A Far Cry 6 Review

 The brightest exploration from Ubisoft in a long time is here.

For a long time, the Far Cry franchise has struggled with its identity. Is it a grim, survival-themed tale or a silly science playground complete with flamethrowers and pet bears? Typically, the response has been "a bit of both," which isn't always a terrible thing. While the flamethrower is undoubtedly still present in Far Cry 6, the most recent game manages to fix many of the issues that have arisen in previous games, making it the best in the series in years. However, it also makes some mistakes, particularly with its updated inventory system, which leads to new issues along the way.

Once more, Far Cry 6 places you under the power of a captivating lunatic in a massive open world set on the made-up island nation of Yara. The objective of changing every red dot on your map from blue to red is still entertaining after this many games, whether you choose to take the less tactful approach of shooting and Molotoving your opponents until none are left.

The fascist tyrant Anton Castillo, who rules over Yara, is mostly modeled after Cuba. Giancarlo Esposito, a well-known TV villain, plays him brilliantly; because of this portrayal, he easily takes the top spot on my list of my favorite Far Cry villains (sorry, Mr. Mando). Without the real-life South and Central American models for his government, at times it would be too absurdly awful to believe. But Esposito's steadfast commitment to his ideal of a "perfect" Yara, combined with his inherent gravitas and the stoic charm he projects to his obedient subjects, make him a formidable opponent to the disorganized group of revolutionaries you're trying to bring together in order to overthrow El Presidente and his lieutenants' regime.

If not for its real-world antecedents, Castillo's government would at times seem too absurdly evil to be true.

With titles ranging from "psychotic navy admiral" to "psychotic air force captain" to "psychotic propaganda director," Castillo's subordinates aren't exactly remarkable. Even the more intriguing additions, such as Yara's friendly neighborhood mad scientist and a North American pharma tycoon, are performed well, but they all feel like well-known characters from the Big Book of Video Game Bad Guys, especially in comparison to Esposito's Castillo.

Esposito has a fascinating presence in every moment, especially when he interacts with his son Diego. There's a strong (if one-sided) tension throughout as a youngster tries to balance his father's strong belief that noble objectives justify disgusting means with his realization that the impact of our actions on others matters more than our own intentions. It's unfortunate that the several tensions presented throughout the narrative aren't resolved more clearly at the very end, even if Castillo is a memorable antagonist right up until the very end. Although Esposito's performance in the role is mostly responsible for the character's success, the cinematic animation team should be commended for faithfully capturing every nuance of Esposito's performance on digital character models.

Esposito creates engrossing scenarios in each one.

Overall, the plot can be very predictable, with all of the unexpected but inevitable character deaths and shocking but necessary betrayals you'd expect from a high-profile popcorn movie. Though I believe it also relies a bit too much on the cliché of "grizzled-yet-goofy" experienced warriors, it does a better job than any previous Far Cry game of striking a balance between its more serious main story and the more absurd features of its freeform gunplay.

There are certainly some great character moments throughout, and the decision to return Far Cry to third-person cutscenes is a good one, especially if you choose the femme version of the main character Dani Rojas. That’s thanks to an earnest performance by actress Nisa Gunduz, who in no way feels like she’s playing second fiddle to the big–name celebrity on the box art. The rest of the voice cast is solid, too – particularly Glow’s Shakira Barrera, whose beleaguered rancher–turnedrebel is easily one of the best-supporting characters you’ll run into. Similarly, relative newcomer Xavier Lopez shines in some powerful moments, and it’s great to see trans characters not only included but played by a trans actor – though nuance can still be a bit tricky for Far Cry.

It's obvious that FC6 wishes to be a more socially conscious game than its predecessors.

To its credit, FC6 attempts to address a few social issues, even though the writing may err on the side of realism in certain instances. It is evident that the game aims to be more socially conscious than its predecessors. However, it still feels torn between offering a true-to-life portrayal of Latin American society and an exaggerated version meant to appeal to a broad Western audience. Although the globe appears to be a stunning representation of life in South and Central America, there are moments when the script seems to rely too much on regional slang, almost to the point of caricature. Even worse is the minigame called Cockfighting, which is essentially Mortal Kombat except with chickens instead of characters. Although legally allowed in Cuba, yet, eww.

In contrast to previous Far Cry games, which mostly featured mutants, malevolent cavemen, and cybercommandos in addition to pirates, mercenaries, and cultists, Far Cry 6 presents its antagonists as a well-prepared and armed army. Considering the beginnings of the series, it's a touch straight-laced, but it also offers more interesting and varied interactions. When you're in your sniper's nest, the enemy captain can summon airstrikes or additional forces to drive you out. Meanwhile, engineers can install auto-turrets and medics can heal injured partners. They're a welcome addition to the standard "shotgun guy, Molotov guy, and heavy guy" lineup, providing you with compelling justifications for prioritizing targets in addition to the obvious one of "who might see or shoot at me next."

Furthermore, Far Cry 6 is the best game in the series at converting entire fleets of vehicles, helicopters, and tanks into flaming pieces of metal. Going loud is an especially alluring option this time around because of the sizable arsenal that FC6 puts at your disposal. While clearing a checkpoint without setting off an alarm or even raising an eyebrow is still incredibly satisfying—this is how I spent most of my playthrough—there's a very special kind of joy that comes from speeding down a highway and wrecking a convoy with mounted machine guns while blasting Ricky Martin.

An electric buggy that can transform into a paraglider is just too irresistible to refuse.

