Far Cry 6 is finally here. I got to play it and explore everything Yara has to offer. So with the time I spent in the game, I want to share what you need to know about the new entry in the Far Cry series. In this review, I will tell you everything you need to know about Far Cry 6 including its pros and cons as a gamer and long-time player of the franchise.
FC6 was one of the most anticipated games of the year since its initial announcement. The cinematic reveal trailer showcased big names like Giancarlo Esposito (known for Gus Fring from Breaking Bad) along with Anthony Gonzalez (known for Miguel from Coco) as the antagonists for the game. In the upcoming months more trailers, gameplay, and other reveals with new DIY weapon sets, a Cuba-inspired world, and a cute Dachshund pup named Chorizo, got the gaming community hyped till now.
Before getting into the review, I want you to know that I received an early copy of the game from Ubisoft. But this review will not be influenced by it, and I will only share my genuine views and opinions here. I finished the game almost a week ago for my enjoyment, but after the recent strong opinions of the gaming community, I replayed the game to analyze the game further as a reviewer.
Far Cry 6 Review
There are many things I would talk about today, and evaluating this game will not be possible without a BIG SPOILER WARNING! Now, most of the players must have experienced the game, even finished it. So today, I want to make this a spoiler review for everyone who is still trying to absorb everything the world of Yara has to offer.
But if you are someone wondering if you should get this game or not, let me summarize this review without any spoilers for you. First, if you have played Far Cry 3 but skipped others, then this is the Far Cry to get right into. Secondly, if you have played all the Far Cry games up till now, then FC6 will feel like the same formula repeated again, but it has so much more built on top of the previously loved game mechanics.
And finally, if you are someone new to the series and never played a single Far Cry game before, this is the definitive game to get this generation before you explore the classic FC3. And with that said, let’s jump right into the spoiler review.
The Review Bombing Explained
Before writing this review I scanned through the existing ones and saw players are review bombing Far Cry 6 like there’s no tomorrow. What I assume the majority of people who are not happy are Italian players who criticized FC6 for not having an Italian Game Voiceover. It is understandable for them as it’s tough to stay involved in the game due to the language gap. But FC6 does have support for the Italian language where you can have a full game interface and subtitles.
It is also necessary to consider the Pandemic situation which has impacted the game development, which can be a possible reason why the studio skipped a few language support. The second more critiqued point that how similar the story and gameplay are to the previous games in the series with a lack of any innovation. I read that Navid Khavari, Narrative Director who previously worked on Far Cry 5, Primal, and the Shangri-La Missions in Far Cry 4, said that FC6 is a political statement telling a story about how a modern revolution must be. And it totally makes sense when you look at it that way.
The first three Far Cry games were the time of experimenting with different game mechanisms and storytelling, so all three of them are different from each other. Both the plot and gameplay were well received by players in Far Cry 3. With the players enjoying everything the FC3 had to offer, and its larger-than-life villains, the focus shifted towards bringing the best memorable villains to players in recent years.
Antón Castillo lives up to the bar set by previous antagonists of the series. If you look at FC4, Primal, FC5, & FC6, it collectively tells a story of a dictator who is the hero in their own story. Joseph believes he is chosen by God to save his people, Pagan believed his rule is the right way for Kyrat to grow, Ull wants a cure for his people, and Vaas, well just wanted to be Vaas. The hero of their own story aspect is emphasized more in FC6 with the addition of Diego who learns his father’s viewpoints as Antón passes his life lessons to his son.
Antón suffered the struggles and didn’t want his son to go through the same. He believed he was looking out for both his son and all the Yarans. Antón saw his father’s execution during the revolution of 1967. He believes that no revolution can set his country free and the only way to bring this country to glory is by a dictatorial regime.
This was further proved in the economic crisis Yara faced after all the revolutions, and people looked towards the Castillo family to save the nation. Antón has to take drastic measures like implementing slavery to produce a miracle drug known as Viviro, hailed as the best cure for cancer in the known world. So in his view, Antón is doing everything necessary for Yara’s glory and the necessary sacrifices for his vision.
