After 6 Far Cry games you would figure the formula would be shaken up a bit. Sure, ever since Far Cry 3’s Vaas Montenegro, the villains of each game have been engaging and interesting but that new edition happened 9 years ago. Surely Ubisoft can find a way to shake up the Far Cry formula this time around? Oh, by the way, did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?
Far Cry 6 is, believe it or not, the 6th main entry in the Far Cry series and I’m sure it’s impossible to have missed it but the big pull this time round is that the Breaking Bad super star, Giancarlo Esposito is playing the main antagonist, Antón Castillo. I think Giancarlo Esposito is a brilliant actor and has a special talent for playing a calm yet frightening character, but the world and story built around him doesn’t do him any justice.
The basic story in Far Cry 6 is a tale we’ve all heard and seen before plenty of times in the media. There’s a small island nation that is ruled by an iron fisted dictator. You play as some generic man (or woman) who begrudgingly decides to help the resistance and overthrow the government and bring peace to the land. As you travel across the island, you meet a whole cast of potentially interesting characters, who never get a chance to develop, and recruit them to your team. They all, of course, crack jokes as you go around murdering Antón’s armed forces, who by the way, probably don’t want to be there and are only a part of his regime because the other option is probably watch their family get executed. But you know, action video games…
If you’ve played one of the previous Far Cry games you know exactly what sort of gameplay to expect here. You have a massive open world, that you can travel around on foot, vehicle or, as a new edition, horse back! Missions are scattered all over. There are plenty of side missions to keep you distracted. Of course, on the island there are many outposts you need to take control of, in classic Far Cry fashion you’ll need to eliminate all the guards posted there. To try and shake up the formula a little bit you now need specific ammo to deal damage against certain enemies. Yup, you read that right. The literal best part of any Far Cry game, going Rambo against all your enemies, is now reduced to a rock-paper-scissors formula where you need the right bullets to kill your target. As if crafting didn’t make things tedious enough. Now not only do I need to find crafting materials to “level up” my guns with better equipment, I also need to make sure I have enough materials to make the right bullets so I can kill the enemies. Or you can just skip most of that and equip a silent sniper rifle and just land continuous headshots.
Outside of weapon and bullet crafting, new additions also include the pet/Amigos system. Throughout your adventure you’ll meet a few ‘good boys’ that can tag along as your sidekick with their own special abilities and perks. The poster child for this feature is the adorable Chorizo, a little sausage dog in a wheelchair. The Amigos system is a nice touch, and the Chicharrón mission is most definitely a highlight. It’s definitely more entertaining than having a human NPC follow you around.
Overall, I would say Far Cry 6 is probably a great game for someone who is brand new to the franchise. Giancarlo Esposito does what he does best, giving a terrifying performance, but he’s just one man and cannot carry the entire game by himself. While there are definitely some great missions and fun moments, these are far and few between. Far Cry 6 unfortunately seems to be becoming one of the standard cut and paste, annualized games we see every year. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Fifa. Here’s hoping the DLC does something fresh, like what Blood Dragon did for Far Cry 3.