Far Cry 6 allows players to join the revolution and takedown Gus Fring from Breaking bad.

In tapping actor Giancarlo Esposito to play Yara’s “El Presidente”, Anton Castillo, Ubisoft may have given its Far Cry series the scariest villain yet.

And that’s no mean feat considering Castillo is up against the psycho Vaas (played by another Breaking Bad alumni, Michael Mando), fellow dictator/king Pagan Min and cult leader Joseph Seed. Esposito’s turn as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, as well as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, makes him a great choice for the brutal leader of the thinly-veiled analogy for Cuba, the island nation of Yara.

As with the previous games, Far Cry 6 is all about exploring, and engaging the enemy either head-on for some first-person shooter mayhem or picking them off stealthily. Most of the time, despite best intentions, the missions end up with the hail of bullets, fire, and explosions.

Far Cry 6 seems a bit of a muddle compared to Far Cry 5. I’m wondering if they are following the inverse of Star Trek movies in that the odd-numbered instalments are the better ones.

Having played through very similar plots in four Just Cause games, I’m not sure that a Latin American setting for a Far Cry game was the right choice, to be honest. Ubisoft, itself, has already included a similar setting in Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Already embattled with controversy, Ubisoft was likely looking for the least controversial setting for the game. Who cares about killing the soldiers of a merciless dictator?

Perhaps most of the Hanoi Jane entertainment media if they’d twigged that the game was about democracy-loving freedom fighters versus an evil communist dictator.

But here we are, treading the familiar waters of a repressed Latino society ruled by an evil leader exploiting his subjects. Thankfully, the rebels have one man (or woman) army Dani Rojas on their side to cause havoc wherever there’s a military presence on the island.

Or not.

Just like staying put and enjoying the crab rangoon in Far Cry 4, and refusing to handcuff Joseph Seed in Far Cry 5 whisks players away to an early roll of the credits, Far Cry 6 has a similar quick ending. About two hours into the game Dani is invited to join the rebellion.

There’s also a boat which, if you get in and head off in the general direction of Miami, you get treated to a relaxing ending on the beach listen to how the Yarran military managed to quell the rebellion. Loading up the save allowsplayers to continue by the boat and make the right choice this time.

Far Cry 6 has players travelling across the massive island nation of Yara in a bid to unite the various rebel factions against Anton Castillo’s dictatorship. The game is packed with vehicles including hovercraft, planes, helicopters, and a few exotic surprises.

As with previous Far Cry games, the game is mission-based, offering players a selection of mission threads. As is the Ubisoft way, Far Cry 6 throws the gameplay book at players with an almost overwhelming number of things to do. Away from missions, there are installations and checkpoints to liberate.

The game features a cross-play system, via Ubisoft Connect, that allows progress to be saved in the cloud and resumed across platforms. It doesn’t work quite as easily as it does with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (whereby you booted up the game and your save was there for you be it PC or Xbox).

Far Cry 6 requires players to manually upload their save at the end of every session if they want to continue elsewhere and manually download it on the other platform. A bit clumsy, but better than nothing. It was this feature that enabled me to test the game across several different devices.

My review was intended to be on Xbox Series X, but AMD ANZ sent over a PC code as well to test on their Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU. I also had an AMD-powered ASUS laptop, the RTX 3090-equipped review rig, my trusty Xbox One X, and my semi-retired OG Xbox One to try the game on.

I started with the Xbox One. Interestingly, the Xbox version hadsome different DLC included which meant every time switched platforms I needed to change equipment and amigo. A little odd. The game was very playable with no problems. I’d say that the game is running at about 30 frames-per-second at 1080p on the OG XB1.

I was pleasantly surprised with the high quality of the game on the Xbox One X in 1080p. I found Assassin’s Creed Valhalla virtually unplayable on the XB1X (I didn’t even both try it on the OG XB1)compared to the Xbox Series X and PC versions. The Xbox One X gameplay is faultlessly smooth. Yara’s lush vegetation looked inviting and the sunsets beautiful. Players opting to play on the Xbox Series X are getting the full Far Cry 6 experience.

Moving on to the Xbox Series X in 4K HDR. Ubisoft’s decision to leave out ray-tracing on the top-end consoles is a bit of a disappointment as this is one of their big selling points. Still, the Xbox Series X maintains a decent framerate running at 4K. There’s an optional HD texture pack that can be downloaded to crispen the visuals.

The PC version has all the knobs and whistles if you have a powerful enough rig. That means high-endPC owners will get to play the game with ray-traced shadows and reflections. For some added bling, there’s also an optional HD texture pack, but this requires a GPU with an eye-watering 11GB of RAM.

The game looks good, with some beautiful environmental effects. Behind this next-gen veneer is a graphics engine in need of an upgrade. The character models are good, but we should be moving towards more realistic-looking people rather than the still very good but not quite there character models we have been enjoying up until now.

