Far Cry 5 doesn’t want to offend anyone, so it will end up annoying everyone

Far Cry 5 is a decent iteration of the Far Cry formula tied to a story that goes to ridiculous lengths to avoid upsetting anyone. The game’s timidity and lack of investment in its own setup sinks what could have been an otherwise enjoyable entry in the series.

[moegooner88]

Pretty much what I was anxious about. Glad I skipped it for Ni No Kuni 2.

[mouzone]

lol wants a edgy game that's not scared to offend people...... buys Ni No Kuni 2
Mission Accomplished

[Sarcasm]

LOL

[Princess_Pilfer]

How easy it must be to win a fight against a man made of straw.

[strifeblade]

LOL!!!!! This guy acted all macho and he pushed the boundaries and then bought NI NO KUNI LOL!!

[StormSnooper]

I bought both Ni No Kuni and Farcry. Both are great (although NNK would win if I had to choose). As far as Farcry, it’s great, with a relevant story, it has a bit of a Handmaids Tale vibe which is great.

Personally I think it’s great that Farcry took on this story. I think there is actually a social commentary behind the story, and it’s a cautionary tale for Americans. Farcry doesn’t have to go out of its way to offend as long as it gets its message across.

[killswitch80]

wait what ...Ni No Kuni 2 has the most annoying dialogue ever and its baby easy gameplay is really annoying. .But ok go live "happily every after" that shit was so lame and they said it a hundred times.

[AsunaYuukiTheFlash]

Still a better game than Far Cry 5 and Sea of Thieves. 😁

[Gaming101]

This review and criticism is stupid. Everyone wanted this game to be a divisive political satire with strong political points that would enrage conservatives. That's not what the devs sent out to do. This isn't The Daily Show or any other late night talk show where they rip conservatives and Donald Trump a new asshole every single night, it doesn't matter if they deserve it, which they do. The game is supposed to feature alt right idealogy, but becoming a preachy political diatribe is not what the devs wanted to do, and rightfully so. This should be a fun game first, and preachy political game second, and I say that as an independent who hates the alt right.

[StormSnooper]

I agree. I think there is just enough politics to make it relevant, and in fact it’s message is better delivered by not focusing on trying to offend anyone.

[Christopher]

I don't think saying 'everyone wanted' is accurate. I got exactly what I expected as far as the story goes as did most people.

Anyone expecting a major publisher to push a major AAA games that is extremely divisive is just living with their head in the clouds.

[-Foxtrot]

"By Ben Kuchera"

Of course

[Mista2018]

Of course? Is there a history about him that we should know of?

[meka2611]

He has always been very SJW type. Always on and on about this is offensive and we should change this and blah blah blah

[-Foxtrot]

He's just one of those people that bring shit like this up...forcing politics into games and the like, making a big deal over little things for the sake of it.

A female character model in a game could have a short skirt for simple design purposes and he'd be the person who would write an article with a headline like "DOES THIS REPRESENT THE MALE DOMINATED SEXISM IN FEMALE CHARACTER DESIGNS"

You can imagine how he was during Gamergate...boy that was a show

[Darkwatchman]

Kuchera thinks Tetris is Soviet propaganda. Enough said

[Rachel_Alucard]

He writes the opposite opinion of what people think. When everyone was against paid mods he had his article ready to defend it on purpose so he could score easy hits from all the angry comments. He doesn't care or believe anything he writes and sets his articles up to be easily deconstructed so that even the people who don't act stupid in the comments come out and point out how his arguments are flawed or whatever but they don't understand they're falling into a trap with his writing.

He's done this for years, and if you go way back anytime a controversy happens he'll never write anything supporting what the general community believes. Always the opposite for hits. It just gets people upset and they flock to him. Even as you read through the comments below you see people arguing "Why should the game have politics/offensive material?"

[MinnesotaFatts]

Ben Kuchera was the guy that wrote the "Gamers Are Dead" article back in '14. He's a tool, don't worry about him.

