If you’re looking for the ultimate first-person shooter game filled with suspense and survival, then look no further than the Far Cry series. Although the series lacks continuity in terms of a storyline, each game has left the fans wanting more. The story template is roughly the same; you’re an Average Joe who stumbles into becoming a killing machine. Far Cry is a series that has spanned two decades, although it has been five years since the last game was released. In any case, the franchise library is vast and if you want to appreciate the technological advancements of the series, you should play all Far Cry games in order of release.
Far Cry is a franchise with a strong foundation for how solid open-world games can be. Random chaotic events? Present. Incredible gunplay? In your hands. Lots to see and explore? Yeah!
While there were some smaller releases for the likes of the Wii in quick success, the main titles had a relatively long wait time of 3 years on average. Let’s explore all of the Far Cry games in chronological order following their release dates.
Image Source: Ubisoft
The first of the Far Cry games in order laid the foundations for what would be a working formula in the franchise. You are dropped into an unknown environment that is surrounded by enemies and must fight your way out using various weapons, survival tactics, and more. The storylines in Far Cry do not connect from game to game, so Jack Carver is unique to the original game. Jack is a former special forces operative who is on the hunt for his journalist colleague that went missing after their boat crashed.
Far Cry introduced Crytek’s CryEngine, a very powerful engine that was designed to bring unparalleled graphical realism to their games. The original Crysis from EA also used CryEngine which revolutionised graphics at the time, as no other game could come close to it for a few years after release. But back to Far Cry!
While the game looked great, the world wasn’t fleshed out enough. You have the opportunity to explore, but there wasn’t really a need to, given the linear structure of the campaign missions.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
The Crytek era for the Far Cry series was short-lived, with Ubisoft buying the rights to the franchise and using their own in-house engine. While it’s hard to argue which engine would have been better, it’s fair to say Far Cry 2 was a substantial improvement. In the game, the player is somewhere in Africa, where they must fend off enemies, as well as deadly diseases. Yes, your character can get sick, tapping into the survival aspect in some way.
The Ubisoft engine saw massive improvements in the way the world operated. With dynamic weather and more world depth, exploring the open world was better than in FC1. Weapons would break down or jam, forcing you to be careful with their usage. The story wasn’t too well received but the game did take a massive step in the right direction, leaving the linearity of Far Cry 1 behind.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
If there was a game that made the Far Cry series into a household name, it was Far Cry 3. While the gameplay and everything else continue to improve, Far Cry 3 had one of the best villains in gaming, and certainly the best villain in the franchise, Vaas Montenegro. In other games, you were more just run and gunning, with the storyline taking a back seat. In Far Cry 3, the campaign is what today’s generation would call ‘cinema.’
Vaas added depth because he was completely unhinged, but was complex at the same time. You never really knew what he was going to say next, and that was the beauty of it. On top of that, he produced one of the best scenes in gaming history with his ‘Definition of Insanity’ speech (don’t look it up on YouTube if you plan on playing, you gotta experience it).
Far Cry 3 continued to add even more layers to the gameplay, including hunting, levelling abilities, and using unique vehicles like the Paraglider. Players were rewarded for their creativity in how to approach combat as well. You can do the classic run and gun, or be more stealthy with weapons that match the style. We particularly enjoyed going for the completely chaotic option of luring an animal into the area and watching the carnage unfold.
Oh and the exploration aspect is incredibly engaging! There are dozens of ‘WW2 letters’ to collect, treasure to find, and secret areas to reach. Out of all the Far Cry games in order, its third iteration was arguably the best.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
Far Cry 4 had a tough task of replicating the success of 3 from a story perspective. On the gameplay side, however, the game went to another level. The sandbox experience was expanded, with the Himalayan mountain range being the backdrop to what is a visually stunning game.
With the next generation of consoles being in full swing, Ubisoft was able to push the game harder. You could interact with the environment more and the easiest way to move around was with the grapple hook (also great for reaching high places).
