While Far Cry 6 is “more of the same”, Fans of the franchise will enjoy exploring Yara and interacting with a large cast of colourful characters.
Singleplayer.
Co-op Multiplayer.
Players who own Far Cry 6 on more than one platform can take their progress with them, allowing seamless play regardless of which platform they are on.
You can find out more about how Far Cry 6 handles cross-progression here.
Fan favourite Hurk has been confirmed by developers to be off on another adventure and does not appear in Far Cry 6; the developers stated this was done to allow players to focus on the new Yaran characters; however, it does feel a bit like an over-enthusiastic executive wanted to meet a diversity quota and the politically incorrect Hurk was a casualty of that decision.
Hurk may be a jerk, but he is a loveable jerk adored by almost the entire Far Cry fanbase, a fanbase that encompasses most genders, sexualities, ethnicities and races.
Hurk is the loser friend from high school that you cannot get rid of, and I honestly miss his childlike reactions and lack of manners.
I am a white male, but I will be the first to admit many games are written from my perspective. While the “white male perspective” is valid, diversity encourages creativity and exploring the fictional island nation of Yara as a native Yaran allows for encounters that a “White Hero” would have missed out on.
I love how diverse gaming has become of late; while there have been cases of “overcorrection” with some developers actively excluding all white/male characters from the narrative, I feel a future where all races and genders are fairly represented will allow for greater creativity and narrative depth than would have been possible otherwise.
Players can choose to play Dani Rojas as either a male or female and according to Ubisoft, both options are equally valid and canonically correct. They have no bearing on the story’s outcome.
However, I must admit that Dani feels like it was written to be a female character, and the option to play as a male was added to avoid angering toxic gamers.
Far Cry 6 has unfortunately done away with the Guns for Hire mechanic introduced in Far Cry 6 and replaced it with the pet-centric amigos’ system; as someone who rarely chose to take out an animal companion in Far Cry 5 or Far Cry New Dawn, being forced to choose a pet companion feels like a step backwards.
That said, Chorizo is gorgeous and undoubtedly the best boy (no offence to Boomer, who was also a very good boy).
Players can customize their rides with various weapons and cosmetics to ensure they are deadly and stylish as they cruise the mean streets of Yara.
Once a player has completed the informal tutorial and gained access to the full map, the game can be played cooperatively with friends or strangers.
Far Cry 6 supports matchmaking; however, it does not support crossplay, meaning players are limited to playing with others on the same platform (Xbox Live, PSN, PC).
In addition to the open-world play, players who have completed the main story can join operations with other players to earn powerful weapons and unique rewards.
Far Cry games have always been visually stunning and ahead of their time, and Far Cry 6 is the first game to break from this tradition.
Don’t get me wrong; Far Cry 6 is visually stunning when using the HD graphics pack; however, it is not “ahead of its time” like every other entry since Far Cry 3, and I believe this is due to Ubisoft supporting 8th generation consoles almost a year after the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
I fully believe 8th generation consoles should receive several years of continued support and new releases after the launch of a new console; however, I believe these consoles should receive an entirely different build than 9th generation consoles.
This software distribution method worked well at the end of the 7th console generation (Xbox 360/Playstation 3), allowing Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners to enjoy the full benefit of their new consoles while still offering those on the previous generation something new to play.
The 8th generation gave us some amazing experiences, and I still feel that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are excellent consoles; however, the 9th generation is capable of so much more, and I believe it’s time owners 9th generation consoles get to play games that take full advantage of 9th generation hardware and innovation.
Far Cry games are the cheesy action movies of the first-person shooter genre, and as a result, one should not expect many moments of narrative brilliance; At the same time, there have been memorable characters such as Joseph Seed, Vaas Montenegro and Pagan Min, as general rule Far Cry games are more about making players feel like a hero. Less about ensuring the narrative holds up to a microscope.
Far Cry 6 has some moments of narrative brilliance. To be certain, Anton Castillo is well-written, and Giancarlo Esposito’s voice acting is exceptional, as to be expected.
Giancarlo Esposito is one of the most talented “bad guy” actors, and his portrayal of Anton Castillo will be a benchmark for years to come.
