Ubisoft has finally put away that stale gameplay structure, which once belched thunderclouds of mind-numbing objectives onto the map every time you got to the top of a lookout. The game is set in Hope County, Montana, and for the first time in a long time, you won’t need to reveal the lovely looking locale by scaling towers. Once I packed up my last shred of hope that the game had anything interesting to say (which happened about 30 minutes in), I was able to uncover some genuinely smart changes to the series’ increasingly stagnant gameplay formula. That’s not to say that Far Cry 5 is all bad. However you expected to feel about the game’s portrayal of gun culture, militias, and weaponized evangelism going in, though, you’ll probably come away let down by the game’s lack of follow-through on that promise. After a marketing campaign that leans on evangelical and militia imagery, players could be forgiven for expecting some smart political statements (or at least biting satire) from the game. The publisher may well have set unrealistic expectations for the game’s story, which features a villainous cult that clearly draws from the current and complex state of the political far right in the US. Links: Steam | Official website Far Cry 5 is a disappointment largely of Ubisoft’s own making. Platform: Windows (reviewed), Xbox One, PS4 Game details Developer: Ubisoft Montreal and Toronto
