The newest entrant in the Far Cry franchise is entertaining, but falls short because of a lazy story
Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn takes place in Hope County roughly 17 years after the events of Far Cry 5, where a nuclear war has ravaged Earth and destroyed most of the population. Surprisingly, instead of opting for a desolate look, New Dawn developers decided to add some colour to the wasteland. Of course, there are fewer human beings around, but everything has a neon shade of pink, thanks to an exploding population of flowers. It actually seems like a beautiful place.
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The story starts with a girl called Carmina who is born into this post-apocalyptic world. She appreciates its beauty. Her community has built up everything from scratch, and this new paradise is called Prosperity. Right on cue, the bad guys show up; this time, it's headed by twins Mickey and Lou. They want to destroy the town and plunder its resources.
Carmina then heads out to find a savior and gets you instead. You, as usual, play an unnamed outsider who just drops in to save the day. For New Dawn, your character is a combination of Rambo and Macgyver, ready to kick ass and build stuff, but does not seem to have a voice of his/her own. Classic Far Cry.
The story itself doesn't have much of a bite and Mickey and Low have no dimension to them. Considering the villains of the past Far Cry games, these men are just pale in comparison.
The developers also seems to have gone out of their way to make Hope County familiar yet different for Far Cry 5 fans, with some iconic buildings still around. While the entire map is the same as Far Cry 5, the textures of the buildings, the pink flowers, the torn up roads and mutated wildlife constantly remind you that this is a new game. There are other new and interesting elements as well.
The game seems to have a good push towards enhancing the survival and RPG elements. You have to go around gathering resources, upgrading weapons and building your base. You can even upgrade yourself with nifty perks like double jump and faster regeneration. It might be an indication as to where the next Far Cry is headed. While the main campaign is around ten hours in total, the game still packs a lot of gameplay, if you consider the clearing of outposts, the treasure hunts and expedition missions.
The combat in the game seems easier than Far Cry 5; you can attribute most of this to the saw-launcher gun, which basically throws out saw blades that ricochet off the target and end up killing other targets as well. The other guns are similar to the original game; they only have a cosmetic upgrade to make them seem worn out, but work similarly. You can also hire people to fight with you like the previous game, including Pastor Jerome. Each character has their unique fighting style that could compliment your own.
Far Cry New Dawn is a decent build on top of Far Cry 5. The new survivalist elements are interesting and we hope they make a comeback in the next Far Cry game. While the story seems a little lazy, it is still an entertaining game and a good addition to the franchise. If you are a fan, this should tide you over, until the next one arrives. For a first-timer in the series, I would recommend the previous title.
Far Cry New Dawn
Rating: 4/5
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PC, PS4, XBOX
Price: PC: Rs 2,249; PS4/XBOX: Rs 2,999
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