The Far Cry series burst onto the gaming scene 15-years ago and instantly made a name for itself with its addictive free-form gameplay. In 2019, gamers can list off the elements of a Far Cry game in their sleep. The franchise offers violent action-filled romps through exotic locations, and each game takes place in a setting where man, beast, and even the savage terrain assaults your out-gunned hero. Far Cry New Dawn is the first game in the series that makes a point of attacking the player’s senses.

Far Cry New Dawn’s visual take on the post-apocalypse is less Mad Max and more Willy Wonka. The game takes place 17-years after the events of Far Cry 5, which ends with global nuclear apocalypse. The catastrophe left behind a trail of smoke and ash and drove people below ground. But life always finds a way. And when the people of Hope County emerge from their bunkers, they’re shocked by what they see. The nuke that decimated their corner of Montana must have been packed with plutonium and skittles. After years of gloom, the landscape bounced back and respawned as the result of a scientific phenomenon known as a super bloom.

The region’s flora and fauna are more striking than ever. The game’s visual style looks influenced by Alex Garland’s sci-fi/horror gem, Annihilation. Brilliant pink and blue flowers run wild as far as the eye can see. Vast swaths of the day and night skies shimmer with an iridescent Borealis effect. And the wildlife evolved into more stunning – and dangerous – versions of their former selves. You haven’t seen anything until an irradiated wolverine makes a swift dash towards your loins.

The game designers take New Dawn’s visual bombast and incorporate it into the story and gameplay. The games’ villains, known as Highwaymen, are a hodgepodge of weapons, rainbows, and bad attitudes. They rock bright-coloured body-armour, cover their fortresses in graffiti, and they announce their arrivals with parades of fireworks and loud music. Since New Dawn puts players inside a neon-lit apocalypse, it’s only right that it embraces a fitting style of play.

This game wants players to let their freak flag fly – if they’re so inclined. Dress your character, known as The Captain, as a medieval knight, a unicorn, or even equip a cyborg leg. Or get behind the wheel of a unicorn-themed motorcycle-and sidecar and skewer bad guys with the bike’s horn. (The apocalypse loves it some unicorns). The game even arms players with a gun that fires saw blades. And just to gild the lily, late in the story The Captain gains the ability to double jump, cloak, and knock out a bear with a single punch. New Dawn doesn’t take itself seriously, except when it does.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#45B0D3″ class=”” size=””]The post-apocalypse is less Mad Max and more Willy Wonka[/perfectpullquote]

Despite New Dawn’s over-the-top visuals and balls-to-the-wall action, its story feels inexplicably dour. Far Cry games famously pit players against one-note psychopaths. New Dawn mixes things up by pitting players against two one-note psychopaths; sibling twins named Mickey and Lou. Mickey and Lou are ruthless thugs who took advantage of the post-apocalypse’s power void. They’re brash, vicious, and calculating villains who prey on the weak. They’re also completely uninteresting.

We’ve seen New Dawn’s story play out in legendary films like Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. Mickey, Lou, and their band of Highwaymen roll through the country pillaging vulnerable outposts. They have their sites set on the thriving town of Prosperity, and it’s up to the player to lead the town’s resistance. Throughout the game, the player must rescue and recruit allies to bolster Prosperity’s defences and put an end to the Mickey and Lou’s tyrannical reign.

The twins show up in a few key scenes, act like assholes, and then bounce, with little nuance or depth to their wants and needs. These women live by a simple code: people are problem makers or problem solvers. Their binary perspective sounds very Harvey Dent/Two-face, but their schtick is only half as amusing. They come off as annoying shit-talkers rather than compelling adversaries. I love losing myself in a game’s story but found myself huffing and puffing every time they popped up during my playthrough.

