IN THE NEWS: Far Cry 6 Hits PC and Consoles

I’ve always been a sucker for the Far Cry series ever since I played Far Cry 3. The idea of an open world, explorative first-person shooter full of explosive mayhem with a bunch of things to do and a variety of tools to create your personal brand of chaos has always been appealing to me as a gamer. That’s probably why I likewise enjoy the Just Cause series as it has many similarities to the premise of Far Cry but is instead a third-person shooter. The story revolves around ultimately overthrowing a tyrannical figure and liberating the country, island, etc. It should be old by now, but it isn’t. What probably helped with the recently released Far Cry 6 was that I hadn’t played a Far Cry game in a while. Far Cry 5 was the last game in the series that I played and I had no interest in the sequel, New Dawn. 

Throughout this year, I have only made four or five “Day One” purchases. Far Cry 6 became one of those purchases after getting confirmation from YouTubers who had the game early that the game was running smoothly with minimal glitches. So I trusted them and took the plunge on the game for PC earlier this week. I’m very glad that I did. Throughout my four hours of gameplay leading up to this post, the only bugs I encountered were a couple of sentences of dialogue without a voiceover, a few graphical stutters, and a couple of cases where a character repeated the same line rather than move on to the next sentence. All of that combined happened in less than 30 seconds. Other than that, the game played and looked fantastic, especially with the “HD Textures” download.

Since Far Cry 3, the time-honored tradition has been for the first part of the game to set the stage for the world that you are thrust into as the player and introduce you to the antagonist that needs to be stopped. In Far Cry 6, you take on the role of Dani Rojas, who was born an orphan in the country of Yara that is presently under the rule of a ruthless dictator known as Anton Castillo. Played by actor Giancario Esposito, Castillo comes off as a ruthless tyrant you would not ever want the unfortunate privilege to live under from the moment he is on the screen. You’re thrust into this scenario as a town that you and your friends are in suddenly comes under attack by orders of the dictator as he forcefully “recruits” citizens to work in his tobacco fields that are used to produce a lucrative drug.

The chaos that you’ll see taking place as you attempt to flee the city is unnerving and the developers did a great job of creating a sense of tension within the whole scene. You’ll see explosions, flashing lights from helicopters, people cowering in fear, and executions as you traverse the city in an attempt to escape. As I was making my way through the city, I could hear officers calling out my character’s name as they searched for her. This was against a backdrop of continuous gunshots being fired throughout the city. It’s an absolute mess that you find yourself in with high consequences. For the story portion of the game, that’s as far as I will go as to not spoil it for any of you who plan to play the game.

Like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, you are given the option for the main character to be either male or female. Each choice has their own voice actors. Since the game was marketed with Dani Rojas as being female, I decided to go that route. She is a character that is trying to escape her predicament, but has the seeds of resistance sprouting inside of her. Ultimately, she wants to do is get as far away from Castillo as she can. But her journey will not be easy. The good thing about Dani is that she is a fully capable fighter who can wield all sorts of weaponry from a machete to flame throwers. And although she’s a bit rough around the edges, you can tell right away that she has the potential of being a great resistance fighter. 

From what I’ve heard so far, Toronto born actress Nisa Gunduz does a remarkable job as the voice of Dani Rojas. Just like Magnus Bruun did wonders for Eivor in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Gunduz similarly brings the Dani’s character to life in a spectacular way that connects you to her. And like Eivor, I don’t see myself ever tiring of her voice as I play through this game. I believe some of Gunduz’s best work with the character comes when she voices Dani’s inner thoughts as you engage in a conversation with some of the other main characters or are just walking about. These real-time reflections help us to better relate and understand Dani on a deeper level.

A “Far Cry” game isn’t a “Far Cry” game without first-person shooter action. There’s plenty to enjoy in that regard with a generous assortment of weaponry at your disposal as you travel the beautifully rendered environments of Yara. You’ll come across ridiculous, over-the-top characters such as Juan Cortez, who is more than happy to get you acquainted with various weapons and their modding capabilities in his own special way. Speaking of “beautifully rendered environments,” Far Cry 6 as a whole is a feast for the eyes. With the high definition textures I mentioned earlier in this post, this game is the best looking Far Cry to date.

Like the other Far Cry games before it, you’ll not only have the help of other people throughout the campaign in Far Cry 6, but also the assistance of animal kingdom as well. In Far Cry 5, it was a blast and outright hilarious having a bear as one of my animal companions that would help me in battle. You’re presented with several animal helpers that will fight alongside you in Far Cry 6, but I’ve only unlocked a human-eating crocodile named Guapo so far. Being able to direct Guapo to attack my enemies is highly entertaining but practically also a great help. The interaction with the animal kingdom, whether it be as companions, enemies, or baiting animal enemies to attack your human enemies has long been one of my favorite pastimes in Far Cry.

My initial impression of Far Cry 6 is very positive. I felt it was well worth the full price and there is a significant amount of content with a huge game world to explore. If you are fan of Far Cry games, it gets an easy recommendation from me. It is still Far Cry at heart so you’ll know what to expect for the most part. Yet there are enough differences to make this worth playing. If you’ve never played any Far Cry games at all, Far Cry 6 is a good starting point.

Taking a look at the game map, I know there is going to be enough to last me for quite a while. Content has never been lacking in Far Cry titles. This entry is being touted as the most “expansive” of the entire series. There will be a great deal for you to check out in this game.

Far Cry 6 is available for the majority of the main gaming platforms, including Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. It is not available on the Nintendo Switch. Ubisoft continues to be one of my favorite gaming publishers because of the plethora of open-world franchises such as Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, and Tom Clancy’s The Division. As an explorer when it comes to gaming, I always appreciate games that give me the tools, minimize the amount of direction given, and then just leave me to my own devices. I do not need to depend on the game to create special moments, I’m more than up to the task provided I have the right tools at my disposal. And I can’t wait to see what I can do as I progress through Far Cry 6.

-LandoRigs (TVGA)
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