Previous games in the Far Cry series have taken us to far-off places, majestic paradises that were anything but as you adapted to survival skills, utilizing weapons and even a few feral skills while taking on the baddest of the bad, mercenaries that would stop at nothing to put you down. But Far Cry 5 seems to be taking a different direction, placed right in the midst of a harsh reality where a doomsday cult will stop at nothing from showing off their superiority.
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The sequel puts you in the shoes of a law officer going head to head against the Eden’s Gate cult, who have gone and made Hope County their own personal playground, overtaking businesses and showing superiority as they attempt to “cleanse” sinners – even those that don’t feel that they deserve to be punished. This is where you come in, as you and your guns-for-hire slowly but surely make your way through these enemy forces. On the one hand, you provide the county with a sense of hope as you begin cleaning house – but, on the other, they’re more aware of your presence, and prepare accordingly.
Ubisoft recently invited us down to go hands-on with the latest build for the game, and, despite the more rural settings (compared to where we’ve been in the past), it’s filled with a great deal of promise. Hope County itself is a large, sprawling area, based on what we’ve explored thus far, with quiet little corners of the city brewing trouble, and quaint little mountain areas, where you can partake in a little fishing and/or hunting to calm the nerves a little bit.
With a Little Help From My Friends
But, of course, the real fun is in taking on cult members and mowing them down with style. This is where the Far Cry approach remains true, as you can take on objectives in a number of ways. In the opening encounter, you have to work with your gun-for-hire (you can choose from three to start – more on that in a second) and try to figure out how to overtake the small area of Fall’s End from a nearby tower. Do you take the stealthy approach and kill each member one by one without raising a ruckus, or do you throw an explosive and watch all hell break loose as you gun these adversaries down? It’s totally your call, but no matter which way you go, you’ll find the game is filled with possibilities.
Speaking of possibilities, the guns for hire each offer an extraordinary dynamic, depending on what approach you want to go for. First off, there’s Nick Rye, who you’ll run into later on in the game anyway when you want to take out targets with his specialized plane. He can actually provide tactical airstrikes from above, which are useful if you’re taking on large groups, though you’re mostly solo on the ground. Next up is Grace Armstrong, a reliable soldier that can take out targets from afar with her sniper rifle, though that means you’ll have to do most of the groundwork. Finally, there’s Boomer, your local canine, who can spot enemies for you and collect weapons when you need them the most. He’s mostly good as a secondary character, but useful regardless.
All of these characters, along with the ones you’ll run into over the course of your journey, add a great level of depth to the story, and show that you’re not alone when it comes to fighting against this corrupted cult. And there’s really no bad choice here, just ones you’ll need to adapt to when it comes to when it comes to your style of play.
Taking Out Foes From Above and Below
The ground combat is great, and probably the most focused I’ve seen from the Far Cry series to date. Even though there’s a great lock-on system with your weapons, that doesn’t assure you’ll always hit your target, especially when moving. The best way to go is to find the best gun for the job, then set up a vantage point where you don’t take too many hits, even if that means taking cover or even running away for a little bit and letting a foe come to you. I do wish there were more melee weapons introduced in the demo, but something tells me the final game will have a bit more variety.
We also got a taste of the aerial combat within the game, where you go up against soldiers that are loyal to the cult. Though a bit on the easy side at first, the mission helped me become familiar with the flight controls – which are very good. Pinpointing an enemy in crosshairs and being able to take them down with machine guns and rockets is cool, and I can’t wait to see some of the later encounters that come up in the game.
Also, there’s something to be said about accurate bombing controls. I was tasked with bringing down a number of silos important to the cult, but had no trouble targeting and blasting them off the face of the Earth. It was even fun to track down enemy soldiers and bomb the crap out of them as well, just to watch them go flying as they attempted to shoot down my plane with pithy machine guns. That’s cute. (Later ones will probably be armed with something much more powerful though – perhaps I shouldn’t be too cocky.)
A Different Kind of Far Cry
Far Cry 5 looks pretty spectacular thus far. There are moments when glitches popped up during the demo (like during a mission where I was trying to track an enemy that was out of bounds), but the city of Hope County has a great appearance to it, so it’s not so laden with doomsday propaganda, but you can still sense that something is wrong. It definitely has that “small town” vibe, and the small visual effects – particularly the explosions – are pretty awesome. I love the characterizations that are included in the game as well, as it really feels like you can relate to Nick and Grace, especially when enemies pop up out of nowhere. Oh, and you gotta love Boomer. Come on.
I wish I had more time to explore Hope County more with my demo, but Far Cry 5 has left a great impression on me thus far. It’s grasping all the elements that we’ve come to expect from the series over the past few years, while presenting a great new storyline that will get you involved, with good and bad people alike. Plus, some of the ideas just come into play really well, particularly with Boomer, who could easily go down as one of the most lovable dogs in video games. No joke – you’ll want to take him home after you play.
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We’ll have to wait a bit to get our hands on Far Cry 5, as it won’t be arriving till this February for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Amazon Prime members can currently save 20% on the pre-order). But some things are worth the wait. Yes, even a doomsday cult – in this case, anyway. Be sure to check out the extended gameplay clip below!
Disclaimer: Ubisoft provided travel and lodging to an event where I got hands-on with the game.
