Far Cry 6 is the most recent entry into Ubisoft’s open-world, first-person shooter with some welcome changes that will help bring new players to the universe. In this open-world, first-person shooter, you play Dani Rojas, a former military soldier turned Guerilla fighting to free the people of Yara. Anton Castillo is a ruthless dictator that truly feels like the way to a better society is to rule it with an iron fist. Yara is also the place where a special tobacco leaf is used to create Vivaro, a medicine that is being used as a cancer treatment. The only issue here is that the production is making the locals sick. You will fight to stop the production of Vivaro and get closer to overthrowing Anton Castillo and returning Yara to the paradise that it has to potential to be.
Yara may be my favorite setting in the Far Cry series. The music, people, and environments all may Yara feel like an actual place. The more mystic elements from previous games are not here but that doesn’t detract from how good the world feels to live in. In my opinion, this is one of the best-looking Far Cry games and this helps add to the immersion. Most of the NPCs outside of those included in the story do use some of the same character models but that is to be expected when playing most open-world games. There are a ton of animals to discover, hunt, and run from in Yara as well. All of these animals are designed well and are fun to discover.
When it comes to gameplay, everything feels great like always. I played this game on the Xbox Series X and everything was very smooth. The gunplay was solid the all of the weapons feel great. Gameplay is an area where I think that Ubisoft never had an issue when it comes to the Far Cry games. The game does a good job of making the player feel powerful but not overpowered. All of your weapons and abilities make sense in the scope of the game. Each area on the map is marked with a recommended power level. Being an open-world game, you are not confined to one part of the map (once you make it past a certain story point). If you do decide to wander into these areas, you will encounter more heavily armored and armed enemies. One-shot kills may no longer be possible if it is too great of a power difference. When it comes to leveling up the character, I do wish that more small tasks contributed to my experience level. Early in the game, it seems to take more time to increase your level so certain encounters will be more difficult based on your loadout.
In Far Cry 6, gone are the days of the skill tree and unlocking abilities. Now, your skills and abilities are linked to your gear and weapons. Using the right tool for the right situation is the name of the game when it comes to Far Cry 6. You will hear this phrase repeated often when playing through this campaign. There are various shops and workbenches scattered across Yara that you will use to buy and upgrade your gear and weapons. I play as a stealth character until things blow up. Because of this, I like to keep a couple of silenced weapons equipped and an unsilenced weapon just in case things go bad. I think this is a great improvement. It keeps you from upgrading too far into one skill tree. Instead, you can scope out an area and change your equipment based on how the enemies in the area may be equipped. There are a ton of weapons that you can purchase but I found that saving your in-game currency and unlocking weapons by finding caches and completing missions was a lot more help early on in the game. There is a transmog system in the game so if you like the way your character looks but aren’t a huge fan of the perks, you can change the look with ease. You can also find spray cans around the game world. This gives you the ability to apply skins to your various weapons. There are unique weapons that you can find around the map as well. You are not able to apply the skins to these weapons but they do have unique abilities and perks.
In the world of Yara, imports and exports are heavily controlled and all of your equipment and weaponry reflect that. The design of the gear and weapons is very creative. Also, this gives Ubisoft a lot of freedom when creating fun gear to use. The introduction of the Supremo weapons was really fun and came in handy in a pinch. Since most of the weapons look like they are cobbled together, this gives the team a lot of freedom with what they can do. There are tons of different Supremo weapons to use so again, make sure you analyze each situation when picking your loadout.
Overall, this is my favorite Far Cry game yet. The changes come as a welcomed addition and I connected with the new character Dani. Giancarlo Esposito and all of the other actors delivered great performances that drew me into the world of Far Cry 6 and Yara. The depiction of Yaran/Latino culture was really convincing and made me feel like I was visiting a country. I am not of Latino descent so I can’t say that this is one hundred percent accurate but the character and NPCs seem genuine. Even during a revolution, I can’t help but be drawn into the beauty that Ubisoft was able to create. For anyone that may be new to Far Cry, this is a great place to jump into the series. The weapon customization is easy to understand and gives players so many options when it comes to attacking different scenarios. Giving players more options makes games more accessible. Much like Metal Gear Solid V, different ways of play make games a lot more fun. Personally, there are very few things that I do not like about Far Cry 6. There is so much to do and discover in this game. If you are a fan of Far Cry games, this is another great entry. If you are new, it is easy to jump in and connect with the new characters and story.
