Far Cry: New Dawn: Fun with a Caveat
Exploring Far Cry: New Dawn’s biggest problem
Far Cry is very lost right now.
I don’t want to call them ‘creatively bankrupt’, but I think that’s close to hitting the nail on the head. We’ve had what feels like a million Far Cry games in the last ten years, and they stopped feeling different and interesting a long time ago. But here’s the thing that I keep coming back to, the thought that sticks with me from entry to entry:
In spite of everything, these games are still fun!
Far Cry 3 (released in 2012) was my first exposure to the series. With 3, I was exposed to so many Far Cry staples. The open world action, the over-the-top villains, and (unfortunately) the skeletal plots. I think 3 was the modern pinnacle of the series (remember: I’ve never played 1 or 2), even to this day. Far Cry 4 was more of the same with better graphics and some little additions, but that was basically it. I could see the wheels start to come off as I neared the climax of 4, but I was still having fun. Fun with a caveat, but still fun. Now that we’ve given a paragraph over to history, let’s focus on why I think this game is fun.
(imagine this scene)
I come over the ridge in my helicopter, my eyes on an outpost. It’s crawling with goons. They’re armed to the teeth with all manner of deadly weapons. As I get a little near, I hold down the right trigger and get some height. After I’m high enough, I see that it’s time. I leap out of the helicopter and activate my parachute. As I sail down to the nearest rooftop, the helicopter drops directly down. It crashes into a group of goons, a fireball roaring. When I land, I equip my heavy machine gun and take out a couple of advancing enemies. At one point, someone activates the alarm system. Not that it matters. I have an outpost to take.
(not bad)
Stealth. Guns blazing. A combination of the two. Far Cry’s open-ended combat design is it’s major asset. Within the system they’ve constructed, you have near endless carte blance on how to take back outposts and play through certain story missions. Though this doesn’t feel like anything crazy now, it was a refreshing change of pace from the other shooters that came out around the same time of Far Cry 3.
It’s too bad that the rest of the franchise doesn’t quite get there. These games feel painfully shallow. Sure, the map is stuffed with animals to hunt and baddies to light up. But it never really evolves past that. It’s a loud checklist, it’s glorified busy work. It’s checklist nature doesn’t lend itself to interesting story telling. I think Far Cry 5 is the worst offender by a lot. Joseph Seed and his vile brew of a family are interesting in concept. They are built to be worthwhile villains. But even though they have different flavors, the game does very little to make them characters. You don’t fear them because they are just another item on your list of things to shoot and blow up. Joseph Seed is an empty shell of a character that endlessly drones on about nebulous things. By the time 5 hits its nuclear climax, I just felt frustrated. The minute to minute game play was fun; I just didn’t see the point.
The Caveat at the heart of Far Cry: New Dawn
At the start of New Dawn, Joseph Seed is in exile and Hope County is overrun by violent marauders known as The Highwaymen. They are lead by New Dawn’s standard issue psychopaths: a pair of sisters named Mickey and Lou. You are the last remaining member of a task force sent in to the help the local people battle the sisters’ vile army. It doesn’t take long for you and the central cast of characters to realize that you’re hopelessly out-gunned. So now they must do the unthinkable: they must turn to the Seed cult for help.
When I started this game up, I kind of had high hopes. A post-apocalyptic Far Cry game? Sounds pretty cool. I could certainly see the story-telling potential. It sucks that we got anything but that.
It’s the same map as 5, just colorful and a little worse for the wear. There are monstrous animals and one single mutated tree. But other than that? Kind of business as usual. They try to sell you that Joseph Seed has changed and is broken up over his failures (I think? It’s never made completely clear about what Joseph goal’s actually are; which is a big, big problem). Even by the end of New Dawn, I feel like I don’t understand Joseph Seed any better. He’s the only interesting character, and he’s utterly wasted on lame diversions.
I’ll give them credit: Far Cry 5’s ending went for it. I was legitimately awed that they blew everything away. But New Dawn has no interest in telling an interesting tale or having any kind of payoff. They have the map, they have their fun game play, and they have their caveat. Maybe that’s all this franchise is? I hope not. I’m a fan, and I would love to see a revamp on how these stories are told. We’ve had open worlds long enough in gaming that this shouldn’t be a problem anymore. For now, I’ll enjoy Far Cry’s best features. But I’ll never give up hope that they can ascend.
