Well Ubisoft jumped straight in with FarCry 4 to start off their show, but have only given us the first five minutes of gameplay so far.

We come into the game on a less than first class bus trip through the Himalayas in the fictional location Kyrta, where you meet a friendly man with a wonderful beard. As your bus arrives at a checkpoint you hand over your passport (over an awesome looking monkey-but knowing FarCry a potential wallet). Men with guns then stop the bus, one thing leads to another and well, a lot of people get shot. Enter main antagonist, and it looks like Ubisoft have delivered another lovable psychopath as the charming, finely dressed man with what can only be described as beautiful locks of hair introduces himself. Blood still on his face, he takes a selfie with you and promises to deliver a grand adventure. Brilliant.

I admit, I’m more than a little excited for the latest FarCry announcement. After the success of FarCry 3, we can expect Ubisoft to put a lot of money into the fourth instillation of the series. Ubisoft have announced a release date of November 18th for FarCry 4 and I for one can not wait.

After watching the new gameplay trailer for FarCry 4, you can see some of the improvements to the game mechanics. As this is FarCry, most of the new mechanics are to make you more BADASS, so with this in mind, the new protagonist has a few new skills than previous games. Some of the ones that have been shown include the ability to kick explosive barrels onto your enemies heads (I guess this is for when you’re bored of the stealth approach), as well as a new kind of takedown where you leap from your car onto a truck, kill everyone inside, and take control of the vehicle. Another addition (witch was sorely missing from FarCry 3) is the ability to fire weapons out of a vehicle whilst driving it.

We see the introduction of a grappling hook (and if you play open world game the same way I do, you probably spend hours trying to climb mountains just so you don’t have to go around them, making the grappling hook a welcome addition), and of course the welcome return of the wing-suit as well as new animals native the area such as elephants, adding even more dynamics to the already impressive experience. I have also heard rumours that the elephants are ridable, and even though I prefer scouting out a camp and picking my enemies out one by one, I’m still looking forward to storming an out-post on the back of an elephant with a rocket-launcher in hand feeling bad-ass as fuck.

Following the trend of a lot of the new releases, FarCry 4 has integrated co-op into the game, which plays out across the open world of Kyrat (that’s right, you heard it, an open world co-op). The second player can join the game as Hurk. The trailer shows Hurk picking up the first player in his gyrocopter and ferrying them to an enemy outpost. In an announcement made just after the gameplay trailer it was revealed that players who own FarCry 4 on PS3 or PS4 can invite their PSN friends to play, even if your friends don’t own the game.

One of the most impressive things that hits you in the trailer is the incredibly beautiful scenery and a glimpse into the new weapons on offer. You should definitely give the gameplay trailer a watch.