Far Cry 5 is an action-adventure first person shooter in an open world. Over-the-top combat and personalities, dark themes under a B-movie veneer and emergent gameplay are hallmarks of the Far Cry series. Each installment is its own self-contained and separate story.
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Leads: Dan Hay (executive producer), Darryl Long (associate executive producer), Drew Holmes (lead writer)
Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment SA
Release date: March 27th, 2018
Platforms: Microsoft Windows (PC system requirements, ERA PC Performance thread), Xbox One and PlayStation 4
Engine: Heavily Modified Dunia Engine 2
Ratings: PEGI:18 / ESRB: M (17+) (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol)
Editions: Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, Gold Edition, The Father Edition, Hope County Collector's Case, X Mondo Edition
Website: www.farcry.com
A remote part of Montana has been taken over by a militarized doomsday cult called The Project at Eden's Gate. Cult leader Joseph Seed and his siblings rule the county through violence, propaganda and mind-altering drugs. The terrified populace is cut off from the outside world. When videos of the cult's atrocities go viral on the internet, the US Marshall Service issues an arrest warrant for Joseph Seed.
You play the Junior Deputy (man or woman with limited customization options), part of a team sent to apprehend the cult leader. The authorities greatly underestimate Seed's resolve and your mission ends in disaster. Stranded in hostile territory, your objective is to build a Resistance by recruiting allies and disrupting cult activities however you can.
Every action you perform in the game increases the region's 'Resistance meter' which progresses the main storyline so even side activities feel connected to the bigger picture.
The game's backstory is elaborated In the novel Far Cry: Absolution by Urban Waite and the live action short film Far Cry Inside Eden's Gate on Amazon Prime. Neither is required to follow the main storyline.
The open world of Far Cry 5 is a character in its own right. The forests, highways and farmlands have been painstakingly detailed even down to the signage and building interiors, using real world references. The writing team also tried to capture Montana's culture of self-reliance and frontier spirit in the game's characters. The map size is comparable to that of Far Cry 3 and 4 (roughly 45 km/sq or 17 m/sq) split into three distinct regions that have different atmospheres and theming. Each region is ruled over by a 'Herald', one of the Seed siblings you have to defeat:
The cultists of the Project at Eden's Gate (or 'Peggies' as the Resistance likes to call them) are your main enemy throughout the game. They even have their own hymns. Although the cultists mostly rely on small arms and explosives, some elite members pilot aircraft and there are rumors of drugged and weaponized animals. Before you can take on Joseph Seed, you have to go through his 'Heralds', family members who act as warlords in their chosen regions. Each Herald also oversees a particular part of cult operations. Click on the portraits for a character spotlight video.
JOSEPH SEED (voiced by Greg Bryk) is the undoubted leader of the cult and the founder of its doctrine. Born in the deep south of Georgia, he lived an aimless existence until he heard 'The Voice' tell him that the world was headed for a Great Collapse. The Voice gave Joseph a purpose: "Save as many as you can. Whether they wish to be saved or not." He considers himself the lone savior of humanity and has surrounded himself with the poor and disenfranchised. His followers have occupied Hope County to build a 'New Eden' in preparation of the Great Collapse.
JACOB SEED is a veteran of the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division and an expert marksman who oversees cult tactics and security. His mantra is 'preparedness through pain'.
JOHN SEED (voiced by Seamus Driver) is the public face of the cult and its legal representative. Charm and propaganda are his weapons of choice but years of lying to cover up atrocities have taken a toll on his mental health… and the relationship with his brother. He preaches a doctrine of compliance which he calls 'the power of yes'.
FAITH SEED is Joseph's little sister and one of the most sinister Heralds. She is about mind control through psychological manipulation and psychoactive drugs. At some point, she will let the player character experience the bliss of Seed's teachings in an attempt to put the Junior Deputy under her spell.
Many story missions in Far Cry 5 involve helping, rescuing, organizing and leading the local Resistance members. Early on, you enlist the aid of two key community members:
PASTOR JEROME JERFFRIES (voiced by Martin Roach), a Gulf war veteran turned man of god
MARY MAY FAIRGRAVE (voiced by Sarah Booth), owner of the Spread Eagle Bar who lost her brother and parents to the cult and now runs guns for the Resistance.
Click on their portraits for character spotlight movies.