Whilst many outlets choose to get all excited about Ubisoft’s HR management, they overlooked a very real reason to get all triggered and upset. The game features cockfighting. The usually unassuming and apologetic Ubisoft seems to have taken a leaf out of Rockstar’s “couldn’t give a sh*t” book.

Players can partake in Tekken-style poultry combat the likes of which will chill any card-carrying PETA member to the bone. However, for a game that lets you shoot dogs in the face, the cockfighting is pretty tame and tongue-in-cheek. But if you are one to get easily offended, I wouldn’t let that stop you.

I’m all for games being packed with things to do. I know there are lots of reviewers that moan about Ubisoft games being “too long”, something that I completely disagree with. But Far Cry 6 does seem to be a bit disjointed. Whilst Far Cry 5 kept me engaged, Far Cry 6 seems to lack narrative discipline. It feels a bit disjointed like Far Cry 4 and Far Cry New Dawn.

The game has an extensive weapons modding mechanic via workbenches found in HQs. The only thing is once I’d got a decent silenced rifle and sidearm, I was pretty much sorted. Same with the special backpack weapons. The first one I got, that allowed me to fire rockets, was the only one I needed. I felt I should be swapping them out, but didn’t see the point.

Far Cry 6 does offer players the same over-the-top gameplay that has been a hallmark of the series since Far Cry 3, at least. The huge sandbox environment encroaches players to find their own story carve their own path in amongst the set missions and activities.

Players that prefer a more structured gameplay experience may find Far Cry 6’s undisciplined experience. Indeed, it’s a game that I found played better in short bursts, similar to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed games.

The game scales and runs well across all of the Xbox consoles from the OG Xbox One to the Xbox Series X. High-spec PC owners get the cream with the definitive version of the game.

The game does offer great value for money, an intriguing if throwaway plot, and all the tools to cause as much mayhem across the nation of Yara as you want. It’s awell-presented, polished presentation set in a beautiful setting with engaging, if unfocused, gameplay.

The post Far Cry 6 (PC / Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

“Our country is like this grenade… you must clutch our people nice and tight or we all go boom.” – Antón Castillo.

Today during Ubisoft Forward, Ubisoft announced that Far Cry 6 is currently in development and will release February 18th, 2021 on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, as well as on UPLAY+, Ubisoft’s subscription service.

With performances from renowned actor and Emmy Award Nominee Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul, The Boys, The Mandalorian) joined by Anthony Gonzalez (Coco), a score created by film and television composer Pedro Bromfman (Narcos), and an opening sequence directed by Emmy Award winner Patrick Clair (Westworld, True Detective), Far Cry 6 brings in Hollywood-calibre talent to bolster the narrative experience.

Developed by Ubisoft Toronto, Far Cry 6 plunges players into the heart of a modern-day guerrilla revolution set in Yara, a tropical paradise frozen in time. President Antón Castillo (Esposito) vows to restore his country to its former glory while grooming his son Diego (Gonzalez) to follow in his footsteps. Yet paradise has a price, and enriching his country means subjugating those who don’t adhere to his vision. In this island nation in turmoil, players will experience the adrenaline and chaos of guerrilla combat as they are swept up in a revolutionary movement to take down a tyrant.

“Powerful and complex antagonists are part of Far Cry’s DNA, so right from the beginning we knew we had to raise the bar for who these characters could be and how they would come to life,” said Navid Khavari, Narrative Director, Ubisoft Toronto. “Working with such an amazing roster of talent, including the one and only Giancarlo Esposito, and seeing how they embody our antagonists as terrifying but also deeply complex human characters has been an unbelievable experience that I can’t wait to share with our fans.”

Players will be able to play as either male or female Dani Rojas, a local Yaran swept up in a revolution against Antón Castillo. As Dani, players will become a guerrilla fighter and explore and unite an entire island nation, from lush jungles to Yara’s capital city Esperanza. To succeed against the overwhelming power of Anton’s regime, players will need to be resourceful as they employ an arsenal of unique new weapons, vehicles and Fangs For Hire like Chorizo, the cutest wiener dog on wheels.

Ubisoft also announced that Gold, Ultimate and Collector’s Editions for Far Cry 6 will be available for pre-order.

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The post Paradise has a Price – Far Cry 6 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

This direct sequel to last year’s Far Cry 5 came out of the blue when announced at the 2018 Game Awards in December 2018. Set some seventeen years after the events at the end of the last game, Far Cry New Dawn uses almost the same map as its predecessor, and we get to catch up with some familiar characters.

It’s impossible to explain the premise of the game without spoiling the end of Far Cry 5. So, forgive me. If you’ve not finished Far Cry 5 you may want to stop reading, now.

Still here?

OK.

Far Cry New Dawn follows the events of the canonical ending of Far Cry 5 which concludes with the protagonist and Joseph Seed in a nuclear bunker as nuclear bombs decimate the US.

Seventeen years later and the survivors of Hope County are slowly rebuilding their society, founding the settlement of Prosperity. For a post-apocalyptic setting, the valley is remarkably colourful, full of flowers and vegetation. Trees are rejuvenating and things seem to be improving in the valley.