Outside of important scenes and key characters, much of Far Cry 6’s narrative and dialogue is profanity-laden speeches about freeing Yara or being a guerrilla, and after the 10th or so, speech about having the “right tool for the right job”, I began to wish that Juan Cortez stop talking, despite him being one of my favourite characters in the game and being generally well written and very likeable.
While Anton Castillo is the man you love to hate, for me, the true star of the Far Cry 6 narrative is Clara Garcia, the leader of the Libertad; her speech about fighting while still afraid is one of the best written pre-battle speeches in video game history and her declaration of “I am not fearless, I am scared as hell, but I promise you one thing. I will be feared.” sums up the essence of what it means to fight for freedom in just a few short words.
Ubisoft cannot win for losing when approaching the 9th generation.
With the launch of Watchdog Legions, they targeted 4k/30 FPS with Ray Tracing, only to run afoul of the most vocal elements of the fan base who preferred a higher fps and could live without the niceties of RTX.
Eventually, Ubisoft released a performance mode (Dynamic 4k/60fps ) for Watchdog Legions. Everyone assumed they had learned their lesson and that in the future, all Ubisoft titles would offer players the choice between 4k/60 fps and 4k/30 fps + RTX.
Unfortunately, that was not the case, and players once again have been given no choice, with Far Cry 6 launching only with “performance mode” and RTX being a PC-exclusive feature.
FPS woes aside, Far Cry 6 is a well-optimized game, but I have seen better, and despite being able to maintain a steady 60 FPS on 9th-gen consoles, I feel it could be much more enjoyable with better optimization.
The entire Far Cry franchise is known for its buttery smooth combat, and Far Cry 6 not only upholds that legacy but expands upon it by introducing a large arsenal of bespoke weapons such as the Tostador flame through and el Muro, a pistol with built-in basaltic shield, to list just two of the eleven unique resolver weapons in Far Cry 6.
If that was not enough, Far Cry 6 also allows players to equip a variety of backpacks that each offer their own functionality, from the powerful Exterminador rocket launcher to the stealthy Triador, which allows players to see enemies through walls.
Anton’s forces store unique weapons at many bases and checkpoints; liberating these locations unlocks access to the weapon and any vehicle spawns present.
In addition to these spawns, Anton’s men have a bad habit of leaving vehicles unattended, allowing Dani to hijack all manner of military hardware, from jeeps and mortars to heavily armoured tanks and attack choppers.
They just left them lying around, so why shouldn’t Dani and the Libertad use them? Waste not, want not, I say!
Far Cry 6 features a cockfighting mini-game which may be distressing to some players; while this mini-game is mechanically a Mortal Kombat parody, some in the gaming community feel the inclusion of the popular Latin American sport is insensitive at best and glorifies animal cruelty at worst.
Adversely, others in the gaming community have dismissed their complaints as ungrounded, pointing out that no animals were harmed. Far Cry 6’s interpretation of cockfighting with a full roster of playable characters and special moves has more in common with Mortal Kombat than the actual cockfighting. It does not encourage or endorse violence against real animals.
I have a high tolerance for video game gore, but even I found some torture/execution scenes a little hard to watch.
Ubisoft set out to establish Anton as a brutal man whose methods are cruel at best and evil at worst, and they have succeeded; however, some of these actions are a little hard to watch, and I feel that Far Cry 5 handled this sensitive issue a little more delicately, while still establishing the Seed family as sadists.
Far Cry 6 is a shooter video game developed and published by Ubisoft, it was released on 6 October 2021 and retails for $59.99+.
Far Cry 6 is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
On average Far Cry 6 takes between 25 and 60 hours to complete.
Estimated completion times are derived from various sources and may vary based on the skill level of each player.
Far Cry 6 supports:
Far Cry 6 offers the following matchmaking options:
The Far Cry 6 in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Far Cry 6 is rated PEGI 18+ and contains:
Far Cry 6 is an excellent continuation of the franchise, but it fails to bring much innovation to the genre, and I feel most gamers would enjoy it more if they bought it at a substantial discount.
