From the wilderness of Montana to the frozen peaks of the Himalayas, the Far Cry franchise has taken players around the world on action-packed adventures. Far Cry 6 continues the hallmark of the series of a huge open world playground where players battle for control against a powerful villain. While the dark story is sometimes in stark contrast to goofy side content and characters, Far Cry 6 fires on all cylinders to deliver one of the best games in the series.
Far Cry 6 is a non-stop thrill ride from start to finish, with a variety of activities to enjoy in its vast open world. The main missions often focus on infiltrating enemy-controlled territory in order to undermine the rule of Antón Castillo, the ruthless dictator of the fictional Caribbean nation of Yara. Whether you’re blowing up Castillo’s fuel tanks, burning down its plantations, or taking out high-value targets, Far Cry 6 offers a multitude of action-packed ways to overthrow the ruling regime.
True to the series, Far Cry 6 allows you to play your own way. Strong shooting mechanics allowed me to easily string headshots with my suppressed rifle while moving through an area undetected. If I screwed up a kill and the enemy notices my presence, solid shooting works well in the chaos of a firefight.
Most of the time I’ve used standard rifles, pistols, and shotguns (all of which are customizable). You also have access to unique, unlockable Resolver weapons (special weapons with unique abilities and attributes) and Supremos (ultimate abilities that work on a cooldown) that add a ton of firepower to your repertoire. I preferred to use stealth tactics whenever possible, so I loved bringing a resolver nail gun for silent takedowns. However, I was also happy to have a Supremo with homing missiles on hand to take out armored tanks and pesky helicopters.
If you want a break from the main story, the vast and utterly beautiful island of Yara offers a terrific variety and seemingly endless side content. Destroying military checkpoints, blowing up anti-aircraft guns, and helping characters on side missions are all hugely satisfying ways of moving Castillo’s empire towards erosion. Despite the enormous size of Yara, it’s easy to get to your next destination thanks to summonable vehicles and a wingsuit. You can even fly to fast travel points to fly quickly in any direction.
While you can approach most situations however you want, sometimes the AI hinders your plans. Sometimes enemies ignore nearby corpses, while sometimes they have a seemingly supernatural sense of my presence. Combined with uneven difficulty peaks and the occasional unforgiving control points, these inconsistencies result in frustrating moments in an otherwise great experience.
In a narrative, Far Cry 6 begins with a punch in the pit of your stomach. As Dani Rojas, you have your one-way ticket from Yara. After things go south through a series of emotional scenes, Dani joins the resistance. As a member of Libertad, Dani’s main job is to recruit other guerrillas with the ultimate goal of dethroning Yara’s bloodthirsty dictator.
Giancarlo Esposito, of breaking Bad and The Mandalorian Glory, masterfully portrays President Castillo. While he only appears in cutscenes between the main story missions, his presence is large thanks to regularly played propaganda speeches, huge billboards with his face and name at the center of most conversations. In Far Cry’s rich annals of fantastic antagonists, Castillo is among the most threatening. But Castillo isn’t the only villain noteworthy as he surrounds himself with really despicable people who I couldn’t wait to shoot.
The rest of the cast are unforgettable, and Dani is perhaps the best Far Cry protagonist yet. However, for every authentic character there is another one that is a caricature. These borderline cartoon people are especially harrowing in a story centered around a bloody revolution. You see a lot of terrible things happen to both good and bad people, and Far Cry 6 is still struggling with the precarious balancing act of telling a dark, serious story and delivering the carefree thrill that players have come to expect from the franchise.
The dissonance between the two sides of Far Cry has always been hard to reconcile, but Far Cry 6 handles that balance better than most of the entries in the series. Many crazier missions and storylines are relegated to side content and player choices; Unless you want to free a group of hostages with a CD gun alongside a cute Viennese dog named Chorizo, you don’t have to.
Far Cry 6 is an addicting open world action game from the first moments to the last confrontation. The main storyline is exciting and I’ve never had a shortage of side content to enjoy. Far Cry 6 isn’t revolutionary in its accomplishments, but it executes the franchise’s formula better than any other entry before it.