Then the Highwaymen arrive, lead by the sadistic twins, Mickey and Lou.

Carmina Rye, Nick and Kim Rye’s daughter, whose birth you aided in the Far Cry 5 mission, “Special Delivery”, asks the leaders of another group of survivors, led by Thomas Rush and the player character, the Captain. With the fate of Hope County on the line it’s up to players to rebuilt and defeat the twins.

Having barely just finished Far Cry 5, my first thoughts on Far Cry New Dawn were that is was a bit too soon. Ubisoft games tend to be a bit of an overindulgence, overpacked with side-missions, collectables and other activities. Whilst I’m a massive fan of both Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed, both franchises can easily give you the gaming equivalent of indigestion by the time you’ve slogged your way though them, no matter how enjoyable the experience.

Putting another 80 hours into a Far Cry game, whilst still buzzing on successfully finishing the last one, did seem a little onerous. At the same time, I thought it would be nice to find out how (or if) Hope Country survived a nuclear war.

Hot off Metro Exodus, and with memories of Fallout 76 still fresh in my mind, I’m starting to feel a bit of a veteran when it comes to this post-apocalyptic survival malarkey. When it comes to nuclear wastelands, New Dawn is, without a doubt, the prettiest.

Graphically, there’s no difference from the last game. Despite its “spin-off” status is still a very polished product. Far Cry 5 on a 4K TV, was stunning. It’ll come as no surprise if I say New Dawn looks pretty special aswell.

Just as Far Cry Primal repurposed the Far Cry 4 map, New Dawn reuses the Hope County map from Far Cry 5. And why not. It makes sense, with the amount of effort that goes into building these immersive worlds, to reuse game assets in this way, especially as we are revisiting the same location years later.

Whilst the trees, seventeen years after the nuclear holocaust, still look a bit worse for wear, beautiful flowers are growing everywhere. It’s also interesting to see the roads and buildings from Far Cry 5 all beat up and in ruins.

Mickey and Lou’s Highwaymen take over from the New Eden cultists as the game’s bad guys. Very much cut from the Mad Max school of post-apocalyptic ne’er-do-wells, the Highwaymen attack on sight. Hope County is littered with facilities over-run by the Highwaymen, waiting for you to go clear house.

The Far Cry games have always been about scavenging and crafting, well, since number two, anyway. But this time, with New Dawn, the franchise adds a bit more RPG spice into the mix.

The game uses a four-level system for equipment and enemies. You start with access to level one stuff, progressing through to level three and then elite gear. Everything from vehicles to medi-pack efficiency relies on players upgrading the facilities in the Prosperity hub. Upgrading facilities requires ethanol, which is controlled by the highwaymen. Hijacking tankers and liberating fortresses grant players with the ethanol needed to progress though the increasingly difficult story missions. It’s no good going into a level three mission with level two weapons, unless you enjoy shooting bullet-sponge enemies.

Each time a fortress is liberated, players have the opportunity to salvage it for a bit more ethanol. The fortress will then be re-occupied by Highwaymen of a higher level. Not only are the enemies harder, but there are more alarms to disable, so players are going to need to be even more stealthy. All the fortresses can be liberated up to three times, each time getting harder but rewarding more ethanol.

The level mechanic and the need for ethanol makes for a tighter and more curated game experience. New Dawn is a smaller-scale game than Far Cry 5, but I found myself undertaking more of the content as I went, rather than steaming through the main story and mopping up afterwards. This is because just relying on perks (which you gain this time round aswell), isn’t going to get you through the game.

About those perks, as before, there are hideaways dotted around the map filled with salvage, Far Cry Credits (more on that, below) and magazines each worth one perk point. Called “pepper stashes” in Far Cry 5, they are known as treasure hunts.

The game does have a pay-to-win aspect that you can safely ignore. You can spend real money to buy the in-game currency, Far Cry Credits, which you can then use to buy crafting packs. Not once did I feel the need to pay real money in the game. Unless you are so lazy that you can’t be bothered to actually find salvage for crafting (in which case why bother playing the game). I have no idea why the developers bothered to taint the game in this manner.

In order to upgrade facilities to the next level, you need to first upgrade the actual settlement of Prosperity to the next level. You do so by located specialists and upgrading a certain amount of your facilities. Upgrading Prosperity unlocks the next level tier.

If you want better weapons you need to upgrade the weapons facilities, same with vehicles, medicine, explosives, cartography and even training for your sidekicks. Yep, as with Far Cry 5, you can have someone along for the ride to help you out in the field, from an all ground up baby Carmina to a geriatric sniper, as well as a few familiar faces, you are not alone in Hope County.

As with Far Cry 5, New Dawn can be played co-op, bringing a friend along for the fun. New to this game are expeditions. These missions take players out of Hope County to other locations in the US. Players must locate GPS-tracked packages from within Highwaymen strongholds and escape to the extraction point. Successful missions are rewarded with salvage and perk points.

