It’s years after the nukes fell at the
end of Far Cry 5, and your nameless
character has been traveling the
country by rail, helping survivors
rebuild the post-apocalyptic United
States. A group of highwaymen (not
that cleverly called the
‘Highwaymen’) derail
your train, and leave
you stranded. After
making your way to a
small community called
Prosperity, you venture
out into the overgrown
remains of Hope
County, fighting the
Highwaymen, conquering outposts,
gathering resources for crafting, and
enlisting a small cadre of
companions, like an elderly sniper
and an enormous boar. This goes
without saying, but never bring the
sniper. Always bring the boar.
As you help out the locals you gain
perk points that can be used to
unlock skills in any order you wish, a
nice and loose ability system that lets
you focus on whatever is mostimportant to your playstyle, be it
melee damage, stealth kills, or
traversal tools like the wingsuit and
grappling hook. A set of five new
skills introduced near the end of the
game indulge a bit more
ridiculousness, giving
you fun powers like a
double jump and
limited-time berserker
strength. Now when I
swing my spiked
baseball bat at a bear it
sails comically through
the air. These powers
seem fresh for a bit, but
feel a little unnecessary when I’m
already able to insta-kill with stealth
takedowns and spawn an endless
supply of helicopters.
Combat is the same frantic and
fun gunplay as in the past few Far
Cry games. Vehicles and barrels
explode, fire spreads across grass and
trees, enemies recklessly charge and
scream, and bombard you with
mortars or light you up with
flamethrowers, with the occasionalwild animal or friendly citizen getting
caught up in the chaos.COUNTY LINES
There are plenty of familiar
landmarks on this smaller version of
the map (radiation has closed off a
portion of it) and several familiar (yet
older) characters from the last game
are still around. I think we’re meant
to feel a bit wistful about Hope
County—a quest has you collecting
old photographs to help you
remember what the landscape looked
like before the bombs – but it’s hard
to feel like there’s much difference
between the world’s chaotic past and
present, and Far Cry 5 was only just
last year, so it’s not exactly a nostalgia
trip. You can make a few expeditions
out of Montana, raiding larger and
more imaginative enemy outposts off
the main map, like an aircraft carrier
on the coast and even Alcatraz.
The big bads of New Dawn, twin
sisters Mickey and Lou, are so
inconsequential I almost forgot to
mention them. Unlike the Seed
family in Far Cry 5, they aren’t
constantly subjecting you to long,
drawn out speeches (thank you). The
twins only appear a few times, and
mostly just issue brief threats over
the radio to remind you they exist.
I completed the main story quest
in about a dozen hours, and spent a
few more mopping up side-quests
and exploring. It’s brief compared to
Far Cry 5, and completable without
fully upgrading Prosperity to access
the highest levels of gear and vehicles
(though you’ll definitely want to
unlock the best weapons).
While it’s good fun at times, New
Dawn is really just a quick trip back
to Far Cry 5’s Montana that hasn’t
changed much beyond a post-
apocalyptic paint job.NEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
Far Cry 5, but smaller
EXPECT TO PAY
$40
DEVELOPER
Ubisoft Montreal
PUBLISHER
Ubisoft
REVIEWED ON
Intel i5-6600K @ 3.50
GHz, 8 GB RAM, Nvidia
GeForce GTX 980
MULTIPLAYER
Co-op
LINK
far-cry.ubisoft.com/
game/en-gb/home70
Somewhat like Primal
before it, New Dawn is a
layer of post-nuke paint
spread over the familiar
Far Cry experience.VERDICTFar Cry 5 was
only just last
year so it’s not
exactly a
nostalgia tripY
ou’d think a nuke being dropped on Montana would have
changed it somewhat, but Far Cry New Dawn’s post-
apocalyptic version of Hope County is essentially the same
one we know from Far Cry 5. New Dawn adds a couple of
new twists to the series’ formula, but nothing to make it feel
like a wholly different game. This is Far Cry 5 again, just on a smaller scale,
and with a lot more pink flowers.CRY AGAIN
FAR CRY NEW DAWN is Far Cry 5 again, but with a
post-apocalyptic paint job. By Chris Livingston
PIG MOOD The eight companions ranked
THE JUDGE
Hunter/
Enigma
Uses a bow.
Never speaks. Wears
mask. Wait, is this your
character from 5? 95/100TIMBER
Scout/Dog
Cute dog who
rides in your
sidecar. Loses a few points
for not being a boar.
90/100GINA
Heavy
Gunner/
Badass
Drives a car with a
mounted gun. Endless
ammo. Nuff said. 80/100HORATIO
Tank/Boar
Can knock over
cars and
self-revive. Snores when
he sleeps. Is a boar.
100/100CARMINA
Assaulter/
Buzzkill
Dark past.
Throws dynamite when
she’s not talking about her
dark past. 60/100JEROME
Berserker/
Pastor
Likes to set
things on fire. But so do I.
Don’t steal my thunder,
dude. 50/100HURK
RPG/Yokel
Talks way too
much. Blows
stuff up real good. But
darn, shut up.
40/100NANA
Sniper/Granny
You wouldn’t
expect a kind
old granny to be good at
sniping. That’s the joke.
70/100REVIEW