Far Cry 4 is a 2014 first-person shooter game created by Ubisoft Montreal and released by Ubisoft. It is the follow-up to the 2012 game Far Cry 3 and the fourth main game in the Far Cry series. The game takes place in a fictional Himalayan country named Kyrat. It follows Ajay Ghale, a young man of Kyrati and American heritage, who becomes involved in a civil war between Kyrat's Royal Army, led by the ruthless king Pagan Min, and a rebel group called the Golden Path. Players engage in combat and explore a large open world, fighting enemy soldiers and dangerous animals with many types of weapons. The game includes features common in role-playing games, such as multiple story paths and optional missions. It also includes a map editor and multiplayer modes where players can team up or compete against each other.
Development of Far Cry 4 began in late 2012, right after the release of Assassin's Creed III. The team originally planned to create a direct follow-up to Far Cry 3 but later changed their plan to develop a new story and setting. Some parts of the game were inspired by the Nepalese Civil War, and the character Pagan Min was influenced by Japanese films Ichi the Killer and Brother. Troy Baker was chosen to voice Pagan Min. The competitive multiplayer mode was created by Red Storm Entertainment, while Ubisoft Toronto handled the parts of the game set in Shangri-La.
Far Cry 4 was released worldwide in November 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Critics generally praised the game's open-world design, visuals, music, characters, and new gameplay features. However, some reviewers found the story weak and noted similarities to the previous game. By March 2020, the game had sold over 10 million copies. Additional content was later released as downloadable packs. A spin-off game, Far Cry Primal, was released in February 2016. A follow-up game, Far Cry 5, came out in March 2018.
Gameplay
Far Cry 4 is a first-person action-adventure game. Players take control of Ajay Ghale, a Kyrati-American who is on a quest to spread his deceased mother's ashes in the fictional country of Kyrat. Ajay can use different short and long-range weapons, including pistols, revolvers, shotguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, bows, a flamethrower, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles. Stronger versions of these weapons become available as players progress through the game. Throwables include fragmentation grenades, Molotov cocktails, and throwing knives. The game allows players to take cover to avoid gunfights and perform melee takedowns from above or up-close. Unlike previous games in the series, Far Cry 4 lets players kick objects and hide enemy corpses.
Players can use different methods to complete missions. For example, they can use stealth to avoid enemies and finish objectives without being seen, or they can attack enemies with firearms and vehicles. The player character has a digital camera that marks and highlights visible enemies, animals, and loot. Players can also ride elephants, which act as powerful offensive weapons. They can throw bait to attract wildlife that attacks both enemies and the player. Players can hunt and skin animals for resources.
The game has an open world that players can explore freely. It includes environments like forests, rivers, and mountains. To move quickly, players can use vehicles such as buggies, trucks, and speedboats. They can drive and shoot at the same time and use auto-drive, where the game's artificial intelligence controls the vehicle and guides players to their goals. Players can also steal other vehicles while driving. A small autogyro called the "Buzzer" is included, giving players a tactical advantage from the air. Parachutes, wingsuits, and grappling hooks help players swing across cliffs and move quickly. Some parts of the game take place in Shangri-La, a mystical land where players battle demons as the Kyrati warrior Kalinag. In Shangri-La, players are accompanied by an injured tiger that helps them in battle.
The game world is split into two regions: North and South Kyrat. Players start in South Kyrat and can explore it right away, but they must unlock North Kyrat by completing the story. The map is opened by freeing bell towers from Pagan Min's control, which allows the Golden Path to expand. These towers reveal new areas and mark points of interest. The world has outposts controlled by Pagan Min that players can infiltrate. Four large fortresses have stronger defenses and tougher enemy combinations. If players liberate these outposts, they become fast-travel points and unlock additional missions. There are many side missions, such as rescuing hostages, disarming bombs, and hunting animals. Collected animal parts can be used to craft new pouches and belts.
