Rate top gamesThe Far Cry games are among some of my most favourite games yet as the series edges closer to reality it becomes slightly uncomfortable to play. Originally when you were on a B-Movie version Of The Island Of Doctor Moreau in Far Cry Instincts that straddled the Original Xbox and 360 things were simple. Bad guys, you with your animal powers and the ability to take them down in multiple ways was a recipe for endless fun. As the series progressed and the supernatural elements disappeared you realised you were causing some significant humanitarian damage to different parts of the earth. In saying that the game always pulled you through with memorable antagonists like Vaas and Pagan Min and Far Cry 5 is no different with the Joseph Seed cult/preacher character. Yet in this day and age is the ability for sadistic violence enough for fans of the series?
The game is set in a fictional area of Montana, rural, middle-America smack bang in the area where us Europeans immediately start humming duelling banjos and making Deliverance references. It is a stereotype but strangely enough, it is the first time I can think of Modern America being the subject of the stereotype. It generated a lot of heat when it was first shown and the feeling of moving through Montana is both familiar and jarring. It feels like a one-off setting for a game rather than the whole setting and this takes a while to disappear. Technically there are a few graphical glitches and pop-in that a launch day patch should resolve.
You play a Deputy tasked with investigating Joseph Seed and his religious cult Eden’s Gate. Needless to say, things go very wrong very quickly and you are left fighting for survival in the typical Far Cry formula of unlocking vistas and levelling yourself up. What’s new this time is your companions. From the Dog to the sniper and the crop-dusting pilot who can drop airstrikes there is a motley bunch of supporting characters to choose from. It certainly makes this game have a different feel to the previous games but ups the ability for comedy violent situations even more.
In keeping with modern games, Far Cry 5 is made for streamers and YouTubers. Explosions go off, your dog attacks enemies while fire explodes behind them the plane carpet bombs a sniper tower all while you sit and watch. It could be Commando the Movie if Schwarzenegger had never left his home cabin. It is perfectly set up for people to do interesting walkthroughs and take down outposts in a host of different ways. If you learn the guards patrol patterns it is entirely possible to go from one guard to another and stealthily take down the whole place. Hit share and bang you have streaming gold. If only it had been so easy back in the days of the original game.
Your wingsuit is still a good companion and now skill upgrades are more tailored to feats you accomplish in the game rather than solely XP and crafting. Travel a good distance in the wingsuit and upgrades become available. It is just another quality of life that makes you keep coming back for more as you grind towards your next milestone.
Added to this is the new Arcade mode which wasn’t available to reviewers. It will allow you to edit your own maps with assets from Ubisoft’s other big games like Assassins Creed. Personally, I can’t wait to set up a picture-perfect version of Crusade Area Jerusalem and see how those annoying Templars deal with automatic weapons. More likely though it will be a showcase for other players who are more creative and have more time on their hands to extend the life of the game beyond the 30hrs or so it will take to complete the story. You can of course team up and do the whole campaign cooperatively with a friend online. Again this seems set up to encourage streaming and let’s plays and this is to be expected in games now.
I still have to come back to the title of my review and opening paragraph. With the current climate and gun arguments in America a game like this that has so much unscripted material and potential that some elements are a bit too close to the bone. It is to be applauded that Ubisoft keeps pushing the boundaries by making a western developed country the setting but the political message of the game is not what it appeared to be on the reveal. On reveal it looked to be a commentary on the growing conservative popularity in America yet when playing it falls into the typical video game traits with a crazed boss and his four henchmen acting as sub-bosses in typical video game fashion. If Seed had been as charismatic as Vaas or Pagan Min in this setting then the message could have been difficult and I haven’t reached the end yet so there is still time for this to develop further. Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel this is a missed opportunity to go darker from Ubisoft in this setting. As it is the comedy explosions and violence you can set up and your well acted and often funny companions take the sting out of what could have been a dark exploration into this modern America. As it is we have the same Far Cry formula and level of Ubisoft polish as well as the promise of genuinely interesting divergences in the season pass from Zombies to Vietnam and Mars. Far Cry 5 is looking to be in your console’s disk tray for the foreseeable future.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
«Better with friends»
Other reviews28
A good open-world game. Great Far Cry. Mediocre side quests, but the entourage of the modern Wild West makes it work.
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
This is what Canadian business executives think America is like. Skinning eagles, special agents that talk about them dirty hippies, fiddle music and a cult whose cross is every other cross put into one because all religious people are crazy. Also, they own all of the planes so I don't know why they don't just make money from that enterprise instead. Anyway, the game is 4 but not as good which was 3 but almost as good so if this one should teach you a single thing, let it be the law of diminishing returns. I've seen and heard worse acting and dialogue in movies and games before but not at such a rate with shooting that doesn't feel right, driving that will make you a better driver in real life if you can take care of the cars in this and flight missions that will frustrate you. The only characters that aren't bland are the animals, which is pretty accurate for Montana, tbf. If you don't feel like slogging through the glitches and "ok, wait, why is THIS happening now" of another Mafia III playthrough and need an equally as disappointing open world shooting and cursing game with nice graphics, I suppose this one's on sale every 3 months. It's Ubisoft, never give them full price MSRP money.
