Time for a little review as I finished this game the other night. It’s a bit limited, since I played through the whole thing with my friend and he wasn’t really up for stuff other then the murderin’ so races and treasure hunts and the like are something I haven’t done much of.
This is a Far Cry ass Far Cry game and if they won’t significantly upgrade it for the next outing they might as well call it a day. Sticking a “burn crops” mission early is almost like they are taking the piss, and you bet there is a mission where you are drugged and seeing things that aren’t there. Where it comes to mission structure, they have absolutely run out of ideas a few games ago.
Initially the gunplay is a real chore as well. In an attempt to change things up, there is real emphasis on ammo types. So one ammo for regular enemies, and armour piercing ammo for armoured enemies. This means that somehow armour piercing ammo is like a light tickle for people with no armour, yes that is as stupid as it sounds. Enemies will happily receive 4-5 shots directly to the dome and keep firing back.
Thankfully they don’t make this a thing for the whole game, a few upgrades and better weapons later and everyone succumbs to any type of bullets (there are more types). This game gained several points the moment I finally got a decent sniper rifle that could kill anyone with a single shot. And after that I had few complaints with the gunplay – some of the guns are extremely enjoyable and satisfying to use. You get a mix of realistic looking guns and homemade stuff, I usually went for realistic but that gun that shoots fireworks is really something. If you really want to plough through enemies, play a free extra Rambo-style mission added recently where you get a bow with explosive arrows. That really f*cks shit up.
Vehicles are also often very nice although the very best one they saved until we had finished the game. Maybe we were just unlucky to not find it before but at a certain allied camp there was a buggy which effortlessly switches between driving and flying. The game does give you stuff to do when the story is over, so there was still use for it.
The mix of first to third person is odd. It kind of makes sense when you use your special back-mounted weapon, the supremo, and puts you on one knee as you rain pain down on surrounding enemies. But when you go into third person in allied camps it just feels totally pointless. Yeah you can admire your equipped gear, but that’s it, really.
I do prefer giving the protagonist a voice and story. I picked the female Dani (shares my birthday and everything!) and absolutely love her voice work. Her interactions with the animal companions is very caring and often amusing. The absolute best part of her (or him) having a voice now is when they drive a car or other vehicle and the radio is on, when certain songs come on, and only certain songs, they sing along. I have heard the guy (played by my co-op partner) do the same but she especially sounds like she is having a blast. It puts a smile on my face every time and it’s such a brilliant little touch in a game that is sadly lacking in good ideas.
The story is a lot better than 5 but it’s not saying much. I think Dani having a voice and direct interaction made me mostly avoid the skip button, while in 5 I mashed it faster than a scalper ordering PS5s. It’s still only so so and Giancarlo Esposito is just another charismatic Far Cry crazy antagonist. His son is a more interesting character and the story does go some places that I didn’t anticipate. Again, an improvement but mostly because the story of 5 was a bag of shit.
Graphically the game looks good but you can tell that the dual generation release is holding it back. The upside of that was that my friend was playing on a PS4 and a part from a few bugs, it played fine for him.
Far Cry’s strength for me has always been the gameplay. This game, like 4 and 5, playes very well and feels very smooth. Especially when you remember to holster the weapon for a faster sprint. Overall though, it is becoming extremely stale. If you have a mate to play it with, then I can recommend it. But as a single player experience, it is harder to defend. I will be going back in, both with my friend and to finish some of the extra activities by myself. But I doubt they will get us in again without a massive revamp.