➤ Far Cry: New Dawn, the review 🎮

La Far Cry: New Dawn review, a stand alone expansion, a spin-off, a narrative sequel to Far Cry 5: let's say that all these definitions seem appropriate for the new production. Ubisoft, which finally tells us what happened after the clash with Joseph Seed, when the insane charismatic leader of the Eden's Gate sect reduced Montana to a wasteland, poisoned by radiation, which only after seventeen years does it begin to breathe again. The survivors, led by the Rye spouses, come out of the shelters and build new settlements, sharing resources and living in harmony, until the violence is unleashed again, this time carried by the terrible twins Mickey and Lou: supported by a real army, the Road Warriors. They will be our nemesis in the game's campaign. The character we will control, however, is not the novice agent of the fifth chapter, but an unpublished protagonist (to be created through a simple editor at the beginning of the adventure), one of the most trusted men of Thomas Rush. A former military man, Rush travels around the United States aboard a train to bring aid to those in need, and is called to Hope County by Carmina Rye, the daughter of Nick and Kim, a smart girl who can take care of herself. . However, the expedition is intercepted, recalling the now traditional incipit for the Far Cry series, in which we are forced to flee and get back on track to then organize the counterattack, free our fellow prisoners and eliminate the threat of the terrible sisters. But waiting for us, we will find a drastically changed scenario compared to what we remembered.

The new Hope County

The first steps into creepy new Hope County are characterized by a sense of familiarity; after all, the mechanisms of gameplay are the same ones we enjoyed in Far Cry 5, as well as weapon management, swimming, grappling, and resource gathering. Confronting the Road Warriors therefore appears to be an almost trivial undertaking at first, but the situation changes after some time, as soon as you become aware of the elements to be Role playing game that the developers have introduced in New Dawn to differentiate the experience from previous chapters, probably experiencing what the series will become in the future, following the same path taken by Assassin's Creed.

Therefore, the numbers that indicate the damage done with each shot begin to appear, the bars of the vital energy of the enemies (which change according to their level, also marked by the type of the opponent) and of course the statistics of the weaponry, divided into four categories that are unlocked by growing our headquarters, Prosperity. It is a settlement that Kim Rye built almost on her own, attracting other survivors, but which needs our help to grow further. Therefore we will have to explore the map in search of components, ethanol and characters that can settle in this place to make it develop, gradually unlocking new sections and upgrading them.

It is in this way that we will be able to access more powerful weapons, faster and more solid vehicles, disruptive explosives, more effective medical kits, maps for the research of resources and the novelty represented by the Shipping. These are extra missions that go beyond the map of Hope County and therefore take place within different scenarios, where we are transported by a helicopter with the task of recovering a special package and then escape. Relatively short but characterized by a gradually higher degree of difficulty, these tasks come in handy to scrape together extra loot and it is possible to tackle them alone or in a cooperative online with a friend, just like the main campaign. In a very similar way to the aforementioned Far Cry 5, however, the management of the game will not offer the same advantages to both participants: it will be the host who progresses, while his partner will provide his help for glory and little else.

Map, characters, missions

La map of Far Cry: New Dawn measures roughly a third of that of the fifth chapter, but it also appears more empty and desolate, with fewer things to do and see. The dimensions are narratively justified by the presence of toxic clouds that permanently delimit the boundaries of the scenario, preventing us from crossing them. In any case, we are talking about a vast setting, able to offer at least twenty hours of entertainment if you undertake to complete both the main and secondary missions, for example by going in search of the characters who can become part of our roster and therefore accompany and support us (only one at a time, however) during expeditions.

There is the aforementioned Carmina Rye, skilled with rifles and explosives, but also the dog Timber, which identifies and assaults opponents, creating excellent diversions; or the shepherd Jerome with his shotgun, the mysterious and silent Judge with its infallible bow, the boar Horatio who can defeat enemies and the elderly but deadly sniper girl. They complete the group Gina war (in the original "War Gina", yes), a fighter armed to the teeth, and squat, the latter crazy and foul-mouthed as always: in the story the two form a couple and even had a child. Together with them we will have to deal with the main missions of a campaign in which our goal will be to eliminate the twins Mickey and Lou, unfortunately a nemesis of little thickness if we think of the four charismatic villains of the last episode. Without neglecting several secondary assignments, which include the conquest of ten outposts.

These are bases controlled by the Warriors of the Road, which we will have to clean up from the hostile presence, thus also unlocking the rapid journey to these destinations. To get a larger amount of ethanol and to be able to upgrade Prosperity however, we can choose to loot them and make them end up again under the control of the enemies, and then try to regain them by overcoming higher level guards, therefore more difficult to eliminate. The expedient of conquering and re-conquering outposts comes in handy to speed up progression a bit, but a quick approach becomes impossible when the resources required for upgrades increase and you need to spend some time exploring. the map in search of treasures and so on to be able to move forward.

