"No one is coming to save you."

First and foremost, I'd like to say that I wish Steam had an "in-between" option when it comes to reviewing games. At the end of the day, however, I feel like Far Cry 5 has provided a great experience for the £50 which I've spent on it. I will go more in-depth later on in the review but to summarize the game without spoiling it: The overall experience that this game provides is amazing. The endings, however, fall short. I debated whether or not to give this game a negative review after finishing the main storyline, but I decided to give it a positive review as the gameplay, atmosphere, characters and story (excluding the endings) are fantastic. I will try to keep this review spoiler-free for those who wish to play the game for themselves.

- Gameplay -

The gameplay of Far Cry 5 is similar to FC3 and FC4: go around shooting ♥♥♥♥, liberate outposts, complete main and side missions while at the same time adding several elements which are done very well. The hunting, for instance, is highly encouraged and rewarding, as collecting pelts and selling them provides players with a steady and considerable source of income. Not to mention that the hunting experience itself is nothing short of fantastic.

I found myself role-playing as a hunter, equipping hunting weapons (hunting rifle and the double barrel shotgun) and actively walking around the world, stalking the animals before trying as hard as possible to kill them quickly in order to spare them the suffering. Outposts, as mentioned earlier, make a return from the previous titles and they are just as familiar. They can be taken on using stealth or with a rocket launcher and machine gun, the choice is up to the player. Towers are finally gone, which I think is great as they were tedious jumping puzzles basically. The shooting mechanics are crisp, the weapons have weight to them and the new melee system is downright brutal when in action.

Ubisoft is also adding weekly events to keep players hooked with the game, which I can respect had it not been for removing content from the game itself and turning it into "rewards" for completing these events. ♥♥♥♥ move, Ubisoft. ♥♥♥♥ move.

- Graphics -

I don't think there are words which can describe the graphics in this game. Turning HUD elements off and losing yourself in the world is an experience which I greatly appreciate when it comes to games. Far Cry 5 does it really well. The world itself is absolutely stunning, being separated into 3 main regions: John's region, Holland Valley, being mostly flat and open, with beautiful fields; Jacob's region, the Whitetail Mountains, mostly consists of dense forests and tall mountains. The views in this region are gorgeous, which make Jacob's region my favourite out of the 3. Faith's region, Henbane River, is a mix of the two, settling around a hill-filled area with beautiful forests and fields filled with Bliss flowers. One can't deny the fact that Ubisoft poured their heart and soul into creating a stunning world and I have to give them credit for their effort.

The performance was excellent as well. Tweaking my settings around, I managed to get a stable 55-60fps average on medium-high settings and I couldn't tell the difference between my settings and the ultra settings. I can't stress how important performance is for games of this nature. Walking around in the world with terrible FPS completely breaks my immersion and makes me not want to play the game. I have a fairly average rig, and Far Cry 5 still managed to run well and look good, so it gets full marks for that.

- Soundtrack -

Ubisoft have outdone themselves on this one. I am very picky when it comes to music and my preferred genres mostly consist of hardcore stuff. The soundtrack in Far Cry 5 is comprised of mostly mellow and calm songs with a religious theme (duuh) and it still made me love it to bits. The song "We Will Rise Again" actually brought me to tears. In games which feature radio stations in their cars, I usually turn the radio off straight away as the songs featured are trash. In Far Cry 5 however, I found myself going to remote locations, turning the radio to the area-specific stations and listening to them for extended periods of time. Again, Ubisoft deserves full marks for their effort and commitment when it comes to the OST.

- Characters -

The characters have always been the focus of the Far Cry games, especially the villains. Far Cry 5 does an amazing job with pretty much all of the characters in this game, as well as the factions. A radical religious cult hell-bent on taking over a county in order to fulfill the prophecy told by its extremely fascinating and charismatic leader? A resistance group comprised of civilians who fight to liberate the land from the cult's grip? A downright ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crazy fat guy who calls everyone "bro," "dude" and "homie," goes around shotgunning beers and blowing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up with a big ol' rocket launcher? The goodest boys of them all, Boomer the dog? Being able to PET THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DOG? YES PLEASE.

My only gripe with the characters is that, prior to the release of the game, Ubisoft advertised the characters to be serious about the situation around them (with the exception of Hurk, who has always been the comic relief of the series). A part of me wishes that they stuck to that theme, as I find that sort of stuff interesting, especially when it involves a religious cult.

- Story -

Unfortunately, this is where Far Cry 5 falls short in some aspects. The premise and story of the game is what made me want to buy it in the first place, don't get me wrong. The story is broken up into 3 parts, each corresponding to the villain's lieutenants. I love this concept as it allows players to follow through with the story at their pace. Players can also take a break from a segment of their story and start/continue with another one (i.e. taking a break from John's story segment and moving on to Jacob's). The story itself progresses using the "Resistance meter" which must be filled up by the players through actions such as completing story missions, liberating cult outposts, destroying/capturing supply trucks, killing cult VIPs, saving/rescuing civillians, etc. I quite like this aspect of the game, especially because the meter itself doesn't fill up easily, which means that players can spend time doing what they like (for example liberating outposts and completing story missions instead of rescuing civillians).

The endings, on the other hand, are atrocious. There are a total of 3 endings: 1 "good," 1 "bad," and a secret ending. The "good" and "bad" endings are in reality both bad. Through them, Ubisoft is basically telling the player "♥♥♥♥ you for playing our game you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ idiot lmao" which spoiled the overall experience for me and deterred me from replaying it and continuing to do the rest of the activities after the ending. The "good" ending is, in my opinion, shoe-horned into the game and the only explanation for it is a short, 1 minute radio broadcast which is so "out of the way" that I myself only found out about it through a post on the game's subreddit page. The two main endings alienate all the progress and hard work that the player has put into the game up until that point. The secret ending that can be unlocked at the beginning of the game is arguably the best ending, although it being at the start of the game makes it pointless. It is pretty much described through the saying "Sometimes, the only way to win the game is to not play."

- Final thoughts -

In conclusion, I feel conflicted about this game. The journey through which players go is fun and exciting while also being calm and frustrating. The conclusion to this journey is disappointing for me and I wish Ubisoft will release some sort of explanation as to why they decided to go with this conclusion.

At the end of the day, I don't regret buying Far Cry 5. If you find the game interesting, go for it! Thanks, and have fun.