Review: Far Cry 5 — Radicalism meets absurdity

Flying over Hope County on my way to arrest the game’s main antagonist with a U.S. Marshal wasn’t how I expected Far Cry 5 to begin. It sure did lead to a hectic opening mission. Walking into his compound, realizing this was exactly what he had wanted, and seeing the tides turn within a moment was both exhilarating and frightening as I realized just how much of a threat The Father was. You may play as a sheriff’s deputy, but this was Joseph Seed’s town.

Of course, you’ll need to utilize some major suspension of disbelief because a few cops walking into an armed compound with an arrest warrant just hoping they’ll be obeyed is a bit ridiculous. Ok, it’s a lot ridiculous. Barring the glaring oversight of how unrealistic the whole situation is, it’s a thrilling if stereotypical action sequence. It certainly sets the tone for the rest of the game, for better or worse.

Far Cry 5 is the first entry in the series to bring us to America, taking place in the fictional town of Hope County, Montana. Its promotional material appeared to set it up as a commentary on current American politics and radicalism. Though it delves into these subjects, it doesn’t do so with as much deft as I would have liked.

Hope County is being terrorized by a radical doomsday cult known as the Project at Eden’s Gate, of which its members are dubbed Peggies by the locals. Its leader, Father Joseph Seed and his siblings Jacob, John, and Faith make for interesting characters, though I don’t believe they’ll be as memorable as Vaas from Far Cry 3. What makes your relationship different with these antagonists is that your character does not speak. Another first for the series, you can customize your own male or female playable character. The downside of this being that interactions with the main villains tend to feel more generic as a result, bogged down by trite monologues that are too long and frequent for their own good. The same goes for other characters you’ll run into to bolster your resistance. Their own personalities are rich, but yours just isn’t there to take these interactions to a higher level.

Taking a page from Far Cry Primal’s book, Far Cry 5 brings back the ability to tame and control certain animals. While this ‘Fangs for Hire’ feature serves as a functional tool to aid you in fights, it’s also just plain fun. What’s more awesome than sending in a bear named Cheeseburger to maul your enemies. In addition to the Fangs for Hire ability, you can access Guns for Hire as well. These characters each specialize in a unique tactical situation. Need to rein terror from skies? Call in Nick with his plane. Need a sharpshooter? Call in Grace to cover your back. Personally, I always kept Boomer the dog by my side, but you can always grab the perk to open up another Gun for Hire slot.

As usual, the game’s combat stands out as one of its stronger aspects. Stealthing your way through an enemy outpost can be frustrating if you’re not patient—maybe it’s just me, but the silencer mod for my sniper didn’t seem to help all that much. On the flipside, its chaotic firefights combined with responsive controls and the tools at your disposal make for some great gameplay.

Hope County is split into three main regions (minus the small opening area of Dutch’s “tutorial” Island and Joseph’s Compound) each controlled by a member of the Seed family. John controls the Holland Valley to the southwest, Jacob controls the Whitetail Mountains to the north, and Faith controls the Henbane River to the southeast. All three locations have their own set of missions and side activities to complete, ranging from taking down Cult Outposts to leisurely fishing. A lot of these are ‘rinse and repeat’ quests—blow up this huge silo, destroy this caravan, now do it again—but Far Cry 5’s satisfying shooting makes it enjoyable nonetheless.

The Arcade Mode and map editing feature are more robust than ever, but I found them a bit convoluted while trying to actually create anything. There are so many options to granularly shape your world that it gets overwhelming. Incredible worlds from your favorite video games can be recreated but only if you’re design-oriented and patient enough to learn the toolset provided to you. I can easily see people taking one look at the editor and giving up. That said, even though the user-created maps right now leave a lot to be desired, the potential is staggering.

Running on an Xbox One the game hit a fairly steady frame rate. During more chaotic scenes it could dip a few frames, but nothing that will severely impact your experience with it. I doubt most people will even notice. My only grievances are the horrendous load times and texture pop-in while flying an airplane.

Far Cry 5 set out to be an ‘anecdote factory’ complemented by a tailored story campaign, and it succeeds for the most part. While its story dropped the ball in some aspects, its world is full of content for you to create your own stories. I do believe that the story could have been handled better, and its serious tone is at odds with more lighthearted aspects of its gameplay, but that won’t ruin your enjoyment of it.

8.5/10

Xbox One

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This game was reviewed with a code provided by the publisher