It’s not The Witness, but these simple challenges allow for quiet moments of thought amidst all the chaos. The name of the quest is the clue, and after swimming to the other side of the lake you’ll find a sniper perch placed just right for peering through a back window in the shed at the lock which can be shot off, providing you access. On one of these sidequests, called Long Shot Lockpick, the goods are locked away in a shed high up on stilts overlooking a lake. To complement the combat, some light environmental puzzle solving is required to find lucrative treasure stashes. Hey, I tried.I like games with big possibility spaces. One of my funniest moments was when I rescued a woman being held hostage by the cult and, just as she was thanking me, a wolverine jumped on her face out of nowhere and mauled her to death. That’s not a complaint – I like games with big possibility spaces. That story takes place on an open-world map that, in true Ubisoft fashion, is packed with so much to find and so much happening at any given time it’s easy to get distracted from the mission at hand. Instead of leaning on stereotypes, the people you encounter are well-written, and most are charismatic and funny. Rural America isn’t being ridiculed or laughed at here.
The vibe is more like an ‘80s action movie that happens to be set in a conservative state. But the story doesn’t seem to be making any grand statement about current events or political ideologies. There are a few things you can point to as commentary on rural America’s relationship with guns and the Second Amendment, and I’ve encountered one character who is a satire of a stereotypical Trump supporter (he has a mission called Make Hope Great Again). Now, is Far Cry 5 an especially political game? I don’t think so. There are also a few original gospel songs sung by the cult choir that are both catchy and creepy.
While most of the original soundtrack is the pretty standard action movie stuff you might hear in an episode of 24, the menu music is a very pleasant bit of acoustic Americana that I would listen to even if I weren’t playing. unless you die a lot.The vibe is like an ‘80s action movie that happens to be set in a conservative state. But this being a first-person game, you won’t see much of yourself in the campaign anyway. The one exception is a Far Cry Primal-style caveman/woman outfit, which is fun – I wanted to see more of that. You unlock more as you progress, so it’s not as dire as it initially appears, but they are few and far between and rarely much more than a shirt or jeans.
Alas, it’s merely a cosmetic decision, as either way your character will be mute (so there’s no custom voice acting) and most people will refer to you as “The Deputy.” And for a series as bonkers as Far Cry, the customization options here are a little conservative. I like that, for the first time in a Far Cry game, you can choose between a male or female protagonist and do some light customization.
But the story ends up in an unforgettable place, making this an open-world adventure that is worth seeing through to completion. He doesn’t have any particularly memorable lines, and his motivation for wanting to end the world is murky. This dark corner of Montana is controlled by a man named Joseph Seed, a zealot leader who hasn’t left quite the same impression on me that Vaas or Pagan Min did in the previous two Far Cry games.
Rounding out my technical complaints would be long load times – upwards of 60 seconds – on both PS4 and PS4 Pro, a couple glitched missions I had to restart, and the one time Far Cry 5 completely froze on me. You can also count the number of unique cultist goon faces on one hand, so expect to be shooting the same faces over and over.
In fact, other than resolution on a 4K TV, there isn’t a stark difference between the PS4 and the Pro at all. Even on the PS4 Pro, it’s hard not to notice all the magically appearing trees as you stroll through the wilderness. It’s generally good enough, but I was sometimes distracted by the pop-in caused by the density of the landscape. Even comparing it to another recent open-world Ubisoft game, it’s not quite as attractive as Assassin’s Creed Origins. With all of that scenery and action, Far Cry 5 is a nice-looking game, but it isn’t on the same level as, say, Horizon: Zero Dawn. Being stranded and hunted by well-armed militia was a very cool moment.