Far Cry 4's mountains of praise, Mario Kart 8's first DLC, and Just Cause 3's big surprise
Week in Gaming Ever wanted to see Link drive the Blue Falcon? Of course you have.
By Hugh Langley
Far Cry 4 offers many things, but predictability is not one of them
Oh Far Cry. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I make it about four by now. Yeah, four ways. The
Far Cry franchise has perhaps been Ubisoft's most consistently strong
property, peaking with the phenomenal Far Cry 3 in 2012. Now Far Cry 4
is here, and we're pleased to say that we're not the only ones who think
it's a bit great.We'd already delved into the rich environments of fictional Kyrat to explore the "anecdote factory" and the animals that live within it.
But this week the verdicts rolled in, and reviews have been strong
across the board, with praise for Ubisoft's choice of location and the
sheer vastness and variety it offers - even if the narrative is a tad
weak. CVG
said: "The strength of the world and its systems alone makes this one
of the year's best games and one whose enormous potential for
experimentation means you'll playing it well into 2015. By taking things
to the Himalayas, Ubisoft Montreal has managed to skilfully weave an
attractive partnership of awe-inspiring landscape and exhilarating,
surprising action." While GamesRadar
concluded: "Far Cry 3 remains the series' peak, but Far Cry 4 is a
lovely-looking, accomplished offering that suffers from lacklustre
writing and an odd lack of purpose."
Crossing the streams
It's
a sad fact that we may never get another F-Zero game. But thanks to
Nintendo's steady move into the DLC business, we can now at least
pretend. Mario Kart got a big serving of downloadable
loveliness this week, introducing new racers, new vehicles and new maps.
Not only does the new content pay fan service to F-Zero by bringing
back the famous Mute City track, it also unlocks Link (yes, the one of
Legend of Zelda fame) as a playable racer. It feels a bit wrong to cross
the streams like this, but yet, it also feels so right. Also
making a triumphant return in the raft of new tracks is Yoshi Circuit,
which debuted back in Mario Kart Double Dash. Then there's Excitebike
Arena, which uses randomly-generated jumps to make for a different
experience every time. Overall, it's an excellent bundle,
and it only costs you £7/7.99. It's worth it just to see Link driving
the Blue Falcon down a massive dragon.
Cause we said so
Just Cause 3 is coming, and it's coming in 2015. The big reveal was made by Game Informer
this week, and the best news of all is that it won't be free-to-play or
contain any micro-transaction, as earlier leaked screenshots had
suggested. Avalanche Studios' open-world shooter will come to PS4, Xbox One
and PC and will see returning protagonist Rico Rodriguez going up
against a nasty dictatorship in his fictional home of Medici. There'll
be grappling and wing suiting aplenty, and a 400 square mile map to run
riot in. NICE. Just Cause 3, Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, The Witcher 3, Batman: Arkham Knight - 2015 may be the year that finally defines "next gen".
Happy Birthday to the PS4
Speaking
of which, the PS4 has turned one year old, and we're in the mood to
celebrate this. So we've taken the opportunity to look back at the past
12 months of PlayStation 4 and the best games so far, offer some helpful
tips and tricks, and assess whether the console has lived up to the
hype. source
