So it’s finally confirmed: after smashing up the Himalayas, Africa, Micronesia, and somewhere in the Pacific, Ubisoft’s next open world is going to focus on tearing up Montana, a state on the Canadian/US border.
Sounds interesting. But if you were given the choice of recreating a location for Ubi’s next open-world game, where would you go?
I actually liked the idea of what Far Cry 2 was doing in Africa. That said, I feel like Primal and Horizon: Zero Dawn have captured that flavour of gameplay (scavenging around animals, foraging for resources, a focus on stealth combat) pretty well.
Going to Montana makes me think of a modern Redneck Rampage, weirdly. I wouldn’t actually mind seeing an open-world game set in Antarctica, or maybe Greenland or Iceland. The problem you have with those locations, however, is introducing an antagonist that isn’t the weather. Who lives on the South Pole besides pissed off polar bears and lonely scientists?
What would really be interesting – but probably far, far too tricky for Ubi to manage – would be something set around the Civil War. Tacking slavery in the context of a big-budget game would be a super brave move, especially given Ubi’s track record when it comes to tone-deaf stories (hi, Watch Dogs). But it’d be a bold move, it’d be an interesting environment to explore and there are plenty of micro-stories from history that could be recreated very powerfully.
Those aren’t the only options, though. There’s Transylvania. Or maybe a Far Cry set around the time of the first World War. A Shogun-themed Far Cry could be extremely cool, especially given Primal‘s penchant for exploring more melee combat, and the setting would definitely set it apart from the rest of the series.
I asked around the office, and Rae from Gizmodo came up with a cracker of an idea: an open-world game set around the Australian gold rush era. It’d be perfect for a Ubisoft game too: you have plenty of iconic characters to recreate, the time period and setting naturally fits into the theme of collecting resources and crafting (mining for gold, buying supplies, that sort of thing) and there are plenty of events that could be leveraged for natural conflict.
So tell us. You’re sitting in the boardroom thinking of ideas on where to take the next AAA open-world franchise. What time period and location do you go for?
Comments
60 responses to “Where Would You Have Placed The Next Far Cry?”
Amazon.
Also. No polar bears at the South Pole. Just lots of penguins..what are they planning?
If you did find a pissed of Polar Bear at the South Pole, he’d be pissed because all his mates are at the North Pole. Think you’ll be dealing more with pissed penguins in the south.
Think it’s a interesting change. They always copped flack for making countries look bad, with their over the top overlords. I am looking for a change, possibly as you’ve suggested a lower populated area and becoming more of a survival game, better implement stealth.
I really, REALLY enjoyed treading around Micronesia, killing Denisovans. More caveman games, please!
Micronesia was Far Cry 3. He didn’t include Primal in that list.
Polar bears don’t live at the south pole. Polar bears are all northern hemisphere and found only around the arctic.
However, you’ll find angry penguins at the south pole!
LOL, your avatar says it all 🙂
I love penguins!
Remember when Far Cry was about a mad scientist and his army of mutant monkeys?
I miss those days.
First game was so good! Yep, miss those days too….
I think it’d be brave to do an American Civil War game from the perspective of a slave-owning Southern gentleman. Not that slavery would have to be an in-game mechanic or anything, but having a protagonist who was clearly on the wrong side of history would be cool.
This would actually be pretty good, I think it would challenge them to construct a fairly good narrative to pull it off. A good narrative is something that the FC franchise could do with (post FC3).
I was super excited for the western idea, I don’t think there is enough good westerns out there. I also liked the idea of Transylvania, maybe something set in ancient Rome could be good too
Oooo… a Farcry Asterix & Obelix mash-up would be awesome!
Now theres a source thats been brutally underutilised. Asterix and Obelix would be a great skin/theme for many a game.
Couldn’t care less about Far Cry these days. The original was brilliant, and I enjoyed 3 a little but quickly lost interest as it seemed a little too ‘gamey’ for me (didn’t particularly enjoy the collectathon).
Best setting which was actually in an old Kotaku article (which I can’t seem to find) would be here, good ol’ Australia. I think Forza recently showcased how diverse and interesting it could be.
It was an AusGamers article:
https://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/3493735
I was honestly expecting the first response to this article to be:
“The Toilet”
At least then it would be honest about being shit.
I’m going to narrow it a bit more. Australian parliment. It’s pretty screwed up in Canberra atm
Waco, Texas.
‘straya. Cars and wildlife can be authentic. Imagine rolling around in an old Torana or Falcon hunting wombats and roos with a Austeyr or an SLR. I think I’d overdose on awesome and die.
Only if its also post apocalyptic. They could make it south of the NSW-QLD border, allowing for a wide variety of terrain types. It could be like a mix of Mad Max meets the Last of Us.
Definitely. Not full Mad Max, somewhere between now and post-apocalypse desert craziness. There’s some stunning country to be roamed, exploring and hunting animals and bad guys.
I really just want more fleshed out vehicle on vehicle action. Its the natural progression from animals to metal monsters 😛
You mean like the original Mad Max? That was an awesome movie but is overshadowed by the even better Mad Max 2.
Yeah, sort of like that. But maybe throw some bush/forests/beach in there too.
MFP: The Game.
Set in the time and setting of the first Mad Max (or just before) but minus Max himself, in some different more remote part of Australia. “The last law in a world gone out of control” “When the gangs take over the highways…”
I am so down.
Throw in four player support with green shading being the predominant colour (or deep red if you wanted to make it an amalgamation of the Alice Springs-Katherine area) instead of the usual brown and it sounds really compelling.
