Act I Introduction

Once the Prologue has been completed you are facing an very uphill struggle in terms of information and awareness largely due to the fact that the world is covered in the fog of war, and the limited means and capabilities your character starts out with.

There are some basic facts and strategies you should be aware of early on - and some common advice that you should take to heart since it will keep you alive and effective a lot longer when you do. This Introduction is intended to provide those services to you...

First, Some Basic Advice

Under ordinary circumstances either avoiding or dealing with human enemies is sound advice, but the world that you are now operating in is a very rural one in which enemies of the two-legged variety are not the only threat!

In fact considering that you will spend far more time in the bush, which is th world in which Animals are largely dominant, than you will in towns and villages where humans rule, it is a very good idea for you to take to heart the warning that animals - particularly those whose food model includes hunting - will present the greatest threat to your continued existence.

You might be thinking - hey, no problem, I will just keep my gun handy! That can work, if it were as easy as that, but it is not. The reason it is more complicated has to do with this little condition that we call enlightened self-interest.

You see in addition to presenting a threat to you, almost all of these Animals - including the most dangerous ones - also present opportunity to you! Opportunity that sees you trying as hard as you can NOT to use a machine gun to kill them!

You see their hides or pelts are not simply valuable in a monetary sense, but also represent the fastest path towards increasing your character capabilities than any other path in the game, and so you not only want to hunt them in a particularly dangerous way, you want to do it with the worse possible weapons - either a knife or the bow and arrow! Why?

The simple facts are that an animal whose pelt or hide is perforated by dozens of holes from large caliber lead bullets is nowhere near as useful to you as one that is not so damaged. When you use the traditional native methods of hunting and killing you actually can obtain a BONUS of two hides or pelts form a kill as a result.

Obviously going up against a predator with such weak weapons is dangerous - but we have some good news for you, sunshine!

It works out that HOW you kill the beasty is not so closely connected to the resulting hide quality as it may seem. What we mean by that is simple - you can start out using an automatic weapon to weaken the beast because it is the KILLING BLOW that is counted by the system, NOT the damaging ones.

So you can drop a grenade on that bear to damage it, then use the bow and arrow to kill it, and the game system will treat the resulting hide as if you used ONLY the bow and arrow, giving you a pair of pristine hides as a result. Yes, that may feel like - and indeed may BE cheating - but on the other hand you only have to die a few times at the claws and paws of one of these monsters to make you decide that this sort of cheating is just fine with you!

The next basic advice you need to hear is about trigger discipline and the use of your weapons.

Once you regain control of your character during the Prologue you will eventually find yourself in possession of an AK47 you take from the body of a soldier that you kill with the machete you find yourself armed with.

Once you have that gun chances are it is going to make you feel a lot braver than you should feel. Do not let that happen. Despite the fact that you are now adequately armed in terms of caliber, you have only a limited amount of ammunition and the only source for more is in killing additional soldiers.

You are also faced with the dangers of attack by wild Animals - so you need to develop a solid sense of both trigger discipline and ammunition conservation habits early on, and ingrain those into your character play so that they become second nature.

Never fire the weapon unless you intend to kill. Never kill in a situation in which killing the target fails to solve the problem or eliminate the threat.

Case in point - when you approach the poacher camp in the middle of your run in the Prologue you lack sufficient ammunition to take out all of the soldiers of the patrol in the camp. Starting a gunfight with them would be suicide.

But a few well-aimed shots at the rope that is holding the cage that contains the large cat will not only give you an instant edge, thanks to the fact that some of the soldiers have been teasing the cat, it is already in a frame of mind that desires the death of the soldiers! So help that cat make those deaths happen and you help yourself...

It is that sort of introspective consideration that we refer to as strategic thinking. You should ALWAYS be thinking strategically, and you should be trying to work out several moves and minutes in advance what the effect will be for any overt actions you make.

It is ALWAYS better to kill silently and covertly than it is to start an open overt firefight. Equipping your weapons with silencers should be one of your primary goals, as should expanding your capacity for weapons - which means not simply learning how the Crafting system works, but obtaining the various resources required for the making of the holsters and larger bag capacities that will improve your tactical position!

Second, Improving your Lot in Life

The subject of crafts and resources and what your aims should be naturally brings us to the second point in this informative discussion - Improving your Lot in Life.

While you cannot go through life expecting to benefit from the kindness of strangers, in your present situation you have no choice but to accept the largess that is heaped upon you from that source for at least as long as it takes you to begin to take more control and responsibility for your own existence!

With that in mind and considering that we have already covered the need to learn about Crafting, to obtain the resources you need to increase your weapon carrying capacity and the amount of ammunition you can carry, as well as other kit and resources, this part of the conversation moves on to the areas of intelligence and information.

Make no mistakes about this, intel and info are two very powerful tools for both war and survival.

Once you have established a relatively safe and secure base to work from - and in this case the village of Banapur is that safe zone - your thoughts should turn to improving your tactical sense of the situation via intel and info - the two I's - starting with exploring the immediate area and attacking and unlocking the many Stations in the vicinity as well as any Bell Towers you can find.

Remember these destinations not only improve your awareness of the area and region, they also serve as fast travel points, and each has a static population presence of specific Animals whose pelts and hides you require.

In addition to that, there is the possibility of obtaining and unlocking new weapons, and new supply sources as well as Trading Posts, and what is more, additional contacts that can and will provide you with new missions and quests. Just the sort of thing that moves the story forward in other words!

Third, Missions and Quests

And that nicely segues to Missions and Quests. There is a story unfolding here, and it is through the different missions and quests that it is told and from which you make personal progress in your part of that story.

More important however is the fact that the undercurrents of power are lagely addressed via the missions and quests on offer. Specifically there are two leaders whose authority grows and weakens thanks in part to you choosing to help them - or not. Those are Amita and Sabal - and make no mistake here, they each have their own hidden agendas - and it is your job to determine whose agenda is closer to your own wants, needs, and life philosophy.

I will warn you right now, depending on your sensibilities one of those leaders is going to have a hidden agenda that you are opposed to. But you cannot act on that opposition until you uncover which one it is!

At the start of this adventure you have no choice but to work with both leaders - at least until you have obtained a better understanding of their values and goals. Once you start to learn which one is the most beneficial for the nation, you will know who to support. Notice that we did not say who to follow - as that is a completely different kettle of fish!

Conclusion

Far Cry 4 and its story is a very deep and involved - entertaining - romp through the jungle that, in addition to providing you with opportunity to do the right thing, also offers you a chance to indulge your own social notions and deliver your own brand of justice.

That being the case, this is one of those game play experiences that is best approached with leisure and best savored, so try not to rush things.

Take your time, drink in the story as it unfolds, and make an effort to collect all of the collectibles, visit all of the cool locations, and experience all of the weapons, Vehicles, and activities that are on offer. It might help to think of this more as an exciting vacation from the mundane - a sort of war tourism if you will - than a dangerous situation you find yourself fallen into. Though really it is that.

As you make your way through the wilderness and make Friends with the natives you will truly start to appreciate how nice it is to have options and choices... Just saying. Welcome to Far Cry 4! Now go kill something!