Far Cry 6

[dronology]

Unfortunately, Far Cry 6 continues the series’ tiring tradition of presenting itself as political, on the surface, while fumbling any attempts at meaningful critique. Like Far Cry 5, which postured itself as an exploration of white supremacy in the U.S. but fell flat in execution, Far Cry 6 is a game in which you rescue refugees by using a weapon that plays “Macarena” while you’re aiming down its sights. (...)

It’s been said a number of times, but when Spanish-speaking people are talking in English, we’re not constantly cambiando a Español mid-sentence. Far Cry 6 is obsessed with this fallacy. It comes across as parody at best, and utterly disrespectful at worst. Castillo quotes his father at one point, saying, “Jesús would make an amazing Yaran presidente.” When I heard that, I got fairly close to putting the controller down and calling it a day. I stuck with the game long enough to see the end credits, but unfortunately, the rest of the game did not remedy any of this.

What bothers me the most is the wasted potential to do it right. Proper Latin American representation in games is severely lacking, but 2021 in particular has been a standout in both extremes. I found Hitman 3’s representation of Mendoza to be a pleasant surprise on almost every front, while the first Argentine operator in Rainbow Six Siege sounded nothing like us. Far Cry 6 paints a hopeful picture at times, as every sign in the game — and all of the graffiti — is written in Spanish. Recognizing songs on the radio, and even hearing Dani sing over them, made me stop for a second in delight and surprise. But as soon as a character began speaking, the moment was ruined. (...)

Far Cry as a whole is frozen in time. The few mechanical additions in the series’ latest entry don’t show much improvement over what Far Cry 5 or Far Cry New Dawn have already explored. And if your interest lies in the search for any semblance of proper representation, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Very few examples, in recent years, have been able to shake the norm. And if Far Cry 6 is any indication of what AAA publishers can do with a Latin American setting — painting it more as window dressing than an actual picture worth celebrating — I would rather not see another one try.

Far Cry 6 is a waste of potential. Ubisoft’s newest open world is frozen in time

In short, if you're already a Far Cry fan, there's probably plenty here to like. This sequel's playground remains at odds with its darker "grounded" story to a greater degree than its spastic action can support, and there's plenty of questionable decisions and very, very stupid story beats that aren't explained or are abruptly dropped without comment. If you're good with the relatively shallow, similar combat experience—which is kind of fun in spite of itself—it's unlikely you'll be too fussed about the trappings around it. Everyone else may feel iffy.

Verdict: I wouldn't call Far Cry 6 "good," exactly, but it has its moments of silly entertainment. Next time Ubisoft should either pick a lane or remake Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 6 review: A familiar return to open-world stupidity. Ubisoft's latest open-world shooter offers some dumb fun, if you let it.