In these situations Far Cry: New Dawn highlights a basic structural fragility that has a consequence on the progress in the campaign: we will find ourselves in the presence of the boss fight conclusive without having the skills to be able to overcome it, thus forcing us to do some grinding and to turn a blind eye to the many small distortions of a game design that is not perfectly focused. This aspect becomes evident in some missions that try to experiment with new situations, but collide with the limits of a product born with different needs: the whole part of the arena highlights a hand-to-hand combat system that is nothing short of mediocre, the demolition. derby is the paradise of approximation (just get out of the car and take everyone to bazookate to win), the phases stealth they seem completely out of place compared to everything else.

The RPG elements

Far Cry: New Dawn uses an RPG approach that is found, as mentioned, in the management of weapons and in the gunplay in general. When we try to open fire against an opponent of a higher level than the tools in our possession, we will immediately discover that the shots are less effective and the battle will therefore be uphill. This is an understandable solution from a practical point of view, but one that requires a certain suspension of disbelief when, for example, we shoot point blank with a shotgun in the face of an elite class enemy and tickle him. On the artificial intelligence front, the situation appears identical to that of Far Cry 5, with the Road Warriors who adopt different behaviors also depending on the class: some charge with their heads down, others move, lurk, change position to catch us surprise or even run away. Some problems with the hitbox, especially against animals, end up debasing an approach that otherwise boasts aspects of consistency, such as inflicting more damage when hitting the enemy's head.

Unfortunately this type of interpretation does not enhance the combat system, on the contrary it makes it less satisfying than that of Far Cry 5, and this could cause some concern if we consider that it is in that direction that the series is inevitably moving. In this sense, the management of whether, the skills unlockable through the use of experience points earned in action, which appear all too traditional and not very multifaceted in their connotation. It is also possible this time to increase the slots for weapons and ammunition, improve the breath to run longer, equip the wingsuit and grappling hook, make the inventory for medical kits more capacious. At a certain point in the story, references to the tribal atmospheres to which fans of the series are accustomed appear, and which translate into additional skills that we do not want to reveal to you but which, in the end, do not change the scenario that much.

PlayStation 4 Trophies

Far Cry: New Dawn includes a total of 51 Trophies. Many of them can be obtained simply by completing the campaign, thus completing mandatory actions with a view to progression, but there is no lack of more particular achievements, linked to secondary missions and the numerical factor: the creation of a number of medical kits, the finding some collectibles, completing a certain amount of Expeditions, and so on.

Graphics and sound

Visually, Far Cry: New Dawn definitely has its why. The post-apocalyptic Hope County has turned pink, at night it is dominated by a sort of Northern Lights and during the day caressed by winds that continuously raise the dust from the streets. There are very suggestive views and it is fascinating to find places and buildings that we had visited in the fifth chapter, discovering them in ruins, full of grass and creepers that in the meantime have proliferated on the walls. The fauna was also influenced by the nuclear apocalypse, although without showing off disturbing hybridizations, while the look of the Warriors of the Road clearly refers to the imaginary of Mad Max, between red-crested punks and protections for motorcyclists used as armor: ranging from simple soldiers with guns and bandanas to units with machine guns and light protections, passing through fighters with shields and those in full armor, decidedly difficult to knock down. The design of the weapons follows the same philosophy, with makeshift tools, assembled a bit at random, which however provide the usual, wide variety of choices between clubs, rifles, bows, rocket launchers, machine guns and so on.

Support forHDR also this time contributes to enhancing the daytime sequences, making the effects of sunlight well, but in the evening the glance loses something and flying by helicopter there are still problems of pop-up on the distance as regards the shaders that cover the surfaces. The cutscenes use, as usual, polygonal models of higher quality, really very beautiful, and the detachment from the in-game action is inevitably marked. On PlayStation 4 Pro the game seems to run better than Far Cry 5 did in its debut, with a frame rate more stably close to 30 frames and few uncertainties. The music of the original soundtrack accompany the campaign phases in an effective but essential way; there are traditional radios in vehicles (fortunately, however, they can be deactivated) and the dubbing in Spanish it seemed excellent, well interpreted, net of a few moments of excessive emphasis in combat.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 Resources4Gaming.com

7.8

Readers (64)

7.2

Your vote

Far Cry: New Dawn is a dutiful sequel from a narrative point of view, which catapults us into a fascinating and insidious post-apocalyptic scenario at the same time. However, the new nemeses are not up to their predecessors, and the introduction of some RPG elements with regard to weapons and enemies is more of a limit than an advantage for the new Ubisoft production, in some respects less focused and convincing. compared to what was seen in Far Cry 5. The general design of the campaign, with a lily managed progression, fortunately does not affect the enjoyment of a story that fans of the series will not fail to appreciate.