Like earlier games, Far Cry 4 includes role-playing elements. Players earn experience points by completing missions and defeating enemies, which can be used for improvements and upgrades. Players can choose between two ability sets: "The Tiger" and "The Elephant." "The Tiger" upgrades improve offensive skills, while "The Elephant" upgrades improve defensive skills. Random events and hostile encounters happen throughout the game, such as being attacked by an eagle, hit by a car, or seeing an animal attack. Players can gain karma by helping rebels, like assisting them in battles against enemies or wildlife. This gives discounts at trading posts and allows players to call for help from the Golden Path. Players can also earn experience by collecting items like masks, propaganda posters, and prayer wheels. There is also an "Arena" mode where players fight enemies and animals for extra rewards.
Far Cry 4 includes a cooperative multiplayer mode called "Guns for Hire," which supports two players. This mode is separate from the main story and lets players explore the world, defeat enemies, and take over outposts with a companion. The game also has competitive multiplayer modes with asymmetrical roles. Players can choose to be a Rakshasa, who uses bows and arrows, teleports, and summons wildlife, or a Golden Path member, who uses guns, explosives, and armored vehicles. These modes are called "Outpost," "Propaganda," and "Demon Mask." The game includes a Map Editor that lets players create and share custom content. Similar to Far Cry 3, players can design landscapes, place buildings, trees, wildlife, and vehicles. However, competitive multiplayer maps were not supported at launch. Multiplayer support was added on February 3, 2015.
Plot
After Ishwari, Ajay Ghale’s (James A. Woods) mother, passes away, Ajay returns to his home country of Kyrat to fulfill her final wish: returning her ashes to Lakshmana. His journey is interrupted when the bus he is traveling on is attacked by the Royal Army. He meets Pagan Min (Troy Baker), Kyrat’s king, who is eccentric and violent. Pagan apologizes for the attack, kills a soldier who shot the bus, and acts kindly toward Ajay before kidnapping him and his tour guide. They are taken to a dinner party at Lieutenant Paul De Pleur’s mansion. After his guide is taken for questioning, Ajay escapes with Sabal (Naveen Andrews), a commander in the Golden Path, a rebel group founded by Ajay’s father, Mohan Ghale. Ajay cannot leave Kyrat because the Royal Army controls the only airport and has closed the country’s borders.
Since Ishwari and Ajay fled Kyrat over twenty years ago, the Golden Path’s rebellion has stopped making progress. As Mohan Ghale’s son, Ajay becomes a symbol for the Golden Path to unite around. After freeing hostages and capturing territory from Pagan, the Golden Path plans to weaken Pagan’s power by targeting three of his regional governors: Paul “De Pleur” Harmon (Travis Willingham), who oversees opium production and torture; Noore Najjar (Mylène Dinh-Robic), who runs illegal activities and was harmed by Pagan after he kidnapped her family; and Yuma Lau (Gwendoline Yeo), Pagan’s adopted sister and general who seeks secrets about the mystical place called Shangri-La.
The Golden Path’s progress is challenged by disagreements between its leaders, Sabal, who supports traditional methods, and Amita (Janina Gavankar), who favors using drug production for profit. Ajay must make decisions that affect the group’s direction. The first governor captured is De Pleur, after Noore helps Ajay infiltrate his base. Later, Amita and Sabal assign Ajay to kill Noore, who dies either by Ajay’s hand or by her own choice after learning Pagan had killed her family.
As the Golden Path gains control of southern Kyrat, Ajay meets Willis Huntley (Alain Goulem), a CIA agent who offers intelligence and pages from his father’s diary in exchange for killing Yuma’s soldiers. After Ajay kills several of them, Huntley reveals they were CIA agents and betrays Ajay to Pagan just as the Golden Path plans to attack northern Kyrat.