Outposts were also improved, making it more challenging to conquer them. They were mainly tied to the campaign, but you got a great sense of accomplishment for taking them down. One of the biggest drawbacks of the game were the side missions. They didn’t have the substance Far Cry 3’s side missions had, and were relatively straightforward (go to Point A, kill people, go to Point B, done). Still, Pagan Min was a charming lunatic of an antagonist that elevated each scene he was in, even causing a small amount of sympathy.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
Although Ubisoft had defined a winning formula with Far Cry, they decided to switch things around. Far Cry Primal is unlike any other in the franchise, focusing heavily on survival instincts and the environment to make it out alive.
The story starts with you getting separated from your clan and ending up on the run from a cougar. You reach a new area called Oros and decide it’s time to settle the area, and establish yourself as the new leader of the Wenja (your clan). There’s a dose of settlement-building in the game, as well as a focus on crafting. Gather enough materials and you’ll be able to craft various weapons and items.
The open-world sandbox is massive and it takes a long time to achieve 100% of everything in the game (100+ hours if you don’t speedrun it). In the end, Far Cry Primal is not a traditional Far Cry game, but its uniqueness and fresh content make it perfect for both FC fans and survival lovers.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
Out of the jungle and onto the streets of Montana. This is where the Far Cry franchise would take its next journey. The open world was as beautiful and packed with content as ever, and exploring it could be done easily with the Water Plane (which you gain access to later in the story).
Speaking of Far Cry 5’s story, it’s the first time the game doesn’t feature a voiced, pre-made protagonist. Yeah. You make your own character and he’s mute. What a weird choice. Anyway, the rest of what’s happening is simply chaotic (there’s a cult on the loose and they’re f*ckin’ crazy), tons of manic animals, and massive armoured pickup trucks. The usual Far Cry formula.
Unfortunately, the story didn’t quite hit the spot and the gameplay loop was getting somewhat stale, but the fans still enjoyed this entry a lot. How can you not when there are explosions and flying limbs everywhere, and you get to completely decimate members of a cult!
Image Credits: Ubisoft
Far Cry New Dawn was one of the only titles to connect the storyline. The game can be seen as a direct sequel, a spinoff, and all the above. In the previous title, you were given multiple options for the ending, one of which saw the nuking of Hope City. New Dawn makes this ending canon, but seventeen years in the future, focusing on the aftermath of said ending.
If you enjoy bright colors, then Far Cry New Dawn is the ideal choice for you. The game is considerably bright which is kind of strange considering less than two decades ago, the city was wiped off the map. The dull colours were replaced with flowers, and lots of them.
While other titles allowed you to have a camp of some sort, New Dawn flipped the script and introduced bases that were interactable.
So at this point, we have bright colours in a nuclear winter (bizarre choice but okay) and interactable bases. What else did Ubisoft add?
RNG weapons and beefy enemies. And by beefy, we mean absolutely atrocious to fight against. You can empty two full mags into a basic enemy, and they’d still be alive. Frustrating, but at least the story is good, right?
Wrong. Two twin sisters want to destroy you. That’s about it.
It’s not surprising that you probably haven’t even heard of this Far Cry game and according to most fans, it’s the worst of the mainline games.
Image Credits: Ubisoft
The final of the Far Cry games in order of release is Far Cry 6. The game received a big marketing push, with famous actor Giancarlo Esposito acting as the antagonist. With the actor pushing the game through interviews and other marketing avenues, the game was poised for success from the get-go. But did it justify the marketing push? Not really.
This game was all about a rebellion uprising, giving you the full rundown on what guerrilla warfare is like. The player is in a constant battle with the law, with checkpoints scattered everywhere across the map, along with soldiers who make life difficult.
The usual recipe of capturing bases is there and so is stealth, but there were no major advances in gameplay. Gunplay was weaker than before and the dialogue (apart from Giancarlo) was hit and miss. Still a great game, just not exactly worthy of being one of the best gaming experiences out there.
Which is your favourite Far Cry game? Share in the comments below!
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