8 / 10. An immersive, pre-apocalyptic open world with great villains and a thoroughly enjoyable campaign

Far Cry 5 is the new installment in the successful Far Cry series, published by Ubisoft.

The main story revolves around the fanatical doomsday cult, Project at Eden's Gate. The cult has taken over the fictional Hope County, Montana, USA, at the command of its charismatic and utterly bonkers leader, Joseph Seed. His siblings; John, Jacob and Faith, act as deputies over their own areas.

You play as an unnamed junior deputy U.S Marshal, part of a helicopter crew tasked with arresting Seed. A cinematic opening sequence shows the mission go awry when the helicopter crashes in the vast and dangerous Hope County. Your aim is to liberate the County, with various resistance allies, and takedown the bad Seeds.

Far Cry 5’s immersive open world is a thoroughly enjoyable campaign, in a possible future. Different areas for the Seed family members work well, with different threats and enemies in each, culminating in a ‘boss’ battle once enough resistance points are accrued.

The Seeds are a menacing yet attractive presence, and the allies you meet who then join you are a welcome help, especially in destroying cult outposts (my favourite was Cheeseburger the bear).

I didn’t enjoy any of the flying missions which I found awkward to control and infuriating, and there are some minor glitch and playable character issues.

I played as the female character which seemed a bit out of sync with the story, as if added in as an afterthought. Some of the dialogue still referred to her as ‘him’ or ‘dude’ and as the character doesn’t speak (male or female options), I felt disconnected from the playable character. If you’re given the character’s thoughts and/or speech, you become more invested in the main protagonist’s storyline.

I loved the ending and feel it fit well with the tone of the game.

“TRUST. PRAY. OBEY.”