There aren’t many franchises that have impacted the modern FPS genre as much as Ubisoft’s Far Cry franchise. Originally developed by Crytek as a showcase of the CryEngine, Ubisoft would go on to acquire the rights to the IP and create many successful titles.
It is thanks to Far Cry that open-world FPS titles and skill tree systems are so popular. Far Cry 3 popularized the open-ended exploration and RPG-lite systems that seem commonplace in today’s landscape. The development of these titles has brought much more than climbable radio towers, however. Here are 10 obscure development facts about the Far Cry franchise.
10 Built To Showcase The CryEngine
Far Cry has been such a renowned IP for Ubisoft that many forget that it was originally owned by Crytek. After working on the ambitious CryEngine, Crytek used it to provide a tech demo in 2001 named X-Isle. The demo showed a tropical environment inhabited by highly detailed vegetation and dinosaurs.
It was never intended to be a full title, but this tech demo did spark the idea of the Far Cry franchise. There were talks of having the game be a squad-based shooter against aliens closely related to dinosaurs, but these ideas never made it to the final game. Instead, Far Cry implemented a sci-fi twist halfway through the game that introduced mutant enemies for the player to face.
9 Ubisoft Purchased Far Cry From Crytek
Of course, Ubisoft has created every Far Cry title since the first entry. After Crytek developed the first Far Cry, they were offered a contract with Electronic Arts in 2004 to create an exclusive title for the publisher. This title would later be known as Crysis, renowned for bringing most computers to their knees with how graphically demanding it was. With little need for the Far Cry IP, Crytek would go on to sell the rights to Far Cry to Ubisoft in 2006.
8 The Dunia Engine Is Based On CryEngine
Despite how different Far Cry 2 is from the rest of the franchise, it was the first game to use the new Dunia engine that every Far Cry title would use after its release. Dunia was built with a large emphasis on simulating realistic physics, ranging from fully destructible trees to simulating fire spreading amongst vegetation.
It’s an impressive sight, even to this day, but much of the Dunia engine is based on Crytek’s work on the CryEngine. Considering that games were shifting more towards simulation with the reveal of Crysis, it is no coincidence that many of Far Cry 2’s systems were designed around realism and simulation above all else.
7 Far Cry 2 Has Many Unfinished Systems
Far Cry 2 was overly ambitious for Ubisoft’s own good. The Dunia engine was an impressive sight that tried to compete with what Crysis was bringing to the table, but many of the game’s core gameplay systems were heavily fudged to work.
Buddies are the largest example of this. According to lead designer Clink Hocking, Buddies were made functional almost entirely on scripts instead of a general AI package. The game’s impressive AI was developed entirely around combat, which meant that almost all NPC interactions outside of combat had to be scripted or created by hand. Far Cry 2’s multiplayer and drama management systems were also underdeveloped compared to what the team wished to accomplish.
6 Far Cry 3 Rebooted Mid-Development
In many ways, Far Cry 3 was a return to form for the franchise. The return of a tropical environment and a focus towards sandbox elements was a refreshing change of pace compared to the simulator-heavy Far Cry 2. Thing is, Ubisoft planned to make it even closer to the previous two installments.
Before the game was rebooted, Ubisoft was planning to use Far Cry 3 as a means of connecting the previous titles together. In 2010, many developers on the project left including the lead creative director and lead narrative director. Ubisoft decided to reboot the project and focus on a self-enclosed story instead.
5 Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon And Primal Reuse Assets From Past Games
Some of Far Cry’s most memorable moments come from the franchise’s strange spinoff titles, most notably Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Far Cry Primal. As creative as these games are, they borrow many assets from previous Far Cry titles and have much smaller development teams.
The most notable example is Far Cry Primal’s map is taken straight from the southern half of Far Cry 4’s map, sparking a small amount of controversy amongst journalists and fans. This practice is nothing new, however, as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s topography is taken from Far Cry 3’s islands. Reusing assets is a crucial part of making video games while under a strict deadline, especially when that project has a smaller budget and team than previous entries.
4 Far Cry 4 Was Originally A Followup To Far Cry 3
Some fans have criticized Far Cry 4 for being “Far Cry 3.5″ instead of a proper sequel. Strangely, Ubisoft’s original plans for Far Cry 4 were much closer to a “Far Cry 3.5” than fans might realize.
Far Cry 4 was originally going to take place on the same islands as Far Cry 3 and continue the story from the third title. It is unknown what this story was going to be, but the developers ended up changing Far Cry 4 to take place in the Himalayans instead with a self-contained story.
3 Invented Three Languages For Far Cry Primal (proto euro language)
Each character in Far Cry Primal speaks a strange language that is unlike anything present in previous entries. That is because Ubisoft worked alongside pre-historians and linguists to create three distinct languages based on the Proto-Indo-European Language (otherwise known as PIE).
2 Far Cry 5’s Controversy Was Not Intentional
Far Cry 5’s themes on separatism and extremism spawned heavy controversy amongst the gaming community when the game was first announced with many believing that Far Cry 5 was unabashedly critiquing the political climate present in the United States at the time. To the disappointment of a few, this was purely coincidental.
The writers for Far Cry 5 were focused more on past events such as the September 11 attacks than the current political climate while making the story. The uncertainty and radical ideology present in Far Cry 5 was meant to inflect on past events instead of an open critique of the current political climate. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop a vocal subset of gamers from actively critiquing the game’s themes.
1 A Far Cry Movie Was In Development
Technically, a Far Cry movie already exists that was directed by Uwe Boll. While considered a complete failure by many, Ubisoft was planning on creating a Far Cry film sometime during 2013. Ubisoft Motion Pictures planned to create films for Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Rabbids as well. Of course, these movies were never developed.
It wouldn’t be the first time Ubisoft dabbled in film, either, as there were plans to create a Splinter Cell film after the development of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It is unknown if these projects are still in development, although the studio has developed the Assassin’s Creed film that released in 2016 to negative reviews.
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