GUNS FOR HIRE
One of the new features in Far Cry 5 is the ability to recruit Resistance fighters to tag along and execute your preferred tactics. Rather than a temporary power-up, these 'Guns for Hire' have their own personalities and comment on your actions in the world. When they are downed you have to revive them but they cannot be killed in random encounters. Which Gun for Hire you choose at any given moment determines your tactical opportunities: some excel at stealth and scouting, others add tremendous firepower. All of them let you cover additional angles, giving you a little more control over a chaotic battlefield. The Guns for Hire are unlocked through story missions that explore their backgrounds and motivations for fighting Eden's Gate. Known voice actors are Murry Peeters (Grace), Steve Byers (Nick), Dylan Taylor (Hurk) and Julie Nathanson (Jess).
Click on the baseball card for a character spotlight video.
FANGS FOR HIRE
Not in the mood for human company? Far Cry 5 has you covered with three animal companions or 'Fangs for Hire' to choose from. And yes, even these have their own backstory and cult revenge drive.
What makes combat in Far Cry unique are all the interlocking and unpredictable game world mechanics. Your stealthy infiltration into an enemy camp might go loud because a sentry gets mauled by a passing wolverine, a drive-by shooting ignites a gas tank and sets a major forest fire, airborne cultists begin strafing you as you're hunting etc. All these things happen organically with no scripted set-pieces. New players might find the action overwhelming at first but the open-ended go-anywhere, use-any-tool approach is the game's most memorable feature. Forgiving damage mechanics (you can patch yourself up on the go), instant melee kills, fluid movement and vehicle controls are designed to make you feel like a badass in almost any situation. If you find the game lacks challenge, you can commit yourself to a all-stealth approach or, conversely, going as loud as you can to attract every cultist from miles around.
You will not have every weapon, toy and vehicle available to you right away. Some of the more exotic options have to be earned by building up the local Resistance or exploration. Weapon options vary from the MP40 machine pistol to the Compound Bow and the MBP .50 sniper rifle. Melee enthusiasts might enjoy hunting cultists with baseball bats, shovels and raft paddles. For transportation, you can find trucks, muscle cars and aircraft in Hope County, some of which have been equipped with heavy weapon systems. Many weapons and vehicles can be modded and skinned.
SKILLS
Far Cry 5 has a progression system that lets you unlock skills to complement your preferred playstyle. Most choices unlock up new in-game abilities rather than statistical bonuses so you may want to plan ahead. The skill trees are:
SURVIVALIST
Human Fish (1 SP) - Swim faster, hold your breath for longer underwater.
Fisher King (4 SP) - Fish will tire more quickly. Unlocks new flies for heavier fish.
King of the Jungle (6 SP) - Reduced animal attack damage. Predators (except Judges) prioritize nearby enemies over you. Prey animals flee less from you.
Repair Torch (5 SP) - Repair cars and open safes
Kick-Ass Binoculars (7 SP) - Tag enemies and animals through solid objects.
Harvest Master (8 SP) - Double your loot reward from plants and animals
Health Boost 1 (6 SP) - Increase max health by 150%
Health Boost 2 (7 SP) - Increase max health by 200%
Health Boost 3 (8 SP) - Increase max health by 250%
Heath Boost 4 (9 SP) - Increase max health by 300%
RENEGADE
Parachute (1 SP) - Unlocks a parachute to deploy while falling.
Wingsuit (2 SP) - Unlocks the wingsuit for gliding fun.
Black Market (6 SP) - Craftable explosives are available to buy at shops.
Vehicle Buster (7 SP) - Bullets do more damage to vehicles.
Saboteur (7 SP) - Approach a vehicle's hood and tamper to set it on fire and make it explode.
Booby Trap (7 SP) - Approach a vehicle's hood and tamper to make it explode on next collision.
Auto Repair (6 SP) - All vehicles you drive will automatically repair themselves.
Heavy Weapon Mastery (6 SP) - Reload, aim and switch LMGs, launchers and the flamethrower faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.
Rifle Mastery (7 SP) - Reload, aim and switch rifles and sniper rifles faster. Swamp and bullet spread are reduced.
Weapons Pro (6 SP) - Reload, aim and switch SMGs and shotguns faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.
ASSASSIN
Grapple (1 SP) - Unlocks the grapple tool. Find grapple spots in the world to climb.
Nimble Fingers (4 SP) - It is now quicker to craft items, sabotage or booby trap vehicles, disable alarms and open safes.
Sneaky Sprint (4 SP) - Move much faster while crouched.
Master Blaster (5 SP) - Required components for explosives reduced by 50%.
