I am about 20 hours into the game and I am about 50% complete so this will be considered a Midway-Recap as I have not actually completed the game.

NOTE: There are spoilers in this post… if you have not played the John and Jacob areas of the map, I would suggest maybe not continuing.

First I want to rant a little as I have been reading a few reviews that I think are a little ass-backward when it comes to one thing.

RANT – In game money and Microtransactions:

This topic is probably one of the most mentioned dissatisfiers of the game. People complain left, right and center that the game seems to force you towards Microtransactions by limiting the amount of in-game currency you get from general activities, and that you HAVE to grind to get anywhere if you don’t purchase silver bars.

Let me quash this right here and now.

Yes, in the beginning, money is limited, but then again all you can really spend it on is ammo. If you stop killing the animals with explosives, you can turn the ruined $5 pelt and $5 cooked meat into $100-$400 skin. If you get the Harvester Master perk, you get 2 skins, and if you kill the animal with a bow (which is available quite soon in the game) you get 4 skins… And trust me, throughout the game, you will run into all sorts of beasts, you don’t have to grind at all. Second, complete the Prepper Cache missions, there are a lot, look for NPCs with a diamond over their head, they tell you the location of a cache, solve it and you get 3 perk points and $1000. Third, complete side quests, a lot are in the $1000-$1500 reward. And to boot, once you have completed an area, stay in it a while longer, all quests completed after you killed the area’s Seed Family Member have an additional $400 bonus. And last, but not least, play the Arcade, every level gets you a cash bonus and or Perk Points…

As I have said, I have played about 20 hours and am halfway through, and not once did I feel the game forced me to grind, and I almost always had enough to get full ammo, and if not, I took a short walk around and killed some wildlife (again, not hard, in less than 10 minutes I could get about $5000 in some areas), So to those that say the money in game is so scarce you feel forced to partake in the Microtransactions… You need play more than 5 minutes of the game… ‘cuz if you had, you’d realize how wrong you are.

The Midway Findings

Ok, with my little rant done and over with I can get to the bare bones of the game. Having completed John’s area first, I moved north into Jacob’s territory, I did this for multiple reasons. One being I watched a lot of streams that dealt with Faith’s side, and two, she scares the hell out of me. Those who have played her area can agree she is creepy. So far the game has been pretty awesome, I don’t feel that anything has been repetitive to the point where it’s unbearable. There is a slew of characters that you come across that will give you side quests, prepper cache locations, or info on outposts, which keep things pretty interesting.

Hunting:

There are a few things I have learned along the way. Several articles boast how having Boomer around makes for great hunting as he discovers animals for you. Although this is true, what they fail to mention is Boomer is loud… really loud… and does not stop barking. So although he marks wildlife for you, getting close enough to take a shot is near impossible as he scares them away. Some of these articles also mentioned that having Jess around is great as she can stealth kill the animals for you, considering her perks, you’d think she was perfect. Her perks are concealment, which means enemies have a hard time detecting her, and feral friendly which means animals think she is one of their own. Perfect right? Well no… sadly the first arrow she always shoots is usually an incendiary arrow, which lights your prey on fire and results in absolutely no bounty, not even a ruined pelt or burnt meat (hey $5 is $5…).

So I have found the best way to hunt is using the Ultimate Hunter buff. This will bring up all the animals in the area. If you have the right perks you can carry up to 5 of this type of buff, although the ingredients to craft it are very scarce, so use them wisely. When possible, hunt with a bow, you will get twice as many furs from animals. If you have the Harvest Master perk (8 skill points) this means you will get 4 skins from a kill. Note: Only the final shot needs to be a bow shot to get the extra skins, so feel free to weaken animals like bears and cougars with a few sniper shots first… otherwise it’s 5 or 6 arrows if you use the bow alone and after 2 or 3, they run away from you.

