Far Cry 6 Far Cry 6 Review PlayStation 5 Review Ubisoft

Far Cry 6 Review (PS5) – Open World Comfort Food

Far Cry 6 PS5 ReviewAre we really on number six already? Sheesh, that came around quickly. Far Cry 6 is the latest in the open-world series of high-octane games by Ubisoft. Each Far Cry iteration usually follows the same formula from the last, but on the whole, I do enjoy what they offer. With that said, let’s see if the latest game in the series tickles my destructive anarchy bone.

Far Cry 6 takes place in the region of Yara, which is a group of islands ruled over by – yes you’ve guessed it – that bloke from Breaking Bad and Star Wars that we have all seen in the run-up to this release. More on him later, though.

If you have ever played Far Cry before, a lot of the narrative DNA will seem familiar. An oppressive overlord, who must be overthrown, a group of rag-tag characters that need to be brought together, yada yada yada. Or should I say Yara, Yara, Yara!

Far Cry 6 PS5 Review


Familiar Territory

Initially, I was getting quite a bit of deja vu playing Far Cry 6 by following markers, shooting fools in the head and talking to uncanny characters trying to get them all to work in unison to get rid of the ruthless tyrant. Speaking of which, Giancarlo Esposito does play a good baddie, being insane, intelligent and calculated in equal measures. I much preferred him to the villain in the last few Far Cry Games.

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Giancarlo plays Anton Castillo, who is creating a cure for cancer using the island’s tobacco; I know, it sounds mental, and it truly is. He is using the populace as a slave workforce in the process and causing friction with the locals. The story in Far Cry covers everything from slavery to family ties, drugs and human trafficking, everything you expect from the franchise and nothing really novel in any way.

While Far Cry 6’s narrative did have a few twists and turns, on the whole I found it just serviceable enough to propel you through what is the game’s best aspect: its living, breathing world. The ability to cause carnage in Far Cry 6’s sprawling sandbox is profound.

Furthermore, its cast of wacky characters is broad, its weird missions varied, and its out-of-this-world weaponry is beautifully destructive. A special shout out to Philly, who is my kind of crazy.

Fun in Familiarity

It was at this point I started to really enjoy myself and realize that, while Far Cry 6 may just be more of the same, it’s exactly what I wanted. It was like comfort food. I would do a bit of fishing, a few races, blow up some stuff and plod onto the next task on my list.

It was not unprecedented by any means but I was having fun and to me, that is far more important. While racing around Yara, I realized how much I missed Far Cry and too many changes may have deviated from that enjoyment.

There was one mission for example where I needed to get into a church undetected. After a few failed attempts and being swamped by the local enforcers, I decided to wingsuit in from a nearby hillside. That’s why I like Far Cry; you are not punished for failed stealth attempts, you can attempt missions how you like and can be creative. Sometimes the stealth comes off but sometimes it’s just pleasing to wade in and fill bad guys full of holes.

Most of the features and tasks you will be doing do return with a few new twists. You can play the whole game in co-op as well as those small, self-contained missions from the last game you can repeat. There are new ‘Los Bandidos’ missions that run in the background while you cause mayhem.

You select your leader and at various points, select what route you want them to take in the mission. You can recruit new leaders and soldiers throughout Yara and its many objectives for these choose-your-own-adventure missions.

There’s hunting, racing, light base-building activities, caches, chests, checkpoints to take over and even cockfighting, which is hilarious. The cock-fighting takes a Street Fighter-esque tone even down to the selection screen and three-round battles.

There are loads more activities I have not even covered, but suffice to say you could not go more than a few yards in Yara without something else to do. Luckily, if all this stuff is not your cup of tea, you can just drive past most of it.

A Tweakers Dream

One thing I thought was massively improved over the previous games was the customization and crafting. Everything from your armour to your car can be tailored to your liking. At a crafting bench, you can adorn your guns with different sights, mods and skins, which can all be crafted with loot you have collected during your numerous blood-filled jaunts.

