Far Cry 5

Back in 2018, I purchased a PlayStation 4 to experience one of the biggest sensations at the time. That being the new God of War. It was my first big step towards outside of Nintendo consoles & the Xbox One my family had at the time, and thankfully it didn't disappoint.  God of War was my second favorite game of 2018 behind the original Octopath Traveler, and since then my love for gaming has grown. Shortly after beating God of War the time for Black Friday sales kicked in. A whole collection of titles I’ve never played before were at my fingertips, and I exactly recall the games I purchased. Dark Souls, Nier: Automata, Bayonetta 2, Skyrim, and Far Cry 5. Some all time greats for a lot of people. However, there’s one outlier amongst these games. I’m talking of course about Skyrim. I steam rolled that game within a week as younger me had a lot of time to play games back then, and it hasn’t elicited a single emotion or thought compared to any other video game I’ve played over the years. Okay, in all seriousness the true outlier amongst this great selection of games was Far Cry 5. The most divisive entry in its respective franchise. 

Whereas Far Cry 4 was a turning point for fans being the benchmark between Ubisoft’s all time high and immediate decent, Far Cry 5 was just weird. The last Far Cry between it and the fourth game was a caveman spinoff that not a lot of folks particularly cared for as it reused the map of Far Cry 4. Expectations were at an all time low, and coming upon them was Far Cry 5. More of the same, but now in a rural American setting. An interesting change for a series of games that’d usually take place in foreign countries. It’s called Far Cry afterall. You’d expect it to take place in lands you’ve never seen before. Not where a majority of gamers probably live while mothers beg for them to move out of the house already. If it’s not the lack of in Ubisoft that turned folks down from Far Cry 5 then it was probably the loads of controversy surrounding it. Where do we even begin? The plot follows a crazed cult loosely based on Christianity or Catholicism, the two of the biggest religions in the United States. The games address American gun culture and gun control, which you know is bound to rile some crazy people up. The game criticized American politics, beliefs, and activity which people got very defensive over. Even though let’s be real you have to be a soyboy loser to get defensive over a country that experiences problems everyday. 

Point being that Far Cry 5 was another weird point in the series, but you see the thing is that this statement can literally fit any of the Far Cry games since Far Cry 3. Touchy political themes, the representation of real world events and conflicts, and weirdos getting offended by fictional folks in video games. Ignoring the controversy surrounding Far Cry 5’s existence, the game did pretty well. Sold about as many copies Ubisoft expected, was reviewed positively, and for some was a nice return to form after the mixed bag Far Cry: Primal was. It may have been reviewed as well as the third or fourth game and some considered a formulaic disappointment like a good majority of Ubisoft titles at that point, but it’s built a following since its release in 2018. With the hardcore fans considering it the last good Far Cry game until the series’ downfall shortly afterwards. This was the last good entry, and seeing how my last review was on Far Cry 4 it felt like a good time to step back into Hope County. See how my thoughts have changed seven years later.

Far Cry 5 up until now has been a game I didn’t know how to exactly think about. I remember liking it a lot when I originally played it. Being amazed by its world, story, and how it struck a fine balance between open world exploration and frenetic gameplay of your standard first person shooter. I was blown away, but part of the reason why I may have thought it was so amazing was because it was one of the first few games I got for my PlayStation 4. I’ve played a lot of games since Far Cry 5. Majority of of them have done something Far Cry 5 did but better. Games with better open world design and exploration. Games with better story and writing centered around the cycle of violence and hatred. Shooters with better combat loops, enemy variety, and guns to mess around with. You also have to remember that this is Ubisoft. They aren’t exactly the people you should go to if you’re looking for innovation in games. These guys have been following the exact same formula since 2012, and it doesn’t look like they’re changing anytime sooner.

I was afraid to return to Far Cry 5 considering how much my taste in games has changed. We’re here to ask the question. Almost seven years later does Far Cry 5 still hold up? Yes. That didn’t feel all that surprising to say considering how many positive reviews I’ve written, but whatever. I don’t think the game is perfect. Far from it, but none of the Far Cry games are. Again, it’s not doing anything revolutionary or to change the gaming landscape. It’s another Far Cry game, but it’s doing quite a bit to change up the design and approach of this series. I’m shocked more folks haven’t brought these changes up when discussing these games. There’s enough here to see this game as another acceptable entry to the series. A lot of people are gonna hate me for saying this, but I would consider Far Cry 5 as my new favorite entry in the Far Cry series. Far Cry 4 was the third game with a setting and cast of characters I’ve preferred more, but Far Cry 5 feels like the evolution Far Cry 4 should’ve been. It’s a great game and I’m willing to defend it for what it is for what it tries to do. Today we’ll be talking about Far Cry 5 and why it deserves your attention.

