In episode 46 of the podcast, the Tom, Brian and Billy evaluate the Far Cry series. They discuss the last four entries and take a deep dive on Far Cry 6. Outside is Overrated is presented by Premier Health.
- 10:15 – History of Far Cry
- 24:19 – Far Cry 3
- 34:56 – Far Cry 4
- 1:00:29 – Far Cry 5
- 1:37:40 – Tom Awesome’s Top 5 Best Characters in the Far Cry Series
- 2:01:18 – Dr. Chmiel’s Tips for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- 2:04:30 – Two Truths and a Lie
- 2:22:45 – Far Cry 6
Music courtesy of: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music.
The Far Cry Formula
The Far Cry series launched in 2004, with subsequent titles in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021. There are six mainline entries, as well as offshoots on Xbox, Wii and in the arcade. They set the core gameplay loop in three and have largely iterated on it ever since:
- There is a big, bad guy
- Join a resistance.
- Climb lots of towers.
- Take down forts.
- Build your arsenal.
- Take down more forts and bases.
- Kill a ton of dudes.
- Earn XP, level up and buy skills.
- Expand your area of influence.
- Take out more bases and forts.
- Shoot the bad guy.
Feedback from the OiO Discord Community
- Gyme- Enjoyed FC3, Blood Dragon was fun. Couldn’t get half way through FC5.
- Dreaming71 – I agree with all of that. FC3 was very good and Blood Dragon a fun side story. FC5 was the worst since FC2. (The ending was garbage!) I think FC4 is the best of the series. Oh, FC Primal was quite good too…
- Munsch – Blood Dragon was the only one I played outside the first.
- Citizen Brandon – FC5 was really slow, but I still beat it. I played the shit out of 6. I thought the open world play was really fun, and where I felt like they had an agenda and a story, I don’t feel like the story got in the way of the open world play if you wanted to play the game like that. There were times I was having so much fun just messing around in the world, I had to remember there were story missions. Not only that, but they rewarded your exploration a bit. I remember taking down a base early on, but the story took you through that base later on, so I got to walk right in, grab a key card, and be on my way. I thought FC6 was a lot of fun.
- HobbyBoxBurns – I’ve only played like an hour of FC 4 and fell away from it. At this point, I feel like the series has kinda passed me by
Far Cry 6 Review
Far Cry 6 is a stealth-based shooter by Ubisoft. This game takes place in 2021 on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara. The dictator, Anton Castillo, is trying to restore Yara to international prominence by creating a cure for cancer. To do so, he is spraying poison on the nation’s rich tobacco fields, poisoning workers. As any good dictator does, Castillo starts rounding up commoners to work in his death fields.
You take the role of Dani Rojas, an orphan who bounced out of the Yaran military. You get swept up into a revolution to take down Castillo. To succeed, you’re going to need to recruit other factions. These include a well-respected ranch family, a past-their-prime group of guerillas more than 50 years removed from their own rebellion and young, tech-savvy arms dealers among others.
The core gameplay is slightly different in Far Cry 6, It consists of:
- Completing operations, or story missions, for the groups you’re trying to recruit.
- Completing short side quests, or Yaran Stories, for individual characters.
- Clearing enemy bases and checkpoints.
- Searching for collectibles all over the map.
- Upgrading your bases.
- Shooting tons of dudes and leveling up.
One of the notable changes to the formula in this entry is the omission of a skill tree. Instead, as you level up, you gain access to new tiers of Supremo and Resolver weapons. The prior is a supercharged backpack that grants a special effect like a volley of missiles or an instant revive when you are downed. The later is a series of unique weapons, like a harpoon launcher or chain gun. There were some interesting options, but in my 25 hours with the game I went with missiles and didn’t see the need to change it up at all.
Another notable change is the addition of weapon mods and ammo types. For the first time in the franchise, you can swap out scopes, silencers and other aspects of your guns. You can also choose between different types of ammo, like armor piercing, poison and soft target rounds. The game gives you tools to approach challenges in different ways, with workbenches to tailor your loadout around near most major conflicts. Another welcome addition is the ability to change your loadout on the fly, as opposed to having to do it at a base like past games.
Far Cry 6 allows you to recruit Amigos, animal companions, to join you in battle. Amigos include: a rooster that attacks your foes, an adorable wiener dog who distracts enemies and a canine who serves as a passive radar. Each Amigo can unlock up to three additional skills by performing certain actions.
While the main story revolves around recruiting new friends to join the revolution, there is a ton of optional side content. Checkpoints litter the roadways, blowing your tires with nail strips until you seize control by clearing out enemy soldiers. Once cleared, checkpoints allow you can pass smoothly or select them as fast travel locations.
There are also anti-aircraft guns scattered throughout the islands, keeping you from traveling by plane or chopper until they are destroyed. As an added bonus, the AA guns also house depleted uranium, which is used to craft Supremo and Resolver weapons. There are also military targets to clear out and treasure hunts to complete to find new gear. Over 25 hours, I barely scratched the surface of this beefy game. For the most part, all of the content was fun. If you like Far Cry games, there is a lot to enjoy here.
Turning towards the narrative, feelings towards the main antagonist varied on the podcast. While I appreciated that Castillo seemed both human and realistic, Brian pointed out that compared to prior entries’ Pagan Min and Vaas, Yara’s dictator was much less interesting. I enjoyed helping the ranchers but was less interested in the other factions.
If you are not interested in a narrative shooter and are looking for a co-op experience, it’s best to look elsewhere. Co-op missions are limited in scope. You can’t work through the main story in tandem.
Overall, I felt Far Cry 6 was a very polished experience. As a fan of the series, I loved it. I do not believe the Far Cry formula has gotten stale, I think they continue to tweak it. I loved exploring the open world with the freedom to strike back at the regime in whichever way I saw fit. With roughly 25 hours of gameplay, I still have a big chunk of the story ahead of me.
The Good:
- Gorgeous visuals.
- Few games make you feel like a predator like Far Cry.
- Lots of flexibility to tweak your loadout.
- Tons of things to do.
- Story was longer than expected.
The Bad:
- Outside of the Ranch, the factions felt generic.
- The game is brutal until you find some stealth weapons.
- Lots of choices to build your loadout, but few moved the needle.
The Verdict
Far Cry is an extremely polished game and a great entry point to the series. The game pushes you to be strategic with how you tackle enemy bases. The Far Cry formula is not for everyone, but if you have enjoyed past games this is another great entry.