Far Cry 5 truly is like Far Cry Merika! Edition. It’s the perfect combination of American flags painted on everything, religious nuts, rednecks and more. My playtime hit around 10 hours in the game and it’s a ton of fun. The action is just about non-stop. I also like the story better than the previous games so far.
Far Cry 5 Merika! Edition
Far Cry 5 takes place in Hope County, Montana, so it is America, but the yee-haw themes truly represent Merika. It’s clear Ubisoft aimed for that feeling right from the game intro. The Ubisoft logo was proudly displayed on the side of a barn and the Dunia engine logo painted on the back of a pickup truck.
The evil faction this time around is a religious cult that takes control of Hope County. They are led by Joseph Seed, a man that believes only he can save them all. This game released in 2018, so the influences of the Trump Administration and their “devoted” followers are pretty obvious.
The game designers were careful to not give the cult anything like red hats and opted instead for a white theme with a black iron cross. Now I don’t condone violence to fellow Americans, but in this game I enjoy all the inventive ways to send cult member straight to hell.
Far Cry 5 Merika! Guns and Vehicles
Aside from political undertones, the Merika theme carries over to all parts of the game. Tractors are tools for the large swaths of farmland, but also tools of death. There’s even a custom death machine style tractor for purchase in game.
The Merika vehicle madness doesn’t end there, there’s a Mack truck with American flag paint job and machine guns on it. There’s muscle cars, ATVs, dune buggies, sedans, vans, plenty of trucks, planes, boats, helicopters and more. Many include Americana paint schemes and guns.
What is really odd is the absence of any kind of motorcycle or dirt bike. I don’t like Harley Davidson, but seems really weird for the game to not have that even after all the DLC.
Of course there are plenty of drugs, churches and guns, lots of guns. Guns with American flag colors and skins oh my. There’s also those country activities you would expect like fishing and hunting.
Project at Eden’s Gate Cult Story
The Far Cry 5 story is timeless, but feels especially relevant now. Cults pop up every decade, as does talk of doomsday, but the division caused by the Trump presidency really brings the story home.
Things kick off with my character, the rookie deputy, along for the ride to serve a warrant to the cult leader, Joseph Seed. He leads a cult called Project at Eden’s Gate. People call them Peggies for short.
It was a tense movie like introduction, just waiting for the chopper we rode in on to crash, or a big gunfight to erupt. Things stuck together a bit longer than expected, but that chopper did go down after Joseph’s followers climbed into the chopper blades. They didn’t like our arrest plans.
From there it was a typical escape, then join the resistance like other Far Cry games. The arrest attempt prompts the cult to take over Hope County. Locals were rounded up and businesses turned into outposts, a Far Cry series staple. The cult split Hope County up into 3 territories controlled by Joseph Seed’s family.
Saying “Yes” to Killing John Seed
My first territory was controlled by John Seed, Joseph’s brother. He was obsessed with the word “Yes”. He reminded me of a televangelist meets motivation speaker with a side of psychopath. Missions in the game revolve around helping resistance members fight back. Each completed missions filled up a meter to draw out John Seed.
The “map full of icons” is a typical Ubisoft move, but this game does well to relate all the missions to the goal of strengthening the resistance. That includes rescuing prisoners, liberating businesses (outposts), blowing up cult property and story missions.
At several milestone moments in the game, John Seed sent his squad after me armed with “bliss” bullets. It was a weird unavoidable event that always ended with my character tranquilized. It was the game’s way of forcing cutscenes to advance the story with John. He captures me each time, but not to kill. Joseph Seed wants my deputy character converted.
Each capture ends with an action packed Merika style escape that Far Cry 5 does well. Although the Bliss bullet mechanic is weird, it didn’t annoy me much since the story is interesting. In the end of John’s territory, I enjoyed a shootout in a church before I shot John out of the sky.
I put a ton of extra bullets into his body before heading off to his bunker. The cult captured the others involved in the original arrest attempt. Each member of the Seed family held one. After taking each out, I’ll need to destroy their bunker and rescue the person they hold.
Action Packed, and Sometimes Weird Missions
I’m enjoying the story, but the constant action is my favorite part of the game. It’s very common to run into the different enemy encounters while driving to a story mission. Sometimes they are so common they almost border on annoying, but the variety and ability to avoid them without consequence (besides occasional guilt of ignoring kidnapped people) keeps them fresh enough.
Early on the game introduced me to the squad system where I hire resistance fighters to help. The limit is 1 until I unlocked a leadership perk for a 2nd. Each can follow orders I give like: attack, move and follow me. It’s nice to have backup along for the ride.
Adding Specialists to my Far Cry 5 Merika Squad
Sure I could get a real player to join coop, but my gaming hours are too erratic for all that. The AI was competent enough to have fun. The squads system really took off once I unlocked specialists via story missions. So far I have Boomer, Nick Rye and Grace. Boomer is a dog and serves as a scout. Nick Rye is a pilot of a badass plane with guns and bombs. Grace is a sniper.
The missions to unlock Nick Rye introduced me to aircraft. I play with keyboard and mouse, so I was nervous about the handling (no HOTAS support). Far Cry 5 surprised me with controls and handling that work really well on PC, no gamepad required. Sure it’s not sim level controls, but they are fun and fit with the action.
My favorite combo for my squad so far is Nick providing air support and Grace providing over watch. It’s a ton of fun ordering them to attack some of the well armed targets at roadblocks and outposts. I love watching Nick drop bombs on Peggies and strafe with guns.
NPCs in general repeat things they say an annoying amount of times, like Grace and her constant “I’m working on my people skills joke”. Nick, on the other hand, enhances the experience of bombing and strafing. Can’t get enough of his: “Target a-f*cking-quired!”.
Far Cry 5 Merika Fun and Weird Missions
There is a wild variety of story and side missions so far. I’ve helped a scientist with alien research before helping him with some type of transporter. There was a cook that sent me on an errand to gather special bulls balls, a redneck delicacy. All before getting drunk at a party and drunk shooting. As you can imagine, that was all weird.
Prepper Caches take the place of the treasure missions from previous games. There’s usually a switch or platforming puzzle to solve. Some interesting ones so far include a haunted house maze, waiting for abandoned dogs in a house to poop out a key, so yeah weird stuff.
Although many missions involve clearing out cult members from a location, the artwork for each is a very unique location and allows for almost infinite ways to approach it. Stealth is possible, but I love Nick’s bombs and Grace’s sniping. Sometime I just drive in with a gun truck or use a helicopter with guns. Options are near endless.
Blessed with the Bliss
The great Hope County playground and crazy action hooked me quick. After taking down John Seed, and therefore “opening the first seal”, I’m looking forward to moving onto Faith Seed territory. Her specialty is heavily drugging her followers with the Bliss, the cults hallucinogenic drug. I expect that to initiate interesting missions. Far Cry 5 is definitely shaping up to be a “play only this game” to the end type of game.