Far Cry 5 | Xbox One Review
Bullets, bombs, and religious fanatics. What more could you ask for? Ubisoft‘s Far Cry 5, the next chapter in the Ubisoft series, holds no punches and delivers an insane amount of fun. Still not sure if this game is for you? Well let’s dive right in and find out.
Enter the Seed family, a group of crazed backwoods folk from Hope County, Montana. They are planning on spreading their beliefs and converting everyone they come across to their way of life…whether you want it or not. The family is the head of cult known as the Project at Eden’s Gate. Each member of the family and their followers are called PEGI’s for short. The family is led by Joseph Seed, also known as the Father. He is completely devout and obsessed with spreading his message. Flatout, this guy is off his rocker; underneath him are his three captains: John, Jacob, and Faith.
You play as a character simply known as Rook (short for Rookie), one of the deputies of the local Sheriff’s Department. You begin in a helicopter with the rest of your team and a U.S. Marshall, who are currently en route to arrest Joseph Seed. The warrant is for kidnapping, murder, and other charges which stem from local accusations and a cell phone video that was leaked during one of the Seed Family sermons. Once there, things go awry and all hell breaks loose. The Seed family kidnaps your partners and the Marshall; you, however, are rescued by a man named Dutch who wants nothing more than the Seed family and all their followers removed from the picture. With this knowledge the game begins and all I can say is: let the mayhem begin!
Far Cry 5‘s is divided into three major regions and two small islands. Each region is controlled by one of the captains who you need to stop. Once all three are removed from the equation, you will gain access to Joseph Seed to end his reign of terror on Hope County. Similar to other Far Cry games, you have to draw your enemy out of hiding by destroying their property, killing their immediate followers/gang, and helping the locals out in forming a resistance. There is a fair amount of repeat missions while completing these small tasks, however they are not without their merits or fun. From blowing up silos and trucks to taking over cult compounds, the destruction is almost endless.
Each of the areas also has a theme. First let’s start with John, who is more or less Joseph’s hype-man. He’s uses his wit and charm to recruit new people into the cult. This is the captain I chased down first, and you have the ability to start with any of them. Next there is Faith, who is the devout believer who uses her special blend of drugs to help loosen up your will, fall in line, and at last blindly accept the cult’s message. Finally there is Jacob, whose extreme methods help turn you into a religious soldier fighting for the cause. Each one of the family members are holding one of your teammates who accompanied you into Hope County.
As you progress through the quest lines in Far Cry 5, you will come across breaks in the action in which you are confronted face-to-face with one of the lunatics. Each wants to convince you as to why the Eden’s Gate cult is the place for you and your team. The cutscenes during these breaks in the action delve deeper into the insanity that has gripped the members of the cult. They give you plenty of motivation to stop the madness. You also have the opportunity to recruit resistance members to your side. The resistance fighters all have their own funny backstories and abilities to help you on your mission.
The gameplay is fluid and the fighting is fun. There is a multitude of weapons for which you can collect and purchase modifications for. There is a large amount of custom vehicles from cars and trucks to planes and helicopters. The graphics for this game are insane and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. There are also a large amount of side-quests to perform at any point in time you prefer. The skill tree in the game is a little bit of a grind, but very fair and fun at times. Here you can unlock perks like a wingsuit, or the ability to carry around some extra hand grenades to cause more havoc.
Far Cry 5 Final Verdict
Overall, I love this game, and I could not put it down. With it being the second game in the Far Cry series that I have completed (the other being Far Cry Primal), I now want to go back and play through the other games in the series. Lastly, I will leave you with the fact that this game provides one of the best game endings that I can recall from the past few years. Once you finish the game, I think you will be pleasantly surprised as well.
Far Cry 5
$59.99
Pros
- Intriguing Setting
- Unexpected Finale
- Satisfying Sandbox Fun
Cons
- Occasional Story Interruptions
