They say that the ‘second album’ is the most difficult for a musical artist but surely hitting number six is probably that hurdle for video games. Ideas within their original scope are spent. Franchises stray from their roots. Locations are tapped out. And yet, against the odds, Far Cry 6 somehow manages to be one of the best in the series.
A Likely Story
Far Cry 6 takes place on the islands of Yara.
This Caribbean island nation has been ruled by a not-explicitly-communist-but-very-red dictatorship where medical achievements are prized over human rights and free speech.
A family whose name begins with ‘Cast-‘ has ruled since the 1950s when they overthrew a US-friendly regime and the sudden halt to American imports (like cars) resulting from a blockade since the 1960s has left a particular aesthetic to the nation.
Where emigrants float to the nearby state of Miami to live free.
It’s the thinnest veil ever thrown on a location in a video game. May as well have just called it ‘Squara’ and had references to the Beach of Cows.
Protagonist Dani Rojas had designs on the hard work and free living of Miami as the game begins. But Dani’s path crossed with Castillo and his goons and then it becomes personal.
Dani gathers a few pals, mostly others who have also grown a little tired of the tyranny and begins another uprising against the Castillo dynasty.
An Atmosphere Well Crafted
The counterfeit Cuba of Far Cry 6 is gorgeous in its design and visual artistry even if the game is not quite a technical triumph. The larger urban areas are complex, worn and dingy. It feels like the ‘time warp’ the director called for.
Similarly, rural areas have enough detail to pull off the game’s range of quasi-jungle, rich pasture and rocky mountain. Grass, bushes and trees surround the player often breaking line of sight and boxing a player in at times.
The density of the foliage around certain areas of the guerilla trail helps suspend the disbelief around network.
A Rough Start
Far Cry 6 doesn’t promise much within the first couple of hours after the tutorial phase. In fact, Far Cry 6 starts off showing by showing some of the series’ most notorious sins and allowed me to become slightly bored before revealing its very best.
One early mission sees our choice of male or female Dani Rojas walking while listening to NPC Juan Cortez. Cortez walks irritatingly slowly along the guerilla trail to your first HQ and he stops when you get too far away.
To boot, a friendly alligator follows the pair and on both of my starts, one each on PS4 and PS5, he fell to his incapacitation en route. Sure, it made no difference since I didn’t have to revive him but bad AI while being held captive by a slow AI is a poor first impression.
Immediately after that, there’s an attack on a cookie-cutter base complete with very obvious paths to destruction. You’re even forced into a tired scoping of said base.
Then, we need to take out an anti-air facility. We’re told they cover the island and then I assumed these facilities were very numerous and very mandatory.
Structure and Destruction
After that, a player is let loose to explore the entire island but given three options to get the plot going. Three essential next steps with one suggested to the player. There was a feeling of purpose as the game explained why each mission was essential.
The evergreen option of hunting, slaying enemies and reaping a whirlwind of chaos was there. But I felt ushered to the next point when playing on the default ‘Action Mode’.
A lot of this ushering was balance of combat. While Dani is definitely overpowered and heavily favoured against a few troops, that changes quickly as number go up. The AI is aggressive. They’ll spread out, seek cover, throw grenades to dislodge the player from their cover.
The actual possibility of death keeps the player on the game’s guerilla trail, it keeps them focused on the mission.
It’s not ‘Far Cry 2 hard’ – but you aren’t a god waltzing across a nation and it makes a huge difference.
Speaking of Far Cry 2, fire is realistically overpowered and a joy to use here in 6. The addition of an almost RPG-like list of enemy strengths and weaknesses is completely moot when fire gets involved. It lacks the unpredictability and sheer danger of FC2‘s combustion but it’s prominent and notably useful.
Not When There is Nothing Left to Add but When There is Nothing to Take Away
This writer’s early fears of a checklist of tedium were unfounded. I almost apologised to the game for thinking that.
The cookie-cutter bases are few and far between, few are essential. And they’re only mandatory as part of a longer, interesting mission. There aren’t many anti-air sites. And again they offer an easier ride to players for their time rather than a box to tick.
Checkpoints on the overground roads are more are far more numerous. The checkpoints have a lot of variety in their style, size and construction. Most of them are just a loose collection of barriers and shields and maybe a building repurposed for the army. These form a network of enemies sites to take over and allow a player to use the roads with impunity in a small area.
Again, a player may avoid the checkpoints completely using the guerilla trail. Or gain a tangible benefit that alters how you play the game but only in a small area so you actually appreciate it.
Far Cry 6 has an estimated Platinum/1000G time of 25-30 hours and that’s enough. If you love the mechanics and need to play more, there is enough extra content to chew on. But these extras rarely dilute the game’s main drive.
Accessibility
One area in which Ubisoft has taken a lead within the gaming inudstry is their titles’ accessibility. Over the last few years, a growing number of Ubi’s games have offered a growing number of features for differently abled gamers.
In Far Cry 6, the options are front and centre. The opening options are read using a text-to-speech generator and there is a suite of customs visual and control changes to cater for different gamers.
The options that a given gamer is likely to use most often can be kept in a sort of accessibility ‘hot menu’. It’s a lovely touch that allows gamers of all types to share consoles and quickly alter the game to cater for an individual’s needs.
Unavoidable
Despite the best efforts to spice up the core shooter mechanics, there are moments when repetition creeps in. A certain lack of variety can be forgiven in a game where heads have to be shot, flags hoisted and bad lads vanquished.
Even the praiseworthy pitched battles that crop up when you dare go off-script become a chore, albeit a challenging one. Even missions where you feel tuned in and invested resort to vintage objectives.
By the time you have reached the end, you will have experienced those same few styles of battle or infiltration quite a few times. But ultimately, Far Cry 6 doesn’t outstay its welcome.
