FARCRY_5

FASTLANE

Far Cry 5

Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal^{[N 1]}
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Director(s)	Dan Hay
Producer(s)	Darryl Long
Writer(s)	Drew Holmes
Composer(s)	Dan Romer
Series	Far Cry
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release	March 27, 2018
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

STORY DETAILS :The game is set in the fictional Hope County, Montana, where a preacher named Joseph Seed has risen to prominence. Seed believes that he has been chosen to protect the people of Hope County from an "inevitable collapse" and has established a congregation called Eden's Gate. Ostensibly, this is to fulfill his mission of leading the people to salvation;^[8] in reality, Seed is a radical preacher and Eden's Gate is a militaristic doomsday cult. Under his rule, Eden's Gate has used both coercion and violence to forcibly convert the residents of Hope County, and intimidation to keep them from contacting the outside world for help. When an attempt to arrest Seed ends with the deaths of several lawmen, the player is swept into the armed conflict between Eden's Gate and the remaining Hope County residents, who are organizing themselves into a resistance movement.^[8]

The player takes on the role of a sheriff's deputy who is part of the task force sent to Hope County to arrest Seed. Seed has assumed the title of "the Father" and maintains control over Hope County with the aid of his siblings, known as "the Heralds": Jacob, a former military officer who oversees their armed soldiers; John, a lawyer who has been able to acquire much of the land in Hope County for Eden's Gate; and Faith, who acts as a pacifist to bring the people to believe and trust in her older brother.^[8] The residents of Hope County opposed to Seed include Pastor Jeffries, a local church leader who has seen his congregation taken by Eden's Gate; Mary May, a bartender whose father was driven to suicide by the cult; Nick Rye, a cropduster pilot who wants to eliminate the influence of the cult in order to build a better future for his children;^[9] and Grace Armstrong, a mercenary trained as a sniper who wanders Hope County alone.^[10]

Controversy

Far Cry 5's announcement in May 2017 came at a time of heightened political and ideological conflict around the world due to recent political events, such as the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and the onset of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. Many journalists opined that Far Cry 5's setting and narrative concept, involving themes of religious fanaticism and the rise of the far-right within the borders of the United States—as opposed to the more exotic locales depicted in other Far Crytitles—would likely make the game highly controversial in the current climate.^[2]^[13]^[25] These journalists noted that due to the long development cycle, it was unlikely that Ubisoft intentionally designed the game's narrative around the political climate at the time of the announcement, adding that Ubisoft had been careful to downplay any perceived connections to then-current real world events.^[25]^[26] Responding to the criticism, game director Dan Hay revealed that the story was written to discuss the consequences of beliefs and ideologies being taken to their most extreme form rather than as a response to a particular political event.^[27]

Following its announcement, Far Cry 5 was the subject of an online petition lodged at Change.org by individuals objecting to what they called the portrayal of American Christians as villains and calling for either the game's antagonists to be recast as Muslim or other non-white villains or changing the game's setting to Canada.^[28] The petition itself was criticised by industry commentators who highlighted the game's exploration of its themes as being necessary in the contemporary social and political climate, and pointed to video gaming as a medium for social commentary.^[26]^[29] Some publications questioned the authenticity of the petition, suggesting that it may have been intended as satire

Development

The game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Reflections offering assistance.^[11] Dan Hay, who was lead producer for Far Cry 3, was the lead director, with writing led by Drew Holmes, who had previously worked on BioShock Infinite and its downloadable content.^[12] The game will continue to use the Dunia Engine, a modified version of the CryEngine which the Far Cry series has used for several titles.^[13] The team chose Montana as the game's setting, as the state lies on the frontier of the United States. To create a realistic environment, the development team visited Montana for fourteen days to collect information regarding its biomes, environment, and the "self-reliant" nature of the locals, who do not want any authority or outsider to intervene in their life. The development team had previously carried out a similar research excursion to Nepal during development of Far Cry 4.^[14] As the development team was no longer satisfied with having one core antagonist in each game, the cast of antagonists was significantly expanded.^[15]

After the release of Far Cry Primal in 2016, Ubisoft stated that the next Far Cry title will take more development time and will not be released in 2017.^[16] Far Cry 5 was announced by Ubisoft during the company's financial call, alongside two other major titles, The Crew 2and Assassin's Creed Origins, which are scheduled to be released in fiscal year 2018.^[17] Ubisoft released several teaser trailers and the game's cover art ahead of the game's official reveal on May 26, 2017.^[18]^[19] The game is planned for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with support for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Free skin packs will be available for PlayStation 4 players at launch due to a marketing deal between Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft.^[11] Though the game was set for release on February 27, 2018, Ubisoft announced in December 2017 that its release was pushed back a month to March 27, 2018