The Far Cry series has always been about flinging players into remote places cut off from the rest of the world, tasking them with survival against the elements and psychologically terrifying villains. Far Cry 5 brings the series home to America, dropping players into the isolated Hope County, Montana. A doomsday cult lashed under the silver tongue of The Father, Joseph Seed, has the county in an iron grip. As a rookie deputy on a small task force sent to arrest Seed, I’ve never felt closer to home while simultaneously feeling more cut off and far away than ever before.
Far Cry 5’s world building is phenomenal. I genuinely felt like I was in remote and rural America that was violently deadlocked between a psychopathic doomsday cult and the residents of the valley that just want to get on with their lives. Each location tells a new story of the people and their conflict. Every corner of Hope County feels unique and there was a pervasive sense of life to exploration. It was a risky bet to pull Far Cry into America, but Ubisoft manages to maintain a fair depiction of rural life without forcing sides and creating controversy. Seed and his cult are not politically motivated. The Father’s machinations are religiously motivated, based on the idea of an impending apocalyptic event he calls “the collapse.” Never does Far Cry 5 take an ingrained political approach with the Eden’s Gate story. There are jabs in side missions here and there, lobbed a...