[Link2DaFutcha]

They've also been making this game for years, like the current political climate wasn't as divisive probably when they first started working on this, just like Wolfenstein 2, people try and attribute current events with something that has been in the works for at least 3-4 years.

[Eidolon]

Christ. I can probably enjoy the game without ever thinking of shit like this.

[secrettalkshowhost]

Then put your money where you mouth is and don't bitch about an article that you aren't going to read.

[BlackTar187]

This comment doesn't really make sense.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed I would have been completely fine if they wanted to have more of the story interject in regards to American culture if they wanted to go that Direction with a deep narrative speaking about how the country views these Concepts but I'm also completely fine if they don't want to and it's simply just a setting or backdrop in the story actually is about something else.

The only thing I would be upset about would be if they decided to not do this because they were scared about how the public would view their game the way I see it is if an artist really wants to do something like this they should be Unapologetic and seek to create what they want to create so I'm hoping that this was only done because it was never meant to be that in the first place as opposed to them bending to public pressure.

But looking at it most of the Far Cry games they never really had narratives that were trying to speak on subject matter like this in a really deeply impactful way.

[yeahokwhatever]

This is a game that's about stopping an insane cult. The game happens to take place in Montana. That's all. No politics are needed at all for this. It's Jim Jones on 'roids. It's fun, creepy, suspenseful, and sometimes silly. It's glorious. Shoot, the main badguy even borrowed Jim Jones' sunglasses. https://www.historicmysteri...

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Yea- exactly. They just don't even make narrative games like that for folks to assume that this should have been different

[tomdcruise]

You are absolutely right.

[smolinsk]

Why the Fu..should the game try to offend people? Far cry has never done that, more Rockstars table.. Far Cry 5 is great as it is, silly brutal and fun, just this time its in the USA and so what...

[Xenophon_York]

Yeah, no, Far Cry tends to put in a jiab at a demographic or two. Far Cry 3 enjoyed mocking the trust-fund-baby-turned-college -student, brahs gone wild crowd.

[Omnisonne]

FC3 wasn't so much about mocking as it was showing the big contrast and drastic change from one lifestyle to another. The only individual that is clearly a play (though a very silly, non-serious one) is a character named Hurk.

[yeastori]

Uh it offended a whole lot of people. It makes fun of Christians, rednecks, liberals, vegans and even Obama. If you progress enough in the game you’ll come across side quests that even made fun of Hilary and libtards.

[TheCommentator]

^This^

[Eidolon]

They did(a studio, and published) South Park TFBW, why would they be afraid of offending anyone.. lol

[ULTp0ltergeist]

Well, it's obvious only the liberals were offended by this. LOL! They really expected a narrative that justified their killing of white-supremacist Christians but most of all mad that their liberals sentiments have no impact on the industry.

[RememberThe357]

Why would liberals care any more than conservatives? I'm a liberal conservative and I love the idea of any kind of Nazi killing in videogames, even American Nazis can get it. But it seems like that's not really what they went for here. It seems more to fall into the mold of their "charismatic madman villain and his baddies."

[Christopher]

Is that why there's a petition to remove any Christian references and change it to reflect something else entirely?

https://www.change.org/p/ub...

[yeahokwhatever]

"liberal conservative" you what now? Do you mean a libertarian?

@christopher, thats a troll-poll, bro. https://twitter.com/GamersU... If you can't tell by the first sentence, the internet must be a really rough place for you. :-(

[Christopher]

Sure. Easy to call it a troll while ignoring those signatures. Absolutely no one would ever be offended by FC5 for the point they brought up even though it's received many similar complaints for the exact same thing.

[MinnesotaFatts]

I know, it's great, innit?

[Razmiran]

Why does the game have to provide political commentary just because its now set in the USA? Its an honest question, i dont live in USA and to me it seems like far cry was always whacky and non serious, but suddenly now its a problem?

[Araragifeels]

Snowflake can't take a joke and get offended for anything which is why its called a problem in USA.

[ULTp0ltergeist]

Exactly, think about that. Out of everyone only they are offended. They seem to love the tone of the reveal trailers but the final game never justified their political views. LOL

[Xenophon_York]

With you. It's like the person that will laugh when jokes are being told about everyone else but is ready to throw 'bows when the joke's on him.

