Far Cry’s best moments so far

From the open range of Hope County, Montana to the mountainous region of Kyrat, the Far Cry franchise has managed to take players across many different landscapes since its debut 15 years ago. Each has its own set of thrills to discover and celebrates the freedom that video games can offer today. It’s perhaps for this reason that there has yet to be a bad title in the series so far. With New Dawn on the horizon, let’s relive some of the franchise’s best moments so far. Be warned that heavy spoilers may be found below.

Far Cry‘s Best Moments – Far Cry 5‘s endings

Far Cry 5‘s good and bad endings are controversial, but each seems to appropriately set the scene for New Dawn while also maintaining some intrigue into what could happen going forward. The good ending has fans topple Joseph Seed, only to have the evangelical tyrant detonate a nuclear warhead and destroy everything and everyone residing in Hope County. The protagonist is taken back to Seed’s bunker and is anointed the leader’s newest family member.

In the bad ending, players simply walk away from Seed and leave everyone in the county behind. No nuclear warhead is detonated, but the sheriff asks what’s wrong right before the credits begin to roll. The player is seemingly left to wonder whether or not resisting the Father and killing his family was worth all the trouble. Though both endings raise a lot of questions and the whole cult was full of legitimately awful people, each is successful in making players think about the consequences of their actions.

Far Cry‘s Best Moments – The definition of insanity (Far Cry 3)

Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Far Cry 3‘s Vaas is very keen on telling players what it is. After capturing the game’s protagonist a second time, the villain explains how each man is doing the same thing over and over again in an attempt to kill each other, to no avail. He then tosses the hero into a cavern, seemingly murdering him for good. The whole concept is a perfect commentary on the franchise and its genre as a whole, as heroes and villains constantly fight against one another expecting things to change once all is said and done. The series should explore more concepts like this going forward, as Vaas’ words helped cultivate the massive popularity that Far Cry enjoys to this day.

Far Cry‘s Best Moments – Blood Dragon‘s opening tutorial

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is lauded as one of the best standalone pieces of DLC  the industry has seen so far. The tonal shift from Far Cry 3 is made clear from the beginning, as the player’s character rides into a neon-drenched battlefield with Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” playing in the background. From there, a tutorial sequence commences that purposefully patronizes fans and frequently breaks the fourth wall.

The entirety of Blood Dragon could easily deserve a spot of this list, as Ubisoft crafted entire new weapons and animations on top of Far Cry 3‘s existing assets. If you have yet to experience what the game has to offer, Blood Dragon is definitely worth the hassle of hooking up your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 again.

Far Cry‘s Best Moments – Torturing your own brother (Far Cry 3)

Throughout Far Cry 3, players are tasked with finding the whereabouts of Riley, the main character’s younger brother. When they finally find him, they’re forced to actively torture him as a means to not get the pair both murdered. It’s a scene that’s hard to watch, especially if you have a sibling that you’re fond of. What makes it worse is that the protagonist, Jason, doesn’t hesitate in inflicting more pain onto his already bloodied and bruised family member. It shows how far off the deep end Jason has gone in his journey.

Far Cry’s Best Moments – Hunting woolly mammoths (Far Cry Primal)

Far Cry Primal establishes that it’s not your typical Far Cry game from the get-go through an excellent introductory sequence that has players hunt woolly mammoths with their tribe. Carefully moving beneath the environment’s shrubbery is exciting given the massive creatures thundering overhead. Entrapping the weakest of the herd and spearing the animal to death with your comrades sounds grotesque, but makes for an experience that successfully transports players to an era set thousands of years ago. At the end of the day, it’s all about survival.

Far Cry’s Best Moments – The Wingsuit (Far Cry 3)

One of the best features the franchise has introduced so far is the wingsuit. Originally seen in Far Cry 3, this mechanic allows fans to traverse across Rook Island, Kyrat, or Hope County with ease and take in all the sights on the way down. It helps that the wingsuit debuts in an awesome manner, as an ally named Huntley flies a plane high above Rook Island and instructs fans to jump out without a care in the world. Players are forced to learn how to use the suit quickly, or they’ll plummet into the middle of the ocean or nosedive into the ground.

Far Cry’s Best Moments – Far Cry 2‘s endings

Far Cry 2 is noticeably different from the rest of the franchise in how solemn it is. The player’s character falls ill with malaria early on, basically setting him up for death by the game’s conclusion. When the narrative reaches its climax, fans are forced to choose between manually detonating a bomb and dying in the explosion, or using diamonds to distract some soldiers long enough for a group of civilians to cross into safe territory. The latter option has fans kill themselves, as the guards would eventually find out they’ve been played. Far Cry 2‘s endings may not be the cheeriest entries on this list, but they do manage to leave an impression.

Far Cry is one of Ubisoft’s best-selling properties for good reason. Like Assassin’s Creed, the franchise successfully manages to immerse players in a setting and establishes a certain mood from the outset. Though gameplay hasn’t changed much in over a decade, the underlying principle of giving fans vast new worlds to explore clearly remains a priority. Here’s hoping that New Dawn follows in this quality pedigree and that this series remains a staple of Ubisoft’s portfolio for a long time to come.