I just got Far Cry 5 last night and I have been able to play it for almost 10 hours now. I am going to give you my first impressions of the game so far. This will be aimed more towards someone who is thinking about getting the game or for those who are curious.

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Minor Spoilers Ahead! Proceed With Caution!

Introduction:

The beginning mission of the game puts you right into the conflict. You are a rookie who is in a helicopter with the Sheriff of Hope County, the Deputy to Hope County and the US Marshal. You four are sent in with an arrest warrant for Joseph Seed, the “Father” and leader of a doomsday cult who has taken over Hope County. You arrive and cuff the Father to take him in but are stopped when your helicopter crashes down. You are then forced to flee for your life from the cult until you are captured by a man named Dutch. Dutch saves you from the cult and gives you a fresh change of clothes along with one mission, Destroy Eden’s Gate and the Father so you can reclaim Hope County.

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Hope County is split up into four sections with each member of the Seed family having their own territory. I am halfway through John’s part and I really can’t wait to finish reclaiming his section as well as fight him. Each member of the Seed family is in charge of their own business of Eden’s Gate.

Those are the only story details I will share, now it’s time to talk about gameplay mechanics and improvements that Far Cry 5 brings to the table.

Gameplay Features:

Far Cry 5 looks to continue using the formula that the last games have established the series. You get an open world and story-driven game that also comes with loads of extra side missions, collectables, enemies to hunt and a vast land to explore. One thing that this game pushes is that you can explore everything this game at your own pace. You can stick with the story missions or go exploring the vast open world. You are the player and the game gives you the freedom to choose what you do with your time. It’s this type of non-linear gameplay that sets this apart from the other games on the market.

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The graphics are amazing. I am playing this on the PC with everything set on Ultra and it is visually stunning to look at. The detail in the grass. fur, building, water and so many more things are just so life-like and beautiful to see. The cutscenes in the game are also amazing to look at.

Far Cry 5 gives you what you expect from the series but with some added new features as well. You have your guns, cars, wildlife to hunt and bad guys to kill as well. You can also bring along a companion with you no matter where you go. This can be either a member of the Resistance or you can bring along one of the three new animal companions. You can choose from Boomer The Dog, Cheeseburger The Bear or Peaches the Cougar. I have only gotten Boomer at this point but he is an awesome companion and Doggo of course.

Boomer can help you take down enemies, scout ahead and look around or steal weapons from the enemies to disarm them.

The biggest difference is the setting. Instead of taking place in foreign lands, Far Cry 5 decides to take it’s brand of chaos to the USA. Hope County is located in Montana and with the new setting comes along some new bosses and enemies. You will be fighting a Doomsday Cult known as Eden’s Gate.

Eden’s Gate is lead by Joseph ‘Father’ Seed, along with his siblings John, Faith and Jacob. They have taken over the place and are not going to let out go without a fight. I have only really encountered John in his territory and the Seed family is really crazy, you can’t help but want to watch them and learn more about them. The cutscenes for this game are so interesting and you can’t take your eyes off of what is happening on screen.

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Now getting back to gameplay, The shooting and driving mechanics are the same from Far Cry 4 so no big difference. The enemies act the same way as in Far Cry 4 and the AI from them hasn’t really changed that much.

You can say that Far Cry 5 is kinda like Far Cry 4 but with added mechanics and new villains. You wouldn’t be wrong for thinking this, the gameplay does feel like Far Cry 4 with a new paint job. However, Far Cry 4 lost me after while because the story wasn’t really interesting and the villain was fun but not enough to keep my interest.

However, Far Cry 5 is a lot more interesting because the story is engaging and the villains are scary and interesting. Far Cry 5 also decides to ditch the radio tower mechanic that older games used as well. No more having to climb up towers to see what’s around you like 500 times. Dutch has you only climb one and he helps you out from there. This was a much-needed upgrade because climbing Radio Towers is only fun 2-3 times before you start to feel it drag and hate it.

Arcade:

Arcade is another new feature that Far Cry 5 has to shake things up and keep you playing. Arcade is a mode where you can either make your own levels or play others from the online community.

That’s right folks! We have a mode where you can make anything you want! It’s a feature that I last saw in Far Cry 2 but it’s even bigger. I haven’t had much time to play this yet but I have played a few levels and I can say that it is really fun.

Modes like these always seem to be a big win for gamers and can guarantee that you will have people playing months after launch. I will make sure to play more and maybe even make some levels myself but so far, this seems to bring a lot of new ways to play with friends online.

The Verdict:

For just about 10 hours, Far Cry 5 has me hooked. With its intriguing story and world, I want to see what happens to the people of Hope County and I want to take down the cult that has taken over. The Arcade mode also a nice addition and I will make sure to go more in-depth with it later on. Right now, I’m very impressed with Far Cry 5 it has managed to outshine both Far Cry 4 and Far Cry Primal. Far Cry 5 has a lot more intriguing elements and for those who skipped out on the other games, you should really pick this one up.