Far Cry 5 review – cults, chaos and all-American silliness

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC; Ubisoft
A mission to save the US from destruction by a charismatic leader flits between flamethrowing fun and graphic torture in a tonally unpredictable vision

In rural Hope County, Montana, an extreme Christian cult has been slowly eroding the power of the state. Its charismatic leader, his body inked with religious iconography and his hair pulled back in a man-bun, has amassed an armed following that feels he can do no wrong. Sent in as part of a team of US marshals to arrest Father Seed, you can feel the tension as you walk through crowds of his jeering followers and into his church; it's as though everything is about to tip over the edge, and soon enough, it does. Before you can even get into the air with the handcuffed Seed, his followers have shot your helicopter down in flames and dragged your screaming teammates away. After a doomed car chase through the night as you try to escape the county, you're rescued by a crotchety old survivalist, handed a gun, and told that you are now part of the resistance.