He wants Diego to follow in his footsteps and complete his vision in the future. Antón understands clearly just like Libertad leader Clara, that the revolution will set Yara free but solves nothing to save the nation. These are the exact reflections of the current political scenario of the world we live in. Where a nation topples down a regime of a nation we believe is against our views, but the aftermath is nothing but takes the said nation back to where it was before the establishment of the said regime. Dani realizes the depth of this by the time you finish the final campaign mission in the game.
A Quick Look at the Plot & Setting
Far Cry 6 is more of a revenge story than the previous games ever were. In FC3 Jason wanted to save his friends and escape the island. Then, in FC4 Ajay just came to Kyrat to spread his mom’s ashes, but he gets caught up in the revolution. And in FC5 the unnamed protagonist was ordered to arrest Joseph Seed and things go south. But in FC6 Dani blames Antón for the death of Dani’s friends and the situation Dani is stuck in.
You, as the player, can select the secret ending if you’d like. But to stay back and fight is completely your choice as the player. Even though there is an option to live your life in Miami, Dani is motivated by revenge to overthrow the leadership and help the people in views Dani believes in.
The fictional Caribbean island nation of Yara is heavily influenced by Cuba. But this game no way intends to establish itself as reality in any way. Choosing Cuba was just an inspiration. Dani decides to join the guerrilla fighting for the revolution. The plot focuses on the end goal of both Dani and Antón who wants to bring back the golden days of Yara, in the ways they believe are right.
Dani, being true to root of previous FC games, is a one-person army with unusual weapons made out of recycled parts and using backpacks that shoot missiles and more. The story is one of the strongest ever told in the series and if you coming directly from Far Cry 3, then this plot will be something new for you. But the parts where Far Cry 6 misses out is when the narration tries to focus on more social issues like humanity, citizen rights, government systems, and even deeper topics like societal attitudes toward LGBT rights in Yara. Far Cry 6 introduces characters and storylines focusing on these aspects, which could have made it best in the storytelling among recent games, but these storylines go nowhere by the end of the game.
Spoiler alert!
By the end of the game, when Antón is dead, you want nothing to do with the ruling of Yara and leaves the politics to other guerrillas. This is the critical moment where Dani realizes all they were afraid to be true is real. The revolution solves nothing. And Dani’s only hope was to use Diego as the face of the Castillo family and set the country on a different path.
But with the death of Diego, Dani realizes the history will just repeat itself as it happened in previous revolutions. If you dig the plot and all then it is one of the best political stories ever told in any current game. The story of the antagonist is brought to life the quality performance of Giancarlo Esposito and his strong dialogues. There are many smartly written lines for him, making his character much more believable. Anthony Gonzalez also gave an amazing performance for his character Diego.
Gameplay – Same, Same but Different!
First things first, go for the female Dani as your character. The voice performance by Nisa Gunduz is better than the one by Sean Rey and even makes the immersion way much better. There is no other difference as far as the story is concerned. The biggest change in the series is the inclusion of third-person camera angles, where you can see Dani with the gear you choose during cutscenes and other major areas of the gameplay. The third person automatically kicks while using the supremo backpacks and while visiting big guerrilla camps in-game.
This is an amazing addition Ubisoft implemented in the game and gets you much closer to the events happening around you as Dani. Gone is the skill point system and RPG elements are unlocked by customizing gears and weapons in this game. And speaking of customization – there’s a ton of that. Being a nation in trade blockade since the last revolution, the guerrillas have to depend on WW2 weapons, and DIY modifications to take on Antón’s arsenal. You have tons of different weapons to collect, mods to put, vehicles to modify, the list goes on.
Far Cry 6 brings a new enemy system where each enemy type requires different bullet types to deal damage. If you feel like the deep level of planning, and modifications are not your cup of tea, then you can select the “Story mode” difficulty where you just have to pick any good rifle, put on an armor-piercing bullet mode, and enjoy the story in peace. But in “Action mode” difficulty as the in-game description says “It provides a good challenge because enemies will hit harder and your health does not regenerate that easily. This setting will require you to strategize your moves because enemies deal heavy damage.”
