The fictional movie director of the not-real film Blood Dragon 3 is under a lot of stress in Far Cry 5. He told me so himself when I stumbled onto his movie set in the eastern part of Ubisoft’s huge new first-person shooter.
If his next project is a flop he says he’ll be forced to go back to working in the video game industry on a series called Far Cry. The horror!
Guy Marvel is one of Far Cry 5‘s more eccentric characters, which is saying something for a game that is full of absurd conspiracy theorists, cultists, farmers and politicians. Players will find him in the midst of doing the kind of over-the-top shooting and driving that animates the action-packed series.
“Those pussies back in Hollywood could learn a little something from you,” he says after seeing you do your thing. He doles out missions that are easter egg references to Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a standalone DLC from five years ago where developers were allowed to deploy the main game’s tools and mechanics to pay homage to neon-infused 80s action movies.
The first includes killing enemies roaming near the set because they keep making too much noise, while the second actually has you film an action scene for his next movie.
“Now I can finally spray my magic all over this film. Blood Dragon 3 will be a masterpiece!” says Marvel after you go on a short murdering spree to finally get the film crew some peace and quiet. “Seriously, it has to be. I can’t go back to working on shit like Far Cry. I’d rather put my balls in a vice than listen to everyone with their fucking opinions about world building and player motivation and believability. I’ll kill myself I swear to fucking god.”
Marvel’s a comedic character but this dark cry for help left me shook. Game development is extraordinarily hard. Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier wrote an entire book about it.
And here was a Far Cry 5 character pleading to not go back to it, in part because of people who make complaints like some of the ones in my review. The fourth wall wasn’t broken. It had collapsed. I had to help.
The second mission Marvel gives you revolves around filming an action sequence starring you doing the kinds of ridiculous stuff you’ve learned to do in the game. The movie’s already over budget and in need of some cheap actors. I obliged, he seemed happy, and I even got paid. Hopefully he knew what he was doing cause I definitely did not.
My first thought was that Marvel himself was intended to be reminiscent of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon‘s creative director, Dean Evans, who recently departed Ubisoft to pursue other projects. Both men are intimately involved with the 80s nostalgia-fest and have a penchant for colourful language and speaking their minds.
“I’d be a total fucking hypocrite if I moved forward and didn’t take any risks,” he told Game Informer regarding his future.
“So fuck it, I think I might go out and set up my own studio and see where that goes.” Evans once pitched a game about a Jewish thief who stole people’s money because he suffered from kleptomania.”
In an email to Kotaku though, an Ubisoft spokesperson confirmed there was no relation between the two. The publisher did pass along an official description of Marvel:
“Guy Marvel is destined to be the Next Big Thing – just ask him, he’ll tell you. According to Guy, he’s a creative visionary who just needs everyone to get out of his f***ing way so that he can make his masterpiece: Blood Dragon 3. (And under no circumstances should you EVER ask him about what happened to Blood Dragon 2).”
The single-player portion of Far Cry 3 is actually included with Far Cry 5‘s season pass on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. So far, there hasn’t been any mention of whether the Blood Dragon DLC will also be available or Ubisoft plans on doing a sequel to it spinning off of the latest game.
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