Faith Seed uses a drug called Bliss to turn minds into mush, while John Seed is more of a televangelist type of leader. Jacob Seed is militant, and brainwashes people to get them to do his bidding. Each of the three areas is controlled by one of Joseph's siblings, and each sibling has a distinct flair to them. The majority of gameplay sees players working in one of three areas to rid the zone of the cult's presence. No matter where I was, there were horrifying reminders of the cult's influence everywhere I turned.
Ubisoft managed to take this setting and pump in some truly scary stuff. Life as we know it is coming to a close, so the cult is attacking anything and everything, because that's how cults work, I guess. Players are thrust into a county in Montana that has become overrun by a cult that believes the end of the world is imminent. While gameplay is largely great, Far Cry 5's story has many issues. It was nice not having to hunt down a specific, rare animal to finally access a new perk, but this new system isn't the best replacement either. They didn't feel that cool to unlock, because few actually changed my strategy or how I played. These are mostly identical upgrades, like increased ammo capacity or a shorter refresh time between summoning an ally to fight by your side, but made for specific weapons or characters. Players now must complete challenges to earn perk points to unlock upgrades. Far Cry 5 does away with almost all of the crafting, and many of the perks you'd expect to see early on are included immediately. In previous Far Cry games, players would be tasked with hunting specific animals to craft new gear, and could unlock abilities by earning points. The one big change to gameplay is character progression. I did experience two brief moments of framerate chugging, but the fact that I can only recall two small incidents throughout my entire playtime is pretty positive.
If a standard Xbox One makes this game look so good, I can only imagine what a PS4 Pro, Xbox One X or high-end PC can display. Graphics are stunning, and the lighting especially stood out as impressive. Locations and other items of interest are instead revealed in a more natural way, like finding signs along the side of the road, talking to people in town and listening to voicemails left on telephones.įar Cry 5 also shines, oftentimes literally. You'll never have to climb a radio tower to reveal zones on the map this time around. The one major difference this time around is climbing towers. Most of the other Far Cry gameplay staples return as well, like clearing outposts. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.įar Cry 5 has a hauntingly perfect atmosphere, but is hindered by odd storytelling Ubisoft There aren't any new weapons from previous games, so expect the same rifles, SMGs, bows, shotguns and rocket launchers you have come to know. There's a heavy emphasis on stealth, like previous games, and players can go through the entire campaign in co-op with a friend. Gameplay is smooth as silk, even if it is virtually identical to previous iterations in the franchise.
While the remainder of Far Cry 5 manages to maintain that same sense of dread throughout, the quality of its storytelling unravels from there, revealing a mechanically sound, if familiar, game with uneven and repetitive moments.įrom a technical perspective, Far Cry 5 is a triumph. The scene with the player, controlling a rookie deputy, arresting Joseph Seed, the monstrous and magnetic leader of a doomsday cult, features gripping voice acting, timely relevance and is saturated with a mist-like dread that seeps into your every pore.
The opening of Far Cry 5 will stick with me for years.