Fishing:

The fishing “mini-game” if you can really call it that is a fun addition. However you get less for the fish than you do for hunting, but it is much easier. Fish can be sold for $100 a pop at the stores. When it comes to Hard areas, or the special fish you get from quests, make sure you at least have the second fishing rod, makes it easier. With fish like the Admiral, do not try to catch it in one go… I spend an hour fighting the fish determined to get it on the first go… that my friends, was an hour wasted, fight a bit, but then let the fish snap your line, it will then say it’s getting tired, cast again and then catch it.

Where did all the Peggies Go?

One of the few disappointments I have experienced is that once you liberate an area, the Peggies just seem to vanish. Which is a bit disappointing, especially in Jacob’s are as one of the lakes I like to hunt at, half my bounty was gained by killing the wolves the Peggies always travel with… I was also in the midst of trying to get my bow kills up to get the 3 perk rewards (20 kills needed, non-animal, so wolves do not count) and I know there is always at least 6 to 10 Peggies around the lake (make one round and you run in to all sorts of animals and Peggies). To my disappointment after I finally liberated Jacob’s area, no more Peggies at the lake.

Taking outposts, the easy way:

One of the first things you need to buy is a helicopter, preferably one of the premium ones which have mounted machine guns and rockets, you can buy one for $7200 in-game currency. One you have a helicopter, taking on outposts becomes a whole lot easier. Note: The maps “Fog of War” does not go away while in a helicopter, so you cannot discover the map from the air, so do not use this as your only method of transportation. When you approach an outpost from your helicopter, you will see the alarm towers, target the base of the towers with your rockets, this should destroy the control box. If the green lights go out, you were successful, if they stay green, try another angle, if they turn red… well, that means they have already called in reinforcements, and just shoot everything in sight with your mounted machine guns. You can easily take out even the hardest outposts in minutes.

Fangs for Hire:

Although I have yet to unlock everyone, I do use boomer a lot, not for hunting of course, but when taking on outposts by land, or completing quests. He is a great lookout, however, he is very weak, so if you use him, be prepared to revive him every 5 minutes. I also use Jess a lot, again, not for hunting, but her flaming arrows are great for taking out Peggies, as long as she is not pointing the arrows your way. I have had Grace on hand quite a few times, she is not the fastest gun, but she does the trick with her long-range sniper rifle. I tried to use Nick a few times, but I don’t find him very useful, especially in wooded areas. I have stayed away from Hurk as, well, to be honest, I don’t wanna get blown up by his RPG.

Weapons Galore:

There are a lot of weapons to get in Far Cry 5. But there are a few things to keep in mind. If you are carrying a sniper rifle that is not a .50cal weapon, it uses the same ammo as your assault rifle, so if you run out of one, you run out of the other. When it unlocks, get the RAT4 rocket launcher with the lock-on scope, this will help you take down enemy planes and helicopters. I normally carry a LMG, a .50cal sniper rifle (you can unlock one in the featured menu with a bit of cash, or wait till you have 4 or 5 levels of resistance), the RAT4, and the grenade launcher (again, from the featured or wait for the resistance level). This combo makes it hard to carry a bow, as all of these weapons are generally needed. When I do carry a bow I usually replace either the RAT4 or the sniper, which means I either can’t take accurate long shots or take out air support, so I try to limit where I hunt based on my limitations.

Collectables:

It wouldn’t be a Far Cry game if it didn’t have collectibles. So far I have come across 5 different types, each of which you can get a map for in the show ($1200 per map). In Johns area you get 2, Lighters and Comic books, in Jacob’s area I found 3 more: Cheeseburger Bobble Heads, Base Ball cards, and Records (LPs). There may be more in Faith’s area. Once you get the maps they are pretty easy to track down. I also found that many of the Lighter locations also had a perk mag nearby.

Overall:

Overall the game is fun to play, I do find the story a bit dry, and Jess’ retelling of the Cook is a bit disturbing but other than that it is an awesome game. I have played the Arcade a bit, and want to design a few maps, but that will come in a while. To all those who are all up in arms over how the game relates to current events etc.. Seriously? It’s a game, not a political statement. Again, my only complaint is after you liberate an area, there are almost no Peggies… making it a bit boring at times as you try to complete every side missions and get all the collectibles.