capabilities.

That is actually something that the game series has always sought to do, though its success rate has varied from game to game. This time around it is a masterful stroke that hits the nail right on the head.

Had they stopped with just the features outlined above this game would have secured its place on the list, but they added a broad and challenging collections system, a diverse and dangerous population of native animals (who factor heavily into the crafts system), and an arsenal of weapons that range from sidearms to long weapons as well as signature weapons... A pattern of additions that enhances the game play experience.

Previous entries in this list made mention of the elephant in the room to address outstanding issues that required coverage. In the case of Far Cry 4 though, the elephant is not in the room, it is in the bush, and you don't so much address it as you kill it! Elephants, Rhinoceros, Tigers, Leopards, Bears, and some very mean fish (seriously, very mean evil and dangerously nasty life-taking fish, we would not kid you about that) not only enhance the crafts system, but they also make it into something of an art form since the process of obtaining the best quality pelt or hide is best accomplished using the worst possible weapons (think bow and arrow or hunting knife) that it becomes in itself a challenging element of game play!

When you also factor in that each of the major species also have sub-types, and the crafting system often have very specific requirements, and you can easily find yourself organizing bespoken hunts just to obtain the resources that are required for crafting the more useful of the accessories that crafting provides.

While your mileage is going to vary in terms of what you want to craft and therefore what you work towards obtaining the resources for, a short list of the craftable items that are highly desired would include the weapon holster, expanded ammunition bags, expanded loot bags, and even an expanded wallet! That last is not a joke - the amount of money you can carry and thus collect at any moment is dictated by the capacity of your wallet...

When you look into the different capability expanding crafted objects, you will find that the more desirable not only require hunting down and killing predatory animals, but predators who are just as dangerous to the player as an armed enemy soldier!

In some cases these animals are even more dangerous - but the message should not be lost on the player that pursuit of these resources is integral to both the story and the shaping of the protagonist.

While on the subject of crafting resources and obtaining the same we should note that the modern action-adventure shooter -- regardless of its depth and entertainment value -- is required to contain a collection of interesting Achievements / Trophies as a result of a decision that was made by the original Xbox Development Team at Microsoft before they even understood the impact that it would have on games and gamers in the future...

There is actually a very fascinating story here about Achievements and Trophies and how they ended up serving to shape the modern video game, but sadly this is not the place to tell that story... Suffice it to say though that what was originally conceived of as an optional bling-like add-on eventually became one of the most valued - if not The Most Valued - concern for the gamer community.

Achievements and Trophies ended up being way more than simply a means of keeping track of your game progress, and instead became part of the modern system of assessing gamer reputation and skill levels. Basically they are the merit badge of the gamer culture, offering an easy to interpret meter for the relative prowess of the modern gamer.

Having a very high Gamerscore (for the PlayStation side that would translate to a high trophy count for say Gold Trophies) became not simply a goal for many gamers, but a motivating factor for the development side of AAA game creation. For games liek FC4 this often results in a decision process that literally shaped the presence of the protagonist in the game.

The Achievements in FC4 can be evenly divided between story/campaign consistent activity and what we can only describe as extracurricular activities - the latter consisting of actions or kill counts that fall well outside the usual game play efforts in that the player has to actively seek out the conditions that are required for unlocking them.

That's actually pretty common today - in fact a lot of gamers really and genuinely resent Achievements that require behavior in a game that is outside of normal game play style. In other words when you have to work at and do things you would not ordinarily do in order to unlock them, that sort of Achievement is viewed negatively. Almost as negative as the Secret Achievement - the presence of too many of the latter often being sufficient to cause gamers to avoid a title.

Far Cry 4 contains a mixture of different types of Achievements that tend to increase player satisfaction with the game - which means that the wizards who created the game made significant efforts to both comply with the Achievement requirements put on them by Microsoft's Achievements Policy while at the same time building them into the game as a positive element...

It would be very difficult to overstate our satisfaction with the entertainment value and the story to be found and experienced in Far Cry 4. There is a reason that it appears in our list in the Number 2 spot, and it was not one of the games whose placement in the list was a source of conflict.

The cool part of that is that thanks to the decision by Ubisoft to fully support the platform offerings for FC4, the generational state of your gamer you are gifting really doesn't factor into the decision for this one. In fact the only real question extent on this one is whether or not the gamer is old enough - and mature enough - to deal with the graphically violent nature of the story in this game!

In terms of games for gifting, the entertainment and satisfaction measures for Far Cry 4 secures a slot at the very top of the list - and it belongs here.

Posted: 17th Dec 2014 by CMBF
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