Do you want to cause trouble, or fix it? You can do both in “Far Cry: New Dawn,” Ubisoft’s new open-world video game. 

Ubisoft does not let its fans down with its future world of Hope County, Montana, filled with beautiful sights, treasure to find and bad guys to kill in this open-world adventure. This game feels just like “Far Cry 5” since the map and most of the characters are taken from it, but visually, it is a whole new world.

“Far Cry: New Dawn” picks up where “Far Cry 5” left off. The plot continues 17 years after the nuclear bomb hit Hope County. It follows the resistance and The Captain trying to stop the Highwaymen, led by twin sisters Mickey and Lou. The Captain is the protagonist, who received a letter from the Resistance to aid Hope County. The Highwaymen proceed to ambush The Captain and his men. The Captain forms an alliance with the Resistance, and together they seek to end the Highwaymen once and for all. 

The key game mechanic is to gain enough ethanol to improve your home base. With your base fully upgraded, you will be strong enough to take out the highwaymen and win the game. In order to do that, the player needs to take outposts that are scattered around the map, rescue hostages from the highwaymen, or transfer ethanol trucks from the Highwaymen’s bases to yours.

How you explore the world of Hope County is up to you. You get to have the choice of being alone on your adventure through Hope County, playing online with a friend, or have an AI (artificial intelligence) partner to help kill wildlife or the Highwaymen. All of the characters have unique skills and weapons to help you in your quest. They also level up and gain new skills to help you on harder missions. There is a lot of variety here, which adds an element of strategy when picking the right follower for certain areas of the game.

The map is the same as “Far Cry 5,” but smaller. Even though the game was only $40, I’m not sure why the map was reduced. Despite the size, there is still a lot to do. You can take over outposts, build weapons, find necessary parts, go on expedition missions, follow along with the storyline and complete challenges in order to gain new perks and level up your character.

Perks help you on your adventure through Hope County. There are some new perk additions from previous games: You can gain a fishing rod to fish, you can double-jump, you can use a grappling hook to get to higher places, and the ability to become more silent when you walk around enemies. There are also challenges for you to complete, including: kill three people with each gun you unlock, kill three animals and take their skin, find a certain number of spots on the map and walk a number of miles around the map.

Each character has their own personality. The voice actors are able to superbly capture and sell the emotions of their characters. Sadly, the villains are forgettable compared to the villains in the previous “Far Cry” games. Their reason for taking over Hope County is unoriginal, and unfortunately does not cause much concern for them. 

Even though a lot of the game is carried from “Far Cry 5” with a new title, it kept my attention for hours and kept me exploring Hope County. 

For those that loved “Far Cry 5” or any of the other games, or like to cause trouble in a beautiful, open world, this game will not disappoint.

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