Far Cry 5

I haven't actually spent much time with the Far Cry series since dealing with Vaas and Hoyt in the third installment, admittedly. I kept tabs on the following games but ultimately didn't vest myself in them. I can say that this will end with Far Cry 5—the latest and greatest of the Ubisoft open-world shooter. Here are my early thoughts, based on roughly 3-4 hours of playtime on PC.

I wasn't sure how the game would start off but I found myself being wrong each time I tried to predict what was going to happen. Without spoiling the story, players are again dropped into hostile territory or a milita state where a fanatical cult lead by Joseph Seed and his siblings are brainwashing and torturing people whilst proclaiming to be some kind of prophets. They call themselves Eden Gate and have decided that Satan is responsible for your arrival etc. Oh, and it's in Montana too so there's bears and trailer parks.

The setting sure is pretty though, and I'm lucky enough to be using a moderately powerful Ryzen 7 PC with a Vega 64 graphics card—which is able to run max settings with ease. There are many other AMD and NVIDIA cards that will be able to run this game well with lots of eye candy though; I have yet to enocunter a single anomaly or framerate drop on my current configuration. The controls on the PC aren't terribly complex either and the helpful key binding system certainly helps you dial in the scheme to your liking.

As for the game itself, there are many who are disappointed with the game's story but I'm not quite far enough in to make my own judgement. What I can tell you is that the core mechanics and elements that make the series fun to play are still present and some have even been refined and streamlined. Things such as crafting, driving/flying, climbing, and of course the shooting all feel pretty standard but just. The AI is quite good with enemies taking cover, communicating with one another, searching and rushing in with reinforments to ruin your day, like usual. The shops, leveling up and perks system is fairly basic though I'd prefer to keep heavier RPG elements out of my action shooters.

Players are also able to hunt, fish ,sell animal pelts and look for weapons and supply caches, which doesn't stray too far from previous installments. You can also recruit resistance members to help you fight and give you an edge when trying to take back cult-controlled territory. This can make for some very engaging encounters and tense firefights—while at the same time offers an alternate approach for single players over cooperative, the latter of which I have yet to try. The lone wolves out there will also be able to play the game stealthily or as long-range as possible. There is also another option which involves the aid of a friendly four-legged friend but I won't spoil the experience for anyone as it can be a nice little boon in stickier situations.

Overall, I am enjoying the game quite a bit so far and I've been trying my best to mix things up during my play time. I wasn't crazy about a few of the side missions I've completed but there's plenty else to do nonetheless. There was another annoying “on rails” vehicle section during the opening act that we've certainly seen before; I'm not really a huge fan of the frantic chase segments. Once you get into the meat of the game however, you can easily dismiss the cliché prologue. I would defintely recommend this game, especially if you've been away from the series for awhile like me. It won't be genre-changing, but you'll certainly have fun along the way to toppling Eden Gate.