Yesterday’s full reveal of Far Cry 5 comes at an interesting time, to say the least. Its choice of a US setting–as opposed to the “exotic” locations in previous Far Cry games–seems acutely prescient, primed and ready to make a statement about the country. While Ubisoft’s decision to tackle a potentially controversial and difficult setting is admirable, there’s a thin line between an interesting examination of the current political climate of the US and a game that is incredibly tone-deaf in its approach. For Far Cry 5 to really nail its setting and themes, it shouldn’t shy away from the messy, complicated reality of its real-life inspirations.
Far Cry 5’s cult-occupied Montana setting isn’t an accident. During a behind-closed-doors presentation ahead of the reveal, creative director Dan Hay specifically mentioned the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016 as an influence of sorts (whether it’s for the anti-government militia themselves or the phallic fan mail they received during the occupation remains to be seen). He first presented the game by describing a side of America dedicated to Constitutional freedoms and possessing a strong aversion to the federal government, an America built on the mantra “faith, freedom, firearms.”
But Far Cry 5’s antagonists aren’t merely a militia group fighting for individual freedoms justified or not–Eden’s Gate is also a radical doomsday cult. They control the fictional Hope County, and when you, a new junior deputy, arrive in their county, things get violent. The cult’s religious fanaticism is plastered all over the promotional materials for the game, from the Last Supper-inspired cover to a preacher in the trailer with the Seven Deadly Sins etched into his skin. All things considered, the roles seem pretty cut and dried: Your job as the deputy is to liberate the county from the cult’s stranglehold, and you can even “engage cult forces in aerial dogfights” in order to do it.
It’s easy to condemn extremism, to turn it into a convenient enemy; it’s harder to develop an antagonist by examining the socioeconomic and political factors at their core, both extreme and moderate. The fact that Far Cry 5 puts you in the shoes of a police deputy against anti-government religious extremists is significant. It’s a dynamic that has a history with subtleties and complications that shouldn’t be ignored, and to represent it as anything but complicated–especially when violence is the core pillar of gameplay–is shallow at best and a dangerous misrepresentation of real-world tensions at worst.
In that sense, Far Cry 5 has more in common with the explosive 1993 Waco, Texas siege on the Branch Davidians compound than it does the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. The months-long siege by federal and state law enforcement as well as the US military on the compound resulted in over 80 deaths, including the religious sect’s fanatical leader, David Koresh. It wasn’t a question of federal versus state law, as it (at least partially) was in the Malheur case; Koresh was a radical leader, allegedly taking underage “brides” and stockpiling illegal weapons.
It’s easy to condemn extremism, to turn it into a convenient enemy; it’s harder to develop an antagonist by examining the socioeconomic and political factors at their core.
Before Waco, though, was the standoff at Ruby Ridge in Idaho in 1992. It involved a man named Randy Weaver and his family, who moved to a remote area for reasons that included distrust of society and their religious belief in an upcoming apocalypse. After Weaver failed to appear in court for firearms charges, US Marshals surveyed the property before shots broke out. Weaver’s son was killed initially, and his wife was killed by an FBI sniper. The incident led to controversy over the actions of the Marshals and their assessment of the threat Weaver posed.
The key to Far Cry 5’s success, at least in portraying a modern-day separatist portion of America, is dependent on how it frames both Eden’s Gate and your place in Hope County. If there is depth to the cult’s members and compelling exploration of how and why a cult takes hold–and if there’s an opportunity for introspection into the role of government and violence against radical groups and individuals–then Far Cry 5 can be seriously impactful. But if it’s just you versus the crazies of a cult, it will be a bombastic shooter that oversimplifies a political reality in the US, and that serves no one.
Far Cry 5 launches on February 27 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
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