'Far Cry 5: Hours of Darkness'

If you were a fan of using stealth in Far Cry 5, you will love this DLC. Hours of Darkness feels like an entirely different game. Right from the beginning, you are thrown into the action as Wendell Redler, the Vietnam veteran found near Falls End. With his helicopter downed by the enemy, you must free your squadmates and other prisoners, all whilst clearing out NVA camps, destroying AA guns, and taking out NVA commanders. Along the way, you will face new wildlife, enemies, and an entirely new perk system. Instead of finding magazines that give you a perk point, you earn "Survival Instincts" via stealth kills. Now, don't think that you can kill a few enemies quietly and go off running and gunning. To keep your Survival Instincts, you must remain undetected or they will be stripped from you.

Survival Instincts:

• Adrenaline Perk - Allows players to move faster in crouch and auto-tags enemies within 10 meters.
• Ghost Perk - Reduces the noise players make when walking, sprinting and landing. Fall damage is reduced.
• Sixth Sense Perk - Automatically tags enemies about to detect the player. Also makes predators less inclined to attack the player. (Using bait while this perk is active is very useful.)
• Predator Perk - Allows the player to tag enemies through walls using the binoculars. Extends auto-tagging to 20 meters.

As you can see, these perks will save your life in a variety of situations while finding your way through the jungle.

The further you progress into the jungle, the more interesting things you will find. For example, you will find tunnels leading to NVA Commanders in bunkers, as well as a cache of ammo and consumables. As you continue along saving your squadmates and other POW being held captive, the constant yelling from NVA soldiers will keep you on edge. They will seemingly come out of nowhere (unless of course, you manage to hold onto your Survival Instincts). The moment that you're spotted it seems that the entire surrounding forces will flock to you immediately. Even if you manage to find a hiding spot they will continue to search for you, firing into the dense jungle surrounding you. Overall, being engaged is an intense experience, unlike in the base game. Ammo is at times hard to find, particularly for stealth weapons unless you stumble across a suppressed handgun or a recurve bow.

One thing that I was slightly disappointed with was the challenges. I feel as if they could have implemented more in-game challenges, but that's subject to personal opinion.

Overall, I found this DLC well worth the money. Its immersive and intense gameplay keeps you on edge throughout the entire story. Unlike the base game, you can't become an absolute tank via perks and overpowered weapons/vehicles, thus forcing you to pick your engagements carefully in hopes that you will make it out alive. The orientation around the stealth mechanics was something I particularly enjoyed.

The size of the map was much larger than what I thought it might be, providing an incentive to explore and find everything possible before finishing the questline. Even though I was slightly disappointed by the challenges list, they made up for the simplicity there with varying degrees of difficulty with Action Movie and Survivor modes to provide for decent replay value.