Following in the footsteps of Far Cry: New Dawn from 2019, FC6 offers a variety of real-world weaponry in addition to what it refers to as "Resolver Weapons" and Rides, which are named after the Cuban maxim "making do with what you have." This concept emerged in the wake of the US embargoes in the 1960s. The portable EMP cannon, which is excellent for taking down tanks and helicopters, is one of these ramshackle gadgets. My personal favorite is the minigun, which is constructed from an old motorbike engine and has the ability to fire incendiary rounds. A few other vehicles that have been similarly improvised can be found all over the world. They didn't have the armor plating and firepower of your more customized vehicles, but their multipurpose designs were useful for navigating Yara's enormous landscape. Besides, how cool is it to have an electric buggy that can transform into a paraglider with a simple click?

Supremos or essentially Ultimate Abilities duct-taped to a bag along with a load of depleted uranium, round out your armament. Every one of them serves a distinct purpose, whether it's destroying enemy strongholds with a rocket barrage or inciting soldiers to turn on one another with a salvo of poisoned bombs. I used to switch between the rocket pack and the one that allowed me to take out enemies through walls and basically have ghost vision—yes, there are supernatural things to discover when you stray from the main plot path—but other packs, like the self-reviving Medic pack, were also useful for times when I didn't want to have an Amigo animal companion by my side.

This time around, switching up your armament is also much more crucial. The fact that enemies now have distinct resistances to different kinds of ammunition as well as health bars that appear over their heads, similar to what happened in New Dawn, worried me early on that every firefight would turn into a tedious game of ammo sink against a bunch of unkillable bullet sponges. Thank goodness, the options menu allows you to disable the health bars (you can even change the color of the roads on your map!). Additionally, it's nice to see that FC6 comes with a welcome set of accessibility choices.

While gathering enough weaponry to feel "ready for anything" took a few hours, I was never bored killing people since I was cautious about balancing Far Cry 6's growing power level against my own. Although that's a good addition to the game, the largest alteration to the Far Cry concept is found in those awkward but exciting times when you have to quickly transition from stealth to action.

An otherwise pleasurable activity was constantly interrupted by the laborious task of rearranging my stuff.

In Far Cry 6, armor weapon and gear modifications are linked to powers that were previously gained in RPG-style skill trees for this series. The numerous unlocked gadgets offer a great deal of variety, ranging from new additions like perception grenades, which automatically tag enemies for you (a huge time saver!), to classics like proximity mines and C4. It's satisfying to use the wide variety of gadgets to create playstyle load-outs for each Supremo. Although certain armor bonuses seem like they should be unlocked permanently, shifting perks and bonuses to clothes and mods nicely fit with FC6's focus on construction and personalization. It makes it natural to link certain things, such as improved movement silence or soft-soled shoes, to fire resistance to a Nomex jacket, so why is wearing a special hat necessary for a covert takedown?

If armor and weapons had a similarly simple loadout system, this would work incredibly well. However, in the absence of such a system (or even just the option to Favorite an item), having to constantly shuffle my inventory was, at best, a quick diversion from a cumbersome user interface and, at worst (and far more frequently), a tedious diversion from otherwise extremely enjoyable action.

With a friend involved, this became even more problematic because co-op mode eliminates the ability to pause the single-player game. Having said that, it was enjoyable to work as a team to covertly destroy military installations or finish an operation. These one-off missions, which can also be performed alone, transport you to locales outside of the open-world map, much to New Dawn's Expeditions (albeit they are purportedly set in Yara). Only two were accessible throughout the evaluation period: one led to the recently destroyed town's ruins by a massive mudslide, and the other to a robot dinosaur theme park that did not violate any laws.on any Steven Spielberg film's copyright. They're an enjoyable diversion and a fantastic opportunity to see how well you can work with others, but whether you're playing alone or with a friend, Far Cry 6 is still the best game when it comes to inflicting havoc on the countryside.

It was enjoyable to work as a team to covertly destroy military installations or finish an operation.

If you're not into just wreaking random havoc, there are plenty of side missions and off-the-beaten-path pursuits. Almost every one of them that I explored was either an enjoyable diversion from the difficult mission of liberating a whole nation or it improved my bond and comprehension of the supporting cast, and occasionally both. Considering how much of Far Cry 6 is there, I was probably only 20% of the way through my map when I rolled credits. I'm eager to go back and see what I missed, though I hope there aren't too many games that primarily emphasize platforming.

Though I don't recall the jumping and climbing mechanics in the Far Cry series being as precise as they are in Six, platforming has never exactly been a pillar of the franchise. While some games make it very evident that "you can only climb on the blue ledges," Far Cry 6's signs are far less reliable. This is a rather minor complaint. Orange markings indicate which things are clearly climbable. Others are shown in blue. Only these vines can be climbed, but you can also mantle onto ledges covered in other vines. Not every ledge, as some, are just barely elevated enough, while others are not elevated enough. To be fair, I can climb over boxes and onto roofs quite fine most of the time, but it can be rather annoying when I'm trying to avoid getting machine-gunned to death and end up banging my face into a concrete wall.

Though there were other technical difficulties I encountered when using an Xbox Series X, this was definitely the most annoying one. With the exception of a few crashes or freezes during load screens more than 30 hours, however, most of the issues I encountered were quite small. A few uneven or missing audio tracks here, a few framerate lags during cutscenes or driving through dense vegetation there, and they extremely seldom have to reload a checkpoint around.

The Decision

I haven't enjoyed this series as much as I have with Far Cry 6 in almost ten years. Although the tale is interesting, it is also quite predictable and doesn't always succeed in taking the bolder turns that it tries to take. However, the cast gives excellent performances throughout. Additionally, its inventive weapons make it easier than ever to take down an outpost, ransack a convoy, or even just go for a ride with a friend. This is in spite of a few unsettling design decisions and some unsatisfactory new inventory systems.