| System: PS4, Xbox One, PC |  |
| Dev: Ubisoft Montreal | |
| Pub: Ubisoft | |
| Release: 03/27/18 | |
| Players: 1-12 Player | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p | Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol |
As if there wasn't enough to do in Far Cry 5 on your own, the game also has campaign co-op and Far Cry Arcade. Campaign co-op is seamless and makes an already entertaining experience even better. You invite a friend into your single-player game or they invite you. Once teamed up, you and your buddy go through the game. Either of you can come and go as you please, so if you start a co-op game, you don't have to feel like you can't continue without them. Far Cry Arcade is essentially a new and improved version of previous Far Cry map editors. You can play single-player or co-op matches created by Ubisoft or other Far Cry 5 players. These range from tasks like “bounty hunt,” where you have to kill a certain target, or “journey,” where you walk through a map. One I played was reminiscent of a walking simulator horror game. Multiplayer pits two teams of six players against each other in similar tasks. If you're bored or need a break from the single-player, these shake things up.
While things are mostly tight in Far Cry 5, the game does have some issues. There are a few stereotypical and predictable characters and lines of dialogue in the game. I don't want to spoil anything, but there were a few times I eye-rolled so hard my eyes almost fell out. There are some missions in the game that you will fail over and over again, until you get the hang of them. Aerial battles in particular can be really difficult to grasp, and if you've got aerial companions with you, their AI doesn't always know how to avoid crashing into you. There are some lines of face-to-face dialogue that are full of echo, like they're being played through a PA system. The manual save option has problems. When you click to save, you'll hear a sound that is not indicative of a successful save at all. The only indication things went well will be three small dots in the upper-right corner of the screen. I spent the entire first day playing thinking that I wasn't actually saving. Finally, making the loot and pick-up weapon button the same is a problem. I can’t tell you how many times I lost my favorite guns in a fire fight, because I accidentally switched it with a weapon on the ground. It's incredibly frustrating, and you will know my pain.
At least microtransactions are not among Far Cry 5’s problems. They're a very small part of the game. Silver bars can be purchased with real-life money, but you can also find them strewn across the world. I found around 140 or so silver bars during my time in Hope County. These can be used to purchase cosmetic items for your character or weapons. These weapons do carry over into the online multiplayer modes and could give some players an edge over their competition. However, there are no weapons that are hidden behind silver bars, so if players put their minds to it, they can easy acquire the same guns with in-game cash.
It might seem like I have a lot of complaints for a game I'm touting as being really good, but the positives of Far Cry 5 outweigh the negative. You can play exactly how you want. You can stealthily take down an entire region, before moving to another. You can run and gun your way through all three simultaneously. The characters that you meet are varied and engaging. There are tons of things to do and see, and plenty of real and virtual people to experience them with. Most of all, Far Cry 5 tells a story that grabs you by the shirt collar and never lets go. It would make a great addition to anyone's video game library, and you'll almost certainly come back to it after the credits roll.
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By April Marie Contributing Writer Date: 03/26/2018 |
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