Far Cry 5 is expected to release (in the US, at least) on Tuesday March 27 for PC, XBox1, and PS4.
A cow-orker, who got bored of the FPS realm for the last couple of years, is eagerly anticipating it, being drawn back in with the co-op feature. From my limited reading the co-op seems to function like Borderlands, which I enjoyed very much: the visitor won’t advance their own story line, but will retain their gained XP, cash, and most loot (exceptions for mission-specific loot).
I will buy next week IF the initial reviews (both critics and end users) are reasonably favorable. I enjoyed FC 2 and 3 for the most part (3 had some timed missions that I hated), and I skipped over 4.
I’ve played and enjoyed 2, 3 & 4. Didn’t care for Primal so much as the Unga-Bunga nonsense annoyed me and I like shooting people more than I like throwing pointy sticks at them. Plus it lacked the compelling antagonist aspect of 3 & 4.
The rest, I loved. Some people complained about 4 but it was what I wanted: a better version of 3 with more features and most of the annoyances worked out.
I have high hopes for 5 as I’m happy with the formula. The “Arcade” of custom maps sounds like it will be awesome, letting players use assets from the previous Far Cry games plus Watch Dogs, AC:4 Black Flag & AC: Unity to create maps.
I’m really looking forward to it as I’ve been itching to start something new since I finished Horizon Zero Dawn.
It looks like it has the potential to be fantastic. I just hope it doesn’t have any pointless annoyances such as endless raptors dive-bombing you out of the blue (FC4). That got old real quick…
Far Cry 5 is, in fact, more Far Cry. If you liked 3/BD/4/Primal then you’ll probably have fun. If you have deep moral objections to Ubisoft map marker games then you probably won’t find anything new here to change your mind.
You spend your time in scenic Montana wandering the wilderness and killin’ dudes, stealing trucks, taking bases, rescuing citizens, etc. More robust AI companions, I assume the mechanics are from Primal, and a new feature or two like fishing and flying airplanes. After leaving the intro island, I set off and rescued a puma to make my traveling buddy, developed a love for the shotgun, did some hunting, rescued some people, opened an outpost or two and ignored everyone to catch some sweet rainbow trout. Oh, and the obligatory Far Cry drug trip. Good times. Like earlier games, it’s not afraid to wink at itself (example, finding a book on a floor titled Malaria is Annoying) but never approaching the genre satire level of FC: Blood Dragon or Saints Row.
Only real dings on the reviews seem to come from people who desperately want video games to be Very Important Things and are upset that the plot is an excuse to travel the hills of Montana, shooting bison and cultists with a truck mounted .50 cal, and not an deeply insightful exploration of the intersection of religion, gun culture, patriotism and rural independence.
Visually, it’s generally gorgeous and atmospheric, traveling through mountain forests and down rivers although there’s some bizarrely jarring low-res textures especially in buildings (stuff like radios look like they’re from a PS2). I’m playing at 1080p on an i5-8600K and GTX 1080 and get average 105 fps on Ultra.
I was only able to play about 90 minutes last night, of which the first 30 was mostly unskippable cutscenes and “follow these people”. But I enjoyed it once I was turned loose. I was a bit annoyed that I can’t keep both my bow and rifle, but I assume I’ll unlock that ability down the road.
I’m playing on the game’s “recommended for you” settings: 1080p @ monitor-limited 60 Hz. I have an i5 3.2Ghz and GTX 1060; no stuttering or lag.
As a quick tip: You get a perk point for every first time you skin an animal or catch a fish from what I can tell. It takes eight points to unlock a second main weapon slot. So go out and kill one of everything you see and skin it and do a little fishing and you’ll be able to unlock it in fairly short order.
Edit: The skill is called “Holster” and has the icon you’d imagine it’d have.
Hmmm. I’ll have to look that term up, never heard of it. My PC won’t run it anyway, according to the “Can I Run It” website (System requirements. lab or something like that).
It wasn’t. Obviously I could have just looked it up, but in the heat of the moment, I just asked. I’ve never played any Far Cry games and was interested but my old dual core processor, 4GB of RAM and outdated GPU apparently don’t make the cut. Which is weird, because I can play the latest Doom without issues, but games like Battlefield 1 lag like crazy.
Oops, I meant if “fifth person shooter” is a whoosh/joke. I figured you were sincere about asking if it’s a first person shooter.
If you’re interested in a Far Cry game, you might find the requirements for Far Cry 3 more forgiving and the basic structure and game play are the same. They just kept adding more features into the later games. Far Cry 1 & 2 have their own merits but aren’t really the same system as the later games.
In true UBISOFT style, the game somehow launched on PC with severely limited controller support. Which is fine for the shooty bits, more problematic for the driving, and makes combat flying a royal PITA. OTOH, haven’t seen anyone missing their face, yet.
As far as the plot goes…“get captured over and over again” for plot insertions is fairly stupid. I got tranque’d & captured while piloting in a dogfight, for example. What was wrong with just giving priority missions?
Oh, and some animals require multiple kill & skins to give the perk point - turkeys and skunks are 3, IIRC.