Ajay is captured by Yuma and imprisoned in a mountain facility, where he is drugged and experiences frightening hallucinations. He escapes and learns Yuma now dislikes Pagan because of his affection for Ajay’s late mother. The Golden Path advances into the north, and Pagan betrays Yuma to the rebels. Ajay confronts Yuma and wins, but tensions between Sabal and Amita grow. Ajay must choose who will lead the Golden Path. The chosen leader orders Ajay to kill the other to prevent a civil war, and Ajay can either follow the order or let the other leader live. With the Golden Path united, Ajay joins them in attacking Pagan’s fortress and pushes alone toward Pagan’s palace while the Golden Path holds off the Royal Army.
Ajay meets Pagan, who criticizes Ajay for fleeing earlier and claims he only wanted to help him. Pagan offers Ajay a final choice: shoot him or listen. If Ajay shoots Pagan, the story ends. If Ajay listens, Pagan reveals that Mohan sent Ishwari to spy on him, but they fell in love and had a daughter, Lakshmana, who is Ajay’s half-sister. Mohan killed Lakshmana for Ishwari’s betrayal, and Ishwari killed Mohan before fleeing with Ajay. Pagan shows Ajay a shrine with Lakshmana’s ashes, where Ajay places Ishwari’s ashes. Pagan leaves peacefully in a helicopter, leaving Kyrat to Ajay. The player may choose to shoot down the helicopter.
After the Golden Path takes control of Kyrat, the ending depends on which leader Ajay supported. If Amita leads, Kyrat becomes a strict drug state, forcing villagers into labor and using children as soldiers. Ajay also learns Amita has taken her sister, Bhadra, away permanently. If Sabal leads, Kyrat becomes a strict religious government, where Amita’s followers are executed, women lose rights, and Bhadra becomes a religious symbol. The player may choose to kill the leader or let them live.
An Easter egg ending is available at the start of the game. If Ajay waits at the dinner table in Pagan’s mansion, Pagan returns, thanks Ajay for being a “gentleman,” and reveals Lakshmana’s history. After Ajay places Ishwari’s ashes at the shrine, Pagan invites Ajay to join him for a final battle.
Development
The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, which took over the Far Cry series after Far Cry: Instincts was released in 2005. Other Ubisoft studios helped with development: Ubisoft Toronto, Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Kyiv. Ubisoft Montreal created the main story, Ubisoft Toronto worked on the Shangri-La parts of the story, Red Storm made the multiplayer mode, Ubisoft Shanghai designed the hunting missions, and Ubisoft Kyiv created the game's version for computers. Development began in late 2012, after Assassin's Creed III was released. The game's creative director is Alex Hutchinson, who also worked on Maxis's Spore and Assassin's Creed III. The game uses an improved version of the Dunia 2 engine from Far Cry 3.
When planning the new Far Cry game, the team first thought about making a sequel to Far Cry 3. The sequel would take place on the same tropical island, continue the main character's story, and include characters like Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry 3. However, after four days, the team decided this was not the direction they wanted. They chose to create a completely new game with a new setting and characters. The team wanted to try many ideas, such as letting players fly or ride an elephant. This led to the game's mountain setting and the inclusion of elephants. The developers wanted Far Cry 4 to be a complete experience, so they only brought back two characters from Far Cry 3, Willis and Hurk, to connect it to the series' shared universe.
Some gameplay features from Far Cry 3, like open-world exploration, hunting, and mission flexibility, were kept in Far Cry 4. The team aimed to improve these ideas and add new elements to make the game a fresh step for the series. Outposts in the game became larger, and players had more options to customize weapons. The team also focused on improving the game's world design, adding more quests, and making side-quests more story-driven. To make the world feel real, the developers visited Nepal to study local culture and used that knowledge to shape the game's setting.
The game's setting, Kyrat, is a fictional country in the Himalayas. It combines real-world areas like India, Nepal, and Tibet but makes them more dramatic. The map is similar in size to Far Cry 3 but has more varied environments. The developers wanted players to feel a sense of discovery while exploring different landscapes. To make Kyrat unique, they added fictional signs, myths, and religions. The game's world was designed to support new features like helicopters and grappling hooks. Side-quests were made more meaningful by connecting them to the story, and the team's trip to Nepal influenced the game's focus on characters instead of its civil war, which was inspired by the real Nepalese Civil War.
