Far Cry 5.
A Review
By Sultan Kiradoh
Hi and welcome to my final entry in my video-game review series! Today, we are discussing everything Far Cry 5, a 2018 game developed and published by Ubisoft. It succeeds Far Cry 4 as the 5th main installment in the Far Cry series, and the second Far Cry game I have played. It was released to “generally favorable” reviews, according to Metacritic, and prompted Ubisoft to begin work on the next main title, ‘Far Cry 6’.
Story
Unlike the previous four games that all took place in exotic locales, Far Cry 5 takes place in the not-so-exotic-sounding Hope County, Montana. The fictional county is taken over by a group of religious cultists who will stop at nothing to accomplish their goals. You play as ‘the junior deputy’, a nameless, mute protagonist only referred to in-game as ‘rook’ and later ‘deputy’. Your original mission is to arrest Joesph Seed, the leader of the followers of the ‘Project at Eden’s Gate’ (colloquially ‘Peggies’). But perhaps unsurprisingly for this series, you do not succeed with your plan and end up having to single-handedly liberate the entire county and fight off the Seed family. What is surprising about this game, however, is its story structure. The story structure is a great departure from previous entries; it follows a very organic and player-choice based system. A player can choose to approach missions in whatever order they like, and missions themselves have numerous methods of undertaking them. This new take on the Far Cry formula gives its players immense freedom and helps in making Far Cry 5 feel both fresh and familiar to fans.
Gameplay
Far Cry games are known for the variety of vehicles, such as boats and armored trucks, to use on your righteous struggle for liberation. Far Cry 5 takes that one step further with the introduction of planes. Not only can you engage in boots on the ground combat using the profusion of different firearms at your disposal, for the first time in a Far Cry game, you can now take your fights to the sky. The classic bow returns in this iteration and can be used in conjunction with silenced weapons for a more stealth-oriented playthrough. In this way, the gameplay continues the theme of player choice by giving players various tools for combat, as well as the option to ditch fighting completely *.
Graphics
The plains and hills of Hope County, Montana are bursting with life. Taking to the skies with the all-new planes while the phenomenal soundtrack by award-winning composer Dan Romer plays gives me an undescribable feeling. During my playthrough, I would frequently find myself getting lost in this beautiful world, rather than complete the missions. This a tell-tale sign of the love and care that was poured into this game in order to make it feel this immersive. (P.S: you should definitely give this game’s soundtrack a listen; it blew me away!)
Verdict
Few games make you question the moral ambiguity of your actions like Far Cry 5 does. The story had a lasting impression on me, and the charismatic villains at times made me question myself if I was a Peggie. The immense choice given to the player in the story is a fresh new mechanic that Ubisoft pulled off pretty well. However, this freedom often causes the protagonist feeling disparate from the person you see in the pre-rendered cutscenes. Overall, I had a great time playing Far Cry 5 and I am excited to see what Ubisoft has in store for the next title. 8/10.
*Secret ending one.
(Picture credits: Me)
