Now that Far Cry 5 is out and I have played a good deal of it, I believe it is time to make my rankings on the Far Cry franchise. Unlike my previous Resident Evil list that only included games 4-7, this list will include all games, except for the weird spinoffs based off of the first game. This list will include Far Cry 1,2,3,4,5, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and Far Cry Primal. I will not consider multiplayer or DLC as a factor that affects this list, but co-op and alternative single player modes will. Let's get into the list.

7. Far Cry 2

Despite laying the groundwork for the series, Far Cry 2 is a game I personally hate. I respect the fact that this game brought Far Cry into the open world and that this game brought certain elements like gunplay into the series. But for every good experience I had with this game, I was met with five bad experiences. Whether it be constantly spawning enemies that were hard to conveniently deal with, the weapon degradation system, a map that has few fast travel points and not enough gun shops, or many more things; Far Cry 2 is a game that is hard to play. I even wrote a blog about my hatred for the game. Fortunately, this was the only bad experience I had with the franchise, but this game still adds a small weight to my experience with Far Cry as a whole. Let's move on, shall we?

6. Far Cry Primal

Where Far Cry 2 was the learning experience of the series, Far Cry Primal was the experimental phase. Credit where credit is do, I think taking the series to the primitive age was pretty ballsy and I love the fact that they made a game in a time period that is hardly touched. But in the end, I don't think it necessarily paid of. The game wasn't bad, but I also think it better than the rest. The primitive age was cool at first, but soon turned annoying as for resources are limited, the more hunter-gatherer approach throws away what I think is a good balance between fighting people and hunting animals, and what seem like cool characters turn into laughing stocks because any emotion they try to convey is thrown away with the made up language in the game. Despite that, I think this game did bring in some cool mechanics to the game that I wish could be in future titles. Saving people adds them to your village that I enjoyed watching grow, I liked the idea of upgrading side characters' huts to get new missions, and taming animals for your own use meant that you could have an ally for fighting or for riding, and that was great. My overall experience with the game was pretty good, but in the end I think the primitive age didn't have a lot of content, and the game was stretched out too much to make the game worth $60. Personally, I think Primal should have been the $15 standalone experience that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was.

5. Far Cry

I'm not going to lie when I say I find my experience with older shooters to be mediocre most of the time, but I actually found my experience with the first Far Cry game to be quite enjoyable. It isn't like any of the other Far Cry games, but I found many elements of the first game to be a good influence on what Far Cry is now. Lush and vibrant environments, open ended levels that allow you to take on enemies in your own way, some strange not-so-realistic elements (mutants are in this game, and weird high elements and other silliness in the future games)and more are things that you can find in the first Far Cry game. Despite being a fun and enjoyable experience, it isn't entirely a Far Cry experience in the end. I wouldn't be mad if the Far Cry games played the same as the first game, but I know that I enjoy this newer experience more than the first game. Still, Far Cry is a good experience and worth playing.

4. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

I know I said I won't include DLC, but since this is standalone I am going to consider it its own game. Despite being a much smaller experience with a lot less content, I actually think that this one was pretty close with my number three spot. Despite only having eight main missions, the missions were more exciting and meaningful, the outposts were better, the 80s theme made everything cooler and actually didn't wear me out on the game, and the blood dragons that roamed the map added a new element to the game that made things harder and easier. I think what ultimately keeps this game at this spot is the size. I don't think that shorter games are worse, but I do see this game as a little side experience of the franchise, and I feel having it at this position feels right. Blood Dragon is a great little experience worth playing.

3. Far Cry 4

I found these last three to be pretty difficult. I was close to taking a path that would have me rank the top three by what was being offered with the game and not my experience with it. The top three was originally going to be 3,4,5, but while this may be true in how the game has improved it wouldn't be true to me. So I went with my experiences with these top three games and how fondly I remember them. It kind of goes with how I ranked the other four games and at the same time it kind of doesn't. I feel like I am over complicating my top three choice when it should be simple, but I also feel like any combination I take with these top three would be correct. I honestly feel like the top three are all my favorite to me for different reasons, and that makes it so difficult for me to choose. But in the end, I gotta choose, so I chose Far Cry 4. Despite improving upon Far Cry 3 with new tools like the gyrocopter and grappling hook and adding in new features like a map editor for single player modes, and co-op within the campaign, it's forgettable but still good villain (in which I feel that the villain is key to Far Cry) made Far Cry 4 feel like a worse experience to Far Cry 3. On paper it is a better game than 3, but I think its lack of changes made it feel like more of the same, and trying something good the second time isn't as good as the first time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but at least do something meaningful.

