Far Cry 4 (for PC)

Call Him AJ
You play Ajay Ghale, an American who was born in the fictitious pseudo-Tibetan state of Kyrat. As the game opens, Ghale has returned to his homeland to scatter his mother's ashes. It's certainly more somber than the party-heavy opening of Far Cry 3, but the plot from there is nearly identical: The villainous psychopath controlling the region kidnaps you, you escape, and the local resistance welcomes you as a one-man army set on taking down the oppressive forces that demonstrated how evil they were when you were tied down five feet away from the main bad guy.

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In place of Far Cry 3's crazed criminal Vaas, Far Cry 4$44.99 at Amazon forces you to take down the smug supervillain Pagan Min, who apparently killed your father and forced your mother to flee Kyrat with you when you were a child. He doesn't make many face-to-face appearances in the game, instead mostly mocking you over the radio while you pick off his lieutenants one by one. Vaas suffered from a similarly disappointing lack of screentime in Far Cry 3, and the purple-suited Pagan Min really should have been center-stage through the game. Fortunately, he occasionally taunts you over the radio even if you don't face him in-person much, and his radio calls make him as smarmy and evil as Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2.
Familiar Violence
If you played Far Cry 3, you know how to play Far Cry 4. Far Cry 4 follows the third game's formula almost religiously. You run around an open world, revealing parts of the map by climbing radio towers and unlocking new fast travel and shop locations by conquering outposts. You hunt and skin animals to unlock new upgrades, and additional weapons become available as you clear the map. A string of story missions take you through the rebel forces' quest to fight back against the villain's army.
The names have changed and Far Cry 4's not-Tibet is much more mountainous and visually interesting than Far Cry 3's not-Malaysia. Kyrat has some interesting locations and areas.  A grappling hook lets you access much higher points without annoying first-person jumping around to figure out which ledges you can stand on, and a wingsuit with built-in parachute lets you get down safely and navigate quickly if you can't find a hang glider or gyrocopter. There are also more wild animals to deal with, making trekking through the wilderness much more dangerous.

The game is entirely first-person action, with the usual selection of pistols, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and unique weapons such as bows and flare guns at your disposal. New weapons are unlocked or outright given to you regularly as you take over outposts and climb radio towers, and it doesn't take long to build up a formidable arsenal. You can carry up to four weapons at a time, in addition to useable items like grenades, Molotov cocktails, and throwing knives, so it's easy to prepare for different situations.
Most missions involve either securing a location (by killing all the enemies there) or getting from point A to point B (by killing all the enemies in the way), but there are some surprisingly entertaining variations. The story missions occasionally throw a few tense curveballs your way by limiting your options or forcing you to side with one of the two rebel leaders and their differing tactics and philosophies. (Should you burn the opium field, or is it better to capture it to raise money for the resistance?) Loads of extra missions offer additional activities like hunting special animals, racing, and engaging in drug-fueled dream trips through Shangri-La to restore an ancient work of art. Random Karma activities also pop up as you explore the map, highlighted as purple dots that indicate you can do something quick to look good in the eyes of the resistance, like rescue a hostage or intercept a courier. There are also loads and loads of collectibles, including propaganda posters to tear down, pages from your father's journal to find, and demon masks to destroy.
Looking Good
The game looks gorgeous on the PC. Its PC resolution range runs from 1,280 by 720 to 1,920 by 1,080, and I played at full 1080p. Like Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 is bright and colorful, packed full of beautiful views to behold and exotic animals to murder. The models and animations seem to have been polished slightly since the previous game, but it's not a major upgrade. Once you climb up high, though, you can really appreciate the work the engine puts in. Draw distances are extremely long, and landscapes are packed full of detail as you fly by on a hang glider or in your wing suit. Fire and water effects seem a bit improved as well, but, besides enjoying the gorgeous ranges of Kyrat, Far Cry 4 doesn't put on a significantly better show than Far Cry 3 did.
Play Well With Others
The main, direct multiplayer mode is co-op, and you can decide whether you want to play online or offline. If you play online, your friends can jump in and join you in your conquest of Kyrat, with one of you playing Ajay and the other playing dopey mercenary Hurk.
Far Cry 4 comes with the useful Map Editor and Map Browser extras. Map Editor lets you make your own outposts to conquer and wildernesses to hunt in, and Map Browser lets you find other users' creations and play them, adding a ton of potential for additional content and new challenges.
More of the Same Fun
Far Cry 4 is a fun sandbox of shooting with an interesting land to explore and tons of missions to find and collectibles to grab. It slavishly follows Far Cry 3's structure, but when the action is entertaining enough it's hard to complain about that. Far Cry 4 doesn't do much new, but it's an enjoyable and good-looking excuse to spend some hours stomping through jungles and sniping people from towers.