Pagan Min, the main antagonist, is a foreign invader who takes control of Kyrat from the royal family. He is named after a historical Burmese king in the game's lore. The team wanted players to feel surprised and curious about him during every encounter. Min has a complicated relationship with the main character, Ghale, to keep his motives mysterious. The team originally wanted a villain with a "punk-rock" style but changed their idea because it was not unique. Min's pink outfit was inspired by characters from the movies Brother and Ichi the Killer. He is designed to be cruel and confident, and the voice actor Troy Baker was chosen for his charismatic tone. During an audition, Baker used Min's voice to threaten an assistant, which impressed the team. Ghale, the main character, is described as thin, and his backstory is revealed as players progress. The narrative director, Mark Thompson, said Ghale learns about Kyrat's culture alongside players, making him relatable.
The team thought Far Cry 3's story was strong but not closely connected to the game's world. To give players more freedom and make the story feel more integrated, they added a branching storyline where choices affect the ending. Thompson said they changed Far Cry 3's story for Far Cry 4, making outsiders the villains instead of heroes. The team saw this as a risk but wanted to try something new.
For the Shangri-La missions, the team wanted a structure similar to Far Cry 3's mushroom missions, which are like mini-games within the game. These missions are not connected to Kyrat but are important to the story. The team focused on using bright colors to make Shangri-La stand out from other shooter games. Originally, it was meant to be a small open world but became a linear experience due to time limits and creative disagreements. The team later simplified it into an "ancient, natural world" with five main colors. Gold was used as the base color to create warmth, red added strangeness and linked to the story, orange encouraged interaction, white symbolized purity, and blue represented danger and honor.
Ubisoft promised that Far Cry 4 would offer a new and exciting experience for players.
Release
After Far Cry 3 became very popular, Ubisoft considered the Far Cry series one of their most important brands. In June 2013, they suggested that a follow-up game was being made. On October 3, 2013, Martinez said he was working on the game’s soundtrack. In March 2014, details about the game’s setting and features were shared online. The game was officially announced on May 15, 2014, and the first gameplay footage was shown during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014. The cover art, which showed a light-skinned character resting his hand on a dark-skinned person, caused some people to be upset and accuse the company of racism. Hutchinson later explained that the light-skinned character was not white and that the dark-skinned person was not the game’s main character. He said the community’s reaction to the cover art was “uncomfortable.”
In addition to the standard version, a Limited Edition of the game could be purchased. This edition included extra in-game missions and a special weapon called the Impaler Harpoon Gun. Players who pre-ordered the game received the Limited Edition for free. A Kyrat Edition was also announced. It included a collector’s box, a poster, a journal, a map of Kyrat, a figurine of Pagan Min, and the missions from the Limited Edition. A season pass for the game was available, which gave players access to extra content, such as a new competitive multiplayer mode, a mission called “the Syringe,” the missions from the Limited Edition, and two other downloadable content pieces. Far Cry 4: Arena Master, developed by Ludomade, was released alongside the game as a companion app for iOS and Android devices.
Far Cry 4 was released worldwide on November 18, 2014, for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One versions had better graphics, such as higher texture resolution and more detailed animal fur. The game included downloadable content when it launched. The first DLC, Escape From Durgesh Prison, which added a new mission during the main story, was released on January 13, 2015. It could be played alone or with another player. The Overrun DLC, which added new maps, a vehicle, and a new competitive multiplayer mode, was released on February 10, 2015, for consoles, and February 12, 2015, for PC. The Hurk Deluxe Pack, released on January 28, 2015, included new story missions and weapons. The final DLC, Valley of the Yetis, added a new region and story missions that could be played alone or with another player. It was released on March 10, 2015, in North America and March 11, 2015, in Europe. The game became available on Amazon Luna on November 23, 2020.
On April 29, 2025, Ubisoft released a surprise update for Far Cry 4 that increased the frame rate to 60fps on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Reception
Far Cry 4 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.
