Far Cry 6 in the test: Revolution failed

Everything could be so idyllic on Yara – if it weren’t for Antón Castillo, played by Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito, who is violently suppressing the population on the Caribbean island. The aim of the unscrupulous dictator is to lead his country to great prosperity – by all means that are necessary to do so. And if that includes killing a large part of the population, he accepts it without blinking an eyelid.

The plant substance Viviro, which is obtained on tobacco plantations on Yara and which Castillo hopes will prove to be a highly effective drug against cancer, is supposed to bring about the desired prosperity. To do this, Castillo uses forced labor on the plantations and forcibly tests the drug on its own population.

But there is resistance to Yara. As part of the “Libertad” guerrilla movement, players as Dani Rojas – either male or female – plunge into a war of liberation in order to overthrow Castillo’s regime.

Little new in paradise

The gripping starting position with a revolution breaking out on an island that is strongly reminiscent of Cuba and the great actor Giancarlo Esposito in the role of the villain promise a very big story. But what follows is more rapid disillusionment than enthusiasm.

Because what comes next follows the usual pattern of the well-known shooter. Together with other resistance fighters, we are fighting a relentless war with the regime. We have to conquer bases, deactivate alarms and free allies from prisons, eliminate key enemy figures, collect important resources and build rebel camps – and thus tighten the network around Antón Castillo in order to finally overthrow the tyrant from the throne.

Sticking to well-known habits is extremely unfortunate – the Cuban backdrop of the gaming world would have had a lot more potential for a really good story and thus also given new facets in the gameplay. Instead, eternal sequels – for example the constant burning of the drug fields, which we have known since “Far Cry 3” – the game. The only difference is actually that the island is not called Rook Island, but Yara.

Comprehensive new features, as Ubisoft did in advance of the release of Far Cry 6 announced, it doesn’t really exist in the gameplay. Only a few game elements are actually new and, above all, shape the game. The fact that you combine the improvements in skills with clothing, instead of unlocking skills, has been rethought, but ultimately doesn’t change the feel of the game enough. Much more relevant is the much simpler idea that you can just put your weapon away – and then explore the world of Yara unmolested by enemy soldiers.

Thanks to additional means of transport, Dani Rojas can move quickly and comfortably on Yara – in addition to the usual selection of cars, helicopters, airplanes, boats and jet skis, the dusty guerrilla paths in “Far Cry 6” can also be covered on horses. In addition, players can call up their own car, which can be equipped with all kinds of extras, anytime and anywhere using the weapon wheel.

The new option of expanding your own vehicles and being able to access them at any time is fun and can be quite helpful in various missions. An enemy tank has to be blown up and the portable weapons don’t allow that? Anyone who equips their car with a rocket launcher on the roof and calls the vehicle spontaneously has better cards! However, the steering on the PlayStation 4 is rather jerky and takes some of the fun away from the driving experience, which we criticized in the “Far Cry 5” test.

Hunting, on the other hand, has lost all of its importance – so far it has always been an integral and important part of the Far Cry series of games. Although players can also pursue the hunting tradition in the sixth part, it is no longer necessary to collect bones or furs in order to make new equipment. In principle, you can leave it entirely, it has become that unimportant.

Because with the new loot system introduced in “Far Cry 6”, special items of clothing can only be found in the game world or purchased directly from retailers. Collected animal products can be exchanged for plastic that can be used to build new weapons. However, since plastics can also be obtained in other ways, this is not absolutely necessary.

This innovation was therefore not really successful. Because many experienced fans of the Far Cry series of games should have enjoyed the hunting tradition and collecting animal materials to create individual equipment. The fact that clothes can only be bought from retailers is more of a boredom than variety and is nothing special either.

The abundance of tasks does not replace the lack of depth in terms of content

In the spirit of the open world, in the role of Dani Rojas we can move freely on the island and thus always determine our own flow of the game. Whether we follow the main story or focus on the side missions and pursuits such as fishing is up to us.