Far Cry New Dawn may recycle a fair bit from Far Cry 5, but it’s very much its own game, rather than just more of the same. It’s smaller scale perhaps necessitates tighter gameplay, but the knock-on effect is a game that’s a lot less overwhelming than the usual Ubisoft action / adventure game (I’m looking at you as well, Assassin’s Creed, as gorgeous as you are).

Despite only just coming off Far Cry 5, I really enjoyed Far Cry New Dawn. In some ways, I enjoyed it even more with it’s more structured gameplay. It would be good to see some of these new game mechanics in the next chapter of the Far Cry franchise.

The post Far Cry: New Dawn (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

What a year it has been for Xbox gamers.

Getting lost in the open ocean with Sea of Thieves, burning rubber in Forza Motorsport 7 and the added subscription based service of Games Pass which allows exclusive Triple AAA titles to be downloaded and played for free. Xbox also did a honourable nod to gamers with special needs with their Adaptive Controller.

With the next year just around the corner, let’s see what’s in store for the world’s most powerful games console as it leads us in to 2019.

Anthem is a shared-world action-RPG, where Freelancers challenge the wilds past the wall, exploring a vast world filled with savage beasts and ruthless marauders, but also teeming with amazing technology and forgotten treasures. Players will be able to join with their friends to unravel the world’s mysteries and defeat the forces plotting to conquer humanity. Throughout their journeys, players can outfit their Freelancers with powerful Javelin exosuits, each of which are equipped with unique weapons and abilities.

Freelancers can customize their Javelin with gear they earn and craft throughout the adventure, and leave a lasting mark on the world. Anthem is due for release from EA Games in 2019.

From the creators of ARK: Survival Evolved comes ATLAS – a massively multiplayer first-and-third-person fantasy pirate adventure. “ATLAS” will host up to 40,000 players exploring the same Globe simultaneously, with an unprecedented scale of cooperation and conflict. Join an endless adventure of piracy & sailing, exploration & combat, roleplaying & progression, settlement & civilization-building, in one of the largest game worlds ever! Explore, Build, Conquer!

This coming February experience the next gen of Crackdown. It’s time to step up your boom and stop crime as a super-powered Agent in Crackdown 3’s sandbox of cooperative mayhem and destruction, plus an all-new multiplayer mode where destruction is your ultimate weapon. “Crackdown 3” is available at launch on February 15^th with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10.

One of the hotly anticipated games on my list for 2019 is Devil May Cry 5 from Capcom.  brand-new entry in the legendary over-the-top action series comes to Xbox One in spring 2019, complete with its signature blend of high-octane stylized action and otherworldly and original characters the series is known for. Years have passed since the legions of hell have set foot in this world, but now a new demonic invasion has begun, and humanity’s last hope will rest in the hands of three lone demon hunters, each offering a radically different play style. United by fate and a thirst for vengeance, these demon hunters will have to face their demons if they hope to survive.

Also, Ubisoft will have you diving into a transformed vibrant post apocalyptic Hope County, Montana, 17 years after a global nuclear catastrophe in Far Cry New Dawn. Join fellow survivors from Hope County and lead the fight against the dangerous new threat known as the Highwaymen, and their ruthless leaders The Twins, as they seek to destroy and take over the last remaining resources by any means necessary.

Perhaps one of the more intriguing is the expected 2019 release of Gears of War 5, with Gears of War 4 still one of my go to games, having completed it several times over.

As Kait, journey across the biggest, most beautiful Gears world ever created. Play solo or with a friend in local split-screen co-op, or online co-op and experience every mode in 4K Ultra HD resolution with stunning HDR at a smooth 60 frames per second. Called Gears 5 it will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2019 and will be available day and date to Xbox Game Pass members.

Keeping in tune with Gears 5 – perhaps the lighter and weirder announcement from Microsoft Studios is their upcoming Gears Pop, a new Arena Brawler mobile game that brings together iconic Gears characters in the distinctive Funko Pop! style. The game is being developed in partnership with Funko and inspired by the Gears of War vinyl collectible figures. It’s the perfect slice of mobile mayhem, available on iOS and Android in 2019.

Jump Force, which we have covered in a news piece before is slated, also for a 2019 release. This BandaiNamco title sees the greatest heroes and villains from the 50-year history of Shueisha’s influential Japanese Weekly Jump manga will battle against each other across iconic locations across Earth in this anime fan’s dream come true! Featuring the world’s most popular and classic manga and anime franchises including DRAGON BALL Z, ONE PIECE, NARUTO, and many others, players will be able to compete in hyper-stylish arena brawls set against familiar backdrops of famous landmarks around the world, including New York City’s Times Square and the Matterhorn.

Then – we have the juggernaut of fantasy cross-over titles; Kingdom Hearts III. Set in a vast array of Disney worlds, Kingdom Hearts follows the journey of Sora, a young boy and unknowing heir to a spectacular power. Sora is joined by Donald and Goofy to stop an evil force known as the Heartless from invading and overtaking the universe. Through the power of positivity and friendship, Sora, Donald and Goofy unite with iconic Disney-Pixar characters old and new to overcome tremendous challenges and persevere against the darkness threatening their worlds.

