Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5's reviews split cleanly into two very different conversations: one about a genuinely fun, chaotic open-world shooter, and a separate, increasingly urgent one about whether the game — or any Ubisoft game — is something you actually get to keep.

Chaos that still works

"You can hunt wildlife with shovels. You can throw them like spears. You can swing them like a bat. You can clear an entire outpost with only a shovel," reads one of the most-upvoted reviews in the game's history, and that specific, almost gleeful description of emergent systemic chaos captures what this entry does best. Reviewers consistently credit the rural Montana cult setting as a genuine change of pace from the series' earlier, more conventional locales, and outpost liberation with wildlife, vehicles and environmental hazards remains a highlight across every year of reviews.

A concern that's become concrete

Here's what's actually shaping this game's most recent reviews, and it's worth explaining precisely because it isn't really about Far Cry 5 at all. In 2025, Ubisoft updated its End User License Agreement in a way reviewers describe as granting the company the right to revoke access to games players have already purchased if Ubisoft chooses to discontinue support. "Don't alter your 'terms & conditions' retroactively long AFTER I've already bought and paid for the game. No, I do NOT accept your 'new terms & conditions,'" reads a representative 2026 review. What makes this land as more than abstract corporate paranoia is precedent: reviewers repeatedly and specifically cite Ubisoft's 2023 decision to shut down and delist The Crew, a purchased single-player-capable game, as concrete proof the concern isn't hypothetical. "Ubisoft may remove your license to run this game and DLC at any time as it happened with The Crew," reads another representative 2024 review. This is a distinct, escalated version of the mandatory-launcher complaints that have followed Ubisoft games for years — not just inconvenience, but a specific, sourced fear about long-term ownership.

A narrative device reviewers keep flagging

Separate from the platform concerns, a consistent story-structure complaint recurs across every year since launch: the game repeatedly uses forced "kidnapped and knocked out" cutscenes to move players between story beats rather than organic mission triggers. "All plot development happens via kidnapping. Do some side quests, get kidnapped, watch a cut scene," reads a representative review — a specific, recurring criticism of pacing and player agency independent of anything related to Ubisoft's business practices.

Reading the completion data

With 72 tracked achievements, the completion curve reflects a large, systemic open-world game. Early milestones sit around 20-28%, already on the lower side for a game's opening achievements, and the rarest late-game and DLC-specific achievements fall under 0.2%, reflecting how much of this game's full scope is reserved for a smaller, highly dedicated core.

7 out of 10. Far Cry 5's actual sandbox gameplay remains genuinely fun, chaotic and well-executed, and that's not seriously in question across this review sample. The score reflects a real, current, and increasingly urgent concern that has little to do with the game's design: a 2025 Ubisoft EULA change that reviewers describe, backed by concrete 2023 precedent, as putting long-term access to purchased games at risk. Enjoy the sandbox — just go in with clear eyes about what buying it actually guarantees you going forward.