Far Cry 6 Review
- Developer: Ubisoft
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Release: October 7, 2021
I tend to refrain from profanity in our reviews here on DashGamer, but holy shit. Far Cry 6 took me on an epic joyride from beginning to end with such an engrossing, confronting and polarising tale that was only made ever more tantalising by the absolutely sublime performances of not only its cover star, but the entirety of its cast. A cinematic thrill, the war torn escapade through Yara is unforgettable, marking what may very well be the pinnacle of its series to date. Sure fans were elated upon speculation that the campaign had ties with its 2012 predecessor, and while priding itself on immaculate story telling, Far Cry 6 does its due diligence in keeping arcs completely segregated while sprinkling some fan service within its establishment.
A drastic improvement over its direct prequel, the sixth entry into the franchise is bolstered by the incredible talents of Giancarlo Esposito, commonly known for his role as Gustavo Fring in one of television’s most iconic series, AMC’s Breaking Bad. That’s not to say the actor outperforms the entire cast, but his impact here as Far Cry 6’s main antagonist will leave some large shoes to fill. Far Cry’s formula has seen minor adjustments over its entries, but arguments made over recycled assets and ideas became clear after the release of spin-off title Far Cry: Primal. Its latest iteration is literally a far cry from this narrative – all the pun intended. While still not the most polished game on the market, its plot, setting and gameplay manage to outclass its previous developments, while decisively omitting some junk mechanics that were less-than favourable, nor utilised in prior entries.
True Lies...
Venturing off the coast of the Caribbean on the isolated enclave of Yara, a militant group is overruled by its dictator “El Presidente” Anton Castillo (Esposito), who maliciously runs an enslavement to help maintain his “specialised” cancer treatment from its unconventional source, Yara’s tobacco fields. A communal draft is held amongst the populace, with local armed forces rallying the poor. While this occurs, our protagonist Dani Rojas, aids their friends Lita and Alejo, as they flea towards a boat that sets its escape route towards the United States. Alejo is murdered when confronted by authorities, while Lita and Dani make it to the dock to board the sea craft. Unexpectedly, Castillo enters the ship’s cabin flanked by his personal security while looking for his son Diego. The hooded by unveils himself within the crowd with his malevolent father demanding he stand beside him.
Castillo then orders his troops to massacre everyone on the boat, and sink it it. Leaving everyone for dead, Dani is left as the only survivor as they wash ashore on Isla Santuario, a small district based off the outskirts of Yara’s capital. It should be noted, before beginning the game, players are given the choice to portray Dani as male or female. Merely an avatar, there’s no change in overall experience based on choice here. From this point of the campaign, we begin to venture Yara on foot with markers guiding Dani towards a camp of guerrilla fighters leading a revolt against Castillo, hoping to overturn the dictator’s tyranny. Known as the “Libertad”, the rebel soldiers are lead by Clara Garcia who recruits Dani with other guerrilla members to overtake Esperanza, and assassinate Anton Castillo.
The crux of your journey begins here, trawling through various mission objectives that dot together the outline of Far Cry 6’s narrative. The basics are taught from early stages, right through to its climax but tutorials are sporadically shown so its less interruptive, and more engaging than anything. Collecting artillery from wasted enemies, making tyre tracks down a dirt road just off the littered shores of Yara, encountering wild boars that did not make me jump out of my seat – Did. Not. – and changing up gameplay loop on the fly from tactical espionage, to ravaging and plundering is what makes Far Cry 6, seem like a welcome return to the series. The sandbox-like open-world environment can be circumvented by travelling by sea and air, which once again is a lot of fun to experience. An enigmatic display of beauty is shown as you fly over Yara’s valleys, with concentrated detail shown in its realism, but I’ll get back to aesthetics later.
Far Cry 6 is essential. You can't go past this year without experiencing this action packed, bloody magnificence.