«Waste of time»
«Boooring»
Gweh I wanted to love it but I cannot. It remains unfinished despite attempts.. it’s like mediocre to me but I think the plane related missions are actually the worst thing on the earth.
Not every Problem can be solved with a bullet.
So... After about 33 hours I have finished the game and have done almost everything in the main story, except some quests about "fish one of those fish" and "hunt so many of those animals". I also still have to play the Arcade Mode. Anyway, I bought this game with zero expactations, especially after it kinda vanished of peoples focus after release or so it seemed like to me, but shortly after I started playing it, I started gathering positive experiances with it. The gunplay is on point, the graphic is nice and the story, oh man the story. I'll be honest, most of the quests are about walking from A to B and shoot people either loud or quietly and or gather 15 pieces of something etc. It gets pretty monoton pretty fast, yet the villians are soooooo damn well written, it's a shame it's not a movie. Besides that most of the other NPCs, especially the side quest NPCs, are desperate to get on the same level as the Borderlands NPCs but do not stop to fail. Looking back on all those friendly characters, who are trying to be funny, only one or two are actually funny. Still, if you play the three regions in the correct order (there is no real order), which is for me John, Faith, Jacob, the plot is getting more intense from region to region. Besides that, the whole story is historically relevant and quite possible in my opinion. At least it has an important message, but I'll leave that to the players to figure out and interpretate (Do read all of the messages lying around in the world. Some of them are important for the understanding.). Especially the ending hit me hard. I also want to point out, that you feel totally out of place yourself in the beginning. I mean you're in America, after you have been in Africa, on a tropical pirate island and Nepal. Getting from 3rd world countries to a 1st world country is definitely strange, when you sneak through houses you know from mostly comedy and soap opera movies and are not associated with a gun driven shooter game scenario. The only thing that really bothered me, was that one is forced to play the regions endmission after reaching enough resistance points, although you're not done with everything in the region. Don't worry you can still finish everything before the final mission of the game has been started.
All in all: 4/5
... and only because most of the side quests are getting really boring after a while.
So... After about 33 hours I have finished the game and have done almost everything in the main story, except some quests about "fish one of those fish" and "hunt so many of those animals". I also still have to play the Arcade Mode. Anyway, I bought this game with zero expactations, especially after it kinda vanished of peoples focus after release or so it seemed like to me, but shortly after I started playing it, I started gathering positive experiances with it. The gunplay is on point, the graphic is nice and the story, oh man the story. I'll be honest, most of the quests are about walking from A to B and shoot people either loud or quietly and or gather 15 pieces of something etc. It gets pretty monoton pretty fast, yet the villians are soooooo damn well written, it's a shame it's not a movie. Besides that most of the other NPCs, especially the side quest NPCs, are desperate to get on the same level as the Borderlands NPCs but do not stop to fail. Looking back on all those friendly characters, who are trying to be funny, only one or two are actually funny. Still, if you play the three regions in the correct order (there is no real order), which is for me John, Faith, Jacob, the plot is getting more intense from region to region. Besides that, the whole story is historically relevant and quite possible in my opinion. At least it has an important message, but I'll leave that to the players to figure out and interpretate (Do read all of the messages lying around in the world. Some of them are important for the understanding.). Especially the ending hit me hard. I also want to point out, that you feel totally out of place yourself in the beginning. I mean you're in America, after you have been in Africa, on a tropical pirate island and Nepal. Getting from 3rd world countries to a 1st world country is definitely strange, when you sneak through houses you know from mostly comedy and soap opera movies and are not associated with a gun driven shooter game scenario. The only thing that really bothered me, was that one is forced to play the regions endmission after reaching enough resistance points, although you're not done with everything in the region. Don't worry you can still finish everything before the final mission of the game has been started.
All in all: 4/5
... and only because most of the side quests are getting really boring after a while.
«Underrated»
«That ending!»
I really liked it. I’m a bit of a simpleton when it comes to gaming and still get a kick out of open world RPGs. I’m a big fan of FC3, Blood Dragon, and FC4, and this one perfects the formula, even if the formula is getting a bit overripe. Folks talk a lot about the repetitive, overlong nature of RPGs, particularly ones from Ubisoft. I don’t disagree, but did have a lot of fun with FC5. I love Montana, so that helps. I wonder if FC6 is gonna be able to change things up enough to catch people’s interest again.
This one is complicated. I liked it, but after loving Far Cry 3, really liking 4, 5 while fun is just plain starting to feel to repetitive. Still fun, but kinda started to get bored after a while. Still recommend, especially if you have not played 3 and 4, but really hope they freshen things up for 6.