Far Cry 6 review

Our Verdict

Far Cry 6 isn't quite the powerful, cinematic experience that Ubisoft promised, but this flawed adventure is still great fun for open-earth shooter fans.

For

Weapons and toolkit experience not bad
Plenty of customization
Beautiful setting
Menacing villain

Against

Wildly inconsistent tone
Frustrating enemy vulnerability mechanic
Some bugs and glitches

Tom's Guide Verdict

Far Cry 6 isn't quite the powerful, cinematic experience that Ubisoft promised, but this flawed adventure is still keen fun for open-world shooter fans.

Pros

+
Weapons and toolkit feel great
+
Plenty of customization
+
Beautiful setting
+
Menacing villain

Cons

-
Wildly inconsistent tone
-
Frustrating enemy vulnerability mechanic
-
Some bugs and glitches

Far Cry 6: Specs

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Serial X/South, Google Stadia
Price: $60
Release Appointment: October 7, 2021
Genre: Open-world FPS

Far Cry 6, similar Ubisoft'southward other open up-globe games, opts to iterate rather than introduce. In this action-packed first-person shooter, yous're once again allow loose in a big sandbox to tackle a variety of objectives, such equally capturing enemy bases, taking out anti-aircraft guns and racing to supply drops. This time around, at that place'south more than than ever to practise.

You'll partake in this adventure as a guerrilla on the tropical island of Yara. There, yous'll recruit other freedom fighters to button dorsum confronting a fascist authorities led past a merciless dictator. Far Cry 6's story of difficult-fought revolution can be devastating and powerful when it has some room to exhale. Merely some foreign tonal inconsistencies muddy the waters at inopportune times.

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As nosotros'll discuss in this Far Weep 6 review, the game provides a thoroughly enjoyable feel, in spite of some overly familiar elements and bothersome story quirks.

Far Weep six review: Story

Far Cry half dozen takes place in the fictional Caribbean country of Yara: an island nation inspired past Cuba, and filled with jungles, beaches and tropical settlements. In one case a prosperous paradise, Yara is now an impoverished and isolated land nether the rule of a dictator named Antón Castillo, played by the imposing Giancarlo Esposito. Antón wields his power to swiftly strike down those who oppose his unconventional ideas for reforming the country.

Far Cry 6 screen shot — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Far Cry is a series known for its larger-than-life villains. Esposito, who brought a number of heinous antagonists to life in other media, fits in quite naturally. He plays Antón with a calm and placidity malignancy, showing up during pivotal scenes to remind us of the oppressive stranglehold he has on Yara. His willingness to do whatever it takes to rebuild the state is spooky. But every bit Antón withdraws Yara from the rest of the world in a misguided endeavor to empower the populace, the people's cries for revolution become louder and louder.

Meanwhile, we pace into the shoes of Dani Rojas (male or female person — your choice), a military dropout who is initially intent on ditching Yara to brand a new life for herself in America. Subsequently a fateful run across with Antón during their escape, withal, she quickly finds herself teamed upward with a group of freedom fighters who are eager to push button back against the fascist authorities. While Antón teaches his unwilling son, Diego, how to carry on their tyrannical legacy, Dani sets out across Yara to recruit more guerrillas and fight for a wholly different future.

Sadly, the game'south inconsistent tone regularly gets in the way of a poignant narrative. The serious story beats are ofttimes filled with shocking violence and emotional gut punches. Only a constant stream of comedic dialogue and wacky gameplay overshadow these weighty moments at every turn. Information technology'southward a fiddling hard to exist moved past the barbarous death of an ally mere minutes after I was playing with a crocodile who wears a vest and acts like a dog.

We're obviously supposed to care that Yara is in abattoir, and that its citizens are beingness enslaved and murdered in the streets. We're supposed to cringe in discomfort as a dictator urges his immature son to gun down an unarmed man in cold claret. But it all rings a little hollow when our one-dimensional liberty fighters constantly remind Dani that being a guerrilla ways prioritizing fun. If Ubisoft expects us to invest in a tale about leading a brutal and bloody revolution, mayhap Dani and pals shouldn't be having a blast and glorifying the experience.

As this is a Far Cry game, Ubisoft has put in a secret alternative ending. It's almost a cathartic 180-degree turn from the proper story and worth checking out. Read our guide on how to unlock the hilarious Far Cry 6 alternative catastrophe. Just bear in mind an culling ending doesn't redeem the main plot of Far Weep half dozen.

Far Weep 6 review: Gameplay

Thankfully, the moment-to-moment gameplay in Far Cry 6 is largely fun. The game'south main missions provide large-scale scripted activeness sequences as you lot piece of work alongside your fellow guerrillas to steal vehicles, help break friends out of prison or deal blows to Antón's production facilities. Information technology's nothing you lot haven't seen earlier, but at that place's a comfort in the game's familiarity. Ane early operation even sees you using a flamethrower to burn fields of tobacco, every bit a cool homage to a fan-favorite Far Cry 3 mission.

Unless you're rushing to the finale, though, optional objectives will have up the majority of your fourth dimension. Y'all might run across a Mortal Kombat-esque cockfighting mini-game, or you could discover yourself using a grappling hook to partake in light platforming as you explore caverns for treasure.

