Far Cry 5 Review

Nestled between the hills, mountains and valleys of Montana lies Hope County; a place that bodes familiarity, yet trickles with evil and chaos in its darkest corners. While certainly not as exotic a locale as past Far Cry titles, Hope County offers much more to do; even if it’s citizens are only partially believable. See, one of the strongest suits Far Cry has always been able to offer is how their environments beget their villains. Vaas was a result of Far Cry 3’s island chaos, Pagan Min a child of Kyrat. Far Cry 5 exemplifies this trope in the series, and amplifies it to 11. Joseph Seed and his family are not only the most diverse and dynamic villains in the Far Cry series, but they are some of the deepest characters to date in video games.

That’s not to say they are on the level of character development in The Last of Us or similar titles, but for a game that focuses solely around blowing things up, you couldn’t have asked for better villains. It’s difficult to say if Far Cry 5 utilizes its characters to the highest extent, however. See, there are plenty of things to do in Far Cry 5, yet there were moments I forgot I was fighting back against the Seed family/Eden’s Gate directly. Yes, you fight waves of enemies wearing Eden’s Gate gear that spout religious texts at you, but it felt only pushed forward so that I would be able to experience my next great scene with one of the members of the family.

Story

The story revolves around the newest recruit into the Hope County Sheriff’s department as he and the department seek to rid Hope County of the religious cult, Eden’s Gate. As you’d imagine from the jump, things don’t go according to plan. So most of the game is then going throughout the county, taking down each piece of Eden’s Gate bit-by-bit, so the Sheriff’s department and the citizens of Hope County can wrestle control back. For the most part, it’s a play-by-the-book story you would expect from Far Cry.

For those looking for a nuanced story about a religious cult, a la Bioshock: Infinite, I’d advise to look elsewhere. Far Cry 5, while it does tackle the subject of religious cults and their effect on a community to a certain degree, the story feels predictable and only a little deeper than a normal story. Like I claimed earlier, the story bits where you interact directly with Joseph Seed or one of his family members is exciting and terrifying, but the bits of story in between always seemed to fall flat for me. Yes, there are the colorful cast of characters the player encounters along the way, but they all feel underutilized if they aren’t eventually used as a “Guns for Hire” partner (we’ll talk about that later in the review).

For example, Pastor Jerome in the small town of Fall’s End was such an interesting character to get to know, that I was hopeful he’d be more utilized throughout the story. The idea of a pastor fighting back against Eden’s Gate was a great one, but his story only extended to the small region he resides in. I appreciate the breadth of characters in Far Cry 5, but I feel the story would have been more impactful if more of these side characters had more depth.

I’ll move past the story section to avoid spoilers. Just know that while the Seed family/Eden’s Gate are the most compelling Far Cry villains to date, I felt Far Cry 5’s story could have tackled more in terms of how this cult operated.

Gameplay

What’s great though is the plethora of side missions Far Cry 5 offers to give some of these characters a little more development. Just when I thought I was done with all of the main missions in a region, several more side missions would pop up to complete for various characters. Unfortunately, I feel like most of the mission design felt uninspired and same-y from past Far Cry entries. Most of the level designs were very predictable (of course avoiding spoilers), and very few of them memorable. I never really experienced a level that was on-par to the weed-burning field in Far Cry 3, even though I had plenty of my own unique experiences while playing through each mission.

Now don’t get me wrong, Far Cry 5 is a helluva time. From the bombastic moments, to the unpredictability of the wilderness and how open you’re able to tackle missions is fantastic. Even if the missions felt like they were uninspired, it’s still really fun to blow things up. It’s the stark contrast of what Far Cry 5 is trying to deliver with it’s story and it’s gameplay is whats most jarring.

There’s also a ton to do in Hope County. While you have the usual hunting to side missions, the new additions to the world are the most compelling. I love the new fishing mechanic, as I really feel it brings out one of the biggest world-building mechanics in the game. Most people don’t just hunt deer/elk, but they fish too. And the fact you can find different fishing spots for different fish, while using better rods to catch bigger fish, is just really cool and fun. Then you have the Clutch Nixon races; recreations of feats a daredevil that lived within Hope County completed before he died tragically. They’re fun, dynamic and offer more silly-bombastic gameplay.

One really cool addition to Far Cry 5 is the “Guns for Hire” system. Throughout the game, you’ll come across various side missions and random events that will allow you to recruit people (or animals) to partner up with you. They’re divided into two groups, the more dynamic “Specialists” and the regular “Fighters”. The  9 Specialists are really cool, and one of the best parts about the game. From being able to pet all of the “Fangs for Hire” (the animals you can recruit) to speaking with the “Guns for Hire” about their life in Hope County, it really got rid of the lone-wolf aspect of the game while playing in single player. Each Specialist offers a unique benefit to the player, so mixing and matching your Specialists is a really cool dynamic to adhere to your specific playstyle.

Now, one of the newest additions to the game is co-op. While I didn’t spend much time playing through co-op, the entirety of the story can be played in co-op. It’s a pretty cool idea, and especially when it’s paired with the new exploration mechanics. No longer do players have to climb radio towers to reveal parts of the map. Instead Far Cry 5 offers more of a Fog of War style exploration style that reveals bits of the map as you explore it. Pair that with co-op, and you have a more dynamic multiplayer experience with friends since you’ll never know what’s around the corner while each of you explore.

Visuals

Far Cry 5 is a pretty looking game, but it’s not necessarily the best looking game out there. There are plenty of pop-in models and textures, and the game engine is starting to look a bit dated at this point. Horizon: Zero Dawn, this is not. But, for a game that offers this much to do, it’s hard to argue about the graphics. They’re certainly passable, and I never really felt taken out of the experience by the pop-in textures.

That being said, Far Cry 5 is a strong entry in the series, and is easily the best yet. I wish the mission design was a bit more dynamic, but overall it’s still a fun ride throughout. I was hoping for a bit more nuance in the story as far as the Seed family, but what’s there is enjoyable to experience. Fans of the series will find plenty to enjoy, and I’d argue to say it’s the best entry point in the series for new fans.