When performing criticism of a videogame, I feel that playing it some time after its release presents certain advantages: firstly, we are removed from the marketing hype that has built up some expectations in the player, which may or may not be delivered by the game itself. Next, the game is in a more ‘complete’ state after additions, game of the year editions, and various patches are applied. Lastly, in some cases, there is a removal from the particular social moment of the game’s release which can provide a new lens through which to view the game. This three-part defamiliarization adds up to provide an interesting, and I think, beneficial perspective from which to review a game. This is not to say that this five-years-late review is the proper way to consider a game, certainly I wouldn’t preference one method above the other in absolute terms. However, in my overall pursuit to use criticism to add meaning to games rather than to provide a buyer’s guide, then I feel this approach is just as valid as any other.
Playing Ubisoft's Far Cry 5 (FC5) in 2023 is certainly an experience
unlike any other. The game follows the now well-established structure of the
Far Cry series which involves a discrete chunk of territory being gradually 'liberated’
from a hostile force through individual, guerilla-style tactics. The silent
player-character arrives as an outsider who works with locals to unite a resistance
and turn the tide on the enemy forces. In this case the “Project at Eden’s Gate”
is a Christian doomsday cult whose charismatic, hipster-styled leader Joseph
Seed is bent on preparing his flock for the great collapse of society. He and
his three siblings (Jacob, Faith, and John) have taken violent control of the
fictitious “Hope County” set in the American state of Montana.