Even your vehicles can be equipped with guns, bumpers and different rims, all of which can be further tailored to your style.

Meanwhile, Yara is home to all manner of unique weapons. In regards to the weapon types you can use, the proper tasty, carnage-creating highlights are the Supremo and the Resolvers. The former is a backpack of pure terror that can do everything from fire heat-seeking rockets to poison and can hold four throwable items.

Meanwhile, the latter are highly customizable, powerful weapons which include a firework gun, which is both hilarious and effective in equal measures. I took out many a helicopter in an explosion of colour with that bad boy.

As well as a vast array of customizable armaments there are a few collectable ‘amigos’ to help you in times of need. I will not spoil them all but the first two are a crocodile with a gold tooth called Guapo and a small puppy in a wheeled harness called Chorizo.

Both equally viable in battle with upgrades and different skills. I loved them both and let’s be honest, who would not fill their pants if a crocodile in a sports shirt came flying towards them?

Pleasing Sights And Sounds

Graphically, while I felt Far Cry 6 at times looked attractive, it did not blow my mind. After playing offerings like Returnal, Demon’s Souls and other PlayStation-exclusives, Far Cry 6 didn’t reach anywhere near those games in image quality or art style. That’s not to say it’s a bad-looking effort, though; the graphics are fine, they fit the style of the game and in such a large, varied, open-world I don’t think you could ask for more.

On the sound front, I loved Far Cry 6. Most of the voice acting was pretty solid, the soundtrack is amazing and with one of the collectables being USB music sticks, you can listen back to some of your favourite tracks from the game while you are hunting your next target or racing a jetski over a waterfall.

The mix of Cuban and Mexican music straddles many genres, and I immediately recalled an interview with audio director Eduardo Vaisman regarding the amount of effort put into the soundtrack; needless to say, it definitely shows.

In Yara, a world brimming with so many moveable parts, I did expect to encounter various glitches and issues. I can happily say apart from one map screen lockup and a few of your usual open-world floaty-gun shenanigans, I had a pretty issue-free time.

I was left to lay waste to Yara, smoothly, happily and without concern. There’s not much worse than poorly performing video games, but I’m happy to report that Far Cry 6 on PS5 puts in a stellar performance.

Speaking of PS5, the adaptive triggers and haptics are implemented solidly, with different weapons having different trigger tensions and different surfaces feeling unique when driving over them. I especially liked the way jetski felt when hopping over the water. I really feel the DualSense controller elevates certain parts of the experience and the game would have been worse without it.

It’s Still Far Cry, And There’s Nothing Wrong With That

Overall, while I initially felt I was treading well-trodden ground, I eventually came to appreciate the familiarity of a game that allows you to express yourself. Far Cry 6’s open-world tasks and missions can be tackled in many ways and its characters I found, on the whole, were entertaining.

Indeed, I realized how much I missed the insanity and weirdness of Far Cry and found its familiarity wholesome. However, if you did not like Far Cry before, this latest instalment will do little to change your mind.

Far Cry 6 is not revolutionary. It doesn’t push boundaries, nor does it attempt to push the genre forward in any shape or form. It is, however, an enjoyable, rewarding video game and at the end of the day, isn’t that why we play games – to relax and have fun?

There’s a lot in Yara to discover, find and complete and you certainly get your money’s worth. I cannot wait to get stuck back in, catch all the fish, blow stuff up and battle cocks to my heart’s content.

Far Cry 6 is out on October 7, 2021 for PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Score

8

The Final Word

Familiar, entertaining and with a cast of wacky characters, Far Cry 6 is a lot of fun. It is not novel, new or groundbreaking in any way but we are here to play Far Cry after all, and Far Cry 6 is certainly that. With lots to do and discover, Yara is a great playground to cause destruction and carnage. The customization is much improved from previous games as is the crafting, and if you liked Far Cry before, then this should be right up your street.