Three and Out – ‘Far Cry: New Dawn’

If the Far Cry franchise does something uniquely well, it is aesthetics. The most recent addition, New Dawn, is a gorgeous patchwork of neon and flowers, lending to an atmosphere that is downright spunky and fun. But as with every Far Cry game, there lies a sinister center in the midst of that neon fun. The game introduces your character, the captain, as a taciturn hero/heroine who is set against the unruly, highwaymen leaders, The Sisters. Yours is a fight for dominance within this neon apocalypse.

The game has made some improvements since the apocalyptic end of Far Cry 5. The biggest change is a slight reduction in the number of cutscenes. The game, this time around, feels like it gives you a chance to play it rather than just watch. You still play through a cinema-game, but at least you get to choose when the short-film cutscenes happen. This is the best part about New Dawn. It introduces player choice through three new choice-based features. The fighting style options, base building strategies, and the expeditions. These three new features don’t feel tacked on, and feel like light lore mechanics in the game. Each feature helps to improve your economic chances and survivability concerning the The Sisters’ impending invasion, but they’re not wholly necessary to complete the game. These additions to New Dawn come along with game changing effects. The features feel like Ubisoft combined an online-FPS game’s DNA and a base building game’s DNA into one another. While playing, I constantly felt like I was going to bump into another player.

Typically when studios introduce new features they can feel like trade offs. These features aren’t, though; they’re definitely boons. They help make the world feel more alive and expansive. Rather than trapping your character on an island or within a valley, you have the choice to take an expedition to distant parts of the United States and fight the ever-present highwaymen. The ability to explore different maps through expeditions is a nifty idea. This feature most benefits by the liveliness of the world. As a player, being able to explore more than just the main game area is nice, but what stood out was how many NPC’S actively engage with one another. You’ll wander into gun fights, NPC’s fighting animals, people traveling from base to base, traders making their rounds, highwaymen patrolling and assaulting unsuspecting NPC’S. The Far Cry series has done an excellent job sculpting the game’s world.