This country has gotten a hundred times more confrontational and critically defensive in the past ten-to-fifteen years. So many are ready to go to fists if you look at them the wrong way. It's coming to a head though. The dam is about to break.

[Princess_Pilfer]

It doesn't. The comment is on how the game is set in the US and supposedly deals with US christian radicals, but actually explores few if any of the beliefs or recruitment methos the actual radicals in the US tend believe or use.

It's like trying to tell a story featuring a bunch of radical muslims while excluding/refusing to critisise them for the horrible sexism/homophobia, ect because you don't want to offend muslims. Sorta a "conspicious by it's absence" sorta thing.

(I'm not agreeing or disagreeing and haven't played the game so I don't know if it's valid or not, just explaining the reasoning behind the complaint)

[Christopher]

Most Far Cry and Assassin's Creed games provide political commentary from many sides, right? Perhaps you've ignored it because of the setting, but it's always there.

[FPS_D3TH]

Not enough real world activism and edgy debate in a fun videogame! 6.5/10
-polygon

[ZombieGamerMan]

It's the new Too much water

[jagermaster619]

Everyone has gone soft these days, if it offends you then don't play it!!! Tired of all the sissy's trying to ruin the fun for everyone else.

[bigmalky]

Polygon... No idea.

Make games, not clickbait news if you want to stop crying about a developer's personal choices, or just moan about politics away from gaming, you soft-skinned, whining gimp.

[BlackTar187]

Stop crying about companies not siding with your political wants in their product and enjoy the game if it's fun

[Der_Kommandant]

Oh look.. its Polygon, closes tab.

[Hardiman]

So the game is fun, it has some cool and varied missions, has a rich game world and it looks fantastic but because it didn't push your idea of what is right politically you say it's not up to par!

I play games for an escape! Sure there are some that tell a great yarn or have some social commentary but this is FarCry man and I go into this series to shoot cool weapons, explore the world and experience the unscripted events.

[brianunfried]

Everything I saw about the game never gave me that impression. I was expecting just a bunch of silly characters, blowing stuff up and goofy fun.

[Kumakai]

i dig it so far. if you are offended by the game, maybe you should look inward a bit and figure out why that is.... just sayin. don't be a religious gun nut zealot.

[ULTp0ltergeist]

I don't think it's the religioous gun nutz that have a problem with it. So far it's the usual liberal rhetoric, mad because their opinion has no impact on the industry.

[stokedAF]

Is this the same guy who wrote the review? He said the same thing there. It doesn’t annoy everyone, just him apparently lol. Enough to double dip on the subject matter lol. Just saying..

[AntiZeal0t]

Even as an atheist, I see the game doesn't take a jab at Christianity as a whole, but moreso religious extremeism, and there's really no reason for it to attack all of religion. I'm having fun with it.

[FallenAngel1984]

What’s with the sudden sensitivity. It’s okay to depict other parts of the world in fanatical ways but the US is off limits?

[GamesMaster1982]

Sound's like my type of game . Can't wait to jump in and take down all these Religious terrorist nut jobs after work tomorrow.

[inxine]

yea. to please the SJW type of people. with all the trailers and images and story bits we've seen i rly thought this one would be different. not necessarily offend people but tell a true story, true events, true racism and its issues, and everyday issues.

[bluefox755]

That's rich coming from Polygon, lmao.

[King Nezz]

People are so offended nowadays. Except for homophobic or anything racially offensive, everything else should be game.

[Tankbusta40]

Why eliminate those? Everything should be open if its well written. You should run into racist characters(as racism exists in real life). Same with homophobic characters or even people who say "gay" etc.

[King Nezz]

Why would any sane, decent person need to say anything like the N word or queer? Guess mommy was too busy with the new boyfriend and didn't give little Timmy enough hugs.

[Lamboomington]

"Why would any sane, decent person need to say anything like the N word or queer?"

Why do all characters in a video game have to be 'decent' ?

