The Far Cry series is up there with Fallout one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. If I were the most successful video game reviewer of all time, perhaps I could rank the games worst to best in a way list that everyone agrees with.
I’m totally top ten, but best? Idk about that. Alright, top 15. 200. I’m on the list somewhere?
9. Far Cry: New Dawn
It stands to reason that a reimagining of a post apocalyptic version of Far Cry 5‘s world would be equally as successful, no? Far Cry 5 was a smash hit. An instant GOAT. The landscape was iconic, the gameplay was top tier, and the antagonists were some of the best of the series.
But no indeed. Far Cry: New Dawn was a far cry from the greatness of the series’ fifth installment. The nuke-blasted landscape lacked the lushness and life of the original game and failed to create anything interesting out of the rubble. Sure, the neon colors were pretty, but that was about the only thing it had going for it. As for the game’s story? Nothing to shake a sharpened stick at.
8. Far Cry: Primal
Far Cry: Primal managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. The game’s concept is 5 stars out of 5. A video game set in prehistory? No fancy-dancy plot necessary! The B.C. times were Far Cry in real life! Still, while running around the jungles and taking on primordial flora and fauna was interesting, the game failed to connect with the player in any major way due to the flimsy narrative. What could have been a fascinating jaunt into the lives of our ancestors turned into a cacophony of grunts from characters too paper-thin to relate to, not to mention the entire game felt like a reskin of Far Cry 4. Classic Ubisoft lack of creativity right there.
7. Far Cry
Credit where credit is due: The original Far Cry started it all. Naturally, the game suffers from “first in the franchise” syndrome. The creators of the series made something out of nothing, but the game’s rough edges lacked the finely tuned mechanics from later installments. The game’s frustrating difficulty didn’t do it any favors, either, and its unforgiving stealth mechanics made for a controller-chucking experience attempting to sneak around enemy bases. Better to go in guns blazing. That’s the only real option.
6. Far Cry 6
Not even the glorious Giancarlo Esposito could save Far Cry 6 from the doldrums of mediocre gaming. It was essentially a copy/paste of previous Far Cry games and remains one of the most glaring examples of Ubisoft’s frustrating habit of repackaging old games with cosmetic changes. The game’s villain was a saving grace, although Esposito didn’t get nearly as much screen time as an actor of his caliber deserves. The game looked gorgeous, but it was frustrating considering one of the main missions involved torching a tobacco field with a flamethrower. It would be cool if we hadn’t already burned weed fields in Far Cry 3. Cocaine fields in Far Cry 4. Made-up drug flower fields in Far Cry 5. You get the idea.
5. Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 was easily one of the most immersive, if not THE most immersive in the entire series. What other game on this list forced you to fight off bad guys and malaria symptoms simultaneously? Unlike the slick video game maps of previous entries, Far Cry 2 gave you nothing but a real map and GPS tracker. The game lacked the over-the-top tone of later entries, but maybe that’s not a bad thing? Maybe the Far Cry series could be healed by returning to reality rather than traveling further down the wacky road of neon-drenched apocalypse.
4. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Speaking of neon drenched wackiness, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has entered the chat. This bite-size game was a stark departure from the tone of the main franchise games. But if you bought into it, there were few things more rewarding. What could be better than sicking a literal laser beam-shooting dinosaur dragon on the hapless guards of an enemy base? Nothing. That’s what. The game is an over-the-top 1980’s cyberpunk camp fest. It’s gloriously fun, and everything a video game should be. The only crime? It’s too short.
3. Far Cry 4
After finishing Far Cry 3, I was HYPED for Far Cry 4. I thought that the game’s slick antagonist and gorgeously rendered Himalayan world would be an improvement in every way open the tropical perdition of series third installment. I wasn’t totally let down, but I was … slightly disappointed. Don’t get me wrong. The environments were beautiful. The gameplay was fun. The story was … good but not quite great. Pagan Min’s infrequent appearances made him less of of a threat than Far Cry 3′s terrifying Vaas Montenegro. He had all of the charisma but less of the teeth. A story is only as good as its villain, after all.
2. Far Cry 3
I personally think that Far Cry 3 features the best protagonist and perhaps antagonist in the franchise’s history. Vaas Montenegro is bone-chilling from his first appearance, the first time I was ever stunned by an actor’s performance in a video game. I came to develop an unlikely love for the game’s fratboy protagonist. It was the first time I ever felt a strong narrative arc from a first-person point-of-view character. Experiencing Jason react with horror and nausea after being forced to kill a person was a clever bit of storytelling that engendered sympathy for the character in me. Watching that scared kid turn into a machete-wielding, bone-cracking badass at the game’s end was refreshing.
1. Far Cry 5
While Far Cry 3 is a personal favorite, I think that the series as a whole reached its apex with the fifth installment. The third game’s main characters made it special for me, but the actual gameplay mechanics were less finely tuned than those of Far Cry 5. The creepy Seed family, while not quite Vaas, are dreadfully intimidating and interesting. And as for the world of the game? Iconic. The American nightmare landscape was as much of a flight of fantasy as it was a social critique of the grim realities of the country. Far Cry 5 does what art should: entertain the consumer while commenting on the present moment. This particular comment was written in bold, italics, and all caps.
(featured image: Ubisoft)
