Ubisoft Montreal announced a successor to the Far Cry 5 (review) series at The Game Awards in Los Angeles. Far Cry New Dawn will be a standalone sequel to Far Cry 5 in a post-apocalyptic setting. The game is to be released February 15 next year.
Ubisoft has presented Far Cry New Dawn through a trailer. Cult leader Joseph Seed had a rather devastating plan. New Dawn builds on this ; Hope County and the entire world are hit by nuclear bombs. New Dawn is set many years (17) after those events, to be precise, which means there’s scope for some returning characters. Atomic bombs have devastated the area in the new part, however. The nuclear winter was followed by a “super bloom”, which provided plenty of colorful vegetation instead of bleak landscapes. A group of raiders, the so-called Highwaymen, make life difficult for the survivors. The ruthless twin sisters Mickey and Lou are the leaders of the player’s new opponents.
The US has endured a long and brutal nuclear winter, where nothing grew and almost everything died. Nearly two decades later, nature has enthusiastically reclaimed what humankind lost – New Dawn presents the most lush and inviting apocalypse imaginable. There’s been an explosion of vegetation. Vibrant pink flowers cascade over the landscape and the bones of abandoned buildings. In fact, this is an actual phenomenon seen in nature known as ‘superbloom’, a period of intense fertility in which long-dormant life reappears and thrives. But look closely, and you’ll recognise the location.
“We did our research and created our own model for the 15-20 years after a World War III scenario,” says Decant. “We contacted specialists in the US that are dedicating their whole career into what would be the outcome of a nuclear winter and what would happen. They helped us shape this model so that we can start with the basis that felt grounded.”
Despite this grounding, New Dawn naturally feels along the lines of Far Cry’s more outlandish installments like prehistoric adventure Far Cry: Primal or sci-fi spin-off Blood Dragon. While I am fond of Far Cry’s brand of systemic carnage, I tend to find it most interesting when it goes experimental. Which is where New Dawn holds its appeal.
Far Cry New Dawn is scheduled to be released on February 15, 2019 for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (S / X) platforms, and is available for pre-order. The standard edition costs about 45 euros / 40 USD, the Deluxe Edition with additional ingame equipment is ten euros more expensive.
