At the Ubisoft Forward E3 2021 press conference, they finally unveiled their post-launch plans for Far Cry 6. We’ll be getting a batch of DLC that focuses on the villains from Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, and Far Cry 5. Getting to step into the shoes of Vaas, Pagan Min, and Joseph Seed seems like a really cool way to remember how great all three of those villains were — each of them legendary in his own way.
On top of this, Ubisoft is throwing in the beloved Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon to sweeten the pot.
However, before you get yourself too worked up, take a moment to think back on Far Cry 5‘s season pass. Remember this?
Ubisoft teased us with several planned expansions. One had zombies! One went back to the Vietnam War! And one was set on Mars! Just imagining the Far Cry open-world gameplay with these absurd and intriguing premises seemed like it couldn’t possibly be anything but awesome.
But then the DLC actually came out, and these ended up being sets of levels that seemed like they were built inside the community map editor. And they weren’t even that good or interesting. This felt like a huge slap in the face. Ubisoft, a publisher with some serious cash, decided to drip-feed us glorified community maps and call it a season pass. Yes, there were some pretty fun community-made maps, but you were always better off trying those out than actually paying for the ones Ubisoft made.
And I’m not the only one to feel this way. Let’s look at some reviews.
About Hours of Darkness, here’s what PCGamesN had to say:
Despite the name, Far Cry 5’s first batch of DLC – Hours of Darkness – can easily be beaten within 20 minutes.
About Lost on Mars, DigitalTrends said:
Lost on Mars’ setup has potential, but once you’ve played ten minutes of it, you’ve experienced everything it has to offer.
Apparently, reviewers actually had a bit of fun with Dead Living Zombies. By the time it came out, I had absolutely zero interest in it, but hey, I can’t fault anyone for enjoying the DLC they paid for.
Now, there’s a part of me that wonders if Far Cry New Dawn was initially planned as the season pass content for Far Cry 5, but at some point in development, Ubisoft just decided to make it a standalone game, forcing its bigwigs to come up with a pitch for a season pass on the fly. And the general pitch was good — all three of the DLC packs had potential. But absolutely no love or care was invested in them, leaving players feeling burned.
Plus, this season pass cost a whopping $29.99, which was a bit much to pay for these halfhearted DLC packs.
At least it came with a copy of Far Cry 3, which didn’t really justify the price of the pass, but it at least made the medicine go down a little better.
I say all of this because I find myself getting bewitched by the Far Cry 6 season pass. The premise sounds great: Revisit three — perhaps the best three — villains from Far Cry‘s past and get inside their heads. Because these are such interesting characters, this has some real promise.
However, the previous pass sounded like it had promise too. So before you get too excited about Far Cry 6‘s Become the Villain DLC, please remember that the true villain of the Far Cry franchise has always been Ubisoft.
Become the villain indeed, Ubisoft. Become the villain indeed.
