Hope County, 17 years after the bombs fell. This is where Far Cry New Dawn places the Captain of Security - your character - as you battle against the violent Highwaymen led by the treacherous twins, Mickey and Lou. Clearly a follow-up to Far Cry 5's brilliant (albeit divisively subversive) ending, New Dawn inspires hope back in Hope County; a state torn apart by factions fighting for control over what is now considered free territory. What I'm trying to say is, it's your typical Far Cry game, for better or worse - though with a few unexpected surprises thrown into the works.

Far Cry New Dawn takes plenty of cues from role-playing games like Fallout, introducing more "light RPG" mechanics to change the gameplay up. Players are tasked with scavenging Hope County for resources and materials in order to craft better gear and weapons, all the while strengthening a central hub area known as Prosperity. Here, you can find an assortment of objectives to complete. Weapon crafting, modding, vehicle reinforcing, health research, explosives, and more are all present here, but it's traversing the wide open spaces of Hope County that tasks you with collecting enough Ethanol to upgrade Prosperity.



You can acquire Ethanol by taking over outposts, but this time, you're given the option of either setting up a base (which almost guarantees the outpost's safety) or simply grabbing the free additional Ethanol and taking it over completely, leaving your outposts open to attack from the Highwaymen - to which you have to saddle up and defend it. It's a fairly simple, but welcomed change to Far Cry, and far less demanding than Fallout 4's various settlements that are always (and I mean ALWAYS) in need of your help.

The other icing on the cake revolves around enemy difficulty, now upscaled to four difficulty levels. This is indicated by the colour of the symbol, and huge health bars floating over their heads. Of course, you do have the option to waste rounds of ammo on them, but it incentivizes upgrading your weapons to meet their level too. I initially thought this would be a hindrance to the exploration aspects of Far Cry - something that I've grown quite fond of in previous titles - but run-ins with higher-level enemies was fairly uncommon in the first half of the game as it was cleverly sectioned off to further reaches of the map. Speaking of maps, New Dawn's size pales in comparison to Far Cry 5's, but it does have a great amount of variety in its locations to keep things constantly fresh and exciting.

To call the colour palette in New Dawn eye-opening would be an understatement. Lush pink hues radiate the landscape due to the blooming of a certain plant in the state, creating an almost vivid, dream-like fantasy world to explore. The colour assault doesn't end there, as it trickles over into enemy design and outpost layouts. I was absolutely enthralled by the visual design of the game, demonstrating immense polish, creative vision, and something that's more akin to an elongated acid trip than a believable open world - but it just works here.



Without going into spoiler territory for the story, I will say that New Dawn manages to throw plenty of curveballs your way. What starts off as a fairly simple plot of vengeance and retaliation against a totalitarian faction soon becomes bonkers in all the right ways. Veteran players might come in expecting one thing, and leave with a completely warped idea of what a Far Cry game can be. It's nothing groundbreaking, per se, but it is a breath of fresh air for a formula that became all too stale with Far Cry 5. Ubisoft really went back to the drawing board, and perhaps lifted a few notes out of Blood Dragon in the process of creating its impressively meaty campaign.

Unfortunately, New Dawn is also not without its flaws. While Mickey and Lou do have a little more agency in the plot this time around than the elusive Seed family - who only really showed up to deliver condescending monologues every now and then - they're still fairly absent for a majority of your playtime. It's easy to get sidetracked completing the various treasure hunts and outpost liberations sprinkled around the map, creating a sense of disjointedness in the narrative. In fact, some main story missions frustratingly tie you to upgrading Prosperity in order to progress further - a task that feels equal parts annoying and padded out for the sake of stretching the game excruciatingly thin.



Make no mistake, though, given its relatively decent price point, there's a wealth of content crammed into New Dawn that feels worthy of its payment. It may not be as impressively expansive as previous mainline entries, but it does its job in keeping you invested in the story, and engaged in the zany gameplay enough to satisfy any fan.

I'm nearing the end of my journey in New Dawn, but I just wish there was more. It's not going to win over any skeptics of Far Cry's bombastic shenanigans, but it will keep series fans glued to the screen thanks to its great use of light RPG mechanics, satisfying combat, and keen sense of exploration. There is potential here bubbling beneath the surface that I hope is realized soon. More to come shortly!

Far Cry New Dawn launches on February 15, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.