In fact, there is an infinite amount of things to do on the island of Yara, which with its tobacco plantations and vintage cars is clearly based on Cuba. The abundance of tasks that are visible in the form of many colorful icons on the world map seems to never end. Sometimes guerrilla fighters who are friends ask us for help in freeing the hostages, sometimes we have to destroy enemy air defense systems or take enemy bases with our fighting crocodile “Guapo” in tow.

Despite all this, Yara seems surprisingly peaceful away from the battlefields. Perhaps it is due to the very realistic and exceptionally beautifully designed landscapes that the island is largely idyllic despite the reign of terror and the gloomy plot. The storyline and the backdrop of a Caribbean island sinking into a revolutionary struggle would have given a lot more, but this lacks – as so often – depth.

After a few hours, the game quickly gets boring despite the variety – or maybe because of it. Because the oversupply of side missions, tasks and puzzles is almost overwhelming. The leading main story gets further and further into the background in view of the crammed open world. Which is certainly also due to the fact that the story, as with the last “Far Cry” parts, is actually more of an accessory than a reason to buy.

That’s a shame, especially because this is where there would have been the most potential to breathe new life into the series. Games like “Red Dead Redemption 2” have shown in the past that a huge open world and a grandiose narrative can work in parallel. And also the setting and the basic idea of ​​the story of “Far Cry 6” would have given the necessary space.

Instead, however, the lack of depth of the plot leads to irrelevance. Even though Dani Rojas takes one enemy military base after the next and destroys numerous anti-aircraft systems, nothing feels really significant. Once a problem has been dealt with, the next task is already waiting. Individual victories have little weight and hardly feel like a success that would somehow influence progress in history.

Too much ruckus damages the tension

Seasoned Far Cry players should also consider playing Far Cry 6 to build in an additional level of difficulty yourself – maybe holding the controller the wrong way round. Because the two difficulty settings that can be selected in the game are both much too easy overall – even for those who are not proven shooter experts.

In the so-called story mode, the easier of the two possible game variants, Dani can withstand a hail of bullets and even the bombardment of a helicopter for minutes without major problems. And should things get tricky, ammunition and medicine can be found on every corner.

No matter what mission it is and what opponent Dani meets: Any tactic other than fighting your way to the goal with a lot of fire turns out to be unnecessarily complicated and lengthy. Silent machete attacks and careful sneaking are no longer the ideal solution.

Instead, you can go the furthest with a brilliant fireworks display of weapons, by letting attackers go up in flames with the flamethrower or by blowing up tanks with the help of the missiles in the Supremo backpack. Therefore, the process is always the same in the end.

The various “Amigos” – the animal companions that can be unlocked in the course of the game – also cause a lot of riot in the battle. The colorful fighting cock Chicharrón pecks enemy soldiers to death in a rage, the teeth of the fighting crocodile “Guapo” make short work of opponents and the cute dachshund “Chorizo” can use all its charm to distract enemy soldiers.

If you rush into battle enthusiastically at the beginning, the tension disappears as the game progresses. The armed struggles are too harmless, the opponents are too easy to defeat. In addition, the broad arsenal of weapons and the possibility of being able to build your own firearms from all kinds of materials on workbenches can not comfort you. Because once you have the strongest weapons together, you stick with them.

Far Cry 6 is a good shooter, but nothing more than that

Most “Far Cry” fans will enjoy the sixth part of the main series – at least for a few hours. The game delivers (almost) everything you are used to from Far Cry: an exotic and fantastically designed game world paired with some dark story accents, a large selection of weapons and of course a lot of fights and shootouts. Because of this explicit brutality, the drug issue and the sometimes quite coarse humor, the video game is only suitable for adults – “Far Cry” is only approved for people aged 18 and over for a reason.

A reinvention of the series, as one or the other might have hoped for, “Far Cry 6” ultimately did not turn out to be. The immense potential of the actor Giancarlo Esposito in the role of the villain and the location of the Caribbean island, which is based on Cuba, was not used. Instead, Ubisoft is largely sticking to the well-known gameplay and even supposed innovations such as the abolition of the hunting tradition have backfired. Less extremely powerful weapons and more tactical challenges would have been good for the game and the tension. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be a revolution.

Far Cry 6

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