Story

Our tale begins with us flying into the dysfunctional territory of Hope County, Montana to take care of a rising cult. Project Eden’s Gate, a religious extremist group loosely based on Catholic or Christian belief led by Joseph Seed and his siblings. Nobody expected Joseph to become as powerful as he is now. Before all this he was a simple man making ends meet. Doing all he could to provide to those he cared for, but then a tragic event occurred and it changed him. Warping him into the figure he now is. Joseph believes the end is coming. An event he calls the Collapse is coming upon them, and everyone has to band together to survive this coming. It all sounded crazy at first, but there were people who genuinely believed in Joseph. It’s hard to believe how many followers he managed to pick up within a short period of time, and anyone who dared to go against his preachings were deemed sinners. Being kidnapped, mistreated, and even killed by the members of the cult. It’s not until a live recording goes out of a journalist trying to report on the events only to have their eyes gouged out on camera by Joseph. This and reports by several Hope County residents is enough to call in the United States Marshal Service for help.

A team of five is sent in to deal with Joseph Seed and his cult. You’re the rookie, a new member being sent in to deal with what sounded like a simple job. Get in there, arrest Joseph, and get the hell out of there. You handcuff Joseph and begin flying off, but not in peace. Joseph’s followers attack the helicopter and fly off course. Crashing into a forest nearby and knocking everyone out unconscious. Joseph is saved, tells you no one is coming to save you, and slowly your coworkers are kidnapped by the cult. You manage to escape and attempt to flee with a resident vehicle, but are stopped yet again. You’re dragged away by a strange man and awakened in an underground bunker. The man’s name is Dutch, a former veteran of the United States, and he’s been watching what’s been happening outside for months now. Says the cult is on high alert for you and what he probably should be doing is handing you over. However, he doesn’t want to do that. He gives the rook a fresh new batch of clothes and tells them they’re gonna try and liberate the county. Three corners of the map taken over by one of Joseph’s three siblings. Each holding one of your friends prisoner. You get help whatever resistance they have, locate your friends, kill Joseph’s siblings, and free Hope County from this oppressive cult.

Gameplay

If you’ve played a Far Cry game before or you read my review on the fourth game then you may know what to expect of Far Cry 5. A big old open world for you to prance around in, activities to participate in, places to liberate, and tons of lunatics who want to shoot you and whom you have to shoot back at. What separates Far Cry from a majority of shooters is not just the open world, but the lack of cover and protection the player can utilize. Most of Hope County is forests and fields as far as the eye can see. Natural landscapes you’ll have to utilize and work around to get the edge on your foes. You never know when enemies will get the drop on you, or you get to do so in return with clever thinking and tactics. Far Cry is less about traditional FPS troupes and a bit more on guerilla warfare, and this statement has never been more true than with Far Cry 5. The gunplay is just about what you expect. At first you start off with a handgun and two handed weapon, but as you progress and unlock certain perks you can carry a deadly arsenal. Four kinds of guns, numerous throwables, and melee weapons. Far Cry 5 has melee weapons now, and they can be thrown at your enemies similar to how you throw stuff in Breath of The Wild. 

I wouldn’t doubt if the developers of this game took influence from Breath of The Wild seeing it came out a year before Far Cry 5 and the way exploration works now is similar as well. In the last few games you revealed the map by climbing the numerous towers around the world. Doing so also unlocked more guns for free in the weapon shop. While serving as an encouragement to explore it also got repetitive with time. It also doesn’t help that enemy outposts are highlighted on the map. Meaning there was never a reason to explore or pay attention to what is important. Just highlight on the map screen and high tail over to one of few important activities to handle. Not only does Far Cry 5 get rid of the tower climbing, but it also makes exploration feel a tad bit more natural. The map is revealed as you explore deeper into unknown territory, and outposts are places you stumble upon rather than have them instantly revealed on the map. It lets Far Cry 5 feel more like the title of the game rather than a checklist of things to do. That you’re a foreigner in a world that wants you dead at all cost, and you have to be prepared for what is to come. The game also gives you a reason to spend money as now half your arsenal has to be bought rather than be made free from climbing several copy pasted towers placed throughout the world.

