Far Cry New Dawn – Review
Follow Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Tested on: PS4

Far Cry New Dawn – Review

Site Score
7.0
Good: Setting, Crafting, Music
Bad: Nothing new in the series, Graphically not that impressive
User Score
5.7
(3 votes)
Click to vote
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Rating: 5.7/10 (3 votes cast)

Since the release of Far Cry 3, the series has had the tradition to create a spin-off game, built by the same engine and base as the main series’ game it was based on. Far Cry 3 had Far Cry Blood Dragon, Far Cry 4 was turned into Far Cry Primal and now Far Cry 5 is transformed into Far Cry New Dawn. The only difference with New Dawn is that it’s not really a spin-off but somewhat of a sequel of the game it’s based on, namely FC5. We were quite eager to revisit Hope County after the world was thrown into an apocalyptic setting.

Story

Far Cry New Dawn situates itself seventeen years after the event that occurred in Hope County in Far Cry 5. The world has gone through a nuclear disaster, and for over a decade people have lived underground to make sure they would survive. Not that long ago people started settling above ground again, creating Prosperity, a new place for survivors to live. Sadly, while it seemed that peace could finally be found, the city is soon raided by ‘the highwaymen’ under the leadership of the twin sisters Mickey and Lou. You are called in to help rebuild the settlement after the highwaymen passed, but your convoy is spotted by the enemy, and nearly everyone perishes in the process.

The story is told by cutscenes and conversations throughout the game. The overall story doesn’t last too long, but it’s a fun sequel of the original game that came out in 2018.

Graphics

Graphically New Dawn looks quite decent, with the many lush environments the game has to offer. While everything in the game looks a bit alike, the map is still pleasant to explore, and it’s fun how nature reclaimed the territory after the bombs destroyed nearly everything in their wake. Nonetheless, it’s sad to see that pretty much everything in the environment is done with static objects, meaning you can’t destroy anything, and when you shoot at certain objects, or hit them, a grey muddled area appears on it. Even with static corpses that are ‘part of the environment’, you’ll leave a white dusty print when you try to damage them (yes we tried). The character models look a bit less decent, but still live up to the standards of this generation.

Sound

The sound design is pretty much spot on. The voice acting is superbly handled and the music that blasts through the speakers in the vehicles is old school and amusing. While it is odd to have working radios in a post-apocalyptic setting, we did not mind at all.

Gameplay

Far Cry New Dawn is an action adventure game with an open world setting. The game situates itself in Hope County, 17 years after Far Cry 5. It’s your job to build up your base/village, liberate areas, kill those who prey upon the weak, and have a blast driving around in post-apocalyptic vehicles, while using many weapons you have crafted yourself. The game plays like pretty much every Far Cry game since the release of the third installment. Outposts will get you more control over the map, but in this game you can abandon them, to retake them and gain more resources to build up your encampment. Overall pretty standard stuff for the series, but you’ll have some work cut out for you.

The base building segment of the game provides a certain goal, and it makes it fun to see how the city evolves. Nonetheless, it all feels a bit like muddled water as the game feels like a reskin of Far Cry 5, albeit in a nature-filled environment. The classic gameplay is there, and if you enjoyed the previous iterations of the series, we’re sure you’ll get your proper dose of action in this one as well.

As mentioned before, you’ll be able to take outposts from the enemy, then abandon them, and retake them again to gain more resources. Not only will this create a new challenge, as retaking a base will be harder, it will also unlock new missions for you to plow through. This concept is a decent way of adding some gameplay when working with a smaller and limited map.

The biggest problem of the game lies with the fact that the series has been doing the same thing over and over again since Far Cry 3. You start off weak, and slowly but surely, you’ll craft new items, gain a bit more control over the map, and you’ll either scavenge for more items to make the game easier, or you get on with the story. Since Far Cry 5 you have allies and/or pets that can aid you in combat, and this is the same for Far Cry New Dawn. Overall this formula has been tried, tested and found adequate, but sticking to it for multiple times in a row makes the experience somewhat dull.

Conclusion

Far Cry New Dawn is another decent iteration of the Far Cry series, but it is hampered by small bugs, not that many options and somewhat uninspired gameplay. That being said, the map is fun to explore, the post apocalyptic setting is amusing and the craftable items are enjoyable to experiment with. If you can look past the flaws of the game, we can say there’s a New Dawn for Hope County, one we thoroughly enjoyed.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 5.7/10 (3 votes cast)
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Far Cry New Dawn - Review, 5.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings
Ibuki


Aspiring ninja.

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