After the franchise being set in the tropical, pirate infested Rook Islands and the mountainous, civil war ridden Kyrat, the Far Cry franchise had only one logical place to go: rural Montana.
Finally coming stateside, Ubisoft’s “Far Cry 5” is set in the fictitious Hope County, Montana. There are plenty of Far Cry like activities to take part in including climbing mountains, hunting animals and gunning down an unlimited supply of deranged doomsday cultists. “Far Cry 5” is set during the occupation of Hope County by the Eden’s Gate cult led by their enigmatic leader Joseph Seed and his brothers John, Jacob and adoptive sister Faith. The game starts with the players controlling the faceless silent protagonist, referred to only as the Deputy or Rook by his/her fellow sheriffs. After attempting to serve a warrant on Joseph Seed, an event the cult believes to set off a doomsday scenario they call The Collapse, the Deputy is separated from the rest of their partners as the cult takes over Hope County and killing anyone who refuses to join them. After escaping death at the cult’s hands the Deputy is rescued by Dutch, who lets the Deputy rest up in his bunker before aiding the Deputy in a plan to free the county from the Seeds influence. It’s at this point the player meets the game’s greatest character, Hope County itself. It’s a cliché, I know, but the world is full of life. Be it the animals or people that inhabit Hope County, there is always something going on and to be done, be it a mission, hunting or rescuing civilians. The world it’s set in is where the game stops being great and starts being mediocre. The weight dragging this title is its story and Ubisoft decided to structure its narrative. “Far Cry 5” disposed of the franchise’s past format of having linear progression so the player completes missions in a set order to tell the story, for a style similar to that of other Ubisoft title “Ghost Recon: Wildlands”. Hope County is divided into three regions, each controlled by one of the Seeds; John, Jacob and Faith. The player can complete activities in each of the regions to fill the resistance meter. At certain points the player is forced to complete story missions that will lead to killing the Seeds and freeing one of the player’s fellow sheriffs. This structure worked for “Wildlands”, and while being repetitive, there were over 20 regions and plenty of gameplay. The individual targets were not strong characters on their own, but their role in the cartel made sense and it was clear how eliminating them would lead the player to their leader. Now, with their only being three Seeds it would make sense that they would be deeper characters and players would spend hours in their individual regions dissecting their characters and understanding their role in the cult. Sadly each region can be completed quickly if the player focuses on filling the resistance meter and even then the handful of actual story missions are not much of a reward. They are short, and carry no weight. They feel the same as any other mission in the game, with nothing to set them apart. What’s worse is how these missions are set up. When the meter reaches set points, the Seed that controls the region will abduct the player to initiate the mission and each time the player miraculously escapes only to be caught one or two more times. For example, in Jacob’s region, the player is shot in the leg with an arrow and brought to him to be brainwashed. This happens every time and absolutely breaks immersion. Dividing the game world in this manner creates a big problem, and this is prevalent in many games that do this. Each region is self-contained in terms of characters and story. This means that the game tells three separate stories. Granted they are related to each other, but it feels like the game does not have one big story that all the pieces come together to create. It is just three separate chunks that could exist on their own. The groups of characters in each region suffer for similar reasons. They barely get any screen time and never really develop. They exist to give the player errands to run and then get left on the side of the road after that. The biggest stumbling block for the game is its silent protagonist. Some will like it for the same reasons the developers put it in the game. It’s to make it so the player is the main character and not some pre-made character, but it’s not without its drawbacks. The biggest being that instead of the player being the main character, the main character in the game becomes a mindless husk who serves no purpose beyond being told what to do. They have no actual interaction with other characters or the world beyond shooting. It’s a step backwards for a series that has built success on characters and stories. There is an online component in “Far Cry 5” entitled Far Cry Arcade. Here player can participate in multiplayer matches or complete additional outposts that were not in the main game. The multiplayer is fairly standard and enjoyable for those who like those kinds of things. The biggest draw is the ability to create multiplayer maps and outposts for other players to play in. There are some interesting creations that will keep the online component fresh for as long as players are willing to create new content. “Far Cry 5” falls into the same trap that many games fall into nowadays. It has a great premise and great ideas, but certain aspects hold it back from being amazing and a Game of the Year contender. Score: 8/10 If it was just up to gameplay and the world itself, I’d score “Far Cry 5” a 9. Sadly the story was a massive disappointment to me and as a whole I have to score “Far Cry 5” at an above average 8 out of 10.
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AuthorI am A.J. Goelz. I'm a gamer first and a writer second. I hope you enjoy the content on this page and check out the rest of my content on YouTube. Archives
April 2019
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