The apocalypse did Hope County some good. Soft pink blooms have taken the land back in Far Cry New Dawn, sprouting from thick vines like earthen jewels, bedazzling rusted cars, signposts, and tree trunks alike. They smother the faded urban decay of what used to be Far Cry 5's Midwest map, and that's why I'm playing it like the DLC that never was.
As one of but a scant handful of sequels, New Dawn is an outlier. Instead of offering a new world for players to explore and conquer, Ubisoft returned us to Hope County in its 2019 follow-up set years after the unstoppable doomsday event we'd spent all of Far Cry 5 in ignorance of. The last game ended with a painful truth you'll be toying with in New Dawn, which is one of February 2025's latest additions to Game Pass following its simultaneous 60fps upgrade. If you'd been sleeping on it all this time, here's your sign to right that wrong – especially since Far Cry 7 doesn't seem anywhere in sight.
Warning: Spoilers for Far Cry 5 ahead
