Far Cry 5 is an upcoming first-person shooter action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the eleventh installment and the fifth main title in the Far Cry series. It is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2018.
Similar to its predecessors, the game is an action-adventure first-person shooter set in an open world environment which players can explore freely. The game features a new character creator, in which players can customize their character's appearances, gender and skin tone.[1][2] Players have a variety of gadgets and weapons to fight against enemies, such as shotguns, pistols, rocket launchers, bows, and explosives such as grenades and sticky bombs. The game will place a renewed emphasis on close-quarters combat compared to previous Far Cry titles by introducing a wider range of mêlée weapons like pitch forks, sledgehammers and baseball bats.[3] As the game is set in an open world, players can traverse the world on foot or through various vehicles, including muscle cars, all-terrain vehicles, boats, and planes. In addition, the game features a recruitment system, in which players can recruit locals in the county to fight alongside them similar to the "Buddy" system used in Far Cry 2. In this "Guns for Hire" system, players need to convince other locals to join their cause, and every companion fighter has their own unique skills and personalities. Players can also tame wild animals through the "Fang for Hire" system, previously introduced in Far Cry Primal. The tamed wildlife will assist the player in combat and follow the players' orders. Different wildlife will have different combat patterns.[4] A fishing mechanic will also be introduced.[5] The campaign can be played individually or with a partner through the game's cooperative multiplayer mode.[6] The game will also feature a map editor, whose features have been expanded from previous titles.[7]
The game is set in the fictional Hope County, Montana, where a preacher named Joseph Seed has risen to prominence in the region. Seed believes that he has been chosen to protect the people of Hope County from an "inevitable collapse" and has established a congregation called Eden's Gate. Ostensibly, this is to fulfill his mission of leading the people to salvation;[8] in reality, Seed is a radical preacher and Eden's Gate is a militaristic doomsday cult. Under his rule, Eden's Gate has used both coercion and violence to forcibly convert the residents of Hope County, and intimidation to keep them from contacting the federal government for help. When an attempt to arrest Seed ends with the deaths of several lawmen, the player is swept into the armed conflict between Eden's Gate and the remaining Hope County residents who are organizing themselves into a resistance movement.[8]
The player takes on the role of a sheriff's deputy who is sent to Hope County to arrest Seed. Seed has assumed the title of "the Father" and maintains control over Hope County with the aid of his siblings, known as "the Heralds": Jacob, a former military officer that oversees their armed soldiers; John, a lawyer that has been able to acquire much of the land in Hope County for Eden's Gate; and Faith, who acts as a pacifist to bring the people to believe and trust in her older brother.[8] The residents of Hope County opposed to Seed include Pastor Jerome, a local church leader that has seen his congregation taken by Eden's Gate; Mary May, a bartender whose father was murdered by the cult; and Nick Rye, a cropduster pilot who wants to eliminate the influence of the cult in order to build a better future for his children.[9]
The game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Reflections offering assistance.[10] Dan Hay, who was lead producer for Far Cry 3, was the lead director, with writing led by Drew Holmes, who had previously worked on BioShock Infinite and its downloadable content.[11] The game will continue to use the Dunia Engine, a modified version of the CryEngine which the Far Cry series has used for several titles.[12] The team chose Montana as the game's setting, as the state lies on the frontier of the United States. To create a realistic environment, the development team visited Montana for fourteen days to collect information regarding its biomes, environment, and the "self-reliant" nature of the locals, who do not want any authority or outsider to intervene in their life. The development team had previously carried out a similar research excursion to Nepal during development of Far Cry 4.[13] The game's cast of antagonists has also been significantly expanded as well, as the team was no longer satisfied with having one core antagonist in each game.[14]
The setting and the tone of the game originated from separatism. According to Hay, when he was young, he often felt unsafe because of the conflicts between the two superpowers during the Cold War, and frequent terrorist attacks such as the September 11 attacks, and financial problems such as the subprime mortgage crisis caused people to question the government and the concept of the "global village" began to collapse. People become increasingly protective and started to hate the government. This sets the theme of the game and prompted the team to write a story that features a doomsday cult as the game's main antagonist. Hay started writing the story in late 2014; after January 2016, he investigated the details of the occupation and standoff of a wildlife refuge in Oregon, as he wanted to look for evidence that can show the rise of separatism.[8] To create a memorable story, the characters in the game were designed to have different views and opinions on important events, and different ideologies.[15] Despite the dark theme, the team wanted to ensure that the game is still fun and entertaining to play.[16] Therefore, the team implemented a large arsenal of weapons and open-ended gameplay possibilities for players to use.[17]
After the release of Far Cry Primal in 2016, Ubisoft stated that the next Far Cry title will take more development time and will not be released in 2017.[18] Far Cry 5 was announced by Ubisoft during the company's financial call, alongside two other major titles, The Crew 2 and an unnamed Assassin's Creed game, which are scheduled to be released in fiscal year 2018.[19] Ubisoft released several teaser trailers and the game's cover art ahead of the game's official reveal on May 26, 2017.[20][21] The game is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 27, 2018 with support for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Free skin packs will be available for PlayStation 4 players at launch due to a marketing deal between Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft.[10]
Far Cry 5's announcement in May 2017 came at a time of heightened political and ideological conflict around the world due to recent geopolitical events, such as election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and the onset of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Many journalists opined that Far Cry 5's setting and narrative concept as described by the announcement, involving themes of religious fanaticism and the rise of the far-right within the borders of the United States—as opposed to the more exotic locales depicted in other Far Cry titles—would likely make the game highly controversial in the current climate.[2][12][22] These journalists noted that due to the long development cycle, it was unlikely that Ubisoft intentionally designed the game's narrative around the political climate at the time of the announcement, adding that Ubisoft had been careful to downplay any perceived connections to then-current real world events.[22][23]
Following its announcement, Far Cry 5 was the subject of an online petition lodged at Change.org by individuals objecting to what they called the portrayal of "American Christians" as villains and calling for the game's antagonists to be recast as Muslim or other non-white villains or changing the game's setting to Canada.[24] The petition itself was criticised by industry commentators who highlighted the game's exploration of its themes as being necessary in the contemporary social and political climate, and pointing to video gaming as a medium for social commentary.[23][25] Some even suggested the petition might have been fake.[25][26] Irrational Games' 2013 release BioShock Infinite had previously been subject to similar criticisms as it addressed themes of religious extremism.[27]
Source : Wikipedia