So if you want to see the best FC6 has to offer then Action mode is the way to go. It takes full advantage of the enemy types, ammo mods, and you might also need to swap your supremos depending on the fight you are going in. Talking about Supremos, they are these new backpacks with different functions like shooting missiles, healing yourself, and party to mythically inspired backpacks that allow you to see through walls and take down enemies while the correct resolver weapon pairings. Resolver weapons are otherworldy killing machines made out of recycled waste parts. Like the Tostador Flamethrower made of a gas pump handle, attached to a handheld engine, a front canister with flame pipe, and more. The weapons look creative and make clearing red zones in the Yara map fun.
Traversing Yara is also easy thanks to horses, cars, ATVs, helicopters, planes, and more. The controls are improved compared to previous games. And now the map is the biggest Ubisoft has ever created in a Far Cry game ever. The sheer amount of side activities and end game content is so much, you will be busy if you are hooked to the gameplay. The new Weekly Insurgencies and the fact that some red zones stay red forever means that you always have enough enemies to shoot at any given time.
The main gameplay can be categorized as either stealth or going in all guns blazing. Get the proper amigos and gear, you can go aggressively in every area even in the Action mode once you level up. And Amigos are the new animal companions you can now use to fight along with you.
Compared to previous games, the AI for the wild animals is tweaked well enough to use them easily in any gunfight. If stealth is your way around, then the famous Dachshund pup Chorizo and the nail gun can be your best friends in the game. But you can always mix up your gameplay as in previous games, but this time with tons of weapons the opinions you have to play the game is practically unlimited.
Now CO-OP game mode is still available and you can practically finish the entire game with any of your friends. And the items you collect, scores you gain are all retained even if you play with another friend. So you are not locked with playing the game with just one other person.
Far Cry 6 also gives you more missions and objectives to play the game with your friends to keep the gameplay as diverse and fun as possible. Yes, no doubt you can play the full game solo, but with a friend, you have someone to cover your back and add more amusement to the game. Another aspect I loved is exploring the world for unique weapons. From hidden stashes to underwater treasure hunts, there is lots of stuff you can keep collecting if you set to be a proud completionist. But trust me it’s gonna take more than 60 hours to explore every tiny detail of Yara.
Best Graphics in the Series
Far Cry 6 is by far the best-looking game in the series. And if you are now using the new-gen consoles or PC, you have optional texture packs to make the world much detailed. The day-night cycle with cycle really sets the atmosphere and makes your gunfights much different visually. Playing this game on Xbox Series X and PC gave amazing graphics and a constant frame rate no matter the graphic options you go with. A constant 4k 60fps with amazing draw distance and graphical fidelity on the latest consoles shows the amazing effort the devs put into optimizing the game. Yes, there were a few minor glitches including texture popping, but I am sure that the devs will fix it in upcoming patches.
The gun sounds are also amazing with variation between each type of weapon, and the animations are great. You can also see small sideways walking animations in the third person which show Ubisoft tried to bring the best from their Assassin’s Creed series too. With the god rays in scenes, beautiful vistas, reflection on different surfaces, shadows with details, flame FX, a huge number of polygons in a shot, dense foliage, and more make Far Cry 6 the best-looking game from Ubisoft in both the new-gen consoles and PC alike.
Should you buy Far Cry 6?
Far Cry 6 teleports you to the shoes of the guerrilla in Cuba-inspired Yara. The radio music, the local Latino slang, dressing, and the well-detailed world set the atmosphere right. Did I already mention this is the best-looking game in the series? The breathtaking graphics ensure you are well indulged in the world it has to offer. Looking at the sheer beauty of the panoramic world around you is just mind-blowing.
Even the war-torn chaotic world is well detailed and there is something for everyone to do, shoot, and explore in this world. The new gameplay innovations and introduction of DIY weapons is a new experience no other game can provide. The story and the larger-than-life antagonist are the best the series has seen so far.
If you are new to the series, pick this one with no doubt, you are in for a fun adventure ride. And if you are a long-time fan of the series, then consider this experience as an epic continuation of everything including the theme and gameplay we love. If you have only played just FC3 before this, Far Cry 6 is the best game to elevate it in all aspects. Finally, if you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S then Far Cry 6 pushes your devices to limits with one of the best graphics in current-gen. All these things combined make Far Cry 6 the best game in the series after the classic Far Cry 3. A solid game you should not miss out on in any case.
If you liked this Far Cry 6 review, do check out my reviews of Life is Strange True Colors and Diablo 2 Resurrected on Gamer Tweak!