Reminds me when some people complained that Arkham City was sexist because thugs would call Catwoman 'bitch'. That's not sexism, that's literally exactly what you'd expect them to call her. Similar complaints about Bandits in Witcher 3 calling Ciri a 'whore' or 'slut' during combat. Like, they're bandits, what do people you expect ? Those same bandits tell Geralt that they'll fuck his dead body.

These criticisms make no sense at all. It gets even worse when you realize that these cases were as explicit as possible. The characters making those remarks were explicitly 'the bad guys'.

[shammgod]

There they go, sucking the fun out of video games again

[jjb1981]

After listening to the VGO podcast, I understand what they were talking about more. Its a Far cry game. It doesn't have to represent any political agenda. Its a setting for a game. People are offended that it isn't edgy and people would have been offended if it was. The problem is that the whiny self-entitled gamers spewing their political agenda seem to slowly be changing the perception of an art into a public controversy. Its getting old. Read Polygon's review of this game. Talk about deranged....

[OffRoadKing]

I'm both annoyed and offended by this, LOL. Actually the only thing that annoyed me was figuring out how to get the dog out of the damn cage. Figured it out though, I pet him and now we are best friends.

[TheOttomatic91]

It was never meant to offend anyone but SJWs made it that way. The cult was never meant to be a white supremacist group (it has black members) but “journalists” needed a hot topic to speak about.

[JokerBoy422]

Sounds like the "writer" was really looking forward to killing white Christians and now feels robbed of said activity. Wish these morons would just go back to their safe spaces and shut up.

[Zer0Flinch]

Am i the only one that bought this game for the map editor?

[Skuletor]

Was actually just playing it and it's just as fun as Far Cry 3 was for me. At the end of the day isn't the gameplay what really matters anyway?

[Inzo]

F*^&$%#*&^$%*&$ I hate todays left leaning gaming journalists, they all have a way of sucking the fun out of every game.

[tomdcruise]

Please calm down everyone

[sampsonon]

this guy must be a blast to watch a movie with, don't forget to bring your Tylenol though.

[ShadowWolf712]

LMAO Polygon really hurt this didn't go pro-gun control.

OK, please explain how this game is supposed to make that political statement when everyone else being armed is all that staved off that cult from a complete takeover?

Please explain how strawmanning every gun owner or religious person as being like Eden's Gate was feasible in this scenario, let alone would have made for an interesting game?

Lord, y'all just so HURT by this.

[qazitam67]

Why do people think that every game have to make some kind of political point by highlighting the harsh divisions in our society? Why does a cult have to be white supremist? I am no expert on cults but many of them are not racially biased, they are quite happy to take money from everyone who is a sucker. Far Cry 5 is a tongue in cheek game that touches on these issues enough without being some grandiose social commentary on the ills of our society. I play games to forget the real world for the brief times I play, not to wallow in its problems. The game is a blast and I like the story for what it is. Good job Ubisoft.

[Fearmonkey]

Wont read it, already know its an SJW fest mad that its not anti-christian and anti-trump enough. I am enjoying it, i dont want my games to make political statements, just want to have fun.

[cell989]

3 things that bug me about this game, actually the ONLY 3 things:
1.The gun sound effects are lacking, the gunshots feel very dry and nerfed. I want the guns to sound more alive
2. you cant skip the cut scenes (super annoying)
3. when you drive a vehicle you cant change the view to 3rd person, your stuck driving in FP mode, which gets annoying with the camera
Besides these nuances, the game is awesome!!

[OpenGL]

The most offensive thing about Far Cry 5 is that it's the exact same game that Ubisoft has been making since Far Cry 3.

[yeahokwhatever]

Far Cry 5 is fine. Who cares if they didn't make the game hyperbole about Trump or good Americans? That's not what this game is about at all. If you try to see it that way, you're a hateful ignoramus. It's about a locale, not about dumping on people who live outside the city. It's about stopping a crazy, murderous colt leader with the help of some backwoods locals, not about subverting the 2nd amendment for some ridiculous SJW cause. Get your head out of the gutter and smoke a little less pot. Geez.