The game's story received mixed responses. Chris Carter from Destructoid praised Ajay Ghale's personality, saying it was "less in-your-face" than the main character in Far Cry 3, Jason Brody. He also praised the villain, Pagan Min, who he said stood out in the game. Nick Tan from Game Revolution praised Pagan Min's personality but said he appeared too rarely. Steven Wong from Shacknews thought most characters were complex and interesting, giving examples like Pagan Min's chief interrogator, Pagan Min himself, and the main character's mother. Josh Harmon from Electronic Gaming Monthly said the characters had more depth, and the choices players made were meaningful. Aoife Wilson from Eurogamer said the characters were memorable but was disappointed by the story. A JeuxVideo reviewer disliked both the plot and characters, writing that the main story left them "a little hungry" and that Pagan Min was "disappointing." Edwin Evans-Thirlwell from GamesRadar said the story became boring as the game progressed, even though some characters were interesting. He criticized the game's writing as weak. Mike Splechta from GameZone praised the voice acting and said the storyline was "much more satisfying."
The game's setting received positive responses. Carter said the map's vertical design made travel between places difficult but praised the interesting stories and wildlife in the world, as well as the long distance players could see. Harmon praised the game's graphics and the culture of Kyrat, saying the hilly landscape made exploration enjoyable. Wilson said the setting was less compelling than Far Cry 3's tropical environment and that much of the world felt similar. However, she praised the Shangri-la section, calling it an exception. She noted the game "may lack in looks" but has "things to do." Matt Bertz from Game Informer praised the setting, calling it vibrant and rich. Ludwig Kietzmann from Joystiq praised the content in the world and said it was absorbing. Steven Wong from Shacknews noted that as players travel from southern to northern areas, the music and soldiers change from Indian to Chinese.
The game's design also received praise. Carter said the fortress and outpost system gave players a sense of accomplishment and praised the freedom to complete missions in different ways. He also praised the driving mechanics and auto-drive feature but criticized the upgrade system, calling it uninspiring. Harmon said the introduction of the helicopter was dull. Mitch Dyer from IGN praised the economy system, saying it was satisfying and gave players motivation to complete side-quests. GameSpot's reviewer called the economy "excellent" and said it required players to upgrade their wallet and backpack. Justin McElroy from Polygon praised the grappling hook and vertical map design, which he said allowed players to plan strategies. He also praised the ability to use multiple approaches for objectives. GameSpot's reviewer noted that after liberating an outpost, the game might inform players that it is under attack again when they return.
The game's multiplayer mode received mixed responses. Carter compared the competitive multiplayer to Tomb Raider and called it "skippable." He said the cooperative multiplayer was fun but had limitations. He added the game would still be strong without multiplayer. Bertz from Game Informer said the multiplayer was shallow and poorly executed, criticizing the lack of players and servers. Evans-Thirlwell from GamesRadar said cooperative multiplayer was fun but competitive multiplayer was easy to forget. In contrast, Splechta from GameZone said competitive multiplayer was a "surprise." Dyer agreed, saying it captured the scale and freedom of the game's co-op and campaign. JeuxVideo wrote that exploring Kyrat with a friend was "funny" but might be tiring over time.
Harmon said Far Cry 4 was an improvement over Far Cry 3 but felt too similar to it, calling it unambitious. Bertz said Ubisoft Montreal's vision for Far Cry 4 was not as bold as earlier games and that the experience was similar to Far Cry 3. Tan noted the open world felt similar to Far Cry 3 and other Ubisoft games like Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs. Evans-Thirlwell said the game failed to innovate. Dyer said the game was not ambitious but still rewarding.
Ubisoft expected the game to sell at least six million copies in its first year. Far Cry 4 became the fastest-selling game and the most successful launch in the series in its first week. It was the second-best-selling game in the United Kingdom during its release week, behind Grand Theft Auto V. It was also the sixth-best-selling game in the United States, according to The NPD Group. As of December 31, 2014, the game had sold seven million copies. It sold over 10 million copies during the eighth generation of video game consoles.