Revolution is only on the cover

“Viva la revolución” is the name of Far Cry 6. However, Ubisoft is not revolutionizing the genre of open-world shooters or the series itself. Instead, there is the usual story with full action and few surprises in a really nice game world.

An unscrupulous tyrant oppresses people through his tyranny, but you are the hero or heroine who, even if rather involuntarily, become the only hope of the oppressed. Together with the resistance, you liberate the country and overthrow evil. At least since Far Cry 3, this description fits every game in the series. Far Cry 6 is no exception. But let’s start from the beginning.

Yara: Between paradise and hell on earth

Yara Island is a Caribbean paradise. White beaches, dense jungle, lively swamps and steep mountains make Yara a varied and really pretty place. This is accompanied by rum, cigars and Latin American rhythms. If it weren’t for that Dictator Antón Castillowho enslaves his people and forces them to work on the tobacco plantations, it would be a paradise. Those who do not work are shot and those who oppose the regime are mercilessly persecuted and tortured in the most cruel ways and executed.

As either male or female Dani Rojas you flee the capital as the violence between soldiers and the population escalates and only barely escapes with your life. You will find yourself washed up on a small island Libertad, a group of revolutionaries who are waging a guerrilla war against Castillo and who are quick enough to convince you to join the group instead of leaving for America.

Conveniently, Dani Rojas was in the army, so you are ideally suited for the job. So sent you revolutionary leader Clara Garcia to win three other resistance groups for Libertad and to unite them in the fight against Castillo.

The guns of the guerrillas

Far Cry 6 offers you an extensive mix well-known guns and wacky guerrilla weapons. The weapons that you can find or buy increase in rank as the game progresses, and the opponents do the same, by the way. Your clothing now also consists of individual pieces of equipment that grant various bonuses such as more ammunition for certain types of weapons or resistance to a type of damage. Furthermore, have your weapons Slots for attachmentswhich you have to produce first with materials that can be found in the world. In addition to crafting, you can also expand the camps with some structures, such as a shop for weapons or a cantina where you can make food that gives various bonuses.

The improv weapons and supremos are a highlight. Both Improv weapons are special weapons from guerrilla expert Juan Cortez. With him you get a flamethrower, a crossbow that shoots harpoons and the Macarena-playing disc thrower. the Supremos are large backpacks that give you a special ability. For example, you get target-seeking missiles or a large-scale EMP. In addition, this backpack has four slots for grenades, medipacks or throwing knives and you can also craft these things.

So that you can get from A to B quickly on Yara, there is all kinds of means of transport. You can have an armed car delivered to a street at any time. At camps or bases you will also find the possibility to call cars, helicopters, planes, boats and horses. Parachute, wingsuit and climbing hook provide other mobility.

A lot of work on Yara

In addition to the main missions, a Far Cry Open World naturally also offers a lot of other activities. You can Follow side missions, go on a treasure hunt, conquer bases and control points or destroy anti-aircraft guns. You also set ambushes or steal supplies. If you’ve had enough of the war, there are still races, or you can go fishing or hunting.

No matter what you do, you get experience that is yours Guerrilla rank elevated. These ranks allow you to buy better weapons and you can take on stronger opponents. The other rewards are of course pesos and all kinds of crafting materials. Every now and then you will also get a weapon or other piece of equipment.

Guerrilla tactics

Since you can now hide your weapon, you usually have peace from the soldiers even on the open road. You will not be attacked until you enter restricted areas. Of course, your mission objectives are almost always in such areas. As is typical of Far Cry, there are two basic approaches to opposing camps: Sneak through and kill silently or storm the front door with a smoking run. In both cases it is advisable to spy on the opponents beforehand and to mark them with the mobile phone.

You get help from your Amigo. Crocodile Guapo is more of an aggressive style of play, while Dog Boom-Boom supports you in being stealthy. Otherwise, your style of play will change through the choice of weapons, equipment and your Supremo.

Test conclusion: a revolution that nipped in the bud

Far Cry 6 is off to a pretty good start. Escape from Yara’s capital is intense and threatening, Anton Castillo is a charismatic and cruel tyrant and I look forward to fighting him. On the run, I experience fear and loss and I understand why my character wants to leave the States. But then I meet Libertad on a small island, everyone is a little crazy about it, but their zest for action is contagious and everyone talks about revolution and cites intellectuals. I want to help you.

Not even the fact that I have to burn down a plantation with a flamethrower in a Far Cry, not even the completely superfluous self-referential joke from Dani (“That sounds kind of familiar to me.” Yes Dani, me too. Me too.) Breaks my mood. In the end I sneak onto the ships of the port blockade, break through and drive with Libertad towards Yara. I feel like a cigar, rum and spicy food …

… and then I get Ubisoft pulp and thin story water served. The gripping story is frayed into an open world of trivialities. Exciting topics like slavery, attempts on people, artistic freedom, queer people in such a situation become one clichéd decal and applauded the open world. This is a terrible shame, because this is how it works lost a lot of potential. The story was really picking up speed and now, as always, I’m playing my way through three areas with their intermediate bosses. Yara is a really beautiful game world and an absolute highlight, but it’s way too big and crammed with repetitive game mechanics. The fact that I fly an airplane in a story mission is a big change in Far Cry 6. But that too is unspectacular, which brings us to a completely different problem.

Hardly a challenge

Far Cry 6 is pretty simple. There are two levels of difficulty Story and Adventure modes. In story mode you can stand in the middle of a horde of opponents without any problems and emerge victorious even with the standard pistol. This is no longer possible in adventure mode, but even this is considered to be “normal” at most. This created a major motivation problem for me. Why bother turning off all alarms and silently killing all enemies when all I get is a few bonus resources? I use it to buy attachments for weapons that I don’t need.

The AI ​​isn’t much of a challenge eitherExcept for taking cover and changing position every now and then, they have nothing on it. In escort missions, the AI ​​is really exhausting, not only that NPCs get stuck on every bush, of course they also have to run at a completely different pace than me.

The gunplay in Far Cry 6 is a success. The weapons have a lot of oomph, it’s fun to try out and the improv weapons and supremos really provide a bit of variety. It’s a shame that all the firepower is basically superfluous. It is definitely fun to clean up the camps and to experiment with the weapons, but that does not carry the game through the many hours for which it is designed. The low level of difficulty also depresses motivation.

Less is sometimes more

Far Cry 6 is just too much. The usual brilliant Giancarlo Esposito appears far too rarely as Castillo to really make an impression, and also the other figures remain pale and one-dimensionalbecause they are too little to see and then do not have much to say. And again: That’s a shame, because some had a lot of potential and the German synchro is really successful. The fact that Dani Rojas has a voice and is actively involved in the story is definitely an asset compared to its predecessors.

A significantly smaller open world with less repetitive activities would have left more development time for a more varied mission design. The new gameplay mechanics are good, but there are no progress system that motivates me to use it, because I don’t need any crass weapons and a lot of crafting stuff. The history takes up many exciting topics, which then get lost in the typical follies and orgies of violence of the series. In successful open world shooters you will always find a great story (especially one that takes itself seriously), exciting gameplay elements or a real challenge. Far Cry 6 doesn’t make any of it bad, the basic quality is right, but neither does it particularly stand out in any of the categories.

Had Ubisoft been able to say goodbye to its formula, or at least significantly break it, Far Cry 6 might have turned out to be a pretty good game. That’s the way it is just another Far Cry, which is quite okay in many things and quite good in a few, but we already know all of that from the predecessors. A real revolution would be good for Far Cry and Ubisoft.

Far Cry 6 will be released on October 7, 2021 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One and PC.

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