A shallow, uninspiring open world slog
The gaming industry has had a rough year. Beyond the tepid dribble of big games over the past 12 months to the more serious allegations levelled against different gaming companies, 2021 has been a nasty black cloud hanging over this industry. ..
Ubisoft has been accused of sexual harassment by two women, and while the company has made some changes since then, they have not done enough to address the issue. Ubisoft is still a company that should be ashamed of themselves.
Ubisoft’s latest game is a bit of a letdown, with little to no innovation on the horizon. While I’m not advocating for a huge change with the game mechanics, small tweaks to gunplay, AI and level design would have gone amiss – but you’ll be hard-pressed to find much in the way of creative juices flowing through this one.
The story of Far Cry 6 takes place on the island of Yara, where Gabriel Castillo is elected president and promises stability with the creation of a new cancer treatment drug called “Viviro.” Seven years later and workers are enslaved to work on the tobacco fields and the country’s armed forces (known as the FND) begin rounding up citizens in the capital of Esperanza. ..
In the wake of this, Dani Rojas, who lives in the middle of Esperanza, plans to escape to Miami. Unfortunately things go awry and Dani finds herself in a desperate struggle to topple Castillo, uniting with the anti-Castillo forces under the flag of Libertad. In order to take back control, it’s up to Dani to recruit several different factions to join her cause and strike back against this maniacal war criminal.
The game is set up in a similar fashion to other Far Cry games, with the player taking control of a character who is fighting for freedom in each territory. The gameplay is pretty much the same, and it’s easy to get into the swing of things. The only difference here is that you’re not fighting against enemies – you’re fighting against Castillo and his cronies.
The faction recruitment system in the game is pointless and doesn’t do anything to improve the final fight.
The missions feel like they’re padding the game to make it more exciting, but in the end they don’t do anything to help the story or pacing.
Some of the missions are brilliant. A few of the treasure hunts, and a hunt for relics are imaginatively designed while a couple of the story missions, including storming a fort, are great fun. ..
The graphics are definitely on point, but the frame rate can be a bit choppy at times. The overall experience is very smooth and fluid, with no slowdown or issue during gameplay. The only downside to this title is that it can take some time to load up after a new area is visited.
But as you work through the game, you’ll also come across new challenges and objectives that will require your full attention. These include taking back checkpoints and FND bases from enemies, collectingibles like USB sticks and roosters, and completing side-quests.
The guns in this game are all largely the same; variations we’ve seen from previous games including shotguns, grenade launchers, pistols and machine guns, to name a few. They’re all plentiful and strewn out across the landscape, allowing you to play the way you want. To be honest, I kept my silenced rifle obtained at the start almost the entirety of the game, such is the effectiveness of hitting a well-aimed headshot.
There are lots of opportunities to collect “unique weapons” in the game, which can be found in different chests, treasure hunts or side quests. While these do offer a bit of incentive to go searching, given how poor the AI actually is (more on that in a bit), there’s not much incentive to hunt around, unless you want to grab the illusive platinum trophy of course. ..
This game is balanced in a way that makes it difficult to find other weapons, especially as you can’t upgrade your starter weapon the way you want. This makes the game difficult to win, and makes it less fun.
The new features in Battleborn are the resolver weapons and the Supremo backpacks. Each of these allow you to customize your loadout in a specific way, and also allow for a special move when fully loaded. It’s a nice idea, but between this and the “amigos” (animal sidekicks that help you in battle) there’s very little else that’s original here. ..
Far Cry 5 feels like a game that was rushed to release in order to capitalise on the success of its predecessor. The sense of déjà vu is overwhelming, as this is essentially a game that has been played before - with the same tired, unskippable cutscenes and animations. On the plus side, it’s better than Call Of Duty: Vanguard, which fails to animate any of its action at all. However, it still feels disappointing given the three-year wait between titles. ..
The enemies in this game are absolutely terrible. Soldiers run into walls, find themselves stuck on scenery, throw grenades aimlessly and move unimaginatively across the battlefield. Oh, and that’s before mentioning the four different enemy designs. There’s generic female soldier 1, generic female soldier 2, generic male soldier 1 and generic male soldier 2. Slap some armour onto those bad boys, switch up the weapons and we’ve got ourselves an army!
In Killzone 2, the AI was so bad that it broke the immersion. In Action Mode, it’s just a mess. Story Mode is even worse.
The game’s microtransactions are a way to make the game more fun and to incentivize players to spend money on it. They’re not essential, and they can be frustrating if you don’t want to spend money, but they do add an extra layer of excitement and challenge for those who do.
Ubisoft has put a lot of effort into making the Far Cry series feel like a high-quality open-world action game, but some of the features feel forced and uninspired. The shop is a welcome addition, but it’s not enough to make up for the lack of variety in the game.
The game is telling you that the Castillo forces are no longer a threat, but they’re still out there waiting to ambush you. This is a clear warning that the developers didn’t take the time to properly plan out the end-game. If you don’t take care of these enemies, they will eventually catch up to and kill you.
The game is riddled with glitches, poor graphics, and a lack of innovation that has made the series a laughing stock. The only thing that makes it bearable is the fact that you can play it for hours on end without feeling bored or frustrated.
