Far Cry 5 is Ubisoft’s next great big open world shooter, and it’s bound to keep you busy with plenty of activities, over the top action and larger than life characters in its story. This time around, you’re a Sheriff’s Deputy working to take down the leader of the Eden’s Gate cult, Joseph Seed, up in Hope County, Montana.
Yes, I know that there’s 11 things in this video and I can’t count, but it’s in 4K and I noticed too late before heading off to Gamescom, so you’ll have to cut me some slack!
It’s a great new setting for Ubisoft to take their open world shooter to – you can catch our hands on impressions here – and so here’s ten things to know about about the game, starting with by far the most important one:
You can still pet animals, but only some animals…
Most importantly, you can pet dogs in Far Cry 5, and that includes your furry buddy in combat, Boomer, who is a very good boy that spots enemies for you and will happily go and attack as well. Ubisoft are really making use of the animal petting technology from Far Cry Primal here, but for some reason that doesn’t seem to include the docile cows that you’ll see just chilling out in the fields of Hope County.
For shame, Ubisoft! Let us pet the good cows!
Fight bears, wolves and bulls
One thing that hasn’t changed with Far Cry 5 is just how vicious the wildlife can be. Expect wolves, bears and bulls to attack you practically on sight. I’m fully expecting expecting bald eagles will also be happy to swoop down and try to take a chunk out of your arms.
However, with Far Cry Primal’s “Fangs for Hire” system apparently returning for this game… maybe you’ll be able to tame them and bring them to your side as well?
Blow up towers (since you can’t climb them anymore)
OK, so strictly speaking they’re more like incendiary silos than towers, but it’s important to note that Far Cry 5 is the latest game to do away with the oft mocked Ubisoft towers. In fact, I kind of wanted to climb up a little windmill, and was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t… on the other hand, there was a sneak little hideaway in the top of an abandoned silo, it just doesn’t unlock the map for you.
Liberate towns
With the Eden’s Gate cult running amok, you’ll be busy liberating little towns like Fall’s End from their roving gangs. In place of towers, it seems like it will be NPCs within these locations that will add details and points of interest to your map, but don’t expect them to fill out every single thing.
Go fishing
Paddlefish caviar is apparently a prized export from this region, and while you won’t be searching for the expensive fish eggs directly, you can head down to the water and cast a line to try and catch some of the full grown Paddlefish. Finding these fishing spots is just one thing you’ll have to figure out for yourself in Far Cry 5, without towers pointing you in their direction. It’s pretty simplistic fishing, but there’s still a little glimmer of joy and a competitive element when you discover the weight of what you just caught.
Call in airstrikes
You’ve got buddies to help you out in combat in Far Cry 5, and one of my favourites has to be Nick Rye, the pilot that will swoop in with his plane, blasting away with machine guns, bombs and rockets!
Not only that, but Nick will hand over the keys to his plane, letting you take to the skies and rain down fire on the cultists, putting paid to their schemes. Just beware that they have a few planes of their own, so you might end up in a little dogfight.
Get revived by Grace (and then revive Grace)
One of the things that Grace has over Nick and Boomer when she’s your buddy is that, not only does she pack some serious firepower of her own, but she can come to the rescue and revive you when you’re downed.
On the other hand, she can also be downed and may need a little help from you!
Play in Co-op
What’s better than having an AI buddy? Having an actual buddy to play with. Far Cry 5’s entire campaign can be played in co-op, making a huge step up over recent games. Far Cry 4 didn’t let you do co-op campaign missions, only side content, and Far Cry Primal dropped the feature entirely!
Drive a tractor
Many kids dream of being able to drive a tractor around, and now you can in Far Cry 5. The wide open areas are home to a fair few farms, and there’s plenty of agricultural industry that you can hijack… including tractors. There’s nothing quite like mowing down cultists with the wicked looking attachment on the front of this…
Drive a great big truck
If you love driving tractors around, then you’ll also love hopping into the cab of a big old truck – though maybe not as much as the current president of the United States. The best thing about this though, is the little nod to Mr. “Definition of Insanity” himself, with a Vaas bobblehead on the dashboard.
This was actually sold as part of the Far Cry 3 Insane Edition, so does that mean… that Far Cry 3 is a video game within Far Cry 5?!
And on that bombshell, catch our hands on impressions here. Far Cry 5 is still a way away with a release planned for 27th February 2018.