Next year is also going to see a reprise of the Metro series. Metro Exodus is an epic, story-driven first person shooter from 4A Games that blends deadly combat and stealth with exploration and survival horror in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created. Explore the Russian wilderness across vast, nonlinear Levels and follow a thrilling storyline that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter. Inspired by the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro Exodus continues Artyom’s story in the greatest Metro adventure yet.

If all of the above is not to your liking, there’s always Minecraft.

Minecraft: Dungeons is an action adventure game in the classic dungeon crawler style, where up to four players can fight together to defeat a relentless swarm of new mobs in a quest to save the villagers and take down the evil Arch-Illager. As an all new passion project for PC from a small, dedicated team at Mojang, Minecraft: Dungeons will be the first new title in the Minecraft universe when it releases in 2019.

Another one I am excited for, having loved the first Ori, is Ori and the Will of the Wisps. From the creators of Ori and the Blind Forest, winner of over 50 awards and nominations, comes the highly anticipated sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Embark on an adventure with all-new combat and customization options while exploring a vast and exotic world, encountering larger-than-life enemies and challenging puzzles on your path to unravel Ori’s true destiny. “Ori and the Will of the Wisps” will be launching exclusively on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs in 2019 and will be available day and date to Xbox Game Pass members.

The oceans of Sea of Thieves will continue to wash over the Xbox gaming landscape in 2019. Sea of Thieves is changing in a big way with its fifth free content update since launch, ‘The Arena.’ Releasing in early 2019, ‘The Arena’ is an all-new competitive game mode that allows players to test their pirating skills in fast-paced matches against rival crews. Each match is a fun, frenetic and action-packed race to find treasure that brings together all the most exciting elements of “Sea of Thieves” – on demand. “Sea of Thieves” is available with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.

The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti is a video game about great expectations, famous folk singers, lingering shadows, space Gods, hallucinogens, individuality, reptile shops, and wild imaginations. It’s an action, adventure, exploration, narrative driven, musical-laser-light-battle kind of game and is the debut release from BEETHOVEN & DINOSAUR.

Kick in some sci-fi action, The Outer Worlds is a new single-player first-person RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division. Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the Halcyon colony. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.

Tom Clancy’s: The Division 2 will explode in to 2019. Developed by Ubisoft Massive and the same teams that brought you Tom Clancy’s The Division, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is an online open-world, action-shooter RPG experience set in a collapsing and fractured Washington, D.C. This rich new setting combines a wide variety of beautiful, iconic and realistic environments where the player will experience the series’ trademark for authenticity in world- building, rich RPG systems, and fast-paced action like never before. Play solo or co-op with a team of up to four players to complete a wide range of activities, from the main campaign and adversarial PvP matches to the Dark Zone — where anything can happen.

Throwing a bit of indie goodness in, Tunic from devs Finji is an isometric action adventure about a tiny fox in a big world. Embark on an adventuresome quest-about set in that place just beyond the farthest you’ve ever been! Explore ancient ruins, fight monsters and uncover mysterious secrets. The world is big and scary — so be brave, little one!

And finally in this 2019 Xbox round up is from the creators of Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera comes Wasteland 3! Following the critically acclaimed releases of 2014’s Wasteland 2 and 2015’s Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, fans have been clamoring for a direct sequel.

Wasteland 3 will feature a deep and engaging story utilizing a newly-revamped dialog tree system from the celebrated writers of Torment: Tides of Numenera, along with a renewed focus on our trademark complex story reactivity and strategic combat that evolves on Wasteland 2’s deep tactical turn-based combat and unique encounter design. Play by yourself or with a friend in story-driven synchronous or asynchronous multiplayer to face difficult moral choices and make sacrifices that will change the game world.

So there we have it Xbox One gamers – here’s what’s in store for the next 12 months from Xbox. A couple of first party surprises and alot of third party goodness to welcome in another year.

The post Xbox to take you in to 2019 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Today, Ubisoft announced to us here at STG that Far Cry 5: Dead Living Zombies, the third post-launch adventure, will release August 28th, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. Guy Marvel, legendary film director from Far Cry 5, is back with over-the-top zombie experiences that will be playable across seven unique maps.

Far Cry 5: Dead Living Zombies pairs players with D-tier film director Guy Marvel as he pitches his vision for an epic zombie saga. On maps built from the powerful Far Cry Arcade Editor, players will explore seven different film scenarios as they face hordes of the undead across rooftops, farmlands, military bases and more. After completing each map, players can unlock Score Attack to achieve 3-star ratings, which will unlock weapons and gear to bring back to Hope County.

All Far Cry players will receive additional tools in Far Cry Arcade that unlock even more potential for map builders, including scripting tools and destructible objects. These additions will be available to players along with more new assets in our next update, Title Update 10.

