Set seventeen years after one of the endings of Far Cry 5 which saw the fictional Hope County, Montana being devastated by a nuclear exchange known as "the Collapse", the game follows a group of survivors as they attempt to rebuild their community and defeat a gang of vicious bandits.

Players assume the role of an unnamed security captain who, like Far Cry 5's deputy sheriff, is silent and highly customizable.

Similar to its predecessors, Far Cry New Dawn is an action-adventure first-person shooter set in an open world environment which the player can explore freely on foot or via various vehicles.

The flora and fauna of Hope County have also undergone changes, with the landscape dominated by colourful flowers and occupied by mutated animals.

The game also features an upgradable home base named Prosperity, which slowly expands and grows in size as players progress.

The game also features a mode called "Expeditions", which allows the player to travel to other locations in the United States such as Louisiana to look for more resources and packages.

In 2035, after Hope County and the rest of the world has been left devastated by a nuclear war, the survivors that had taken shelter underground begin to emerge and rebuild society.

Rush and the Captain answer the call, but they are ambushed by the Highwaymen and confronted by Mickey (Cara Ricketts) and Lou (Leslie Miller), the twin sisters who lead them.

Joseph welcomes the Captain as a prophesied savior and reveals that in the aftermath of the nuclear war, he has done his best to atone for his past actions.

Against Ethan's wishes, Joseph designates the Captain as New Eden's shepherd, and commits his forces, among them being the Judge, the Deputy from the previous game who is hiding their identity out of shame and guilt over Hope County's destruction, to fight the Highwaymen.

This triggers Eden's Gift, giving the Captain superhuman strength and allowing them to beat the Twins until getting knocked out by a shotgun blast.

Meanwhile, Ethan ignores Joseph's warnings and eats one of the sacred apples, but it triggers an inhuman transformation in his body, forcing the Captain to kill him.

[7] According to art director Issac Papismado, the team had wanted to create a post-apocalyptic game set in the Far Cry series for a long time.

[8] The team intentionally avoided a dark and bleak tone as they felt that it would be a cliché and resolved to create a world that looks vibrant.

[9] To give Highwaymen a visual identity, the team invited Montreal artist Zilon to create the game's art and graffiti.

[19] VG247 reviewer also notes reusage of Far Cry 5 material, but claims that the game "introduces enough new ideas and winning missions to make its apocalyptic mark just about worth it".

[26] Daemon Hatfield, writing for IGN, gave the game a 7.5/10 score, with the review summary: "Ubisoft could've done more to refresh Hope County for Far Cry: New Dawn, but there's still some good, chaotic fun to be had here.

"[17] Alyse Stanley of Polygon criticised the game's narrative dissonance but said it worked well as an "anarchic sandbox" with satisfying gameplay and "hilarious" random encounters.