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Far Cry 4 Hands-On Preview [E3 2014]

Those who want to take a bullet-filled vacation in video game form don't need to look any further than Ubisoft's venerable Far Cry franchise. After all, though the games are filled with scumbag baddies, they're more about becoming one with the environment than simply shooting hot lead into digitized corpses. This afternoon, I was able to get some hands-on time with the series' next, visually stunning outing, Far Cry 4, a game that has looked better and better as more of its features have been revealed. And, although its demo kiosks were problematic, it showed this massive Far Cry 3 fan a ton of promise and an action-packed time.

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The demo began with a black screen, which let me pick from three different areas of a single mission, that being one of the game’s stronghold takeover objectives. Said options included a stealthy infiltration attempt — complete with a potentially silenced sniper rifle — as well as an aerial assault and a thunderous elephant ride. I picked the one with the tiny, one-manned helicopter, and did my best to deal with smart (and well-equipped) baddies from above.

During my first attempt, my flight machine was gunned down, which forced me to jump out and fight for my life on foot. It was pretty challenging, due to an alarm that brought vehicles and turrets right to me, and I died rather quickly. This isn’t what I did with my second attempt, though. The second time around, I tried to be a bit more stealthy and actually had more fun that way. All the while, I was thoroughly impressed by beautiful visuals, which were only marred by minor issues – the likes of which are to be expected from an in-development game.

Honestly, the only in-game problem that I encountered as I tested Far Cry 4 pertained to its flight controls, which were too sensitive. I’d merely tap the joystick and that would cause the thing to go haywire, so hopefully the folks from Ubisoft Montreal will spend some time fine-tuning things. Other than that, I enjoyed myself a lot and found even more reasons to eagerly anticipate what had already made its way to the top of my “Can’t Wait For” list.

Have your passport ready for Far Cry 4, as it’s expected to launch on November 18, 2014.