I motorcycle around Numinbah Valley, Tyalgum, Uki, Murwillumbah most weekends and that area would be absolutely spot on!
Based on that image, why is the entire cast of FC5 hipsters?
Looking at the poses in the image, I’m guessing either the big bad guy is American Jesus.
Japan, just after they close of the borders in 1635.
I would like to see a Medieval setting (crusades) or Feudal Japan era setting.
I loved Primal, and taking it back to melee-focused combat (apart from an OP bow/crossbow/blowgun) setting would make me very happy.
Also the stealth focus works well with them sneaky ninja or scouts….
Maybe a Blood Dragon sequel, set wherever a Blood Dragon sequel would be set?
Yep this exactly. A Blood Dragon sequel would be excellent! Maybe if not in the Far Cry line, then as a re-skin of Watch Dogs 2
Given that Far Cry 4 was simply Far Cry 3 in the mountains (and that was alright given I never played No 3) I wonder how this game would have evolved from 4?
Blood Dragon was the last Far Cry I actually enjoyed. The mechanics/gameplay haven’t changed since FC3 (although Primal gave you a pet, I suppose)… if they can’t revitalise the gameplay, they at least need to make the world interesting.
I want Farcry with actual dinosaurs. give it a filmsy excuse plot like walking with dinosuars Prehistoric Park (stick in some magic stakes into the ground and bam your transported back to the age of the dinosuars) to bring dinosaurs into modern times and go from there.
Also i find it funny how so many people in comment sections over on other sites are so butthurt over this being set in Montana going up against crazy Religious Doomsday cults, yet having no issue with killing asians, russians, germans,arabs,south africans etc in previous games and other games in general
I want naughty dog to get the dino crisis rights and do a reboot
i fucking loved dino crisis 2
Outback Australia. Have us fight some gas/electrical company, work with local aborigines, hunt local fauna like kangaroos could be really good. Maybe use lack of local water sources as a mechanic.
The only way it would be anthing other than watching frustrated elders watching their culture die is if it was in Arnhem land. Even then they would have to fictionalise a lot of it as they couldn’t base the likeness off real people and the gameplay would be really boring.
Base it at Maralinga. Use the nuclear testing in the 50’s to drive mutations of native flora and fauna, to let the game makers go a little crazy. You have the outback, indigenous population, a bizarre backstory, and scope to Aussiefy it for the rest of the world to see. And be a little political if you wanted.
Someone my dad worked with wrote a book back in the 80’s based around that, it was both horrendous and awesome at the same time. Fun part (for us) was that most of the characters were named after people he worked with. My dad was one of only a couple of them that survived to the end.
Spectre of Maralinga if you were wondering, would be around somewhere. Probably cheap.
You mentioned my idea at the end, i would have liked either first world war or maybe even second world war but not directly in the war. During that time period with the war as a back drop but in some remote and mysterious area or a war torn area with wierd groups of people trying to reestablish life
I like the idea of a Gun Crazy group or doomsday prepper gone nuts.
If people want Aussies in a FC game, I think the best setting would be PNG – It is still a place with conflicts that Aussies are involved in and it is more feasible than Australia itself.
Other places that could be cool,
Amazon (someone said that already but its pretty cool) or Colombia
East Europe – Like Ukraine or Crimea
China / Korea border
Middle East
Far Cry: Honey I Shrunk The Kids – The Game
Yes!
Far Cry has never been based on real events or real people though? For all we know Montana could be based on a new age American civil war.
I really like the idea of a not-so-foreign land for a Far Cry game.
Well, we have Trump now so it’s less “new age” and more “contemporary”
😛
Remember that awesome scene in Terminator 2 when Arnie gives a thumbs up? That’s where I’d place the next Far Cry.
A Far Cry first, players take the role of a rogue bacterium trying to survive the rugged terrain of the leather glove of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s timeless T-800 Terminator, while navigating the political infighting of other bacteria factions, including one led by the charismatic dictator-madbacteria “Snook”. Discover a sinister danger that threatens to wipe out all life in the area as the heat begins to rise.
Coming soon.
A civilised modern location that shows signs of distopia amongst the civilians with factions divided and fighting for their rights as you wrestle control back from a deranged Ieader who has a majority control but is fragile if certain things are unlocked duh! Washington DC.
Wild West. Seriously. R* isn’t bringing RDR2 to the PC so get someone else to do a good wild west game instead.
Given the success of GTAV on PC, I will be very, VERY surprised if Rockstar don’t follow the same model with RDR2 – a console release first then PC six months or so later.
Oh man…..someone please make a gold rush Far Cry happen. Throw in Ned Kelly etc?
Yeah it’s be farkin awesome.
Australia.
I love the country, but I have been to places and met people that made the entire situation a bit ‘Mad Max in Beyond Wolf Creek’. Pretty Far Cry to me.
The only down side? So many bad Australian voice actors like they do in most games. Get some real Australians to do the voices!
The names Jake Sinimoi!
Set it in the pit where they dug up those ET cartridges.
Crashed on an alien planet.
Chernobyl would be the best, especially considering there isn’t going to be another Stalker, at least not soon. Mutated creatures, vodka, radiation and killing Russian paramilitary!
Australia would be awesome as you could write in some mad scientist that has recreated those giant manmal creatures, plus imagine an indigenous protagonist?
The cover art looks like a bunch of craft beer drinking wankers arguing about where to get the most ethically sourced coffee beans.
It’s obviously a parody of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%9Altima_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg
Hasn’t Ubisoft already had a crack at the Civil War? IIRC, that’s where Assassin’s Creed III was set.