Primarily a first-person shooter, Far Cry has always tried to incorporate platforming akin to a Mirror’s Edge, but has never been quite as intuitive or extrapolated in that stance. I do enjoy making a hasty escape when rundown by a swarm of opponents, but I know I’m on borrowed time when unarmed. However, chasing down an enemy truck while blasting them with a mounted cannon, or creeping up on a supposed threat with the Macarena by Los del Rio playing on the specialised Disc launcher aka the Macarena gun is a psychotically comical sequence that will have players laughing out loud. Without a doubt, devoted fans of the beloved series will be tempted to roar into the game guns blazing but I would advise you to meticulously carve out your story here for more of an encapsulating adventure, its one that is unforgiving in both the sense of execution in gameplay and lore. Its guaranteed to leave you inquisitive, and will be a talking piece amongst its community for years to come.
Paradise...
SOLID POINTS
✔️Giancarlo Esposito displays absolute brilliance in his menacing role.
✔️A melding of each successful trait the franchise has seen in gameplay and lore.
✔️Unquestionably immersive; the best in a long-standing action franchise.
❌Minor bugs & texture pop-in. Can be patched.
An array of firearms like a diesel engine strapped to a turret, or a deadly high powered nail-gun all have their place of use in the game. But there was one that had me feel like I was in power the entire time, that would be Tostador – the epic flame thrower that hurls out an epic flame that will set the valleys of Yara alight. Far Cry’s checkpoint system returns to the traditional Outpost where you will need to clear out the base from Castillo’s men first. Stealth has seen a definite improvement, but could be ironed out a little more here with enemy A.I. sometimes gazing right by me without a hitch. I mean I’m not totally invisible, but hey I shouldn’t really be complaining as it made for smooth sailing in some circumstances.
The notoriety meter will gauge whether troops are hostile and on the lookout, clamping down streets on a complete manhunt for Dani. You can reduce this by leaving the battle area where you’re targeted and staying out of plain sight for a select period. Due to the nature of the campaign’s narrative and its war torn surroundings, its apropos that you remain armed at the ready, so having your firearm holstered will not make you an immediate threat in the eyes of the militia, but only upon initiating confrontation will a fiery battle commence. This also plays in part of your notoriety, whether Dani is on high alert and bearing arms will troops stage an attack.
Let’s talk presentation. The game demonstrates some of the most gorgeous environments, and entails a concentrated aesthetic that speaks dissolute. But to some degree, there are some design flaws that do hold the game back from complete perfection. As polished as its overlay is, there’s a lacking result in some of its texture mapping, with some clay-like casting that does its character models no favour. Its all good and well to focus on your surroundings, and making the star attraction look great but when 90% of screen-time is cutscenes with your protagonist and their respective party, plus enemies that look very outdated, there’s a problem. Performance wise, minor frame-rate dips are evident on the XBOX Series X, but nothing that takes away from the inertia of its cinematic experience.
My ongoing dilemma with pre-rendered CGI sequences that continue to letterbox cutscenes for dramatic effect does not go unnoticed, and can be quite annoying when the game depends on these intermissions. Keeping the aspect ratio in-line with the in-game experience is fine. We don’t need two black bars at the top and bottom of the screen to tell us that we’re watching a clip. Other than that, speeding down desolate highways blaring Mr. Worldwide himself – that’s Pitbull for anyone not as lame as I am – or Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca is hilariously out of place when taking down swarms of guards, or fending off close threats. Again, I praise the cast of actors that managed to pull off an unforgettable performance, reeling me in for the long haul in one of my favourite campaign’s this year. Both Nisa Gunduz and Sean Rey who portray the female and male versions of Dani Rojas respectively, alongside Anthony Gonzales as prodigy Diego Castillo.
Far Cry 6 is essential. You can’t go past this year without experiencing this action packed, bloody magnificence. Sure it carries standard Hollywood tropes seen in war torn, Latin-America that have been stereo-typed to the point of glass house nausea, but forgetting that and just taking on board what has been put forward here is such a sensational escape. I’m sure a wave of Breaking Bad fans would be here for some hidden easter eggs, and yes there are some lines delivered that can be connected to its universe. Hell even some plot points that may be coincidental or ironic, but separating it from Esposito’s involvement and discerning its overarching premise for being a Far Cry game, is what fans of the series will unequivocally walk away with… and then some.
Far Cry 6 Review
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Far Cry 6 is a 2021 action-adventure first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. It is the sixth main installment in the Far Cry series.
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