Far Cry is a franchise known for its high chaos, intense action, and powerful stories that are more than fun to boot up and play all the time. For me though, Far Cry 5 represented something much more than just a game: It was a literal experience.
Far Cry is a franchise that began its origins as a German video game, later bought by Ubisoft–the makers of Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six Siege. From there, Far Cry began its ascent towards being a major franchise for the French video game publisher.
Far Cry 3 is still hailed to this day as one of the best in the entire franchise, with the main villain Vaas being of the most memorable in video game history. You know that iconic scene of Vaas explaining the definition of insanity?
Either way, Far Cry 5 is one of the more dissed entries to the franchise, but for me, it was a game worth replaying and a game that I genuinely loved and enjoyed. And there are many reasons why Far Cry 5 was this special to me.
Chaos in Montana
Far Cry 5 positions the player in the character of a voiceless first-person protagonist. This was a controversial point for many players, and while I do enjoy having a character that can speak, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for me.
In fact, I found myself laughing at the thought of this strong and silent protagonist just staring at their companions doing nothing but staring.
It’s silly, but it didn’t detract from my overall playing experience.
Related: You’re missing out if you haven’t played Mass Effect yet
You’re immediately thrown into this grim situation in which a cult has overtaken an entire county in Montana and you have to go arrest their leader: The Father (Joseph Seed). He is one of my favorite video game villains and I really felt the zealous intent from his words and actions. The Seeds in general are very memorable, but more on that later.
The entire rest of the game is a sequence of pure chaos, with drug-induced zombies running at you, gory violent imagery of sacrifices and mass killings, and cultist insanity throughout Montana. I’m not sure why they picked Montana, but hey, it works.
“God will not let you take me”
The Seed family is insane. But in a way that works out so well. You’ve got Joseph Seed, John Seed, Jacob Seed, and Faith Seed. All four of them are hell-bent on spreading the word of The Father (Joseph) and converting everyone to their cult.
Faith is in charge of the Bliss, which is the drug that turns everyone insane in Hope County. Throughout her region, you have to play missions, liberate civilians, and destroy Bliss to liberate her area of Hope County. It’s a wild experience.
John Seed was a bit tamer than the others, but his region was full of insanity as well. But the real freaky region was Jacob Seed.
Jacob’s backstory is horrifying, but it’s even more horrific to see what he does to people in his region. It’s probably one of the more gruesome areas in the game, and you definitely need a strong stomach to handle it.
Joseph Seed is the enigmatic, charismatic cult leader that knows how to get people to worship his every word. He feels very reminiscent of other cult leaders we see throughout history. Not only that, but his presence is menacing.
Every time you see him, you know something’s about to go down, and that makes the game more suspenseful and exciting.
AMERICA!
Far Cry 5 has a very strong ‘Murican theme going on, and I love it. As someone from the Midwestern United States, I grew up pretty rural and country. I mean, I lived across the street from corn fields, so take from that what you will.
Although Montana and Ohio are worlds away, I definitely loved to see the nature of the country side, the pickup trucks, and humble folks of the American heartland. It was pretty cool and well-designed at that.
I felt that there was such a strong level of American patriotism in this game and I’m sure some people had problems with that, but I felt that it was a great addition. The scenes where you liberated cult centers and fireworks went off with the American flag were just great.
The patriotic undertones throughout the missions, the characters, and their willingness to go as far as needed to free their home was well-done. To the writers, you did really good on that.
Let’s Talk Gameplay
Gameplay is a big part of any video game (duh…) and the gameplay of Far Cry 5 is good. It wasn’t hard to learn, it was great on both mouse-and-keyboard and controller, and the gunplay was satisfying.
There were so many weapons to choose from of all calibers. I liked to utilize sniper rifles and take down cultists long-distance, but the assault rifles, pistols, and more were just as fun to play.
Heck, there’s even bows and arrows. I’m a former archery kid myself, so yes, I loved that.
Sliding and moving around is easy, and there are extras you can upgrade like using parachutes and wingsuits to get around high places.
There’s also great room for high stealth gameplay, and as someone that loves stealth gameplay, that was a great thing to see.
Conclusions
Overall, Far Cry 5 may be a bit of an older title, but it holds up as a game I can’t stop playing and will probably never forget. I actually got my hands on it during the lockdown, but I’ve been playing it since.
Far Cry 5, no matter how old it may get, holds up as an excellent title. If you haven’t gotten a chance to play it, you’re missing out on a lot.
You can get Far Cry 5 at any of these places:
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
