Far Cry 5 (Multi)
By: Ubisoft
WHEN it comes to blockbuster first-person shooters in a lush open world, few games can match Far Cry. While the original was a totally tropical tech festival for those with specced-out PCs, its sequel became a po-faced jungle slog. The seminal Far Cry 3, however, set the template for what was to follow – a massive playground of awesome nonsense.
The main series has been living in its shadow ever since, content to offer palette-swapped knock-offs. At best, they’re incendiary time-sponges with set-piece missions, though gamers have grown weary of Far Cry’s tedious travelogues cluttered with padding and busywork.
Far Cry 5 sees the series land on North American soil for the first time, taking on a religious cult and all manner of redneck lunacy. As the new sheriff in a Montana town, players are soon facing off doomsday cult Project at Eden's Gate.
As you’d expect, the politically charged plot comes with hefty dollops of social commentary as US gun culture and the Christian right lands in its crosshairs. Hell, there’s even a Trump spoof as thinly veiled as the president’s own scalp – one mission gleefully tasking you with finding a certain VHS of his golden antics.
Yet while the setting is new (and, thanks to some bleeding-edge tech, absolutely gorgeous), it’s business as usual for fans of Far Cry’s shooting sprawl. You’re still liberating outposts and aiding civilians to join your cause while the rube setting brings wild animals to the party.
You can recruit guns for hire to lend a trigger finger, but unleashing your own pet bear is far more satisfying. The only real tweak to the gameplay is its new, tower-free exploration. The map grows through natural exploration and by meeting up with resistance fighters holed up in the county’s three regions.
With no linear path, players are free to tackle the campaign in any order, while veering from the meat and spuds plot reveals side-stories aplenty and the rather brilliant prepper stashes – bite-sized challenges where you explore local homes and bunkers.
Far Cry has never skimped on content, and fifth time is no exception. Its campaign can be tackled with a real partner, while online multiplayer includes map creation and sharing tools.
Tonally, it’s all over the place, veering from brutal commentary to wacky parody, but the level of freedom and creativity on offer is simply incredible. Cutting down on the icon clutter of previous games is a blast of fresh Montana air, and looking as good as it does, you’ll often find yourself wandering into them thar woods in search of things to do.
While shackled to previous formulae, it’s the best the series has been, offering a call of the wild that even those jaded by recent efforts should heed.