Your most important task, though, is seizing encampments and checkpoints occupied past Antón'due south ground forces. You tin either roll in, guns blazing, or accept a tactical and tranquility arroyo, with some grotesque machete kills along the manner. Whatever yous choose, capturing the spot results in a fresh outpost for your liberty fighters, which translates to a fast travel point and a workbench for y'all.

That workbench comes in handy, besides, every bit no violent revolution would be complete without modding out an armory. Far Cry 6's massive collection of guns and makeshift weaponry is impressive. The game even lets yous get weird, with weapons that burn down discs or spew toxicant clouds.

However, the ultra-powerful Supremo steals the show. Dani wears this portable superweapon on her back, and yous tin can customize information technology to fire rockets, send out EMP charges or even act every bit a jetpack that spews fire when y'all take off. The Supremo has a cooldown so that players can't abuse it, but it'southward an essential part of your armory. It can get y'all out of many tough situations – and information technology'south fun as hell to employ.

Unfortunately, while many of the guns and new toys are wonderfully innovative, an abrasive vulnerability mechanic swoops in to steal away some of your joy. Each of the iii guns in your loadout needs a multifariousness of mods to make them constructive against dissimilar enemy types. One mod might grant you ammo that does more damage to flesh, for instance, while some other blazon of ammo tin can penetrate helmets and armor. Information technology may sound fine on paper, only it ultimately becomes a chore whatever fourth dimension things don't become perfectly in a mission.

No affair how much prepping you do, once all hell breaks loose, you can't take time to codify an optimal strategy. Instead, you'll fumble about, trying to kill each enemy blazon with the advisable gun and modern combination. That results in a lot of cumbersome weapon-swapping, and besides means you won't always choice the correct gun for the job. Gunfights are still a good time, but the vulnerability mechanic however feels awkwardly restrictive in an open globe that otherwise incentivizes being artistic.

Far Cry vi does a much better job with its broad choice of gear, which grants yous worthwhile bonuses. A sure pair of gloves might help you lot do a bit more harm to tagged enemies. Maybe a piece of body armor can increase your damage aiming down sights, at the cost of reduced hip-fire damage. Unlike with the gimmicky weapon loadout system, these choices don't usually brand or break an come across. Mixing and matching gear sets for their unique benefits makes you experience like the game respects your personal playstyle.

While you lot search out gear, you'll also collect metal, gasoline and various other ingredients y'all can use to build out each of your camps. Maybe you'd like a cantina where you can trade animate being meat for meals that give you temporary boons. If so, yous could pair this with a guild that reveals the map'south all-time hunting spots, and awards y'all permanent upgrades.

My favorite upgrade was the Hideout Network, which let me purchase a ton of hidden fast travel points. It also kitted me out with a wingsuit, which I used to after airdrop onto the map and fly to points of involvement.

If using a wingsuit to get around isn't your affair, Far Weep 6 is also total of ground and air vehicles, ranging from basic trucks, to helicopters, to massive tanks. Y'all tin can fifty-fifty mod your preferred ground ride with different types of mounted guns, armored plates or battering rams. All-time of all, a quick button printing tin evangelize a vehicle to your exact location, alleviating the dreaded garage organisation from previous games.

Far Cry 6 review: Visuals and sound

Screen trigger-happy and a few small visual glitches cropped up during my fourth dimension with Far Cry 6 on the PS5. Thankfully, these were mostly harmless, such equally people occasionally clipping through environments, or some wonky textures here and there. More impactful was when I had to restart a mission or 2 considering a vital NPC got stuck in a loop.

Far Cry half dozen features a substantial bump in visual fidelity over its predecessors. Yara is a gorgeous-but-antiquated island, brought to life with an exceptional attention to item. Its dense jungles and sunny coastlines are a joy to behold. The game contrasts these with slowly decaying urban landscapes, bedraggled rural housing and a general lack of modern technology, which give the island the feeling that it's frozen in the 1960s. This environmental storytelling is often more effective than the script itself.

In terms of voicework, Esposito'south portrayal of Antón is spectacular, and he gives some of the game's best monologues. Performances from other actors range from good to great, and the crash-land in blitheness quality helps sell their difficult piece of work. With a few exceptions, though, most of the people you meet along the mode part every bit walking plot devices. There's not e'er a lot of time to learn a lot about these characters, or to fully invest in their motives. But even if the game'southward brisk pacing is a curse for the story and characters, information technology's a blessing for the gameplay, so we have to have the skilful with the bad.

Far Cry half dozen review: Verdict

Far Cry 6's captivating Caribbean area sandbox offers all of the first-class gunplay and exploration that we've come to expect from the franchise. Merely the tonal inconsistency of its story, along with some poorly implemented gameplay mechanics, can bring things down a notch.

Even with these hiccups, anyone non yet burned out on the open-globe Ubisoft formula should notice Far Cry 6 to exist an imperfect, simply enjoyable, entry in the series.

Billy Givens is a journalist with nearly two decades of experience in editing and writing across a broad multifariousness of topics. He focuses specially on games coverage for Tom'southward Guide and other sites including From Gamers Magazine, Retroware, Game Bluster and TechRaptor. He's too written for cocky-improvement sites such as Lifehack and produced in-depth analyses on subjects such as health, psychology and entertainment.