The Lord of the Rings films are often a source of inspiration for fans looking to put a game's map editor tools to good use, and one player has been able to make the most of Far Cry 5's to bring Helm's Deep to life. It is hardly the first game players have brought Middle-Earth to life in, whether it is the majestic landscape brought to life in Halo Infinite or the menacing Minas Morgul in Minecraft. However, the iteration of Helm's Deep brought to life inside the Far Cry Arcade may sit among the more visually striking and accurate in-game player creations taken from Tolkien's fantasy world.
Far Cry Arcade is the aforementioned content creation feature for the more creative-minded players who picked up Far Cry 5 following its release in March 2018. The creator came loaded with over 9,000 assets taken from several major Ubisoft titles outside of Far Cry 5 including Watch Dogs, Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and Assassin's Creed: Unity. Maps were playable, as well, with creators able to insert single-player, two-player cooperative, or multiplayer objectives to complete after sharing the finished product online.
The striking representation of Helm's Deep came courtesy of Reddit user Mojoswoptops2020 who shared their finished product on the Xbox Series X subreddit for others to see. Mojo's version of Helm's Deep is taken from the closing moments of The Two Towers climatic battle scene where Gandalf the White and thousands of Rohirrim arrive to save Aragorn, King Theodan, and the people of Rohan from Saruman's massive army of Uruk-hai. The fortress shows the battle damage it has suffered from the battle, primarily to the Deeping Wall, while the sun rays shine down on the army of Uruks to mark a new day and the end of the battle.
Overall response to Mojo's creation was positive as other users shared their praise for how the fortress of Helm Hammerhand was brought to life inside Far Cry 5. Several players were keen to ask if it was available to download and play inside Far Cry 5, which would likely be a departure from the battle seen in the films. Others were upfront in saying they either didn't realize the game had a creation tool or was capable of capturing this level of detail, potentially inspiring other players to test out their creative muscles.
While the Lord of the Rings films are full of now-iconic moments, an argument can be made the Battle of Helm's Deep is the most iconic and the trilogy's best battle. It is a fair argument to make, as the battle marks a turning point in the story as Aragorn begins to accept his destiny of becoming Gondor's king and marks the first major defeat for Sauron's forces. That said, there are plenty of other moments Mojo could pull from for future creations, though time will tell if they continue down this proverbial rabbit hole.
Far Cry 5 is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
