‘Far Cry 5’ Producer Says The Game Changed His Opinion On Doomsday Preppers

Far Cry 5 takes players to Hope County Montana. A place that, while wholesome on the surface, harbors a dark secret. A doomsday believer named Joseph Seed has a totalitarian hold on the region, but, as producer Dan Hay told Glixel, the villain may not be as crazy as he seems.

Over two and a half years of production on Far Cry 5, Hay suggested that he and his team have changed quite remarkably during the research process. While some of the transformations were more minute, like Hay swapping out his personal Prius for an SUV, others gripped him on a purely subconscious level.

Read: Why Far Cry 5’s Montana Setting Was A Wise Choice

“There was a moment I had an awareness that my opinions had changed,” he said. “About two years ago I was walking in downtown Toronto and I saw a guy walking around outside and he was pretty disheveled and he had a sandwich board on. The sandwich board said ‘the end is near.’ And I had the thought, ‘that guy might not be wrong.’” Rather than shrugging the man off as insane, he accepted his point of view. “Something in me has changed for sure,” he mused.

That attitude might even carry over to how Seed is portrayed in the game. When describing the antagonist, Hay compared him to classic Far Cry bad guys of the past. “When we had the opportunity to hear about these magnetic leaders – people that look you in the eye and when they talk to you, you feel as if they're seeing past your eyes – we want to build characters that do that. We want to get characters who aren't necessarily acting, they're sharing how comfortable they are with darkness or the ideas that this leader is espousing.” This attitude was very much essential to the soothing menace of Vaas from Far Cry 3.

For the team behind this game, making Far Cry 5 a success is all about making each attribute work within a grounded-fictional view of reality. Malitia NPCs and cult followers lead extraordinary daily lives, but emphasis will also be placed on outside factors like family and personal relationships too. While Seed “absolutely believes the collapse is coming,” his children are constantly tying him to everything he’s going through.

Read: Here’s Every Weapon Revealed In Far Cry 5’s First Trailer

The interview didn’t reveal much with regard to Far Cry 5’s gameplay mechanics, but there is a sense that players can expect the same pedigree of freedom that has characterized the series since it began. Possible activities mentioned by Hay include driving an 18-wheeler, hunting, fishing and flying planes. The best part is, all of these different methods of exploration are at your fingertips at a moment's notice. The planes are an especially fresh addition, and they could essentially serve as a substitute for the wingsuit made popular by Far Cry 4.

Beyond these brief hints, all we know about Far Cry 5 comes from its reveal trailer and character teasers. The player enters Hope County as a new deputy sheriff just as Seed has taken his control to new heights. Ultimately the influence brought on by Seed and his children proves too great, and players must align with NPC militia to take him down. To win the war, players will be using plenty of shotguns and heavy explosives.

Far Cry 5 comes to PS4, Xbox One and PC Feb. 27.

Do you want Far Cry 5 to challenge your opinion on doomsday? Are you comfortable with the subject matter? Tell us in the comments section!