The conflict with the twins makes up the bulk of the game’s main plot, and story wise New Dawn is aggressively bland. Lots of things happened during my 16-hour playthrough, but none of it carried much emotional weight. The game features some memorable set pieces, but the pleasure comes from the satisfying gameplay and not the low emotional stakes. I engaged in side-quests and rescued supporting characters because it moved along my playthrough. Not because I had any interest in helping their journeys or listening to what they had to say. And I’m the type of player who loves wringing every drop of story out of a game.

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Fortunately, the rock-solid gameplay is enough to get most players through New Dawn’s main campaign. New Dawn incorporates light-RPG elements. You must recruit skilled NPCs to join your town to upgrade your skill-tree. Rescue a cartographer and gain access to more detailed maps; upgrade the weapons area and you can level-up your paltry weapons. And upgrades are essential. Stumble across a level II enemy with your level I pistol, and you may as well attack with a pea-shooter.

Hope County’s greatest prize is ethanol and finding it is key to upgrading your base. The best way to score ethanol is by raiding Highwaymen outposts. But pillaging every outpost on the map won’t provide enough resources. You may give up control of an outpost, which lets Highwaymen return with stronger forces. Taking them out a second and third time isn’t so easy, but it returns higher amounts of ethanol. This gameplay loop feels like a lazy quick way to stretch out the game. As you level up your character and make it closer to the endgame, there is less incentive to keep raiding outposts.

As pretty as New Dawn looks, it’s still a re-skinned Far Cry 5 map. And players who sank countless hours into the previous title may not be thrilled about returning to their old stomping grounds so soon. As if to compensate for the recycled map, New Dawn throws players a bone.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#45B0D3″ class=”” size=””]As pretty as New Dawn looks, it’s still a re-skinned Far Cry 5 map.[/perfectpullquote]

The Captain may board a helicopter and embark on expeditions that take place outside of Hope County. They are extraction missions on smaller isolated maps that add a dash of variety to the game. Players sneak through a map, track down their loot, and get out of dodge while waves of pissed-off bad guys stand in their way. A swampy Louisiana theme park, crashed satellite, and a visit to Alcatraz prison make for some fun, though short distractions.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed New Dawn’s Guns/Fangs for Hire feature. In most games, I find that NPC companions get in the way more often than they lend a hand. But I never felt like that’s the case in New Dawn. I preferred having an NPC’s added firepower with me as I battled swarms of Highwaymen scumbags. There are six Guns for Hire and two Fangs for Hire available once The Captain unlocks them through their respective quests. And they’re all down to shed Highwaymen blood. Each NPC brings a unique skill set to the table; some show up in vehicles, some throw dynamite, and others keep Hope County’s pernicious wildlife from attacking unprovoked. Take them with you on enough missions, and they level up into lethal killing machines. I rarely left Prosperity without one.

As you make your way through the world, you’ll stumble across one of the game’s treasure hunts. Treasure hunts force players to solve a puzzle to unlock valuable loot. These aren’t as challenging as the gear and lever puzzles in Tomb Raider. But treasure hunts are welcome distractions that force you to flex mental muscles rather than your trigger finger. Other activities like photograph hunts, fishing, and supply drops each allow players to lose themselves down a deep New Dawn rabbit hole.

Pop culture loves returning to the apocalypse, and gaming offers some of the genre’s most fertile ground. Telltale’s Walking Dead series, Horizon Zero Dawn, and the Fallout games each mine the post-apocalypse to produce gritty examinations of what it means to reach the end of civilization. Every minute in these worlds conveys a sense of melancholy. After all, enduring the last gasps of a dying era is serious business.

This game’s narrative doesn’t wrestle with the genre’s weighty themes. And despite a coat of neon paint – and the addition of superpowers – New Dawn doesn’t go far enough in the other direction. It’s outlandish, but not all-out bonkers. Fun shooting mechanics, vibrant open-world exploration, and eyeball-melting visuals offer the same old Far Cry. But the new look and feel add just enough variety to keep the series fresh. Let’s call it Far Cry 5 cosplaying as its deeper, meaner, post-apocalyptic rivals.