The post-launch of Far Cry 5 includes three unique adventures – Hours of Darkness, Lost on Mars and Dead Living Zombies – giving players the opportunity to explore beyond Hope County. All Far Cry 5 owners also have a diverse selection of assets in Far Cry Arcade, allowing them to customize the Far Cry experience. The adventures are available in the season pass or as add-on content, while all asset releases for Far Cry Arcade will be available for free to all players.

Set in the United States, a first for the franchise, Far Cry 5 offers players total freedom to navigate a serene-looking yet deeply twisted world as the new junior deputy of fictional Hope County, Montana. Players will find that their arrival accelerates a years-long silent coup by a fanatical doomsday cult, the Project at Eden’s Gate, igniting a violent takeover of the county. Under siege and cut off from the rest of the world, players will join forces with residents of Hope County and form the Resistance. Far Cry 5 will continue to receive premium adventures available in the season pass, as well as free content, including new Far Cry Arcade assets and in-game live events following the launch.

The post DEAD LIVING ZOMBIES INVADE FAR CRY 5 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In Far Cry 5, the fight comes to you. It’s a cacophony of systems all struggling to see which one will win at any time.

Its chaotic, beautiful, addictive and repetitive all at the same time. It is perhaps the most quantiful Ubisoft game ever made, for better, with all the benefits a AAA high-budget game can give and definitely for worse, with all the downsides a AAA high-budget game can expose.

The story centres around the cult of Edens Gate, led by Joseph Seed.

Seed and his allies have taken over a county in Montana, USA. You are a Deputy sent to arrest him before it inevitably goes to Hell. You, as the player, have no identity beyond that as a deputy sheriff. You can choose male or female but beyond that there’s nothing identifiable about “you”. I personally missed having an actual personality and seeing my character react as in previous Far Cry games. Instead Far Cry 5’s NPCs will just stare blankly at you and keep telling you how good you are for saving them, and that’s the extent of character development. It’s a narrative that never really goes anywhere, instead hinting how it could be controversial before pulling back.

Thing is, while Ubisoft have tried to present this year’s story as a more grounded, realistic affair, there are all these caveats they place on it that in the end give it the same schlocky, B-movie–grade style that Far Cry games are typically made of. Fundamentally, the story is only there to give you an excuse to shoot bad guys, so no matter how much Ubisoft wants to convince you otherwise I doubt it would ever end up nuanced, meaningful or impactful. Like Nintendo games, the story in Far Cry is there to serve the mechanics, and it is more dangerous and potentially controversial to present what’s supposed to be a deep story than just accept it for what is: a narrative cover for a whole lot of violence.

This new iteration of Far Cry is structured like Ghost Recon: Wildlands or Mafia III. There’s multiple lieutenants to take out and regions to explore before you can get to the head honcho. Now technically you can go anywhere, meet anyone and start almost any mission at anytime (and I’m sure some fantastic speedruns will come out of this freedom), but at least for the first few hours you are not only strongly guided to specific locations and events, but also far too weak to take on the higher level enemies in later regions. So while the world is tantalizingly open, in reality its soft-gated into something more manageable.

The Achilles heel of the game though, rather than its structures or mechanics, is the AI. The AI, and how these AI systems interact needs some serious upgrades. From little things like how when my AI partner drives she backs into red barrels, blowing us both up, to enemies’ seemingly perfect shooting accuracy and incredible eyesight to spot you, it’s like they took great ingredients but didn’t quite get the ratios right. I wouldn’t be surprised if these systems, the driving, the animals, the shooting etc were developed completely independently.

For example, I am driving by the road to a mission. I see a hostage kidnapped by the side of the road, so I stop to help save them. I manage to down the kidnapper, but then a cult ute drives by, sees me and engages me. That in turn draws the ire of other cultists and their perfect aim hundreds of metres away. Soon there is no escape from cultists coming from all angles and I die. I turned to fast travel over the cars, wingsuit trips or helicopters that I favoured in previous Far Cry games just to avoid aggravating situations such as these.

Or take another: I go to find a “prepper stash”, new little spatial puzzles that give you access to some cool loot if you can find out how to get in. I get to this one by a reservoir, but an enemy sniper sees me. Luckily though, there’s a zip line right across the lake. “That’s handy!” I think. But the sniper manages to hit me three times (!) as I’m zipping across, leaving me critical on health as I then have to jump onto his platform before finally downing him. But it’s not over yet. I can’t zip back across, so I have to either take the dangerous bridge or slowly swim over the reservoir. Nothing of what I’ve done yet has actually let me start the prepper stash quest yet. So I swim over, but as I finally get back to the other side a helicopter finds me and shoots me dead in the water. I have to start all over again. What was meant to be a fun little loot quest turned into a frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful trip to an unexpected, almost impossible to prevent death.

It can be very difficult. Enemies have a lot of health and the healing system has been massively toned down since the last game. Cultists infest every part of the landscape, and it’s hard to avoid constantly being shot at.