2. Far Cry 5

Now you may think that this is even more of the same that it should rank higher, but I actually think their are enough differences to this game that makes this feel like a fresh experience. The way you tackle story missions, how the map opens up to you, the American vibes, its cultist-religious extremist approach to the game, and much more makes this game feel different. Instead of just adding some new tools, it changes up major systems like hunting for upgrades, climbing towers for map unlocks, take on story missions in a linear fashion, and more. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and this game understood that and took pieces that could use polishing and polished it. And its new items like actual planes and helicopters, specialists, robust map editor, villains that I found to be complex and great, and more adds on to the game better than Far Cry 4 adding onto 3. I think that Far Cry 5 is on a very technical level better than my first entry, but I would say my experience with this game isn't as good as I remember my experience with this other game. I still had a great experience with this game, and for those reading this list wondering how high up this game is and if you should get, I think you should get it.

1. Far Cry 3

Like I have said earlier, this top three were hard to make. I originally wasn't going to put this game at number one because I felt that since this was the first Far Cry game I played, I would put this game on a pedestal were it cannot be touched by the others. I don't know if Bioshock Infinite is better than the first game, but since I played the first game first I will always say that the first game is better. At first I didn't want to put this game above the rest because I know I have my experiences with this game on a pedestal above my experiences with the other games, but then I realized that is the exact reason why this game should be first on my list. Things are always best the first time around, and this is true for this game. This was my first Far Cry experience, and man do I cherish those memories. I even cherish the first time climbing up the tower and opening up the map. Plus, Far Cry 3 was the game that really got Far Cry to where it is now, and I still think Vaas is one of the best villains I have ever seen in a video game (though I do like FC5 main villains quite a lot). Their are a few moments in video games that will stick out to me in video games, and Vaas telling me the definition of insanity is one of them. The other games may be better on paper, but Far Cry 3 is the highlight of my Far Cry experience.

Well, that about sums up my list. What is your Far Cry list like? Rank 'em in the comments below. Also, if you want to you can check out my pretty old (and probably pretty bad) reviews on Blood Dragon and Primal, you can. As for Far Cry 5, I might review that too, so if you want to hear me talk more about FC5 then maybe tune in for that. Thank you for reading my list, and see you later for another list some other time on some other series.

2,3,4,BD,1,5,P

No offence, but there's no way in all hell and beyond that Both far Cry and Far Cry primal are better than Far Cry 2, in fact for me 2 is the best one there is.

I haven't played 5 yet so I'll leave that out, but for me it'd go something like:

6 - Far Cry

It's atrociously bad, no mater how you look at it, only the first third of the game is any good, then it goes to shit

5 - Primal

it's ok-ish, but doesn't really feel like a Far Cry game, plus it's extremely frustrating when the Sabertooth tiger you went to hell and back to tame dies in some completely BS way while playing in survival mode

4 - Blood Dragon

Funny to begin with, then the gimmick get's old really quick, had to force myself to finish this one

3 - Far Cry 4

It's pretty much just more Far Cry 3, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but not a good one either, it kinda dragged a lot for me in the last 10 hours or so.

2 - Far Cry 3

While it's a shame they strayed so far from 2 with this one, it's still a very fun game for sure, the stealth gameplay was really good, shooting felt really nice, a ton of stuff to do in the world and it looked fantastic.

1 - Far Cry 2

This game is awesome, took me a while to get into it, but there's something about the whole crazy way the map works, the gunplay, the way enemies react and the overall setting that was really enticing to me.

The fact that guns could break added a nice lil twist to battles at times, your rifle breaks right when some shit is going on, you whip your pistol out, take the closest guy to you down, grab his rifle and finish the fight, but even then, after you managed to purchase some guns you were good, those wouldn't break nearly as easily, you just had to be careful to pick some fresh ones from time to time.

People keep complaining about the whole malaria thing, but the effect of that is so negligible, I agree that you could take that away and the game wouldn't lose a thing, but at the same time it's hardly a game-breaking thing, it was just this really lame plot device.

