Dec 6, 20215 min read

Far Cry 6

Updated: Feb 24, 2023

Reviews by:

@damoroso4

RATE THIS VIDEOGAME

Far Cry 6

Console: ps4/ ps5, xbox one/ xbox series x

Release: October 7th, 2021

The objective in Ubisoft's Far Cry 6 is simple. Free the fictional City of Yara from the tyrannical grip of dictator Anton Castillo, portrayed with cold hearted menace by Giancarlo Esposito. Castillo has a young son who is the reluctant heir to the throne. The dynamic between these 2 plays out well over the course of the campaign, with Castillo Jr struggling to come to terms with his father's expectations. It's a shame Esposito gets so little screen time here, as a little more development was needed in order for us to really understand his character and the motivations.

You play as Dani Rojas, who you can choose as male or female (I chose female so will refer to her as 'she' for this review), as she joins a revolution of guerilla fighters looking to overthrow Castillo and free the city.

Yara itself is huge, comfortably the biggest map of all the previous Far Cry instalments. It is split into several different sections, which are a kind of combination of all previous Far Cry maps. There is lots of lush greenery and beaches akin to Far Cry 3; but also lots of rural city areas and mountainous landscapes you would've found in Far Cry 4 and 5.

Aside from the size of the map and the varied scenery throughout, Yara is filled with all of the usual Far Cry things you would expect to find. Checkpoints to capture, bases to conquer, hidden stashes of treasure, loads of different vehicles to pilot and wild animals to hunt.

A new addition here is horses which can be found all over the island. They handle brilliantly, as fast as some cars, and those playing on ps5 will be able to feel the hooves clop-clopping against the pavement through the haptic feedback of the Dualsense. Impressive stuff.

Yara really is a playground in which you can cause chaos. This is where Far Cry 6 is at it's best, when you are free roaming Yara and just wreaking havoc.

Dani has a vast array of weapons available to her, and they can be heavily customised on any of the dozens of work benches scattered around the island. You can add silencers, zoom sights, explosive ammo, and lots of other things to really buff your loadout to perfection.

The soldiers patrolling Yara wear different types of armour which are each weak to a specific ammo type, so the idea is to carry a couple of guns with different ammo, ensuring you are ready for anything. Truthfully though? Pump them with enough lead and it doesn't really matter. Or if you're a marksman- headshots will usually do the trick regardless of armour.

The gunplay in general is excellent. Slick and punchy, it's every bit as exhilarating and frantic as anything Call of Duty has to offer. The melee and stealth elements are also more than competent if you prefer that route (although, if you do prefer that route you're missing out on a hell of a lot of fun!).

Gone are the upgrade points and abilities from previous instalments. You still level up and gain experience points, but this doesn't really have an impact on anything, other than how many bullets it takes to down the guards (the higher their level, the more bullets they can withstand). The lack of unlockable abilities leaves a little bit of a hole which can't be filled by customisable weapons.

The buddy system from Far Cry 5 is also removed and replaced with 'Amigos' which are unlockable animal companions. This is a cute little gimmick that can be used to either distract or just help you kill enemies. As the game goes on though you'll find yourself using them less and less. Their impact is minimal.

Dani makes her way around Yara trying to unite several groups against Castillo. She does this by undertaking various missions for each of them, in order to prove her loyalty and gain their trust. The missions are exactly what you'd expect. The usual combination of blowing stuff up, killing people, protecting people, escaping from people. No points for originality here, but thankfully it's so much fun that it never quite becomes tedious.

The same can be said for the side missions which also lack originality. They mostly provide more of the same stuff you do in main missions, but on a smaller scale. Some of the treasure hunts are fun though, with some platforming elements breaking up the gunplay.

Dani herself is a likeable enough character, probably the best protagonist Far Cry has produced so far (but its hardly stiff competition). The tone of the game is a little confused though, as serious topics such as fascism and poverty are often spliced with silly humour which is sometimes completely out of place. It feels like Ubisoft should've picked a lane and stuck to it, rather than weaving in and out of lanes like a motorist frantically trying to get home before rush hour.

The roughly 20 hour main story progresses fairly linearly depending on which groups you ally with first, but ultimately all roads lead to Castillo. The last few missions of Far Cry 6 are a pulse-pounding adrenaline rush which climax with a satisfying conclusion.

From everything you've read so far, its easy to see this game hitting a 9 or even a 10 out of 10, right?

Here's the thing though. If this game released 10 years ago, it would without doubt be a 9, maybe even a 10. But times have changed. Gamers have expectations now that didn't exist 10 years ago.

Avid Far Cry fans will tell you they know exactly what they're getting themselves into with each instalment. The fun to be had, the freedom on offer, is what keeps bringing them back.

But after roughly 6 instalments which have followed the exact same formula, is that really sufficient anymore? How long can Ubisoft keep churning Far Cry games out, each of them slightly better than the last with a couple of tweaks, but no real game changing improvements? Is everybody just okay with this?

Yara's tagline is 'A City frozen in time'. Ironically, Ubisoft have in some ways created a metaphor here for the Far Cry franchise itself.

One of Ubisoft's other main IP's, Assassins Creed, suffers from the same thing. Every iteration offers a new location and a huge map to play around in, but nothing really game changing. They could almost just release annual DLC'S featuring new maps and graphical updates, rather than brand new games.

Its for this reason that, for me anyway, Far Cry 6 doesn't quite hit elite level. Taken as a stand alone game it is undeniably impressive, and without doubt one of the best open world first person shooters you can get.

But take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and you will see that not much has really changed since Jason Brody washed up on that desert island in Far Cry 3.

Pro's