There’s also plenty to shoot, between outposts, roadblocks, convoys, and other activities. That’s not to say it’s exactly the same as Far Cry 3 and 4. Almost everything has been refined from previous games, by, for example, taking away tower climbing. Instead, in a nod to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, objectives are marked on your map as you talk to NPCs or discover them organically. Ubisoft has marketed this as a complete overhaul, but just like the improvements to Assassin’s Creed: Origins last year, it’s much more a refinement than a wholesale revolution in mechanics, activities and world-building.

The shooting itself is fine but even on easy most enemies seem a little too bullet spongy, especially the VIP, mini-boss style cultists. This encourages a stealthy approach, as takedowns are thankfully still one-hit-kills (I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed: Origins) but more than ever this is a Far Cry that focuses itself on gunplay rather than sophisticated stealth mechanics. And enemies perfect vision means they can spot you even if you stick out a tiny bit for a fraction of a second, so it’s an approach that rarely worked for me in practice.

Now all of this slowly gets better over time. As you get more health, better weapons, your AI companions level up, you unlock perks and more, your ability to deal with these frustrating situations eases. But it’s fighting a losing battle against emergent systems that are seemingly designed to overwhelm you with things to do and enemies to kill.

At least it looks absurdly stunning. It’s hard to imagine that it’s running on a PS4, even a PS4 Pro. Far Cry Primal was a looker, especially on a high-end PC but 5 blows it out of the water. From the fields of wheat to dense forests to flowing rivers, it’s all rendered to a superfluous degree of detail. Ubisoft have become very good at environmental design as of late, with Assassins Creed Origins, The Division, and For Honor being two other standout titles, but it’s what happens in these environments that’s what really matters.

In recent times, Far Cry has had a bit of a wild side. Far Cry: Blood Dragon was a standout sub-game that took the best parts of Far Cry and ramped it all up to 11. Far Cry 5 features a comprehensive map editor mode called “Arcade”, where players have been readily recreating de_dust, battle royale game and other experiences. There’s massive potential here, and if some of these get big enough there’s always the possibility Far Cry 5 itself becomes the side dish, not the main attraction.

Far Cry 5 doesn’t give you time to breath.

You’re always firing a weapon, in a way that never feels quite controlled. It’s so desperate to show you what’s in it that you never get a chance to stop, or even slow down. It’s not so much a roller coaster as a house of horror, leaving you overwhelmed, frustrated and exhausted coming out of a play session. And while it has a strong start, and is absolutely gorgeous, the weight of its various, intricate systems causes the whole thing to buckle, breaking immersion and showing the seams a little too clearly.

Has Far Cry 5 manage to break the “Ubisoft Game” cliche? Well, yes and no. Yes, the structure and mechanics are clearly refined and improved from the tower-infested games of yore, but what’s replaced it is the New Ubigame. Far Cry 5 feels a bit too much like Ghost Recon: Wildlands for example for its own good, sadly except for the amount of jank, scrappiness and failed emergent systems that Wildlands managed to get right.

Far Cry 5 is a bit too ambitious, and while it shoots for the stars, it manages to fall down, and fall apart.

The post Far Cry 5 (PlayStation 4 Pro) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft has announced to us here at STG that Dan Romer, the award-winning film composer, songwriter and music producer, is composing the score for Far Cry 5 in addition to writing songs for the game.

The Far Cry 5 soundtrack will be available closer to the game’s launch on February 27,th 2018.

Known for his film score work on Beasts of the Southern Wild and Beasts of No Nation, and for producing the Grammy-winning single, “Say Something,” and worldwide hit, “Treat You Better,” Romer sought to create a soundtrack that transports players into fictional Hope County, Montana, where fanatical doomsday cult Project at Eden’s Gate has taken over. Utilizing many Americana instruments, including banjos, fiddles, dobros and more, Romer’s score will fluctuate as players explore the dynamic world and come head-to-head with cultists. Each of the regions will have specific character-centric music that ties into the motives of the Father and the Heralds.

Dan Romer

Along with the musical composition, the Far Cry 5 score will also include original hymns written by Romer, produced by Bobby Chin and performed by the Bobby Chin Nashville Choir. The lyrics of these reflect the inspirations of the leadership and members of the cult while also hiding more sinister messages toward the Resistance. Each of these hymns will mix into the existing music that players experience as they explore the world or engage in combat.

Set in America, a first for the franchise, Far Cry 5 offers players total freedom to navigate a serene-looking yet deeply twisted world as the new junior deputy of fictional Hope County, Montana. Players will find that their arrival accelerates a years-long silent coup by a fanatical doomsday cult, the Project at Eden’s Gate, igniting a violent takeover of the county. Under siege and cut off from the rest of the world, players will join forces with residents of Hope County and form the Resistance.

The post DAN ROMER AS COMPOSER FOR FAR CRY 5 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ubisoft takes us back in time, to the lush, yet brutal prehistoric land of Oros, with the latest instalment of their best-selling action-game series, Far Cry Primal.

