There hasn’t been a shortage of Far Cry games over the last few years, and whilst Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn didn’t feel like they pushed the series forward in a huge way, Far Cry 6 looks to be a genuine improvement on the franchise, introducing a number of new gameplay features that haven’t been in the game before. Ahead of it’s October 7th release date, here’s what stood out to me when getting an extended look at the game.
THE LOCATION
In my opinion, both Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn didn’t do much for the franchise in terms of location, but Yara feels like an absolute breath of fresh air. From the 25-30 minutes of gameplay footage I saw, there were the familiar dense jungle areas, but what I instantly noticed is that there’s way more variety in locations taking the player to forests, swamps, to smaller cities and larger cities. The locations look absolutely stunning, with this looking like a next-gen game.
The capital city of Esperanza is completely controlled by Anton. There’s checkpoints that you need to go through in order to reach new areas, Flak Cannons that will shoot you down as soon as you try to fly over them, and outposts are back as FND bases (with a few new little twists).
Another thing that I found super interesting is the fact that Dani and the guerrilla can use underground paths to get around Yara easily without having to go through checkpoints and the like. There’s also Guerrilla camps which is where you’ll prepare for battle and find your missions.
THE WEAPONS AND GEAR
Something that might seem small is the fact that Dani can holster his weapon, which hasn’t been done in Far Cry before (normally it’s about all guns blazing). This allows you to actually fit in in rather than always be looking to be on the attack when coming across other people in Yara.
Whilst weapons have always had customisation in Far Cry, Far Cry 6’s weapons are based on the “resolver philosophy”. According to the team, this is a philosophy that is used in Cuba, as they’ve have had to make things based on what’s on the island. This is true in Far Cry 6 too, with weapons being more destructive than ever.
There’s over 49 military grade weapons in the game, with the ability to change between suppressors, scopes and ammo, but the big ones are Resolved Weapons. A weapon that I got to see was a nail gun which was being used specifically for stealth.
Supremos are another form of weapon, that looks as if it’s a backpack. These felt like Just Cause, with the Exterminador Supremo literally being a backpack rocket launcher, that you can use as your stealth goes downhill. Another Supremo that I saw looked like a flame thrower, whilst the other one looked to lift Dani in the air before an explosion appeared below them.
As a whole, there looked to be a lot more variety in gunplay, and rather than just dipping their toe in crazy, they’ve gone all in with Supremo weapons and customisable weapons that are beyond anything that we’ve seen before.
YOUR VEHICLES
Similar to weapons, the vehicles are more customisable than ever. With vehicles taking place on land, sea and air, there’s more vehicles in the game than ever. What’s super cool here though, is the Guerrilla ride, which is your own vehicle that you can customise and call at any time.
Perks are handled completely different in Far Cry 6, with them being tied to your gear. There’s gear for your head, chest, hands, legs and footwear. An example given was the Marksmen goggles which improves headshot damage, whilst other gear such as the gloves can improve your knife throwing accuracy.
THE AMIGO COMPANIONS
When I saw Far Cry 6 before it was announced last year, naturally I was excited about Chorizo the Sausage Dog. He’s super cute, and able to distract enemies, so that you can take them out without too much trouble. If you thought that was crazy though, it’s just the start.
Guapo is a crocodile that can take out enemies easily, and is also a great companion to have whilst you take to the water. As far as I can tell, there won’t be human companions in Far Cry 6, which honestly suits me just perfectly.
THE STORY
Whilst most Far Cry games promise a compelling story, Far Cry 6 genuinely has me intrigued. Firstly, the world feels fully realised, but the main event here is the fact that Anton Castillo is played by Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian). I’m really keen to see what happens to Anton and his son Diego.
You play as Dani Rojas, who you can choose to be male or female (I don’t believe either are canon). This isn’t new to Ubisoft games, and it’s great to see them giving player’s choice in regards to this.
Far Cry 6 releases on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and PC on October 7th. The cheapest price is currently $72 on Amazon.