Takedown Mastery (6 SP) - Unlocks chain, melee throw and sidearm takedowns.
Ghost (7 SP) - Make less noise when moving. Falling damage reduced.
Throwback (7 SP) - Throw back incoming projectiles like grenades and dynamite.
Locksmith (6 SP) - Lockpick safes and doors that do not require a keycard.
Close combat mastery (6 SP) - Melee weapons are more sturdy. Reload, aim and switch handguns and melee weapons faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.
Primal Mastery (6 SP) - Reload, aim and switch bows and slingshots faster.
PREPPER
Close Combat Gear Bag (1 SP) - Carry more handgun ammo and melee weapons.
Journey Pack (7 SP) - Carry more items in your inventory, including up to 5 medkits.
Tactical Ammo Bag (8 SP) - Carry more SMG and shotgun ammo.
Quiver (8 SP) - Carry more normal, incendiary and explosive arrows.
Rifle Ammo Bag (9 SP) - Carry more rifle and 50 cal ammo.
Additional Holster (8 SP) - Carry a 3rd weapon of any type in your weapon wheel.
Weapons Collector (9 SP) - Carry a 4th weapon of any type in your weapon wheel.
Heavy Ammo Bag (9 SP) - Carry more LMG, flamethrower, rocket launcher and grenade launcher ammo.
Special Ammo Bag (9 SP) - Carry more armor piercing, incendiary, and special rocket launcher ammo.
Throwables Bag (9 SP) - Carry more explosives, throwing knives and bait.
LEADER
This tree lets you boost the deadliness and surviability of your favorite Gun/Fang for Hire and unlock the ability to have two companions with you at once.
To make exploration more rewarding and organic, Far Cry 5 encourages players to find loot and side activities by interacting with the environment rather than chasing icons on a map. In fact, there is no mini-map cluttering your screen or climbable towers to unlock content. Talking to a freed captive might point you to a cultist shrine that needs blowing up, or a flyer stapled to a telephone poll will let you know about a dangerous wild animal you can hunt down, or a plaque commemorating a daredevil's death defying stunt will lead you to mission where you can recreate that act.
Hunting is still a big part of Far Cry and you can bait animals with lure, use your Fangs for Hire to sniff them out and kill them to earn new perks. You'll encounter wolves, moose, whitetail deer, wolverines, cougars, dogs, grizzly and black bears, cows, elk, skunks (!), sheep, antelopes, bison, pigs, vultures, caribous, turkeys (!!), bald eagles, hares and rattlesnakes. However the density and ferocity of animal encounters has been slightly toned down from the hyper aggression in previous Far Cry games.
A new addition is fly rod fishing, which is a soothing minigame in its own right. You actively cast lines and reel in fish, trying to find the right balance between resisting and giving to make sure the line doesn't snap. Different species of fish live in different parts of the map and depths of water, including trouts, salmon, bass and sturgeon.
Oh, and you can pet tame animals.
You can play every mission in Far Cry 5's campaign with a friend through online co-op (no offline/local co-op.) The console versions require PS Plus / Xbox Live Gold memberships. At any time you can invite someone from your platform's friend list and they'll spawn close to you with an avatar based on the Junior Deputy customization they chose at the start of their game. Only the host of the game (who sent the invite) can progress the story and affect their game world; the guest player is treated as a 'Gun for Hire'. The guest does keep all XP, skills, item purchases and money gathered. Friendly fire is an optional host setting and you can share ammo and medkits.
Co-op campaigning is not your only option for multiplayer fun: through the Arcade Mode you can create custom co-op and PVP scenarios.
Although most Far Cry games came with a map editor, playing with custom maps never really caught on in the larger fan community. Ubisoft hopes to change that with Far Cry 5: the game ships with an improved editor that lets you build levels from thousands of pre-made assets. Players play these custom maps (solo, co-op or PVP) through Arcade Mode which has its own retro interface and progression system.
ASSETS
At launch, you can build levels from 9,000 assets (objects, structures, but also vegetation types, rocks, caves, decals etc.) These are not just from Far Cry 5, but also many from other Ubisoft games: Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Watch Dogs. You can include Far Cry 5's full roster of weapons, vehicles, animals and enemies in your gameplay. The level designer can set the loadout options available to players at the start of the map.
For atmosphere, you may place omnilights and spotlights each with its own color and intensity settings. Soundscape and music are programmable. You can fill depressions on your map with animated water, including programmable waves. Visual effects, such as sparks, fires and smokes are also available. Day/night, weather, fog, skybox and post-are also customizable. If you want to go full Minecraft on your level, you can build new architecture from scratch with a palette of geometric shapes.
