photoblog5

Far Cry 5 is an open-world adventure game that came out only a few weeks ago. It is. obviously, the fifth installment of the series (not including expansions etc.) and takes place in a fictional county in present-day Montana, USA. The main objective is to completely destroy a religious cult that has sprung up in the area and are becoming more and more influential and powerful - with plenty of steady swipes at current political issues and themes. The world has been created extremely well and is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful open world map I've ever experienced. With that in mind, I thought it could be useful to explore a more recent virtual world for this blog, the subtle differences in graphical improvements over the years are enough for me to want to dive right in.

This home off the side of one of the main roads immediately caught my eye. It looks well-detailed, thought through and alive, like any house you might find on a country road here in NZ. Notice that SINNER has been splashed next to the front door, a sign from the cult that that are not very happy with you.

The place is even complete with rubbish waiting outside to be collected.

Heading in, I decided to turn around and grab a snap of what it looks like from the driveway just for some perspective as to the scope of the world.

While I was here quietly walking around, I noticed a deer doing the same thing. The wildlife in this game is something that really has a huge affect on the immersion factor. The animals are generally frightened of loud noises and sudden movements, which makes hunting them, or even just wanting to observe realistically challenging.

This is the front of the house from roughly the same location as I first saw the deer. Again, I'm not sure if the photo does it any justice, but the lighting and shadows give the game a very familiar and lifelike feeling, especially at night time.

Here is the backyard which is also impressively detailed and rendered. I don't think the developers really missed a beat when it came to this location, there's even a hose reeled up on the garage in the background of the image. The grass in this game is extremely impressive, too. It feels full and lush to walk on, somehow the movements of the character genuinely feel softer walking on thick grass as opposed to dirt or tar.

The side of the house. Again, a lot of great details. More rubbish bags, bins, and if you look through the window with the light on, you can make out details on the refrigerator inside.

I went inside the house and had a look around. There wasn't too much of note, pretty much what you'd expect from a house like this in the woods. Some of the rooms weren't enterable either.

This is my view stepping out of the front door to leave. The way the moonlight reflects off things like leaves, flowers, the stepping stones, and the wooden house looks very life-like and at first glance could just be a real photograph. The detail is not just in the surroundings i.e Barbecues, hoses, chairs, rubbish bins etc, but also in the larger assets. The porch, for example, or even just the wood on trees has a realistic grain and depth to it that must have been extremely difficult to achieve.