Obviously, when we're done drooling, we'll start climbing, as often as possible. Grabbing our way up radio towers in Far Cry 3 was genuinely engaging, if not a bit rigid. Bell towers are the functional equivalent this time around, having been pillaged and silenced by Pagan Min and retrofitted with his own propaganda radio network. We'll climb to the top and shutdown his evil equipment to open up different regions on our map, just like before. While grappling hooks are hardly a novel concept in video games, they're new to Far Cry and rarely seen in first-person. Secret temples and the aforementioned Bell Towers will make creative use of the grapple through environmental climbing puzzles. This should add some much needed dynamism to Far Cry's FPS platforming mechanics, taking full advantage of Ubisoft's affinity for fluid climbing systems and the series' refocus on vertical level design.
11. Provoke The Wildlife
With Far Cry 4's Himalayan setting has come a long list of native animals for Ubisoft to draw from and simulate in-game. With plenty of predators a la Far Cry 3, animal A.I. will intersect in more realistic ways than ever before. A hawk might suddenly pluck a goat from off the road in front of you. Leopards and Tigers return, pouncing unsuspecting prey at every turn. Man-eating fish plague the wild waters. How else will food chain dynamics manifest in the wild, wild East? There's always the option of messing with a pack of Rhinos near a gaggle of Min's henchmen. Bothering animals in their natural habitat is a timeless tradition that Far Cry 4 fundamentally celebrates. Animal activists have to let loose sometime, don't they?
10. Car-Chase Shoot-Out On Winding Cliffs
Driving in the last two Far Cry games has been a tangibly chaotic experience, but car chases have often left us with a moving turret on our tail and no way to fire back. In true, high-action fashion, Far Cry 4 will let us shoot at pursuant baddies while barreling down sky-high stretches of road--simultaneously. No more swapping back and forth between your mounted Gatling gun and the steering wheel like some kind of double-man. Such a man will never exist. What does exist are some crazy new vehicular takedowns where you physically leap from your car to another, knifing and ditching its occupants. Highjacking a depot truck as it cruises along a high-altitude, dirt-road cliff? Indy would be proud--even more so if he knew we could...
Real Science Magazine called James' addiction to video games "sexually attractive." He also worked really hard and got really lucky in college and earned some awards for acting, improv and stand-up, but nobody cares about that out here in LA. So... He's starting over fresh, performing when He can. His profile picture features James as Serbian, vampire comic Dorde Mehailo with His anonymous Brother and Uncle at the Nerdmelt Showroom in West Hollywood. In James' spare time, he engages in acting, writing, athletics, hydration, hours of great pondering and generally wishing you'd like him.