I thought that 2013’s weird retro sci-fi entry, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, was as left-field as Ubisoft could go with their Far Cry games, but I was wrong, very wrong.

When I first heard that Ubisoft where swapping the modern-day arsenal of weapons that have been a staple of the Far Cry franchise since 2004 for the sticks and stones of prehistoric times I was more than a bit sceptical.

But what Ubisoft have actually done with Far Cry Primal is, under the guise of their award-winning first-person shooter series, given us a fully-fledged cave-man simulator. And it is exactly what the series needed.

The French publisher has a tendency of sticking to formulas that work for them, to the detriment of originality. Their Assassin’s Creed franchise, whilst still providing players with great adventures, has, of late, lost a lot of its edge, the game mechanics becoming derivative and lacking any real innovation.

Many of those same game mechanics can be found across all of Ubisoft’s games, including Far Cry.Instead of letting the series rest, like they have with Assassin’s Creed, the publisherhas turned Far Cry on its head. Far Cry Primal takes away all those mayhem inducing weapons and fully embraces open-world gaming.

It’s 10,000 BC (or BCE if you are a member of the politically-correct revisionist history sect). Stone-age hunter Takkar finds himself separated from his clan whilst hunting mammoth. After finding Sayla, another member of his Wenja people who have been living alone, Takkar sets out to reunite his kinsmen and establish a village in his new land of Oros.

As Takkar, your primary task is to survive in a world out to kill you. It’s shocking to think that all of us are only here today due to the tenacity of our ancestors and their determination to survive in such a harsh environment. It’s quite sobering and, for me, those thoughts added quite a lot to my gaming experience.

As I mentioned above all those familiar Ubisoft/Far Cry gaming tropes are present, albeit slightly better disguised that they usually are. The map is expanded as players explore the valley of Oros in what will, one day, become central Europe. Dispatching rival tribesmen and capturing their camps unlocks a fast-travel points and extra resources. Rather than feeling awkward, I found the usual Far Cry game mechanics made more sense in this setting than in the previous games.

Resources and crafting, a mechanic that has become increasingly important in the series, plays a huge part in Far Cry Primal. Everything that Takkar uses must be fashioned from raw materials. Hunting wild animals and gathering material is the key to survival in the game. You need arrows, spears and clubs to fight and you need raw materials to build and upgrade your village.

The game features a robust skill tree unlocked as Takkar gains experience. Some skills and equipment crafting options only unlock once a someone with the relevant skillhas joined your village. This gives players the freedom to explore Oros, but also gives the developers the ability to keep things interesting as better equipment is introduced, opening up the game.

Oros is not a friendly place. Dynamic events and encounters mean that there’s never a dull moment in the game. You soon feel like you are in a living, breathing world where things are seemingly happening all around you, regardless of if you are there to witness them or not.

Watching a group of rival tribesmen from afar as they get themselves slaughtered by a herd of mammoths is fascinating, showing off the organic way that the environment works. Things like this get you totally immersed in the game. Wandering about will have you freeing captured Wenja, interfering with enemy hunting parties and fighting aggressive wild animals.

Whilst waving a burning club may see off many small predators, there’s plenty of wolves, bears, mountain lions and other critters that the see Takkar as their next meal.

Takkar’s beast master skills grant him that ability to tame wild animals and have them as pets and protectors. Many other animals will stay well away when you are accompanied by your pet mountain lion. Later in the game Takkar earns the ability to ride Mammoth, sabre-tooth tigers and other beasts.

The fire mechanic introduced in Far Cry 2, really comes into play this time. Firing flaming arrows at the enemy’s huts can spread through the whole village. Running around setting fire to foliage can also be a good method of taking out the enemy.

The game’s plot isn’t complex, but the method of story-telling is incredible, especially when you think not one word of any known language is spoken in the game- the translation subtitled in English. The superb character animation affords the developers such high quality digital acting, allowing them to create believable, prehistoric people that, although they may be speaking a foreign tongue, can still convey emotion in their faces and body language.

The graphical fidelity will be familiar to fans of the series. Ubisoft’s refined Dunia 2 engine has been powering the franchise since Far Cry 3. The added power of today’s systems has enabled the developers to go wild and immerse us in a prehistoric ecosystem full of lush plants, trees and roaming animals. The game’s day/night cycle shows of the engine’s beautiful atmospheric effects and treats us to some stunning sunsets and awesome morning light.

With the addition of Far Cry Primal, Ubisoft’sFar Cry franchise become a bona fide anthology series, no longer a slave to its predecessors. There’s know no reason not to thrust us into a medieval setting, or even send us on an escapade in the far reaches of space. Far Cry Primal crowns Ubisoft as the kings of action-adventure video games development.

Fans of modern weaponry are going to feel a bit like a fish out of water, at least to begin with. The lack of a cohesive narrative will also not be for everyone. I hope, however, that those seeking something more like the Far Cry of old will embrace the amazing anthropological journey that Far Cry Primal beckons you to experience.