A Far Cry 5 Review – Shoot Murderous Cultists and Save The Animals!

Far Cry 5 has been really great to me. I loved the story, the fairly open world, the characters and the jokes in the game. Paired with its amazing scenic environment recreated based on America, Montana, there’re tons of things to do in the world. From side-quests to fishing and hunting the wild animals, it’s a great place to enjoy one of the greatest re-creation of Montana in the game.

Here’s a short clip of how the game looks like if you are still deciding:

The Story

Now I’m not going to compare the story to the previous Far Cry games as they all tell a story of their own. Like how Ubisoft introduces us to some background info on what’s going on through their trailers, the game started off with some interviews with some of the characters from the game. From there, I know that for one – a cult has settled in Montana monopolizing farms and radio stations which exhibits a tyrannical behavior and two – they are recruiting and brain washing the people. Of course, our job is to stop these crazy people from doing more crazy stuff!

Later, we were introduced to the Seed siblings. The eldest being Joseph Seed a.k.a the Father, and brothers Jacob, John and sister, Faith, with each of them taking control of their own region. Once we survived the fiasco at the beginning, we were saved by a sane militant, the Dutch, which seemed suspicious at first but it was all good later. Then there’s a soft-tutorial where it teaches you on the go as you encounter new features in the game.

Once we’ve climbed the first tower in the game, there’s a reference to Far Cry 3’s tower climbing quests which we all know, mentioned by the Dutch. Once we’re done with that, we are free to roam around and do as we wish. Considering that there are 3 Seed siblings that we must face in order to get to Joseph, we still have to go through the main story quests in order to get to John, Jacob or Faith. But it’s up to us who we want to deal with first. For me, I chose to deal with the youngest of the Seed siblings, John.

To summarize the story, you need to liberate all the regions killing off the 3 Seed siblings to then get to Joseph. You strip off Joseph’s power by liberating outposts, saving hostages and destroying or raiding his supplies. You get to the end of the game, face Joseph, and end of story. I’m not spoiling for you guys, but there’re two endings to it and I have no complaints about them. I like to believe that Ubisoft had given us the liberty to be creative on the outcome of the story with our imagination.

In my opinion, the story isn’t the best nor cliche to say the least because just like any good vs evil archetype, the theme will always be the same except being told in a different perspective. However this time, Ubisoft had taken Far Cry 5 onto a whole new level by touching onto some of the real-world issues re-interpreted that could be controversial to a certain society. The story in the Far Cry series has always been this way so it’s not something that I’m surprised of. Given that there’s also a secret ending in the beginning of the game, the story gives us a lot to think about America’s gun policies and political ideologies.

The Gameplay

So on your journey to liberate the 3 regions, Holland Valley, Henbane River and Whitetail Mountains, you basically can either follow the main quest or go ahead and do some side quests which pertains humorous jokes if you get it. There are also easter-eggs hidden in the game like the “Trump’s pee tape”, a reference to “IT” and Far Cry 3’s Blood Dragon. There are more easter-eggs hidden in Montana and it’s only fun if you discover them yourselves.

The gameplay plays like a normal shooter game with an in-depth story that talks about controversial issues. Instead of leveling up, this time, you gain perk points by completing challenges or collecting prepper stash to upgrade your skills. Crafting is limited here which are items that I hardly use like molotovs, dynamite, remote explosives and other buff items. Because the game is pretty strategic and open to many playstyles like throwing bait into the vicinity of the enemies and let the wild animals do the work, go in stealthily or guns blazing – the resources given seemed unnecessary for me.

But don’t let that stop you from playing! The game is fun and I enjoyed it as I dived into the story and the humorous side quests like the “Testy Festy”. With well written characters planted in the game, it’s fun to listen to their side of the story and help them out. Sometimes I actually get more interested in the side quests more than the main quests. While puzzles are also fun as you hunt for Prepper Stash to gain perk points, the challenges to get to the stash isn’t too difficult but sometimes it does leave me scratching my brain for a while.

Crafting is not necessary and Guns For Hire are your best AI friend especially the animals. Unlike its Far Cry predecessors, you are no longer alone. You get to hire up to 2 AIs to help you with your missions which is really nice to have on some missions. Some of them can provide air support while others like Hurk, trots around with an RPG. A dog, bear and a cougar could also be your best friend. There’s even a ‘meta’ that has been circulating on the net which places Boomer (the dog) and Cheeseburger (the bear) as the best core specialist to hire for your missions. There’s also no need to worry about dying too much as well as long as one of your Guns For Hire is still alive, they’d either pick you up or lick you up when you’re incapacitated.

You farm money by hunting animals or looting from dead bodies. The guns are also easily accessible and bought at the store. Money isn’t really important in this game except that it helps you buy some convenience like vehicles or more useful guns. But you basically can kill anyone with the guns you picked up from the peggies. A shovel to the face is your best and trusted weapon of all which you can find all over the farm and barn houses of Montana (or of course you buy the smiley-faced one for giggles)!

The Arcade

The Arcade mode is a plus mode that allows for more co-op shenanigans. Yes, you already get to play co-op of up to 2 persons in the campaign mode with no campaign progression for your friend but the host. However, he or she gets to retain the perks, guns, cash and loots in their game. Though that’s sad, at least it’s good to know that the perks you have could also work in the Arcade Mode and can support up to 6 players!

The Arcade mode is a place for the community to create their own maps and play together. Because maps are created by players, there may not be many or any good maps to play with. There are people who re-created the Resident Evil 7 Baker’s mansion and a PUBG slighshot battle royale, but the playability is really player based. Just like previous Far Cry games, Ubisoft has been trying to improve their multiplayer modes which gave birth to something that allows players to make it better for themselves. Customization of maps with Ubisoft’s arsenal of assets from games like Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed Unity, and Far Cry Primal.

There, the community can put on their creative caps and make the best map ever which helps Ubisoft provide the players with re-playability of Far Cry 5. Which makes it worth every penny you spent for the game! Also alongside of re-playability, Ubisoft is also updating the game with “Live Events” which will provide players with more stuff to do while in the game.

Final Thoughts

The setting and story of Far Cry 5 is unlike the previous Far Cries. In my opinion, the story and setting are more close to us in the sense of the people’s dissatisfaction of the government or someone who’s in power. That takes a lot of guts for characters like Jacob, who was from the military, looking for a change which ended up with him taking his brother Joseph’s side to end the world. Because as a soldier, he might have seen the worst of humanity, therefore he plans to end the ugly side of humanity once and for all. The characters all have they’re own agenda in making the world a better place, except that they are using a more destructive method.

Apart from the great characters and a little bit of backstory for each of them, the scenic wildlife of Montana is a great place to explore. There are tons of quests to do with a lot of funny stuff to read and unexpected encounters with the wildlife, the game took me to a place where I enjoyed travelling around freely doing my own thing instead of a linear quest to follow. A powerful message is embedded in the game and the ending is not the ending and it gives us something to ponder about. Far Cry 5 to me is more than a game and I appreciate the details the devs have put into making it.

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