AI opponents are given an appearance and behavior of your choice and contained in their own patrol zones.
MULTIPLAYER MODES
The Editor lets you create maps for solo and co-op play or for several variants of Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch with up to 12 players. The game modes are: Assault, Outpost, Journey, and Bounty Hunt (track and kill the target(s) before they reach an extraction zone.) Use a variety of modifiers to give a different feel to your map: no fall damage, low gravity, friendly fire, add a timer, etc.
Ubisoft has announced 3 DLC packs.Each is a self-contained 'total conversion' of the Far Cry 5 experience. You can fight the Viet Cong in Hours of Darkness, exterminate gigantic spiders in Lost on Mars and hunt the undead in Dead Living Zombies. These packs are included in the season pass with Far Cry 3 'Classic Edition' thrown in as a sweetener. If the Arcade mode is a success, the additional assets provided by the DLC packs might inspire creators to craft even more unexpected levels and gameplay situations in the editor.
Far Cry Arcade will also continue to grow after launch with at least six updates introducing new assets to the map editor (on top of the assets from the DLC experiences.)
REVIEWS/RECEPTION
ERA Review Thread | OpenCritic | Metacritic
DISCUSSION
The early marketing materials for Far Cry 5 evoked themes of rural right-wing extremism that some read as a comment on current political, racial and social divides in the United States. Subsequent reveals showed this to be a mischaracterization of the game's content and the intent of its developers. Both the possibility of political commentary and the lack of same in the final product evoked debate on ERA and elsewhere. Assorted articles:
Far Cry 5 feels like a Tarantino-esque attack on modern politics (John Robertson @ VG 24/7)
How Far Cry 5 became more political than Ubisoft intended (Jordan Forward @ PCGamesn.com)
After Three Hours With 'Far Cry 5,' Its Politics Are Far From Clear (Austin Walker @ Waypoint.com)
Far Cry 5's story looks like a morally dubious mess (Colin Campbell @ Polygon.com)
Far Cry 5 director on social commentary, cults and bull testicles (Thomas McMullan @ Alphr.com)
The industry-sweeping controversy around microtransactions and randomized reward systems ('lootboxes') also touched Far Cry 5. Ubisoft has assured us that in-game purchases have no chance element and center around 'cosmetics' (skins for your weapons/vehicles and outfits for the Junior Deputy.) However Ubisoft does offer 'time saver' packs which essentially let you buy in-game progression. Assorted commentary:
Far Cry 5 won't have loot boxes, but it will have microtransactions (James Davenport @ PCGamer.com)
Far Cry 5 Microtransactions Accelerate Progress & Are Cosmetic Only... Wait What? (YoungYea @ YouTube.com)
The announcement of Arcade Mode took industry observers by surprise and may end up giving the game a long tail:
Far Cry 5 Arcade could be the Minecraft of action games (Matt Kamen @ Wired.com)
Far Cry 5's Map Editor Sounds Totally Wild (Ethan Gach @ Kotaku.com)
How Far Cry 5 became more political than Ubisoft intended (Jordan Forward @ PCGamesn.com)
After Three Hours With 'Far Cry 5,' Its Politics Are Far From Clear (Austin Walker @ Waypoint.com)
Far Cry 5's story looks like a morally dubious mess (Colin Campbell @ Polygon.com)
Far Cry 5 director on social commentary, cults and bull testicles (Thomas McMullan @ Alphr.com)
The industry-sweeping controversy around microtransactions and randomized reward systems ('lootboxes') also touched Far Cry 5. Ubisoft has assured us that in-game purchases have no chance element and center around 'cosmetics' (skins for your weapons/vehicles and outfits for the Junior Deputy.) However Ubisoft does offer 'time saver' packs which essentially let you buy in-game progression. Assorted commentary:
Far Cry 5 won't have loot boxes, but it will have microtransactions (James Davenport @ PCGamer.com)
Far Cry 5 Microtransactions Accelerate Progress & Are Cosmetic Only... Wait What? (YoungYea @ YouTube.com)
The announcement of Arcade Mode took industry observers by surprise and may end up giving the game a long tail:
Far Cry 5 Arcade could be the Minecraft of action games (Matt Kamen @ Wired.com)
Far Cry 5's Map Editor Sounds Totally Wild (Ethan Gach @ Kotaku.com)
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