When Ubisoft brought the Far Cry series to the United States with Far Cry 5 and depicted the local populace as a militant cult bewitched by a charismatic, but crazy, leader that preached about the end-times to a mass following of loyal devotees, it drew some heat, with some alleging it of taking a political stance against Donald Trump and his base.
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Whether this allegation is fair or not — well, is a conversation for another day — but what followed was a series’ of mainstream news headlines about the game with unsavory things to allege and say.
That all said, Montana — which is where the game takes place — doesn’t seem to care, as they have actually spun the game into a tool of tourism.
Far Cry 5’s Hope County, Montana is a fictional setting for those that don’t know. I mean, Montana is real, but Hope County isn’t. And it’s Montana that has partnered with Ubisoft in order to encourage tourists to come see the real Montana, which is a whole lot better than Ubisoft’s fictional Montana.
“Welcome to Hope County,” reads Visit Hope County. “‘Hope County’” may be fictitious, but the mountains, rivers and wildlife that inspired Far Cry 5 are very real and based on the landscape of Southwest Montana. Dig deeper into the visually stunning scenery that backdrops the game, and plan your own Montana adventure in the “Last Best Place.” Open trails and big skies await you in this magnificent region of the western United States. Welcome to Hope County!”
According to the site, which is officially partnered with Ubisoft, the Far Cry 5 team at one point had a list of potential locations for the game’s setting, but after visiting Montana, almost immediately knew it was the right place for the game.
“The Far Cry franchise is about frontiers, and for Far Cry 5 the team wanted a place that was beautiful but also that felt remote. After making a short list of potential locations, the team got on a plane and headed to Montana. Once they started to meet the people, to hear its history and to go fishing and hunting, the team realized they got it right on the first shot. Far Cry was going to Montana.”
As you would expect, the website doesn’t make any note of Far Cry New Dawn, which is also set in Hope County, Montana, just a post-apocalyptic version of it.
Of course, this isn’t the first time a game has linked up with tourism, Fallout 76 did something similar with West Virgina, but it’s recreation actually features real-life locations from WV.
Anyway, if you haven’t ever visited Montana, you should. It’s absolutely beautiful, and features large swath of land virtually untouched by civilization. Oh, and if you like Far Cry, you should probably play Far Cry 5, even if it’s not as good as some of its predecessors.
Thanks, PCGamesN.