Also I really liked the buddy system, I still remember the first time I played and my buddy, after a good amount of gametime, ended up getting seriously hurt in a fight, and I kept giving her the syringes but she ultimately died in my arms, that was some impactful shit right there.

It's a truly unique weird thing, and I guess that's why I love it so much, definitely had it's many flaws though for certain.

I'm sure your views are the more popular ones, most people have this hatred for FC2, lucky you I guess, because every single Far Cry game they make will continue to be just a twist on 3 for the foreseeable future.

No love for Far Cry: Instincts and Far Cry: Evolution?

@panfoot: I didn't play any of the old spinoffs. I only played what is on the list.

Far Cry 2 is the most divergent and divisive game in the series. I like it!

2 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 5

Never played the original, nor Primal, but Primal looked painfully boring anyway.

So...I'm gonna say:

Far Cry 4, 3, Blood Dragon, 5, Instincts, and 2, in that order. I loved 2 when it came out, but I eventually started to see through it. For every amazing thing it did, there was something equally as awful to offset it. I would like to see it remade with good shooting mechanics, vehicles that don't explode from simply driving over bumpy terrain, and enemies that don't respawn constantly. Only then will it live up to its full potential.

1>3>4>I&P>P>BD>5>2

2 is the only Far Cry game I havent completed due to sheer boredom. There might have been some interesting systems there but it was just such a bland game. I felt like 5 was trying to recapture some of that vibe and suffered for it.

Everyone who's not saying Far Cry 2 is the best just got put on a list kept by the cult of Far Cry 2.

I think 4 might be the only one I legitimately like. (Not counting Blood Dragon, which was cool, but not really comparable.) So many people dismiss it as just more Far Cry 3, but to me that was the game that took the good ideas and polished them enough to click. I also just find the setting and villain more interesting. Far Cry 3 was fine, but the only stand out thing in that game for me was Vaas, and he disappears halfway through, leaving the latter feeling super bland.

5 just kind of feels like a mess to me. For every step forward it takes two steps back.

Having only played 3 and 4, I'll say that while 4 is probably the better game, 3 was just such a more exciting release when I played. It felt explosive. The wild diversity of opinions on 2 have always made me wanna try it, though.

Far Cry 4 > 3 > Blood Dragon > Primal > 5 > Trials of the Blood Dragon > 1 > 2

Far Cry 2 was easily the best of them all. I've played every single one (never finished Blood Dragon) up to now, and I, in my own opinion of course, can easily say that it's the best. It had one single flaw, and that's how quickly the guards respawned on guard posts. Apart from that, it's easily the best. The weapons degradation system was so amazing, I could never get over how future installations never had it. Jamming and even blowing up was so great imo. I loved how the fast travel points were bus stops, and how few of them there were, it made you have to through the amazing African wilds. The realism of the game simply puts it a notch above the others in my book. And I loved the map. You having to hold it in your hand while driving instead of a minimap was so fucking cool. It's the only one that's a completely realistic scenario, one that is completely plausible to happen, and probably has. Africa, malaria, lack of medicine, blood diamonds, warlords, mercenaries, simply great. Also, being able to play a fellow Yugoslav was a joy back when I first played it. The original one was really weird, was never a fan. 2 was just so much of an improvement it's stupid. 3 introduced quite a couple good things into the franchise, hunting and crafting just off the top of my head. But where it completely failed in my eyes, was the fantasy aspect. I loved 2 because of how realistic it was, and then we got 3 where the point of the game was going after this really bad dude, but in the meanwhile hunting for a magic dagger with a magic tattoo. Then, we finally get to Vaas, who is arguably the best villain ever to be in a game, and you kill him in a drugged up, kinda magic rage, and then you find out how he isn't even the main baddy. Completely ruined him for me. And the part where you fought the damn giant. Was so disappointed with that. 4 went back to the realism somewhat, but I don't know, the story just won't cling to me, and we still had the magic carpet scenes. I liked primal a lot, but still not up to 2. Won't be talking much about Blood Dragon, didn't like it at all, didn't even play after the first half an hour. Huge machines, glowing daggers, glowing blood, not what I look for in a Far Cry game. Just beat 5 a couple days ago. A decent story, but I felt like there was not enough of a diversity of guns for some reason, and again, the story just didn't cling to me. I did like the companion system though, and planes and helicopters. They definitely added a bunch of new stuff, but just wasn't *it* like FC2 was for me. Now, FC2 does suffer from age, it lacks the general diversity the newer games have, for example side quests, they're rather similar. That's to be expected from a game that's a decade old. Even so, it has aged beautifully, it's graphics are on par with the newer games to me. So, here's my list. 2, 4, Primal, 3, (Vaas is the main reason 3 is here. He's the only thing setting 3 above 5), 5, 1 = Blood Dragon.

