A war against AI-controlled enemies
Gamers get to go on many quests in Far Cry New Dawn, a first-person shooter game, writes Aiman Maulana
IN today’s world, first-person shooters are generally geared towards online multiplayer with little to no story elements. The ones with a heavy emphasis on narratives have started to decrease with time.
One of the few games that fits the narrative criteria is the Far Cry series. Today, we’re going to take a look at its latest game, Far Cry New Dawn.
THE GAME
Far Cry New Dawn is a spin-off game and a direct narrative sequel to Far Cry 5. It takes place 17 years after the Hope County incident which saw the world ravaged by a nuclear war.
As a result, the world is undergoing a phenomenon known as the “Super Bloom”, which results in a lush and vibrant environment across the world.
The survivors who had taken shelter underground begin to emerge and rebuild society.
They have established the settlement of Prosperity but are soon attacked by the Highwaymen, a roving band of organised bandits led by twin sisters Mickey and Lou.
Desperate for help, Carmina Rye appeals to another survivor group led by Thomas Rush and a man known only as the “Captain”.
With no other choice left, an alliance between the survivors and New Eden, which consists of the remnants of the Project at Eden’s Gate, is formed.
However, the people of New Eden may end up being a much greater threat than the Highwaymen themselves.
REBUILDING HOPE
Just like the most recent entry in the series, Far Cry New Dawn is still an open world firstperson shooter.
You have to go through many quests which will consist of the main storyline quests and a large number of optional side quests. For the most part, you will be rebuilding Prosperity. What you will need to do is to convince some key people to join your settlement and gather various resources.
Usually, you’ll be given some arbitrary task such as collecting a specific item or chasing down specific individuals for these people to join you. The individuals that will be recruited usually have specific purposes. For example, Bean will provide valuable scouting intel via his service known as “Wikibeania”. However, this service will come at the cost of resources. Eventually, you will also be able to recruit people who will actively join you in combat. Not only does it make combat easier, it also makes travelling the world more entertaining.
Far Cry New Dawn is not that much different from Far Cry 5 save for some expeditions which take you on missions outside of Hope County. You’ll be spending most of the time rebuilding Prosperity, going through repetitive missions, and progressing through the story whenever possible. In this sense, it doesn’t feel like a brand new game but rather, a new narrative to Far Cry 5.
Whether that’s a good thing or not depends solely on gamers’ individual tastes. If you were invested in Far Cry 5’s storyline and would like to know the fate of certain characters as well as what happened after the nuclear incident, you will have no complaints.
After all, reusing assets from Far Cry 5 will speed up this game’s development. However, if you’re expecting a fresh gaming experience, you will be disappointed.
COMBAT IS FUN BUT EASILY EXPLOITABLE
The core element of Far Cry New Dawn is that it’s a first-person shooter in an open world environment.
It does incorporate some role-playing game elements that will strengthen the protagonist as you continue playing. At the beginning, there isn’t much to enjoy as you will only have access to the most basic equipment.
As you slowly start to improve Prosperity and unlock various new equipment, the real fun starts.
You can choose from weapons including sniper rifles, shotguns, and even melee weapons. These are divided into four quality classes, with the fourth class being the strongest and hardest to obtain.
To obtain them, you have to ensure that certain facilities in the settlement have been upgraded to the required level and gather the necessary resources to craft them. When all is done, simply head out and fire away. As it is a single player game, you will be fighting against AI-controlled enemies, which brings us to our next problem.
The programming for the AI is terrible. The enemies have questionable aim across all difficulties, and it’s easy to dodge attack simply by taking a step back. This easily gives players the chance to exploit the AI and breeze through every skirmish with barely a scratch. In fact, your AI-controlled allies will easily mow down the enemies if you choose to be passive in combat.
Despite this, the combat is still quite fun, and chaotic at times. The auditory feedback you get with every single shot is strangely satisfying.
The perk points obtained in battle and after missions can be used in the perks section of your status screen, which functions like a skill tree.
This, paired with the gratifying combat, can get you invested in the game until the end but that’s only if you can look past the exploitable AI
CONCLUSION
Far Cry New Dawn is not for everyone. In fact, even fans of the series might not enjoy it as much.
It’s essentially Far Cry 5 but with a relatively new environment and a continuing storyline. The game can be repetitive and surprisingly easy, so it may end up boring some gamers out there.
However, it’s not actually a bad game. If you’re invested in the Hope Country narrative and want to know the fate of certain characters, then this game will certainly be of value to you.
I’d say this game is worth getting only when there’s a discount for it. And with that, I award Far Cry New Dawn with a 6 out of a 10.
PROS
Visually appealing.
Entertaining storyline.
Packed with plenty of content to enjoy. Combat is fun after a few hours of gameplay.
CONS
Feels the same as Far Cry 5.
Gameplay is repetitive. AI-controlled enemies barely pose a threat.
The game begins at a slow pace.