The crazies have come out to play.
So, I think I’ve played every main iteration of Far Cry. The few spin-offs that were released, I may have missed, but I know I have played through every numbered Far Cry. I was a huge fan of both Far Cry 3 and 4, and even when FC4 was getting stale for me, I still managed to platinum the game. Needless to say, I still love the series as a whole. After having Pagan Min’s adventures get a bit stale for me, hearing about new change of locale and villain in the past year, I have been getting more excited to see what Ubisoft would come up with in Far Cry 5. After putting a lot of time into it, I can see it is most certainly more Far Cry, but it feels ever so slightly different.
Players take on the role of a rookie sheriff deputy who ends up getting involved with a sting operation in Hope County, Montana to take down the leader of a religious cult known as The Project at Eden’s Gate. Things go horribly wrong and the deputy, along with the sheriff, another deputy, and a US Marshall are now trapped in a cult infested Hope County and now must find a way out, along with bringing up a resistance with the local citizens who have refused to go along with the “Peggies”.
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $59.99
For anyone who has played a mainline Far Cry game before, particularly Far Cry 3 or 4, they will feel right at home here. The game centers around doing missions for resistance leaders while dismantling PEG’s hold on the county and its inhabitants. This will revolve around multiple things, but it all comes back to taking out cult members via shooting, melee take downs, or more creative ways. This is where Far Cry has always shined, and it continues that trend here. Taking down an outpost however I saw fit was always both fun and exciting. Every encounter was unique and rewarding. I could choose to scout out the area with my binoculars to mark enemy placement as well as possible hazards and alarms, then take them out one by one silently, or I could go in guns blazing with loud explosions for good measure. Even better, I could always throw in some bait and let nature itself handle the job by luring bears, cougars, and wolverines into the outpost to attack the cult members. The options are vast here on how to approach any situation.
Mechanically, Far Cry 5 takes a page out of Ghost Recon: Wildlands’ book. Each area of Hope County is governed by a cult leader, particularly, a family member of the head of Project at Eden’s Gate, Joseph Seed. Travelling to that section of the county will have players gathering resistance against said leader. Doing missions, rescuing hostages, taking over outposts, and destroying cult structures all add to a resistance meter. At certain intervals, new story missions and perks open up, but at the same time, the leader of the area puts a higher bounty on the player’s head, making more powerful enemies appear to take the rookie deputy down.
Players unlock perk points doing all sorts of things, mainly completing challenges that revolve around weapons and takedowns. Perk points allow the player to upgrade their deputy. These upgrades fall into categories that help with traversal, survivability , and weapon efficiency. The great thing about this style of skill tree is the fact that I could pick and choose skills that I want. There are a few that have to be unlocked first before purchasing them with points, but allowing me to get the parachute and wing suit when I wanted was excellent. Many of these upgrades carry over to the Arcade mode as well. I’ll talk more on that in a little while.
One of the more impressive and unique aspects of the game, especially in the exploration, are the stash bunkers the players will run into. These serve as mini dungeons that usually revolve around solving a puzzle. Most stashes hold cash, perk magazines that give a perk point, and sometimes a hard to find weapon. Many of these stashes have a certain theme to them, some of which can be a little outlandish while being really fun.
Along with character upgrades, there are also weapon upgrades that can be purchased along with cosmetic items like clothes and outfits. Most weapon upgrades revolve around suppressors, extended magazines, and scopes, but there are always a few welcomed additions to help out when trying to be more accurate or stealthy.
Players can have others help them out in missions as well. The Guns for Hire and Fangs for Hire mechanic allows the deputy to recruit a person or animal to help them out in combat and scouting. Each one comes with their own perks and certain story characters can help out majorly in a pinch. Looking for some air support? Get Nick Rye to help out in his plane. Want to scout out an outpost quietly? Take Boomer the dog along. Once again, tons of options.
As far as the story goes, it is actually pretty standard fare compared to the previous Far Cry games. The setting is a nice change with the United States finally being the locale for a Far Cry game. It was nice to see/hear familiar areas and scenes, exaggerated of course, while still looking at a Far Cry game. The main villain, Joseph Seed, take a back seat in the beginning and his siblings are the main attractions here. Dealing with the “main boss” of each area takes precedence over the “big bad”, so players will be interacting and hearing more from them than of some crazy main villain like the previous games.
Going along with the open-endedness of the game comes some open world issues. For starters, some really strange animations occur in many instances and the enemy/ally AI is not the brightest in the world. Many times, I would see cult enemies just standing staring into space during a heated gun fight. I didn’t mind, it made for an easy target, but it was still noticeable. The biggest issue is the constant enemy spawning that took place. I understand that random enemy encounters are a big part of the game, but when I literally see an enemy materialize in front of me, it’s a major issue. Especially if that enemy ends up killing me. This rears its ugly head a lot, unfortunately. It gets really annoying because I couldn’t talk to NPCs while in combat and having that one single enemy pop up somewhere near the area we were in would either stop a dialog I was having or prevent me from talking to an NPC that I needed to just to get/finish a mission. It was highly annoying and seemed to happen at least once every play session.
Along with a hearty single player campaign, Far Cry 5 boasts a rather interesting and expansive multiplayer option. The entire story can be played co-op with another player. The unfortunate thing about that is the guest player only carries over their character progression, NOT their story progression so all those outposts liberated and missions done while guesting in my friend’s game will have to be done again in my own game.
The biggest thing is the Far Cry Arcade. Here, players can create, upload, and play different maps and scenarios made up by the Far Cry community. These can get pretty creative and challenging. All of which can be played solo or with other people. The tools to create my very own level are here and work really well, and with some time, I know there can be some really impressive creations out there.
The biggest take away from Far Cry 5 was the fact that it was just pure fun. The missions were both fun and entertaining, the visuals are fantastic, and the shooting is refined and on point. Everything about the adventures in Hope County, Montana feels just right and even with the open world issues here, I was able to look past them to have a really fun time. Fans of the series have more than likely already picked this up, but if you remotely enjoy first person shooters, this is a must own. It’s not perfect, but it tries its best to be and you know what? It got close.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
