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Far Cry 6 Preview: Viviro, poison, guerrilla camps and more

There's lots to cover.

As Far Cry 6 hurtles towards its early October release, Ubisoft is opening up about what we can expect. Stevivor was provided four hours of hands-on access at Gamescom alongside an interview with World Director Benjamin Hall to investigate its new features.

We’ve broken it all down for you below.

Castillo’s motivations: Viviro and the poison needed to create it

While we already knew that Anton Castillo — played by Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito — was on a mission to restore the fictional country of Yara to its former glory, we didn’t know how he was planning to accomplish that. Ubisoft Toronto has now confirmed it’s through a breakthrough cancer treatment named Viviro, one that Castillo plans to take to the global stage and use as a bargaining chip to secure as much power as he can handle.

The powerful treatment starts with bio-hacked tobacco leaves grown within Yara alongside a dangerous poison called PG-240, and each of the country’s regions contributes to its production in one way or the other. Yarans are enslaved and forced to work to harvest the leaves, while the growing fields themselves have been acquired through land appropriation. The creation of the miracle cure spews out toxic chemicals into the air, polluting the environment around giant production facilities.

PG-240 can prove to be a help or hindrance to protagonist Dani and their fellow guerrilla fighters.

“The poison mechanic was interesting because it was something that we could stitch through multiple different facets of the game,” Hall said. “The chemical itself is created in one region in the game, you see it being used in a different region and then another region explains a bit about how the drugs are processed and packaged and readied for shipment.”

While the poison can impact Dani — impairing their vision and slowly eating away at their health — they can use Resolver gear to become resistent to its effects. More importantly, Dani can use the poison against Castillo and his forces.

“The actual poison itself is great because it’s become this huge gameplay mechanic that sits at the heart of so many of the different locations,” Hall explained. “You can set it on fire and it explodes. You can use it against the military and they’ll go a little bit crazy and start blind firing.”

“You can take one of the trucks, put some holes in and let the poison seep out. Or, drive it into the middle of an outpost and go and hide somewhere, [and] watch everyone get turned a little bit crazy,” he continued. “Iit really becomes something that offers a tactical opportunity that sits on top of everything else that’s going on.”

Guerrilla camps and exploration: Time to put the gun away

While burning down crops of tobacco and blowing up tanks of poisonous material is all well and good, I found myself excited about some down time. I found that at a guerrilla camp, a weaponless hub where Dani can kick back and relax or beef up the guerilla movement with much-needed supplies and upgrades.

I beelined it for an area with icons for controllers and dominoes, looking to play both. While the former was an (inaccessible) way to play the Far Cry villains post-launch content teased back in June, dominoes was certainly available. After my match, I noticed a small band playing music; a hat sat in front of them, accepting and pesos I wanted to donate.

“One of the things we tried to do is create so many multiple different avenues where people can get lost and get distracted and do different things,” Hall said. “It was important for us to create experiences that weren’t just about shooting because there’s more to that in life — there’s more to that with revolution as well.

“There’s always more to it than just simply being on operations — on missions — so we wanted to try and capture some of that.”

The camps also let you upgrade items to suit your playstyle. If you’re the aggressive, run ‘n’ gun type can build an area that provides bigger and better weaponry from the black market. If you’re more the guerrilla fighter who sticks to the shadows and wants to blend in with civilian Yarans, you can construct a hideout network across the country.

Treasure Hunts provide more time for exploration and puzzle-solving

Far Cry 6‘s Treasure Hunts are missions focused on puzzle-solving and exploration, following in the weaponless footsteps of the guerrilla camps. As I didn’t have time to track one of the missions down, I asked Hall for a breakdown.

“The Treasure Hunts are really interesting because they sit somewhere between being involved in the guerrilla revolution and finding out more about Yara and its people,” Hall explained. “It’s a slower pace; you put your weapons away and you stop and think.”

I won’t lie — walking around the guerrilla camp reminded me of instances within Shadow of the Tomb Raider. With that on the mind, I asked Hall if Far Cry 6‘s Treasure Hunts — portions of the game focused on puzzle-solving and exploration — were similar to that franchise’s optional tombs.

“I think there’s similarities and we’ve we picked up references from a lot of different places,” he conceded. “The great thing with them is that they’ve got so many different themes.

“You don’t always find the same ingredients in each of the different locations; they’ve got unique flavors and twists. Some of them are stitched into the characters you meet through the campaign, or that you meet in the guerrilla camps. Some of them are not.

“Some of them have got their own stories to tell and you get to explore these places and pick up different notes [with] different information that you can digest at your own pace.”

You can investigate to your heart’s content when Far Cry 6 heads to Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and Stadia on 7 October.

Far Cry 6

7 October 2021
PC PS4 PS5 Xbox One Xbox Series S & X
 

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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.