Another big change to Far Cry 5 is regional progression. Hope County is divided into 3 regions and each is ruled by one of Joseph’s three siblings. The southwest consists of farmland taken by John, the southeast is composed of rivers run by Faith, and the northern mountains are occupied by Jacob. As you help the local resistance you gain resistance points, and this fills up the region bar. Reaching certain thresholds will anger the tyrant of that region, and they’ll say deadlier foes to deal with the protagonist. Heavier armed enemies, armored vehicles, flying vehicles, etc. You may also trigger events where the villains capture you. Forcing you to go through a short story sequence before you get thrown back into the open world. We’ll talk more about this later and why it kind of sucks. Help the residents, gain resistance points, and even perk points which you can spend to improve your character strength and performance. Returning from Far Cry 4 are the guns for hire, but if you don’t want to use them then Far Cry 5 has other new additions. Much like the Fallout series you have companions. They’re unlocked by doing a quest for them, and once done they’re willing to travel alongside you in the field. Helping you in combat, reviving you if you’re knocked out, and attacking certain enemies if you give them the command. They as well can be knocked out and if you fail to revive them in time then you gotta wait a short while before they’re ready to use again. Progress, liberate outposts, and eventually face off against the ruler of a region. Only then can you free Hope County from the clutches of Joseph Seed. Hoping that everything you've been fighting for was for a just cause.

Thoughts

Far Cry 5 is my favorite Far Cry game. There’s a couple aspects I prefer more with Far Cry 4, mainly the superb world design and how you got around it, but whereas Far Cry 4 was just more of Far Cry 3 this feels like an actual innovation on the formula set by the third entry. There’s a lot to like about Far Cry 5 and I’m not saying this mainly because it’s the first one I’ve tried. The game has good ideas, plays wonderfully, and the story is better than a lot of people give it credit for. I may even say it has the best form of the “you’re the monster” narrative. The same narrative these games continue to retell since Far Cry 3. The exploration is much better than that of the last two games. Relying more of player discovery and wandering about instead of highlighting all the important bits on the map. The only places that are usually highlighted without exploring is where to start the main story in a said region or find one of nine companions you can unlock. Stuff like outposts, important landmarks, hunting spots, and more have to be found by yourself and I like this change. Doesn’t mean the overall design philosophy has changed. Mission design is still rather the same. Very linear and requires you to do one specific thing to progress. It’s what you end up doing that matters, and the main missions in Far Cry 5 are really good. Whether that be blowing up a statue of Joseph Seed, fighting an onslaught of zombie-like cult members while rock and roll blasts in the background, or driving through a bunch of chaos to help a man’s child be born. Really fun stuff, but I will admit some of the story missions may not be as memorable as Far Cry 4. I can get over it though if it's fun.

The regional progression is probably my favorite addition to Far Cry 5. In Far Cry 4 you had the side villains aside from Pagan Min, but you only dealt with them by progressing through the main story far enough. Far Cry 5 is just about the same, but here it’s tackled much better. Helping the resistance and pissing off the region leaders enough until they’re ready to confront you. There’s actual build up and you fight the leaders rather than watch them die of other means. Far Cry 4 also had the strongholds, a cool idea somewhat wasted by the fact you didn’t have to do them to progress the narrative. Far Cry 5 has you storming a bunker after defeating a region leader, and it feels like a good climax for what is slaving away to kill a tyrant. My two problems with regional progression are the exact same problems other players had with this game. One is that once you run out of main story missions in a region you have to grind side activities. Events that occur by random chance, and while not rare they increase the region progression meter by small increments rather than the plentiful amount of points the main missions do. Second is you getting kidnapped when reaching certain region progression thresholds. This sucks. Everyone who has played this game admits the kidnapping sections suck. Yes, what you do is cool and you get to connect to the villains more. However, it kills the flow of gameplay when you have to get pulled out to get rambled at for a few minutes. Why not have the player be called over a radio, told there's a strange event, go there and let it happen. Makes more sense this way. 

