New world chaos in a familiar form.
It’s hard to believe we have a new Far Cry game a little less than a year since Far Cry 5 released. I really enjoyed my time with Far Cry 5 and my adventures in Hope County, Montana were both fun and rewarding. With Far Cry: New Dawn, players are thrown back into the familiar territory, but with a special twist. In the end, it feels like Far Cry and if that’s what players are looking for, they’ll have another good time on their hands.
So, I guess spoilers for Far Cry 5, but I have to talk about it since this game is in direct causation of the ending events to it. After Joseph Seed sets off the nuclear apocalypse at the end of Far Cry 5, the United States went into complete chaos. Survivors either hid underground or were having to live off the irradiated land. Cut to 17 years later, the people of Hope County are trying to rebuild and with the help of the player and their leader, Rush, who come into Montana via train, they have a fighting chance. Only problem is a group of marauders led by twins Mickey and Lou have came from the East killing and taking whatever they want. It’s up to the player to hold off the Highwaymen, scavenge as much as they can and rebuild Hope County.
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d pay: $39.99
Anyone who has played Far Cry 5 or any Far Cry game since 3 for that matter knows what they’re getting into here. The core gameplay has not changed up, rather what players are striving for has. Players are tasked with rebuilding and upgrading their home base of Prosperity by gathering materials, recruiting specialists, and obtaining the hot commodity that is ethanol. Doing so gives the player access to better crafting, more healing items, a cartographer, and other helpful things they may need in the wastelands of Hope County.
Liberating outposts returns with the ability to redo them to gain extra ethanol, the treasure hunts that were always a personal favorite are here, and of course the story missions bring some extra variety to the structure when the gathering and overthrowing get a little repetitive. The solo play guns for hire return with both special mercenaries and animals to help out. Everything that one would expect is all here.
Replacing the user created maps are the Expeditions. These are standalone maps/missions that let the player take on a new area much like the user generated ones, and gather more items and gear depending on the difficulty of the missions. It’s a nice distraction for when Hope County has gotten a little old.
What is new is the fresh coat of paint plastered all over Hope County. While the map remains primarily the same, the overall look and details are what has changed. Obviously, not as many structures stand anymore, and even though this is a post-apocalyptic world, it’s been long enough for things to come back to life. Plants and animals have mutated slightly and everything gives off this chaotic, yet tranquil vibe. Playing on the Xbox One X, New Dawn was jaw-dropping with almost no frame rate issues to speak of. On top of the visuals, the weapons and equipment are straight out of Mad Max. The first weapon players will get is a saw blade launcher that can bounce between enemies.
The other big change is the RPG aspects. In New Dawn, everything has a level tier. Guns with a higher tier will do more damage; enemies with a higher tier will be harder to kill. This all goes into the aspect of upgrading. Upgrading the base and crafting new equipment will offer up more powerful option for taking down those tough enemies.
Returning from Far Cry 5 are some of the issues I had with the game. First, the online co-op, while a fun aspect, still only allows the host to keep their progress, and the open world issues are present here as well – enemies just popping in out of nowhere and my AI teammates just kind of standing there when getting murdered at times. Along with that, New Dawn is going to be a shorter experience than Far Cry 5. Of course, with that, comes the lower price of admission.
New Dawn adds a bit while keeping everything running the same way. Over the years, I have enjoyed my time with all the Far Cry games and this is yet another one I had a lot of fun with. The setting is both fun and interesting to explore, the expeditions add a new layer, and while not as important as some other games, the RPG elements at least point players in the right direction for improving. Sure, it’s another Far Cry game, but that’s never been a bad thing to me. Pick it up for you’re looking for a smaller scale Far Cry adventure with a few new twists thrown in.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
