Far Cry 6 Review

In Far Cry 6, you play as resistance fighter Dani Rojas, who you quickly learn is an orphan, an ex-military dropout, and, as it happens, rather handy when it comes to guerrilla warfare. Entering the world as a fully formed freedom fighter, Dani almost immediately becomes acquainted with Juan Cortéz, a cigar-chomping member of resistance group Libertad, who happily kits you out with all manner of 'Resolver' weaponry, including a powerful 'Supremo' backpack that can rain destruction upon your enemies. You've got the tools, you have the talent – and there's a whole world brimming with repetitive objectives just waiting for you.

Don't mind that crocodile. He's on your side.

Your target is dictator Antón Castillo, who, like Vaas, Pagan Min, and Joseph Seed before him, has a stranglehold over Far Cry 6's island nation. This one is called Yara, and it's a place where Castillo peddles a supposed revolutionary cancer treatment called 'Viviro'. Unsurprisingly, Viviro is actually a horrible, psychotropic drug referred to by the locals as the 'poison', probably because it's poisonous – they're imaginative like that. Castillo is also surrounded by a series of enforcers, who, in tried and tested Far Cry fashion, you'll need to dispatch first, if you want a fighting chance against the big cheese himself. What follows is a typically Far Cry experience, across an expansive map littered with markers, objectives, collectibles, 'Gran Premio' races, and hunting spots. That said, it’s worth seeking out the cockfights - they’re like a proper 1-on-1 versus fighting game, and superbly silly.

Certain aspects of the formula have been nipped and tucked, so Dani starts out with practically every ability you've typically had to unlock in previous Far Cry games, like chain takedowns, ledge executions, and so on. Instead, your survivability is enhanced by the gear you have equipped, whether it's helmets, chest armour, fancy trousers, shoes, or gloves. Weapons can also be upgraded and fitted with mods, using various resources scavenged throughout Yara. Collecting metal, gasolina, medicine, scraps, and other discarded gubbins from every nook and cranny soon becomes pretty tiresome.

Indeed, much of Far Cry 6 grows stale after a relatively short while. Not only is there a very palpable sense of déjà vu - even acknowledged in a bit of throwaway dialogue Dani utters while torching Viviro crops with a flamethrower during one mission – in the game's objectives and gameplay loops, but there's very little here that's new or genuinely interesting. This is a Far Cry game that's undeniably massive, but from a gameplay standpoint it feels entirely iterative, tweaking existing mechanics while scrapping others. It seems like an exercise in tightening things up, stripping away anything surplus to requirements.

That's all well and good, of course, but new additions like Bandido Operations, in which you send your forces off to various places and wait for them to bring back resources, aren't particularly exciting. Upgrading your campsites across Yara grants access to shops and useful information that makes traversing the vast island expanse a little easier, but you'll likely favour fast travel or helicopters to get from A to B in the shortest possible time – there's little incentive to go off and explore, as you'll normally end up in an impromptu firefight, which then escalates into a full-blown pursuit involving Castillo's special forces. Sometimes, you can do without the hassle.

Treasure Hunts and tracking mythical creatures is another returning staple, which still prove enjoyable, and they're welcome distractions from a fairly dull narrative that treads much the same ground as every other Far Cry game. Castillo, while wonderfully played in scenery-chewing fashion by The Mandalorian and Breaking Bad actor Giancarlo Esposito, is a fairly uncomplicated villain. The relationship with his son Diego is just about the only element of real intrigue in Far Cry 6. The rest of Yara's despots are proper pantomime villains, revelling in their chosen lifelong career of simply being evil. Take corporate asshole Sean McKay, a Canadian businessman whose enterprises involve exploiting the island entirely for profit – he's a wisecracking dickhead with seemingly no redeeming features whatsoever – being Canadian, he says, means “saying sorry when we stick the knife in”. One-dimensional characters they might be, but they sure are fun to kill.

During your quest to topple Castillo's regime, you'll clear out enemy encampments, checkpoints, and other facilities, bringing an 'Amigo' animal along for the ride, if you so wish. Among their ranks is crocodile-in-a-jacket Guapo, adorable sausage dog Chorizo, and ridiculous giant rooster Chicharrón (whose missions are some of the most annoying in the game). Annoying missions are par for the course in Far Cry 6, some chucking in a few bugs to make life more difficult. On more than one occasion, we encountered a glitch that stopped a mission in its tracks (prompting a checkpoint reload) or ran into stupid NPC pathfinding.

Antón Castillo is a bad, bad man.

Additionally, looping dialogue will have you tearing your hair out – initiate a mission with Dr. Dábalos, and he'll phone you up during every firefight, spouting the exact same line. Enter the Montero compound and you'll be asked by Libertad leader Clara Garcia whether you've made contact with the family - the further you get into the Montero mission thread, the more absurd it becomes, as the situation changes and no longer fits what's being said. This is emblematic of a fairly shabby game that outwardly looks very pretty, but whose veneer conceals more than a few issues, albeit mostly minor ones.

And yet, there's fun to be had in the repetitious, sometimes trance-inducing loop that Far Cry 6 has to offer. There is something remarkably satisfying about clearing an enemy camp without raising the alarm; there's something to be said for the chewy headshots and beefy weapon handling; it's great to barrel roll through restricted airspace in an agile propeller plane; blowing up key targets and causing chaos is never not enjoyable (more so when playing co-op). However, there's no escaping the fact that this is a game feeding off past glories: a formulaic, workmanlike entry in a series that's fast running out of ideas and beginning to grow stale. At times, Far Cry 6 can be profoundly boring, and that's not really what we've come to expect from the series.