Skip to content
Far Cry 6 has at long last arrived after the excellent Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn. I will admit I have been a fan of this series since Crytek started it, and then Ubisoft took the helm with Far Cry 2. They aced Far Cry 3, and the series has been getting better since then. The villains play as big a part as the central character, with some amazing cutscenes spurring you on to succeed at your goal.
This time, you’re a Guerilla/Freedom fighter going up against the dictator Anton Castillo who is voiced and visually-styled on the excellent Giancarlo Esposito, who many will know from Breaking Bad. He always plays a great bad guy and Far Cry 6 is no exception! The South American-styled setting of Yara is much like the previous few Far Cry games, with a large map split into different areas that are governed by the generals. It is entirely up to you in which area you start out after the opening island.
Once again, you can select either a male or female character, but it has no real relevance to the gameplay or final outcomes. There are plenty different outfits to unlock – as you go – each with various benefits once you find all parts as well as numerous weapons which can be customised with ammo types, silencers and sights, as well as different paint jobs. Presently, you only have the option to hide headgear, but a transmog system is coming where you can make an item look like something else, if you prefer a certain look such as what Ubisoft used on Assassins Creed Odyssey. On top of the various weapons, you have animal companions which you can use.
You will unlock extra companions as you play, and each has it’s own benefits. If you play stealthy, then you don’t really want to be selecting the crocodile and looking at something else. A new addition is the Supremo backpack which has 4 different options, once again that you can unlock. The trailers have only really shown the starter pack which launches a volley of rockets at a target. However, there are stealth options which include an EMP that’s great for downing helicopters etc. Finally, you can also customise the numerous vehicles you own with rams, guns and then fun stuff like bobble-heads for the dashboard, and items which can be hung from the rear view mirror.
The gameplay, itself, is a huge open world and plays like FC5 & FC: New Dawn (long gone are the radio towers to climb to reveal the map). However, this time around, the various districts in each of the main areas shows a recommended level for your character, so it pays to do the various side jobs as well as any main missions before continuing to venture further to level up and find better gear. Getting around involves numerous cars, boats, planes and helicopters. When travelling by road, activating a map marker sees a blue line appear on the road on the map to get you to your destination making navigation easy enough.
My personal favourite, though, has to be a helicopter which has rockets and guns attached, given a straight line to an objective is much easier and quicker and handy for thinning out any enemy troops that may be guarding something. Much like the previous games in the series, you do get random patrols, or will run into people that need rescuing to join your cause. Main objectives see you burning the tobacco farms, and liberating road blocks and other buildings to strengthen your hold on an area. If you do like travelling by air, anti-aircraft guns have been installed in numerous places so to be able to use the airspace, you’ll have to take them out first, even though you’re flying regime helicopters! It is very much like FC5, but with a South American Latin theme, plus a military theme for the bad guy.
Gadgets now are stored via your Supremo, and are off to the left of the weapon-select wheel. As you find various materials, you can unlock numerous grenades etc to suit your play style. I have been using a perception grenade in military complexes etc, to tag enemies in order to ensure the way in is clear and I won’t be spotted. The usual field glasses you get have been replaced by a mobile phone with zoom for tagging enemies. It adds to the whole Guerilla Warfare-theme that the game has.
FC6 has no PvP multiplayer, but you can play through the entire campaign and side missions with a drop-in and drop-out feature for friends and unknown players. This feature can be toggled to offline only, friends only or random players.
The visuals and sound are absolutely superb, and the game runs really well on my Xbox One X. I have encountered no bugs at all in anything, after all the hours I have put in so far. All I can really say is, it’s what you would expect from FC, but with a South American setting! FC6 – much like all the games prior to it from FC2 onwards – uses the updated Dunia Engine which scales well on PCs, and runs great on the consoles. You get lush jungle areas as well as great-looking towns, outposts and large bodies of water.
I have to mention all the accessibility options available to the player. You get your usual colourblind modes, but also narrated menus and motion, vision, hearing, motor, cognitive and colour presets. For me, I have been using the motion preset as I can get migraines and dizziness from first-person games. This preset stops the reticle from swaying, has minimal camera shakes, motion blur off (always do this one regardless), poison and drunk effects off and a lower vibration on the controller. I can honestly say this has worked great for me. The other presets change certain aspects of the game to help those with difficulties and impairments to enjoy the experience, and it is something I certainly hope Ubisoft will keep putting in their games and with others starting to follow.
I have really enjoyed Far Cry 6 so far, and I am still nowhere near the end. It has addictive, if familiar, gameplay. It does very much remind me of Ubisoft’s other open-world masterpiece, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, with a bit of Just Cause 3 thrown in for good measure, given both of those games are set in South America. I am looking forwards to the season pass content, where you get to play the bad guy from Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 5, so Vaas, Pagan Min, Jacob and I did receive an email a few days ago with news about some free content. This content has Danny Trejo with your character delivering Tacos across Yara, a Stranger Things crossover where you must locate Chorizo the dog in the Upside Down, and a Rambo-inspired one with a cosplayer, and the same theme as the original First Blood movie from the early ’80s. So there is plenty to be looking forwards to post-release.
Whether you are new to the Far Cry series or have enjoyed the previous tiles, Far Cry 6 is a must have game that will keep you entertained for a long time to come.
A big thanks to our friends at Ubisoft for supplying us with the review code.
Far Cry 6 is out now on Xbox One / Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC / Epic Games Store.
Important info:
- Developer: Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft
- Publisher: Ubisoft Toronto / Ubisoft
- Players: Single player offline & Co-Op Online
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
9 9 8.5 9 |
| OVERALL | 9 |
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!