Announced just prior to E3 2017, Far Cry 5[1] is the latest instalment in Ubisoft’s long-running open-world shooter franchise. Set in Montana, USA, you’re charged with taking down a doomsday cult called Eden’s Gate. It's not exactly the most exotic of locales. Past entries like Far Cry 4[2] took us to Nepal, and Far Cry Primal[3] threw up a rather impressive rendition of the Stone Age. Far Cry 2 had you braving malaria and arms dealers in war-torn Africa. It made us wonder if Ubisoft was phoning it in with Far Cry 5.
At IGX 2017[4], Gadgets 360 put the game to the test and the results were humbling. Here’s why.
The first thing we noticed that despite the pedestrian setting, the game world was replete with a lot happening all around. Granted it might feel familiar with cars, trucks, houses, and offices peppering the decidedly urban landscape, but with crazed cultists holding civilians ransom, roadblocks manned by soldiers, and wildlife galore, Montana felt rather busy, more than any other Far Cry game in recent memory.
It was this sense of busyness that gelled well with gameplay. The demo tasked us with liberating an area from enemy control, and we did so by sabotaging passing trucks with explosives and detonating them at will. Doing so allowed us to clear out swathes of enemies before ziplining into the fray and cleaning up the meagre resistance that followed.
Although guns in Far Cry 5 felt a bit wonky compared to past entries, it was still enjoyable with each shotgun blast and machine gun round giving a surprising amount of feedback and recoil. Compounded with the ability to have household appliances like heaters burst...