PS: I don't see how one could not like the weapon degradation system of 2, and the lack of resources in Primal. To me, the OP feels like more of a casual gamer, who just prefers to get through the game easily without seeing every corner of the game, just focusing on the main storyline. Please, do not take this as an insult, some people just prefer to play this way and that's completely fine, everybody has their own style and preferences.

At least 2 was interesting. But I've never finished a Far Cry or really played any of them for more than 10h (maybe I played 2 more than that). So maybe I'm just not the guy to ask.

I found the recent entries too aimless and loose. It felt like nothing you did had any impact. Just kinda shallow and like I was just idly mowing my way from checkbox to checkbox (maybe that's the appeal?). The second game I found more immersive, and I really liked the look of it. The weapons also felt old in a way I enjoy.

I think in my case it was also a big difference that I never gave a fuck about the stories in the games, so 2 not having any was actually a plus. Every time 3 took control away from me to do something "cool" I was mostly bored and restless.

While Far Cry 2 was the forerunner to the modern Far Cry games, and I appreciate it's ambition and innovations, I thoroughly hated it. That game was a mess. Didn't play Blood Dragon.

Based on how much I enjoyed each game: 1>5>3>4>Primal>2

1. Far Cry 3
2. Far Cry
3. Far Cry 4
4. Far Cry Primal

Haven't picked up Far Cry 5 yet and didn't play 2 or Blood Dragon.

Dude is so wrong. Far cry 2 does stuff no there game ever did or is doing as to multiplayer. One word playlist. Fc2 you could host a playlist of maps user created or the cappy Ubi maps any number of maps in a playlist so 1 to say 100 maps. Now you could change every thing about each map before it started. Weather,starting exp lv,typer of match deathmatch,tm deathmatch,capture the diamond,and one more mode the name I can't remember. Still more you could do the time limit the points needed to win all needed to win conditions,you could vote to skip a map,kick out a asshole from the lobby,start it with only one player. And there is still more. That's just before you start the map. During vote to skip no getting forced to play a 20 min piece of shit map everyone could call for a vote and vote not just the host. And still even more calling Far cry 2 the worst because yes it's the hardest shows he.don't know shit

4>Primal>3>5> The others.

I don't understand the people who love Far Cry 2 so much but I'm glad they've found something in it of worth.

Far Cry 5 is probably the best game from a just sit down and play perspective but the ending of that game poisoned just about everything about it for me so it's real hard to think back on it too positively.

• Blood Dragon
• 3
• 2
• 4

1. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
2. Far Cry 3
3. Far Cry 4
4. Far Cry 5
5. Far Cry

2 and Primal are not included because they are terrible video games.

@bkg420666: I didn't rank FC2 last because it was the hardest, I ranked it last because of its countless annoyances that made the game hard in all of the wrong ways. I enjoy a difficult video game, but I enjoy a good difficult game. FC2 wasn't hard, it was hard to play because of how many issues I had. Over time I have come to appreciate the fine details of the game, but I also think those fine details ruined the game. Also, I said at the top that I didn't consider multiplayer.

2 > 4 > Primal > 5 > Blood Dragon > 3 > 1

2 >>> 4 > Primal > 3 > Blood Dragon >>>>>>> 1

Haven't played 5 and don't intend to. I'm done, unless they go back the FC2 well. That life-giving glorious well.

Oh, just noticed, @shorap , you get it man.

I’ve probably said this numerous times before, but FC2 is the worst of the bunch. The only positive features were the graphics (which aren’t anything amazing anymore) and the kinda cool fire tech. Oh, and when GBeast killed that zebra with a car door. But good on you folks who are part of the Far Cry 2 Cult, I wish I could’ve seen the game like you do.

After that, it’s probably...3 > 4 > 1. I enjoyed the gameplay and story of three, even if it fell apart by the end and wasted Vaas completely. Four was ok, but just more of the same. One *was* a real mindblowing experience back when it came out, but now it’s just a more-or-less dated shooter with a crap story and annoying as hell mutants.

