The Five Biggest Reasons We’re Excited for Far Cry 4

Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4 is a massive open-world adventure full of deadly enemies, deadly locales, and deadly animals. Everything in this game is deadly. It’s also one of the most massive, action-packed games of the year. Check out just five of the reasons why you should be pumped for this week’s release of Far Cry 4 on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

You can ride an elephant while you shoot a ton of dudes.

There are a ton of deadly animals inhabiting the region of Kyrat. But none have the pure destructive force of an elephant – and in this game, elephants basically act like living tanks. Plus, they let you ride them… which is not something we recommend you try with the snow leopards. Just trust us on this one.

Shangri-La is a real place, and it has a white tiger in battle armor.

Part of Far Cry 4 involves you going on a spiritual quest through the mystical city of Shangri-La. Your guide on this journey is a white tiger (a real one, not someone from the 80s hair metal band) wearing battle armor. He’s pretty much He-Man’s BattleCat, but better, because he never changes back into Cringer.

You can climb to the top of mountains, then hang-glide off of them.

Verticality is the new hotness is games, and Far Cry 4 shows other games up by virtue of unfolding on the tallest mountain range on the planet. These are mountains so deadly that people die and get frozen solid, and are then used as landmarks for other climbers. But you get to climb them, then jump off of them like a complete badass.

It’s about time we got a flashy, over-the-top villain!

Pagan Min – the main antagonist of Far Cry 4 – is practically a Disney villain. Voiced by the amazing Troy Baker, he’s flamboyant, he’s sinister, and it feels like he’s going to break out into song at any moment. He’s one of the most theatrical antagonists we’ve seen in a game, and he’s awesome.

Driving is awesome… and if you don’t want to drive, it’s automatic.

Far Cry 4 has an auto-drive feature. This may not sound like much, but the world of Kyrat is so gorgeous that you’ll occasionally want to take the opportunity to look around and enjoy the sights. Also, it also frees you up to shoot enemies who are trying to ram you off the road. So that’s pretty nice.

Far Cry 4 hits Xbox One and Xbox 360 on November 18. Get ready for some high-altitude craziness!