7 Reasons Far Cry 5 Could Be The Most Controversial Game Ever

Even the first picture released by Ubisoft to introduce Far Cry 5 caused some 'speculation', to say the least. Indicating just how much the developers were leaning into a caricatured version of the American South, we saw a character later revealed to be The Father, the main antagonist, as Jesus during the Last Supper:

Later, an announcement trailer on YouTube included allusions to the game's overall tone, though we got our first glimpse at a couple of potential protagonist designs, causing a slightly more mild stir. That said, it was the official Ubisoft conference at E3 - accompanied by the first look at extended gameplay - that ultimately led to could be described as an actual outrage.

Even though Far Cry 5 won't be released until the end of February, it's subject matter is already widely commented and analyzed. But is the outrage actually justified? Why have some groups found the game so offensive? Is the game really quite so controversial? Can it actually be the most controversial game of all time?

Let's try to answer these questions by looking at what we know about the game so far.

In Far Cry 3 you were the typical American bro, who killed exotic foreigners threatening your life. You came to the island for all the wrong reasons - to party, have sex, etc. - yet it was 'okay' to kill the local people of color, even though it's hard to tell why.

In Far Cry 4 you killed your own kind, but it was 'okay' as well, because the game took place in an exotic, non-existent nation of Kyrat.

Here, you're an American killing other Americans. What's more, your targets will be mostly - or wholly, as it's hard to say yet - white males. While this shouldn't be a problem, considering the "targets" in previous games and the hypocrisy of the assumption that white American christian males should be 'off limits', here we are in 2017, trying to justify the existence of games like this or Mafia III and make a political statement.

Some people have even called Far Cry 5 a "white genocide simulator" which is really more telling about those making such statements, than the game's creators.