After the announcement trailer offered more questions than answers, the cover art for Far Cry 5 has been released, bringing with it the world’s first look at the main antagonist and cast of characters. It seems that the claims from a reddit post where an anonymous user disclosed details about Far Cry 5 that they claimed to have garnered from a focus group in 2016 are mostly true - the game is set in Montana, and the villains appear to be religious fanatics.

The cover art is an allusion to the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, albeit with a more diverse cast of characters. A plethora of details can be pulled from the newly released cover art, aside from its link to classical art.

The reported religious cult theme is definitely in full swing as a church sits directly in the background, the cast is in homage to The Last Supper, an obviously religiously affiliated work of art, and the stars on the American flag have been replaced with white crosses that match the cross seen flying on the flagpole of the church. In addition, the bound figure in the foreground with the word “sinner” scrawled across his back would point to religious extremism - not to mention the wolf perched on the right side of the table, cultish face paint matted into its fur. A burning building also sits in the near background with planes flying overhead, a small town beyond that, and a sprawling, mountainous landscape stretches back into the horizon. Aside from what can only be the main antagonist front and center, rough looking hillbilly types armed with an array of weapons, food, and drink occupy the table.

Via: windowscentral.com

This definitely puts the original Wild West rumors to rest, as the weaponry, apparel, and characters are all modern in design. The burning building, loads of weaponry, and allusion to the altered American flag and open book atop it seem to drive home the point that player’s will be dealing with a cult; whether that’s in a helping or hindering nature has yet to be revealed.

With the approach of the official reveal trailer May 26th, expectations are already running high for the series fifth installment. The game is set in the United States for the first time and it dealing with the timely issue of religious zealotry. After most fans' disappointment with Far Cry Primal’s recycled assets and game map, Ubisoft would be foolish to repeat much of anything in its latest entry, although nothing is ever guaranteed with AAA developers.

Far Cry 5 will be released at the end of this fiscal year, which ends March 31st, 2018.