Blood Dragon ran fine on my pc, but would eventually crash each and every time, so I finally just didn’t bother trying anymore. Primal I had no interest in and 5 I ended up cancelling my pre-order on, because just about everyone called the story a disappointment and I didn’t see myself having fun goofing around in an open world in a realistic setting.

Honestly, aside from Blood Dragon, Instincts is still my favorite. It's also way, way better than the original aside from the fact it's a bit more linear.

As for my choices. It probably goes (with the ones mentioned anyways):

1. (It's Instincts, but going with the list) Blood Dragon

2. Far Cry 5

3. Far Cry 4

3. Far Cry 3

4. Far Cry 2

5. Far Cry 1

6. Far Cry Primal

It's kind of a hard list to make because there are aspects of each that I dislike. My appreciation level differs depending on the world you explore, how fun the gameplay and its mechanics are, and their stories. They all differ as one is better than another. Far Cry Primal is the outlier here because I didn't like it enough in any regard to even finish. Blood Dragon is relatively small and the world is kind of bland aside from its colors, but the story is goofy, the gameplay is tried and true Far Cry, and the music is phenomenal. Far Cry 5 has a decent world, a fine story that could have been better, and it also has a great soundtrack. It has a handful of issues though and the feeling of fatigue is definitely there despite the games changes. Far Cry 4 was enjoyable, but the story and characters were plain and the world wasn't all that intriguing. Far Cry 3 has a good tropical setting; I liked it well enough, and the gameplay started something appealing, but the story is very disappointing, and the characters are some of my least favorites probably ever.

The one interesting character they had was killed off relatively early too. Far Cry 2 feels like it doesn't have much of a story, and the voice work is somewhat mediocre with no real characters to attach to, but the gameplay is great and I am still impressed by the A.I. To be honest, I guess I could add Far Cry 2 alongside Primal because I never actually finished it. I tried to, but the motivation was always lost since I didn't feel like there were enough interesting things to experience. The world is dull in color, but otherwise fine and I enjoyed going from jungle to desert finding diamonds. Far Cry 1 isn't actually a bad game, and I enjoy the shooting as well as the differences it has with the superior Instincts, but that's about all I enjoyed. The VO is nearly Resident Evil bad, the story, aside from its differences to Instincts is not noteworthy, and the jungle is kind of uninteresting.

While I enjoy aspects from each Far Cry, it's actually only Blood Dragon and Instincts that I truly find to be great experiences in just about every way. Instincts is superb. The reimagined Jacutan is a great setting. It's one of those games that you can really immerse yourself into, especially on a sunny summer day breathing in a cool breeze. The sound design in general: voice work, soundtrack, and environmental effects or gunfire was all great. The story is more or less like the PC version with some twists, but I enjoyed it more, and the better voice work/dialogue helped. The things I didn't like as much about Instincts is that the late game stuff is a bit less engrossing than the beginning and middle, mainly due to the setting and enemies you fight. Also, the sensitivity the last time I played it felt off. There's a part that drops off where you start fighting super soldier like enemies and what looked like evening as the sun sets behinds some jungle. I also thought that while guns felt good, the enemies could have reacted more to gunfire. If you shot them in different body parts, it didn't seem like they reacted which always made me just go for quick headshots where they would react by dying.

1. Far Cry 3

2. Far Cry

3. Far Cry 5

4. Far Cry: Blood Dragon

5. Far Cry 4

6. Far Cry: Primal

7. Far Cry 2

1. Far Cry 3
2. Far Cry: Blood Dragon
3. Far Cry 5 / 4
4. Far Cry 1
5. Far Cry 2

The ones I didn't list I haven't played. I would've put Blood Dragon above Far Cry 3, but there were many parts in FC3 I had a lot more fun with, while Blood Dragon was a shorter, fun experience. Far Cry 5 followed closely behind by just by being a lot of fun to mess around in, but I didn't really get taken in by the whole religious cult backstory. Far Cry 4 gets the same position as 5 since they were both the same amount of fun, but the story didn't quite grab me like FC3. Not its fault, just didn't grab me like it has others. Far Cry 1 was just a fun experience I had and I'm sure its spot is taken due to nostalgia. Far Cry 2 was zero fun. I really liked the backdrop and what they tried to do, I just didn't like anything else about it.

It's really interesting seeing how varied people's answers are.