Far Cry 4 is out today. We've only just received review code, so you ll have to wait a while for our verdict. But I did find some time to see how the PC version handles. We ll have a full review soon, but in the meantime, here are some early impressions.

After the bug-ridden Assassin s Creed Unity, a lot of you were probably bracing yourself for similar woes with Far Cry 4. But I m semi-happy to report that the problems of revolutionary Paris do not extend to the mountains of Kyrat. On Nvidia machines this seems to be a solid PC release, but AMD owners might not be so lucky.

On a GTX 970 with 16GB of RAM and an i5 clocked at 3.4GHz I get a steady 60fps on ultra settings at 1080p. There s an option above ultra, called Nvidia , but even with a card as new as the 970 this drops me to around 30fps, so I ve been sticking to ultra.

Sam tested the game on his much older Radeon HD 7870 with 16GB of RAM and an AMD FX-6200 clocked at 3.8GHz, and the game ran at between 30-40fps on high settings at 1080p, but with occasional stuttering. At one point I blew up some barrels during a vehicle sequence and it paused for about a second, which is concerning.

This could be an issue specific to Sam s PC, but I won t know until I ve tested it on a few other AMD machines. If you couldn t wait and you ve already bought the game, leave a comment with your specs and tell us how it s running for you. I ve seen a few people on Twitter say they re having the same problem with AMD GPUs, and this extensive benchmark by Gamers Nexus has reported similar findings.

As for the graphics options on offer, they re pretty extensive. You can adjust fine details like animal fur, vegetation, water, and god rays, as well as things like triple buffering, shadows, textures, geometry complexity, and FOV. You re given a lot of control over the game s visuals, which will be useful for people with older cards.

I m not very far into the game itself, but Kyrat is a beautiful place. The fog-shrouded mountains on the horizon and muted colour palette give it a very different feel to the Rook Islands. There s a lot more verticality, and standing on the edge of a cliff gazing down into a deep, yawning valley made it feel absolutely huge.

The grapple is a new tool, letting you clamber up cliffs and swing across gaps. You can only attach it to set points defined by the game, but they re everywhere. Anyone who played Far Cry 3 will feel instantly at home. You re given a bow early on to hunt a pack of wolves, and new hero Ajay is similarly good at healing himself on the fly.

But one of the biggest improvements for me is the story. I hated Jason Brody and all of his hooting jock friends, which really dampened the narrative elements of the game for me. I just didn t want to save them. But Ajay is instantly more likeable, and charismatic new villain Pagan Min makes an unforgettable first impression.

So far I ve spent most of my time taking photos of monkeys—the in-game camera now has an option to hide the HUD, which will please virtual photographers—but I ll be getting stuck into the game properly in the next couple of days, with a review to follow. Let s hope a patch or driver update irons these AMD issues out.

See more of Andy's screenshots here, all taken on ultra settings.

I was sort of aware that Far Cry 4 would have a story, but, until recently, had only ever thought of the game in terms of tigers, elephants, guns and explosions. But fine, I guess I can also take time out of all that to listen to some humans talk and do stuff.

Go trailer:

Far Cry 4 is out today. Andy, who has just received his review code, is currently testing it out. Check back later for his post on the game's PC performance, ahead of his full review later this week.

Oh what's that? There's another trailer?

Huh. That was weird.

Right now, Far Cry 4 reviews are popping up all over the internet. It is, by all reports, a great game. Unfortunately, we can neither confirm or deny that assessment. More troubling, given the launch state of Assassin's Creed: Unity, is that we can't tell you how it performs on PC. The reason is simple: we haven't yet received code.

If you're getting a sense of deja vu, it's because exactly the same thing happened with Unity. For Far Cry 4, Ubisoft held a console review event; giving multi-platform outlets the chance to have their reviews in place for today's embargo. We, naturally, need to play the game on PC. Last night, we were informed that code wouldn't arrive until Tuesday, the date of the game's launch.

Ubisoft are, of course, free to restrict pre-release access to their game in whatever way they see fit. We aren't entitled to review code, and could still offer a judgement—albeit a less timely one—without. However, it's a disappointing development when it comes in the same week as Assassin's Creed: Unity's launch. That game has since caused Ubisoft's share price to drop as much as 12.8%, and yesterday its more spectacular bugs caught the attention of the BBC.

In that news post, a Ubisoft spokesperson clarified the way the company was approaching reviews. "The nature of games themselves and the way they are being reviewed is changing, as evidenced by games like Assassin's Creed Unity, Destiny and The Crew—games that have significant online components," she said.

"Having the online elements available and having populated worlds is essential to creating a representative and complete experience for reviewers. Achieving this prior to launch is incredibly complex, which is why some games are being reviewed much closer—or as was the case with Destiny, even after—the game launches."

The difference, to my mind, is that Destiny is an MMO. Assassin's Creed: Unity is not. Far Cry 4 is not. They have online elements, yes, but they are not predominantly online games. As the gap between high and mid-range PC specs widens, as system requirements become increasingly more demanding, and as pre-order bonuses are marketed more aggressively; to also restrict reviews to being conceivably days after a game's launch is a worrying trend for consumers.

We asked Ubisoft for an official statement, which you will find below:

"The reason why we did not provide review code until now is that there is a title update which won t be available before Monday prior to launch. However, we will officially communicate on the title update prior the release of the game so consumers are aware."

The only thing I need from a map editor is the ability to stack thousands of explosive barrels, so I can then explode them to the chagrin of my graphics card. But others treat map editors as a tool for editing maps, and its this group that seems disappointed with the news that Far Cry 4's editor won't support competitive multiplayer.

The limitation was noticed during a recent Twitch stream. Viewers spotted that only challenge maps had editing options—leading to a now 129 page forum thread about the omission.

That restriction was then confirmed over Twitter by Alex Hutchinson, creative director of the game.

"I direct the game but I don't set budgets or timelines," he said. "We always squeeze in as much as we can, but we're always prioritizing.

"We're going to keep supporting the game so hopefully we can get it done post release. No promises but we will try."

I'm almost surprised at the ferocity of the fan reaction. But the forum thread suggests a sizeable competitive community exists—one that sees custom-made maps as an important part of the experience. Hopefully, Far Cry 4 will one day be able to serve them.

Ta, Eurogamer.

Ubisoft cranks out a lot of trailers, but the new one for Far Cry 4 is actually useful, at least as far as these things go. It's an eight minute breakdown of just about everything the game has to offer, from the basics of the story to weapons, vehicles, central characters, multiplayer, and the proper application of mysticism on the modern-day battlefield.

The video covers a lot of ground, and yet much of it will be familiar to veterans of the previous Far Cry: Knocking out radio towers, collecting animal skins to craft items, enthusiastic firearms retailers, employing vehicles as offensive weaponry, interacting with a charmingly crazy (and preternaturally attractive) cast of characters, and all that sort of thing. It's a far cry from revolutionary, in other words, but as an open-world arena for creatively blowing stuff up, I expect it'll fit the bill.

We'll find out in six days: Far Cry 4 hits on November 18.