Far Cry 5 is now available to buy in the UK and around the world; here, we explain everything we know about the game including the release date, best deals, gameplay details and the latest gameplay videos. We’ve tried the game for ourselves, so find out what we thought in our Far Cry 5 review and check out our Far Cry 5 gameplay video below. If you want to find out about what else is on the way, check out our guide to this year’s most anticipated games.
In summary:
When is Far Cry 5 coming out?
After Far Cry 3 was released in November 2012 and Far Cry 4 came out in November 2014, fans obviously expected Far Cry 5 to arrive in November 2016. Publisher Ubisoft threw a surprise wrench in the works when they released Far Cry: Primal however, as the prehistoric spin-off game came out in February 2016, killing any hopes for the main series’ fifth game coming out in the same year. It took just over two years to bring the fifth title to market, and Far Cry 5 was officially released today, 27 March 2018. If you’d rather buy the game from elsewhere, you can also get it from Game or Argos in the UK, or GameStop or Best Buy in the US, along with plenty of other retailers too.
What platforms is it on?
The game is available for PS4, Xbox One and PC, with support for the more advanced features of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X too. The only other major potential platform is the Nintendo Switch. Ubisoft has already confirmed that it is developing a “wide variety” of games for the Switch, but it seems as if Far Cry 5 won’t be one of them.
What about the setting and gameplay?
The most recent Far Cry games have become best known for leading the way in terms of open-world first-person shooters. Far Cry 3 allowed players to explore a pair of enormous tropical islands, while Far Cry 4 offered the whole of the Himalayas to explore, so it’s likely that Far Cry 5 will offer a similarly expansive environment. That environment is closer to home for some than previous games, as the game takes place in modern-day Montana in the northwest United States. As a member of law enforcement in the fictional Hope County, you’ll come face-to-face with crazy cultists and dedicated militias in true, chaotic Far Cry fashion. It’s been confirmed that Far Cry 5 will be around 20-30 hours long to complete. This is because Far Cry 5’s lead writer Drew Holmes told GamingBolt that it will be similar to previous games in the series in terms of length. Ubisoft and AMD have confirmed Far Cry 5 (and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus) will support Rapid Packed Math, a new feature that is exclusive to AMD’s new RX Vega graphics cards. This should mean improved performance as it can do ‘two math instructions for the price of one’.
Lead writer Drew Holmes told GamingBolt that after deciding to set the game in the US, Montana was the team’s immediate choice. “I think that there’s a great sense of frontier, great sense of wilderness, of danger, wildlife, there’s mountains, there’s big sky. There’s lots of places that feel unknown even though it is in the backyard.” “So I think as soon as the team went there,” he continued, “they started to meet the people there, and get a sense of, ‘Montanans are a very self-reliant type of person. They don’t like to be pushed around.’ There’s a history of standoffish-ness and leave-me-alone with the state that I think worked really, really well with Far Cry. The list of places that Far Cry wanted to go after that just fell off the table. We said, ‘this is the spot, this is where we want to go. Now let’s think of an interesting villain that could populate that space’.” In a change to previous Far Cry games, Far Cry 5 will allow you to customise the look of the main character. Beyond being a junior deputy sheriff, the protagonist is a blank canvas. Some are speculating that the choices you make in terms of race (and possibly gender) could influence the way the story is told, and how others interact with you, although only time will tell. Far Cry 5 pits you against Joseph, the bearded figure that posed like Jesus in the teaser image released by Ubisoft prior to the reveal. Joseph is the leader of a doomsday cult called ‘Project at Eden’s Gate’ and has swathes of underlings to help him carry out his work, along with other cult leaders (who all happen to be members of his family).
However, while you’ll go up against cultists in a big way, you’ll also have the aid of many Hope County locals. Three of your key allies in Far Cry 5 are Pastor Jerome Jeffries, a clergyman armed to the teeth and ready to fight for what’s right, along with Mary May, a tavern owner who knows a thing or two about Molotov cocktails, and Nick Rye, a pilot that attached a gatling gun to his plane. Animals will reportedly play a big role in Far Cry 5, and you’ll be able to befriend dogs and send them into battle for you. Boomer, one of three Guns for Hire already revealed by Ubisoft, is an angry dog who will take out your enemies and retrieve their guns for you. Early gameplay footage from Far Cry 5 even shows animals (a cow and bull) getting it on, reports Polygon, which is not something that has been shown in the series before. Looking beyond the setting and its qwerky inhabitants, it is likely that players can expect Far Cry 5 to have less focus on a linear narrative and instead bring the open world elements even further to the fore. Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoet told Le Monde that his focus was on making “worlds that are interesting to me, even as a tourist,” where “my actions will change the world.” “I don’t want the player to go through a story created by someone. We have games like that still, but I ask more and more that we let the player write their own story — that they set themselves a long-term goal, identify the opportunities that are open to them and choose not to follow a path that was decided for them.” The company has also confirmed that Far Cry 5 will be co-op from beginning to end, allowing groups of friends to explore the open world of Hope County. You can get a better feel of the co-operative gameplay via the below trailer released by Ubisoft during its E3 2017 press conference, and another – Friend for hire – released at PGW 2017. However, according to Gamestar, only one of the players will get to keep their progress in co-op mode. You can see more of the game in action in our Far Cry 5 gameplay video, along with official gameplay videos Ubisoft released for E3, Gamescom and PGW 2017:
Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he’s a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