I like the removal of tower climbing and unlocking a majority of your guns through it. Fixes the theoretical problem I had with Far Cry 4 where you could run to a majority of them, unlock a ton of powerful gear early on, and steamroll early game outposts. It also means money has a purpose as guns need to be bought rather than unlocked for free. The healing system is better too as your whole health bar regenerates with time rather than in small portions. With some not fully coming back unless you use a syringe. With medkits lying around rather than having to constantly craft syringes. Crafting is gone by the way. Some players may see this as a downgrade, but personally I can go without it. I hate being dictated how many weapons and money I can carry, because my character’s inventory size wasn’t big enough. Leading to me having to waste time hunting, which kills the flow of gameplay more. There’s also the problem of having too much healing sh*t by stuffing your pockets full of green leaves. Far Cry 5 fixes that and I commemorate it for doing so. The perks feel more well rounded this time around, each of your companions feel different from each other, and content feels more spaced out rather than in large clutters like in the last two games. Far Cry 5 feels more like a living breathing world, and while good chunks of it are fields you march across I don’t really mind it. The setting is atmospheric and there’s some nice music to go along with it. The soundtrack is the best in the series and I’m surprised more people don’t bring it up when talking about this game.

The story of Far Cry 5 might be the best in the series. It’s the best take on the “you’re a monster” narrative in this series, but I won’t say it’s the best in gaming. Doesn’t exactly reach the heights of a game like Spec Ops: The Line, but it’s done very well here and the ending hits hard even to this day. Far Cry 3 was about desensitization, and Far Cry 4 was about justification. Far Cry 5 is about ending the cycle before it’s too late. Through playing the game you learn more about the villains and how they’re all victims of horrible experiences or past trauma. John was abused as a child and brainwashed into thinking the only way to escape it is to endure long enough. Faith is a drug attic who uses experimental substances to escape reality, and no one properly got her help for the terrible health conditions she faces. Jacob is a former Gulf War soldier who had to eat one of his comrades to survive, and deals with PTSD daily. Then there’s Joseph. A man who did all he could to provide for his pregnant until they died in a car accident. Unable to cope with the loss and resorting to religion for comfort. Creating the extremist cult he has now.

There used to be a really good video by Noah Hugbox that explained the plot of this game, but he deleted all his content after a controversial statement. What I’m doing is basically re-explain the point he shared in his video. Similar to Far Cry 4, the player is given the option at the start of the game to walk away. Doing so ends the game immediately, and is the best outcome the player can take. Choosing to arrest Joseph Seed kickstarts the game’s plot where the player fuels a war across Hope County. Killing hundreds of cult members and Joseph’s three siblings. Praised for helping the resistance members, but also being ridiculed for bringing more death and destruction compared to just walking away. Joseph tells the player at the end of the game their greatest sin is pride. Unable to admit there’s a single wrong in what they’ve been doing the whole game. Just when you think the game is over several nuclear bombs drop in the distance. The end of days for the entire county, or at least until they made Far Cry: New Dawn but let’s ignore that for now. The player rushes to Dutch’s bunker, gets all their partners killed in a car crash, and spends the rest of their time rotting away in the bunker with Joseph. Realizing the end of days did come and Joseph was right. This doesn’t make Joseph a good person, but it makes the player realize they’re as bad if not worse than the main villain of the game. They’ve caused so much harm and chaos, and all of it could’ve been avoided if you stepped down.

This is, in some way, your fault. The ending scene itself is a bit anticlimactic and following it up with a spinoff sequel tarnishes it a bit, but overall this is my favorite ending in the series. A flawed although beautiful story about the cycle of violence. How a peaceful easy to choose option could’ve been taken if you had paid attention, chose it, and not played the game. I love the main message of Far Cry 5. Some of the surrounding characters are weak and at times forgettable, but it’s this core message that I think redeems this game. To reiterate, Far Cry 5 is my favorite in the series. I don’t think it’s a perfect game. The kidnapping sections suck, a good chunk of missions aren’t as memorable as Far Cry 4, the expansions from what I heard are terrible, and the amount of microtransactions in the shops are terrible. The game as a whole though is great, and if you’re not fed up with the Far Cry formula yet or want to see a proper evolution of Far Cry 3 then I can easily recommend it to those wanting more. I give Far Cry 5 a 9/10 for excellence at best.

9/10, Excellence