Far Cry 6 - Collapse - Review

The final of the three major DLCs for Far Cry 6 sees you taking control of the religious cult leader, Joseph Seed. Like the previous two instalments with Pagan Min and Vaas, Joseph is trapped in a world of his mind’s creation. You must fight to free yourself from the guilt of failure to those Joseph Seed was leading and training in preparation for the end of the world. Does Far Cry 6’s last major piece of content end on a bang, or is there a collapse in quality?

Collapse takes a similar yet unique take on the concept that has been set by the previous two DLC. Whilst Vaas and Min seem quite aware that they are already dead, Min less so than Vaas, Joseph is less aware. The voice of God, which bears a striking resemblance to Seed himself, acts to guide him. As an antagonistic voice telling him that he was following the path it lay for him. Seed becomes more and more that he is trapped in his own mind as you progress, and eventually comes to a realisation that he may in fact be dead. Unlike the worlds of Vaas and Min, Joseph’s mind is far less chaotic and far less overtly self-congratulating.

At first, the world of Joseph Seed’s mind comes across as bland and bleak. Lots of cliffs and dirt paths. Outside of the Garden in which you start, which stands as a beacon of light and positivity. Bright white, with immaculate gates and marble creation. The world around the “Garden” is old derelict country. Wooden bridges destroyed, wooden structures and dusty pathways. The former members of his cult dressed as guerrilla soldiers. The more you explore the world the more you become aware of the collapse as it was in Seed’s mind. People crucified with bags over their head are tied to most signposts or trees. The cult-like sacrifices of his world on display for everyone to see.

Seed seems remorseful, regretful. He has lost his confidence in his faith. Whilst still full of pride, he regrets the loss of life that led him to self-preservation. The self-preservation that the voice of God had told him he needed to do. No one else mattered, and the lies he told were all part of God’s plan. There is a far more somber tone to this DLC. This lends to the style of play that you will find yourself in with Collapse. Seed is a weak man, and you will find yourself in danger regularly. This is without a doubt that hardest of the DLC at the beginning. Death is a constant threat for you. Most enemies have assault rifles and shotguns, and your health depletes quickly.

Collapse is far more high tension and high stakes feeling than the previous two DLC. This is somewhat countered with the unique ability tree for Joseph through the permanent upgrades. The unique tree gives you more benefits when in critical health. Faster movement speed, the ability to shoot through and see-through walls. It’s an interesting style of play, as the previous two DLC created a world where you didn’t want to play riskily. That it was better to be safe and healthy. Joseph becomes increasingly more powerful the more danger you put him in, and the more aggressive you play as a result. It’s not a perfect system, as finding the tipping point for critical health, could be difficult at times, especially once you start upgrading his health.

Like the majority of the world, Seed’s weapons are very bland and plain. It is a hard step from the super colourful and over the top flamboyant world that was inside Min’s mind, to the bleak and almost monochromatic world of Seed. Whilst this plays perfectly into the narrative, it’s also a little deflating. The unique look and colours of the weapons from the previous two DLC were a shining point. Here it feels they have been sapped of their essence. They’re just run of the mill weapons.

Even more frustratingly, Seed himself is almost unbearable. Whilst Min was stuck in his own narcissism and belief of what he was doing was the right thing, Seed is just awful. He is forever complaining or spouting off his regret. Denying the actions he took, despite the evident blood on his hands. Vaas and Min were very true to themselves, whereas Seed appears to have almost completely lost that of which made him a cult-like leader. His power is gone, and just like the world around him, he is bleak and bland. Whilst it is appropriate to the concept of the DLC, it makes Seed far harder to connect with, and in turn makes this DLC feel much more like a slog. The set pieces for the memories are impressive, but very much the same of what we’ve had previously. Problematically, Control was such a powerful DLC, that this one just feels horribly short of what it should have been.

There are impressive sections, walking into a trailer that turns into a white marble building with an elevator when turning down a hall. An upside-down bunker showing him potential futures that the voice of God says would have occurred had he tried to save him family. The trials, fighting against the family members in gorgeous white temples are great to look at, but really highlight the contrast of what the world should have been, versus what it is. This idea of the marble white sections, areas of importance are used all over. Yet they are only used to indicate weapon challenges, or parts of Seed’s mind. Another parkour vertical climb section is used here, but it is far less enthralling than the one we encountered in Min’s DLC. The crucified persons with the bags of their head should be shocking, but Vaas’ world created a far better image of torture and shock than Seed.

The DLC in of itself is fine, and it’s an acceptable end to the game. Yet it feels like this was the first one made, and that Min’s should’ve been the ultimate final DLC. There is a lack of development across the DLC, beyond “this one is harder”. Vaas and Min had very strong antagonists across their story, yet Seed’s family acting as his antagonists here alongside the voice of God, is just very weak. The world feels disjointed, but not in the intended way. The set pieces look great, but they also look like even the simpler of sections of Min’s. The shock factors were far better in the Insanity DLC.

Collapse is a decent end to the Far Cry 6 major content updates, yet it is lacking. There is a severe lack of increasingly development across the DLC, and collapse suffers from being too much of the same thing. Seed is made to feel like a weak version of himself, that is stuck in his own self-pity and wallowing. The world is as bleak as the man, and the gameplay decisions, whilst interesting, are poorly implemented. This is an unfortunate end to this saga.

The Score

6.0

Review code provided by Ubisoft

The Pros

+Immaculate Set Pieces

+Seed’s siblings are far more interesting here

+Voice of God had good antagonist potential

The Cons

-Lack of improvement over previous DLC

-Very bland and bleak world

-Seed seems to have lost what made him a powerful leader figure

-Poorly implemented game mechanics