Byte Sized Review: Far Cry New Dawn

I never got around to reviewing Far Cry 5, but if I had to sum it up, it would be "Enjoyable, classic Far Cry with a few new splashes of the easy life". So when I heard that Far Cry New Dawn was coming out, naturally I was skeptical about a separate release, and while it does have flaws, and I enjoyed my time here, I doubt I'll be coming back.

Gameplay wise, New Dawn delivers a great Far Cry experience; the combat is great with the inclusion of the leveling system on both enemies and weapons, but almost every weapon feels similar to their stronger counter parts (minus the Saw Launcher, the OP-est weapon there), same to the vehicles. The only enemies that create a true challenge are the Epic level enemies, but many are only featured right at the end. Sound effects and musical score were both fairly well done, graphics wise as well as the neon coloured wasteland was a unique twist to a nuclear apocalypse, and voice acting is decent and does the job for the most part (while some areas feel a little too melodramatic). However what I want to focus on is the story.

Taking place seventeen years into the future, you play as Captain, a survivor traveling up the coast via train to Hope County, but are ambushed by the Highwaymen, a collective of survivors who profit off travelers and taking over settlements. Rescued by Camilla Rye, you set off to Prosperity to recruit new followers, rebuild and take back Hope County from the Highwaymen.
But the Highwaymen...are simply not there. Far Cry has always prided themselves on strong antagonists, but here these antagonists are little more than NPCs until 90% of the game. Hearing them as you recruit members and villages, they talk of revenge and beating you and hurting you, but outside two missions (really one since they only get involved with one), and a bunch of cutscenes, our big baddies Mickey and Lou are just...never there. You take over a settlement, they don't try taking it back unless you release it (just to reclaim it back for bigger rewards). You recruit new members, they don't retaliate (with the exception of one mission-which admittedly anyone can see coming a mile away). When your previous Far Cry antagonist has more pull to your game as an ally than your main villains, something has gone wrong in the story aspect.
The simple rule applies; don't talk about how badarse they are, don't mention how evil they are, don't explain how bad they are, show us.
Show us how evil they can be, show us the terrible things they get up to, show us what atrocities they can do to our allies.

I still enjoyed what was here for what its worth; for a $70 game, it still holds a lot of fun for a generic shooter, and long time fans of the series won't mind. But even for $70, I still feel like that is a little too much. Outside the forced gathering for supplies (which I did beforehand because I prefer getting them out of the way), this game is incredibly short. Twenty two missions (Each Part having roughly seven each), 8 side missions, six of which are Guns for Hire (half being less than five minutes, one simply shooting a lock off and killing some guys), there is just way too little here to keep you here long term, and not a lot to make you come back.

Far Cry New Dawn: 5/10