Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: July 17, 2018
ESRB: Mature / PEGI 18
MSRP: $9,99
Available Platforms: PS4 [Reviewed], Xbox One, PC
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Lost on Mars is the second DLC (downloadable content) for Far Cry 5. A copy of Far Cry 5 the main game is required to play it. This expansions is available as part of the season pass or can be bought separately for $9,99.
You may remember there were Aliens in the main game already (clearly in preparation for this DLC it seems). The story starts off with a short cutscene in comic style, just like the first DLC. Nick Rye is driving on a road at night, minding his own business. Suddenly a cow appears on the road in front of him and Hurk teleports him up to Mars. You play as Nick Rye and have to help Hurk. See, Hurk went to Mars to help a robot AI that told him it’s protecting earth from an Alien invasion. For the AI to fully work, 19 Antennas have to be turned on around the red planet. Hurk got his body parts eaten by Aliens though. So his buddy Nick is the last hope to save humanity. Only Hurk’s head is left. So Nick carries the head around and to finish the story your only goal is activating the 19 Antennas and finding 12 of Hurk’s body parts to ‘put him back together’.
The developers have a good sense of humor. The money is called “Space Jizz” which is green goo you find from crates and killing Aliens. Weapons have names such as ‘Nut Hugger’, ‘Iron Fister’, and ‘Cock Blocker’. Hurk is making a lot of sex jokes. While funny at times, it’s annoying at other times.
The story is more fleshed-out than the Vietnam DLC. The Mars story lasts a good 5 hours on easy/normal. On hard it can be 6-7 hours. Not bad at all for a DLC! If you then go for all the trophies/achievements (which require you to find all collectibles) it’s another 1-2 hours. Unlike the Vietnam DLC, this one has no replay value at all. There’s no point in going around Mars for a second time to turn on the same 19 Antennas. That’s okay though, the 5-6 hours are just right. Not too long that it becomes a drag, not too short that it wouldn’t be worth the price.
Mars is (obviously) just an empty planet of deserts and mountains. There are a few man-made structures here and there but they all look much the same. I would’ve loved to see weather effects like sandstorms or whirlwinds. That would’ve made the game feel more alive as the basic desert landscape doesn’t bring out the game engine’s true power.
The enemies are called “space crabs”. They are literally like crabs, they can melee-attack and throw projectiles at you from afar. There are also flying creatures. There are a few different types of these space crabs and at 50% story completion they mutate to a stronger form. This adds at least a little bit a variety, even though they all look pretty much identical. I don’t like the choice of enemies. They look silly and are pretty dumb. Still, they provide more of a challenge than any recent Far Cry game. I would say this DLC on hard difficulty is harder than any Far Cry game so far. It’s not super hard, but certainly hard enough that you will die more than in the main game. There’s not a lot of cover in the desert and the Alien Queens are tough to take down (they are like bosses). For the best experience, I recommend starting out on hard or normal difficulty.
What I find impressive for a DLC is that they revamped pretty much everything. It plays like a completely new game. New weapons, new enemies, new environment, new story etc.
Speaking of weapons, there are 12 of them. They are all laser-based. From laser cannons to laser shotguns, everything is there. They all have different effects and attack patterns too. Trying out new weapons is to a big extend what kept this DLC interesting. Let’s be real, going around an empty planet from one Antenna to the next is not the most inventive format ever. So it’s good they got the weapons right and thought of enemy mutations at certain story progress. Otherwise, it would’ve gotten dull much sooner.
Here’s a quick overview of the things to do:
- 19 Antennas
- 12 Hurk’s Body Parts
- 15 Queens
- 5 Geothermal Anomalies
- 6 Clutch Nixon Stunts
- 28 Larry’s Notes
- 5 hours of story
It’s something different for a change, fits in with the main game (characters we know and the aliens), and it’s not just a copy & paste job. If you already own the season pass there’s no reason not the try it. I liked it a little bit better than the first DLC.
| Gameplay *Overall Enjoyment Factor, Fascination with Game World, Level Design, Variety, Playability, User-Friendliness (Ease of Use / Readability / Controls / in-game Tutorials / Menus) |
| 7/10 They aren’t afraid to mix things up. It plays like a completely new game. The enemies are pretty dumb though, but still offer more of a challenge than the main game. |
| Story/Multiplayer *Quality of the Singleplayer Story, Cutscenes and/or Multiplayer Modes (whichever is available). If a game has no Story or no Multiplayer it won’t be rated (thus no negative effect on score). |
| 7/10 Story: 7/10 (Funny and entertaining. Down the line it can get repetitive as your only goal is to activate 19 antennas and find 12 of Hurk’s body parts. More fleshed out than the Vietnam DLC though and has an actual story that lasts 5 hours. Not bad for a DLC). Multiplayer: Not rated (The DLC introduces no new multiplayer elements, it’s only one mission but it can be played in co-op like the main game. Nothing new here). |
| Technical Aspects *Graphics, Texture Quality, Character Details, Lighting, Weather Effects, Animations, Loading Times, Number of Loading Screens, does it run smoothly |
| 7.5/10 Well with this being on Mars, it’s obviously just dirt, deserts and mountains as far as the eye can see. Doesn’t bring out the engine’s true power, the main game was visually more stunning. They could’ve added sandstorms or whirlwinds at least. |
| Value *Amount of Content, Production Quality, Replay Value, is there enough content to justify a purchase |
| 9/10 For a $9,99 DLC it’s pretty impressive. Not just a copy & paste job, they changed just about everything. 5 hours story time is fair. |
| Trophies/Achievements *Rates how much fun the Platinum / 1000 Gamerscore is to achieve: Are trophies fun to do? Do trophies restrict freedom of gameplay? Missable trophies? Multiple playthroughs required? Luck-based trophies? Pointless farming/grinding? Glitched Trophies? Are stats/trophies tracked correctly? |
| 8/10 The trophy list is solid and geared towards completion. I like that they give me some collectibles to hunt down. Don’t like that there’s no free-roam after the story (it deletes save game completely after last story mission). |
| Extraordinary Score Increase or Deduction *Reserved for extraordinarily good or bad features that the other categories don’t cover (such as game-breaking bugs). This score is directly added/subtracted from the final score. |
| Nothing |
VERDICT:
Lost on Mars plays like a completely new, fleshed-out game and has a surprising amount of content for a DLC. A funny yet predictable odyssey to the red planet.
FINAL SCORE:
7.7/10
Played on PS4 Pro. Complete the story, killed all Queens, currently at 24/28 Larry’s Notes found.
For more on how reviews are scored, check out the Review Policy.