Ubisoft Montreal has officially announced Far Cry: New Dawn at the 2018 Game Awards. The game is set to be a direct sequel to last year’s Far Cry 5, and takes place 17 years after the events of the previous entry. Before we go any further, here’s the reveal trailer itself:
Yesterday saw an obscure tweet from the official Far Cry 5 Twitter account that featured a brief teaser trailer and the promise of more information. Since then, we’ve been treated to a full-length look at Far Cry: New Dawn that confirms both the return to Hope County – where Far Cry 5 took place – and the post-apocalyptic setting.
Far Cry New Dawn: Everything you need to know
Far Cry: New Dawn release date: When will it launch, and how much will it cost?
Ubisoft has set the date: Far Cry: New Dawn will launch on 15 February 2019. Given that this game had flown under the radar until yesterday, there’s been no prior evidence of a release date, but given that February is only two months away we’re inclined to be forgiving.
Far Cry: New Dawn will cost you £40/$40, and is available for preorder right this very second from Amazon. If you’d like the Deluxe Edition, you’ll have to fork out £48, according to a listing on the PlayStation Store.
Far Cry: New Dawn gameplay: What’s it all about?
The trailer itself is packed with standard Far Cry fare: sprawling landscapes, explosive gunfights and loquacious villains. Like 2016’s Far Cry: Primal – which made noticeable use of the Far Cry 4 map – New Dawn is a spin-off, but is the first Far Cry game to continue the narrative developed by its predecessor. There’s even a slightly obscure glimpse of a familiar religious fanatic: Far Cry 5’s antagonist Joseph Seed materialises briefly at the end of the trailer, lamenting the direction that the world he helped build has headed.
According to a press release, Far Cry: New Dawn pits our nameless protagonist against a group called the Highwaymen, a large portion of the survivors of the nuclear detonation that occurred at the end of Far Cry 5. The remaining survivors – unimaginatively named, uh, the Survivors – have suffered through nuclear fire only to find their lives under constant threat from the twin leaders of the Highwaymen. A pair called Mickey and Lou feature prominently in the trailer, and seem pretty intent on ruling the post-apocalyptic roost.
So far, we know a few key features will be making a return from Far Cry 5. From your home base in Hope County, you’ll be able to manage your Guns/Fangs for Hire, a roster of sidekicks that Ubisoft cryptically claims will consist of “new and familiar faces”. Obviously, the traditional Far Cry elements will return en masse: an expansive – if not slightly run-down – open world will be yours to explore, and a suitably aggressive arsenal of both weapons and vehicles will be sure to keep you well armed and fearless.
The most interesting new feature, however, is what Ubisoft is calling Expeditions. The press release describes short supply-run missions that drop the player into environments seemingly detached from the open world of Hope County. We’ll be visiting “memorable locations across the US,” according to Ubisoft; what this looks like, and how it plays, remains to be seen.
Far Cry: New Dawn platforms: Which platforms will the game be playable on?
Far Cry: New Dawn will be available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. It will also be optimised for play on the 4K-ready variants of these consoles; the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are sure to make the game look even better than it already does.
If you’re excited by Ubisoft’s take on a nuclear wasteland, but can’t decide on which console to explore Hope County, why not have a browse of our article on whether to buy into Xbox or PlayStation ?
