***Full disclosure, I’ve logged in about 40 hours of gameplay but currently I’ve yet to actually complete the campaign despite my best efforts. I received the game from Ubisoft on Friday evening and started playing Saturday night. While i haven’t completed the campaign, I’ve experienced what the game has to offer in respect to the inventory, the world, I know where the story is going and I’ve experienced the various missions types and found collectibles. ***

Set on the fictional tropical island of Yara, Far Cry 6 sets players in the role of Dani Rojas, a retired Yaran military officer who joins a group of freedom fighters attempting to over throw the ruling dictator El Presidente Anton Castillo, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Castillo has aspirations of passing down the family business of ruling with an iron fist down to his son Diego. Diego bears witness to all of his fathers monstrous actions but seems rather hesitant to follow along his father’s footsteps. 

At the beginning of the game, players are offered the choice of playing Dani as either male or female. I chose to go with the male version though I beleive that Ubisoft’s intent was for the game ot be experienced through the female version of Dani. The action kicks off right away and continues at every corner. 

Like every other game in the series, Far Cry 6 is stunningly beautiful. Ubisoft paid a great deal of attention to detail to the world Yarans inhabit. Look for some easter eggs scattered throughout- I spotted one other notorious bad guy from the franchise. Not only does Yara look fantastic but it feels like a pretty lively locale. While traversing this huge open-world, Yarans toil away their digital lives. From working on cars, listening to music or driving around. That’s not to say they’re overly intelligent though. More than a few times I found myself hijacking a vehicle only to have my victim wander in front of my newly acquired wheels as I was driving away.

If there’s one thing to say about Far Cry 6, is it’s a Far Cry game through and through. What does that mean? It means you’re getting an incredibly huge and ambitious game filled with world events, collectibles, and plenty of activities to complete. In short, I don’t think completionists are getting everything done on this game in less than 120+ hours.

Missions mostly see Dani entering into enemy territory either utilizing stealth or by running in balls to the walls with the wide variety of weapons at your disposal. Kill the bad guys, blow something up or find an item – leave the area – Rinse and Repeat. That’s not a knock to the game in my eyes. It’s just what the formula is. The Far Cry series has always been a bombastic errand boy game and that’s what I’m here for.

In previous games, crafting items was a bit more of a focal point to the experience by hunting animals and creating rudimentary tools. Now, crafting is done with items found throughout Yara which can be used to create attachments for the weapons you find. I honestly haven’t spent a lot of time with the crafting system as the items and weapons I received as part of the game are still my main weapons that came pre-loaded with all the right attachments. Far Cry 6 also brings back the animals with the Amigos. Everyone has been falling in love with Chorizo but my favorite has been the Alligator Guapo. He’s a good boy (Pet him for an achievement).

Ubisoft also introduced a new weapon to the game that I guess replaces the sniper shovel(?) and that weapon is called the Supremo. The Supremo is a supremely OP backpack weapon that can be augmented to launch homing rockets or even massive EMP blasts. The Supremo is like a specialty that requires time and blood to regenerate. Often times I found myself scouting out a location, walking in, and launching a flurry of rockets from my Supremo against multiple enemies to give myself a huge advantage to start my missions. Because most of the missions played out the same way, this was pretty well my tactic for the entirety and I have no intention of changing it.

I’d be remiss not to mention the performances in the game. True to the franchise, Far Cry always features some amazing antagonists and Giancarlo Esposito puts on a masterclass as the charismatic and frightening Anton Castillo. In my opinion, Anton Castillo is the very best antagonist the series has given us to date though it should be known that his generals are well written and equally disgusting people just not as charismatic.

In the end, Far Cry 6 is just as fun as all the other games in the series. It’s easily their biggest one yet. If you’re a fan of the Far Cry series as a whole, you’re going to really enjoy this one as the formula really hasn’t changed. The old saying if it’s not broke, don’t fix it holds true to form here. The world is huge and sure to keep gamers busy for weeks if not months.

Pros:
– Performances are well done all around Especially Giancarlo Esposito
– Big beautiful open-world experience
– Gunplay is as good as it’s ever been
– More Amigos
– The Supremo is a fantastic weapon and has helped me out of many jams

Cons:
– Inventory did little to help me. I’m still using the original items that I received with the game as special extras
– Some may find that this is too much of a good thing
– Driving mechanics still feel too floaty and uncomfortable