It seems today that all Ubisoft games have blended together to form one formulaic experience that feels familiar no matter the series or genre that game is.
Far Cry embodies that feeling of open-worldness that was perfected back in Far Cry 4, with a combination of immersive gameplay, memorable villains, and a story that is just there to set the stage for the location.
The stage this time is Yara, a fictional country that bears a striking resemblance to a place near Miami sans its original name under a dictatorship of one Anton Castillo, played by the amazing Giancarlo Esposito, a man of TV that needs no introduction for his roles as memorable villains.
So we have ourselves a good recipe for a game. But is Far Cry 6 good? Well…
Presentation
First thing to note, I do commend Ubisoft Montreal on how amazing their Dunia 2 engine looks on Next-Gen consoles. It captures the tropical feel of Yara rather well and looks stunning even on 1080p. Its solid 60fps makes returning to last-gen versions (or even Far Cry 3 Remastered) rather hard to get used to. Which makes watching cutscenes (at least for the Series S) quite jarring since it is locked to 30fps but it does give out a more cinematic feel.
The game’s protagonist, Dani Rojas, is quite interesting to play as and I do feel like their character and charm feel rather similar to Cyberpunk’s V, with both being quite likable characters in each of their own games. And even though they are basically a one-man army, it doesn’t hurt to have some personality.
But, I do feel like Ubisoft has squandered with their villain cast once again. Giancarlo Esposito has played a lot of memorable villains in the 2010s and although his character does interact with Dani on a few occasions that they collide, it doesn’t have the same feeling within the likes of FC4’s Pagan Min of interactivity with the protagonist.
Moreover, the music selection is top-notch, with a mix of modern tracks like Camila Cabello’s Havana being the most popular one and classics which you may have heard in a Nandos chain before. Along with the in-game music too, those are quite fitting as well. From just strolling off the beaten-path to taking down a military checkpoint, you know the music will have your back.
Gameplay
On the gameplay side of Far Cry, it is business as usual with mechanics from previous games making a return. Only this time there isn’t a skill tree to unlock but rather a nice progressive style where you will get the important tools as you play through the game.
Other than that, Far Cry 6 is the same formulaic open-world system that we have come to expect for this series. And that it also includes elements from other Ubisoft titles like a hub world, map leveling structure, and gears now having a star level, it makes the game feel more of a Ubisoft Salad than ever before. However, this one is mixed rather well and blends within the game neatly.
One returning feature from 2019’s New Dawn is the crafting mechanic where you can craft your weapons to equip Armor-piercing ammo which if you equip it to, let’s say, a starter pistol, can take down even the hardest enemy with two to three good headshots. Which unless you choose to switch it up at any point but it makes using the unique weapons that you might find moot since it will alert enemies easier.
Speaking of unique weapons, the weaponized backpack, or the Resolver weapons, is a neat addition to the arsenal of tools to take down a dictatorship. And although there are other choices to use like poison rounds and so on, I prefer the one that the game gives you in the first hour which are the rocket rounds and those are useful during the endgame where tanks and helicopters are now spawning regularly, making the other upgrades not that useful.
One aspect that was overhauled was the buddy system, also known as Guns For Hire in FC5. As you are playing as a one-man guerilla machine, Ubisoft has tweaked it to now having only Animal-based amigos. From Chorizo the sausage dog to a t-shirt wearing alligator, it is an interesting gameplay choice to remove human helps from the core gameplay loop but it does work out rather well.
Content
Content is always in abundance for Far Cry games, which might take the average player 20-30 hours to complete the main story missions alongside some side contents such as the now infamous rooster fighting minigame. Checkpoints and base clearing are also in mass if you desire to clear anything and everything within this tropical paradise. And there’s even a fishing mini-game if you feel the need to kick-back and catch some big fish for the rebellion.
But like its previous iterations, it suffers from post-game emptyness, as in you don’t know what to do after the credits roll. There are those Yaran side stories that help flesh out the world and perhaps gain Amigos, weapons, and so on but it’s not as memorable as the main storyline.
Though, I wish there was a Far Cry Arcade variant for 6 because community-made maps and game modes could prolong its life cycle like Far Cry 5 did, I reckon the villain-based DLCs that are coming could perhaps fill that gap, albeit in a smaller way.
Personal Enjoyment
The Far Cry series has come a long way from its mysterious island filled with mutants or the grounded backbone set in Africa routes, of which after 6 games later, we see where the series stands now. A fun sandbox shooter where taking down the villain is a fraction of the game.
Although I do agree with some commenters mentioning that you have already played this Far Cry since it has been mostly similar pickings, it doesn’t brush off the fact that it is one of the few games within the Ubisoft catalog that are replayable single-player titles, like Watch_Dogs and Assassin’s Creed, and they are easy-to-pick-up later on in the console lifecycle.
Who’s to say where the series will go after this, but at the very least I did enjoy my time with Yara from start to finish.
Conclusion
Far Cry 6 is the quintessential experience for the series and perhaps a unique take on guerilla warfare in the modern era. It does its job right to a tee that people are confusing it for being similar with each other but what this game brings to the table on replayability is commendable and I’m glad I enjoyed Gus Fring’s dictatorship takedown without any qualms whatsoever.
Review based on the Xbox Series S version, Review copy purchased by reviewer.
Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6 is the quintessential experience for the series and perhaps a unique take on guerilla warfare in the modern era. It does its job right to a tee that people are confusing it for being similar with each other but what this game brings to the table on replayability is commendable .
- Presentation 7.5
- Gameplay 8
- Content 8.7
- Personal Enjoyment 7.6