Today, Microsoft has delivered its latest roundup for Xbox Game Pass, filling in some blanks between now and early February for its subscription service. The one title that immediately sticks out here is Far Cry New Dawn, and we actually think this is a really solid addition to the library - especially with its predecessor already available on the service.
New Dawn follows directly on from Far Cry 5, delivering "a transformed, vibrant, post-apocalyptic Hope County, Montana, 17 years after a global nuclear catastrophe". If you played the previous game you'll know exactly what's meant by this description - New Dawn is a rare direct sequel in Ubisoft's open-world FPS series. If you played and enjoyed FC5 then trying this on Game Pass is a no-brainer, really!
Another reason we think this is a great candidate for XGP is that, in our opinion, New Dawn got a bit of a bad rap at launch - and its mixed reception wasn't entirely deserved. Ubisoft tried to sell this as a full-on sequel and charged almost full-whack for the privilege, even though the game shares some a lot of DNA with Far Cry 5. If you look at this experience more as chunky DLC for FC5 you get a much better perspective on things, and will likely enjoy its crazy, colourful open world quite a bit more.
That colourful open world delivers some of the best visuals you'll find for this sort of game, the series' solid-as-ever shooting mechanics, an interesting overall premise for a Far Cry title, and some unique mechanics like a proper 'home base' to expand, and more in-depth crafting options. Far Cry New Dawn isn't perfect, but taken as an interesting spin on FC5 DLC, it's absolutely worth a shot on Xbox Game Pass.
Having said all of this - New Dawn still feels like a 'standalone' expansion of sorts, and it can be enjoyed without playing its predecessor. Sure, you'll get extra context from the ending of Far Cry 5, but the series is all about fun-as-heck open-world shooting and base capturing at the end of the day, so we wouldn't hesitate getting stuck in either way!
If this has convinced you that Far Cry New Dawn could be worth a shot, Ubisoft's 2019 shooter heads to Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard on February 4th.
Excited to give this one a go on Xbox Game Pass next month? Talk to us about Far Cry New Dawn down below.
Comments 20
If only it got a 60fps patch...
New Dawn is probably my favorite Far Cry so far, it was pretty fantastic.
I said it in the other article but New Dawn it's actually really fun, as long as you know the story is gonna be pretty bad.
Upgrading weapons and clearing enemy bases feels really good. And you can end up making really OP weapons if that's something you want.
Also, the old (I think from the 60's) music that plays in the radio is awesome.
I just purchased Far Cry Primal only a few hours ago becasue it was in a sale, i'll be annoyed if that comes to GamePass !
I assumed no more Far Cry would come to GamePass due to Ubisoft+
I had an absolute blast with New Dawn. I like it much more than the latest installment.
@AndroidBango
I sure it runs 60fps on series x
Under the frame boost option, however it does lower the resolution to achieve this.
@Lup Isn't the story bad in every far cry game?? Except for 3!!!
New dawn is fun but my biggest complaint was that these in-between numbered far crys used to be the absurd ones (blood dragon and primal) this was just far Cry 5.1. I would have rather had another wild concept one.
@Ricky-Spanish
4 was amazing, better than 3 imo. 5 was really cool. 6 was rubbish.
Other than the ammo/damage thing, I really enjoyed it, revisiting a map I knew devastated had a nice impact on me(I didn't even realise I liked Hope County that much).
I'm still disapointed that Farcry 6 didn't get its own Blood Dragon/Primal/New Dawn game. That expansion... wasn't the same.
@AndroidBango It has a 60fps mode on both Xbox Series X and S.
It's one of the worst Far Cry games in existence, even worse than Primal was.
Thanks for the update! I’ll check this out on PC gamepass sometime!
@Rog-X How did I miss that update? Cheers, will have to investigate.
I had a surprising amount of fun with New Dawn. I really enjoyed FC 3,4,5,Blood Dragon as well. I have played 6 but it just feels ‘cheap’ in some way and a major step down from 5. However, the developers obsession with drugs and hallucinations across the games is very tired. Blood Dragon is by far my favourite.
Far Cry New Dawn retains Far Cry's open-world ethos, but really goes HARD into RPG leveling. As a result, the game really isn't open world at all: low-level guns are useless against some enemies in the game, meaning a lot of content is gated-off (for all practical reasons) until you grind and grind and grind. It suffers as a consequence.
I thought far cry 5 's first 10 minutes was pretty awesome story wise. I enjoyed it as much as 4 6 is so terrible in comparison.
To me it felt like glorified DLC, which it probably was. A lot of recycled content and the villains of the game were pretty bad.
The only Farcry game I didn't finish was 6. I started tiring of the formula in 5 BUT I had a good time with New Dawn because I played it through in co-op with a friend. There are some hilarious moments in co-op but it wasn't enough to get us through 6 which was just too large and offered nothing fresh. I'm trying to get through Avatar now but it's the same formula with a little too much light RPG stuff and not enough simply traversing lovely scenery and killing evil capitalist humans!
I enjoyed playing FC5 (and 6) when they came to Game Pass, and so I'll give this one a go as at least they're a fun diversion when you're not paying full price (plus all the "Gold" edition Ubisoft BS).
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