Easily one of the most memorable games of 2012, Ubisoft's Far Cry 3 took gamers on a hallucinogenic island adventure as Jason Brody, a tourist from LA who finds himself severely out of his depth after he and his friends are kidnapped by psychopathic pirate Vaas Montenegro, who plans to sell them into slavery.

Standalone spinoff Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon helped to satiate appetites while gamers eagerly waited for the next main installment in the series, but luckily the wait won't be too much longer. Earlier this year, Ubisoft revealed that Far Cry 4 would take a long trip away (and a big drop in temperature) from Far Cry 3 with a story that takes place in the snowy Himalayas, and new activities that include elephant riding.

Now Ubisoft has officially announced that Far Cry 4 will arrive on November 18 for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4, and has revealed the box art for the game along with further details about the plot. Far Cry 4 will be set in the fictional region of Kyrat, an wild and untamed area of the Himalayas that is struggling under the cruel thumb of a despotic ruler who has declared himself king. Check him out - along with one of his unfortunate citizens - in the box art below.

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It looks like Ubisoft has definitely learned from the success of Far Cry 3, choosing once again to make the game's villain the focus of the marketing. Fans of the series may remember that the box art for Far Cry 3 had Vaas front-and-center with an unfortunate victim at his feet, and this artwork for Far Cry 4 shamelessly echoes that image. Our new bad guy also, like Vaas, sports a creative hairstyle and he seems to be the most stylishly-dressed person in all of the Himalayas.

Hopefully Far Cry 4 will be its own game rather than simply trying to emulate Far Cry 3, since the creative team behind the last game in the series - creative director Patrick Plourde and lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem - were busy with fantasy RPG Child of Light while Far Cry 4 was in the works. Far Cry 4's development was led by Ubisoft studio Red Storm Entertainment, along with Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Kiev. If nothing else, at least we can still expect the unskippable Ubisoft credit scroll of millions at the end of the game.

Although the Far Cry games are not direct sequels to one another, customers who pre-order Far Cry 4 will get access to three bonus single-player missions in a pack called Hurk's Redemption, which once again features Hurk, the quest-giving character from Far Cry 3's Monkey Business content pack.

Has this artwork and synopsis for Far Cry 4 got you hyped for its release this November? Tell us in the comments what you think of the Himalayan setting, and that wonderful magenta suit that the new antagonist is wearing.

Far Cry 4 will be available for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4 on November 18, 2014.

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Source: Ubisoft