Far Cry 6, the next title in the popular FPS series from Ubisoft, is due to release in early 2021. From everything that’s been shown so far, it looks like it’ll be sticking close to the classic Far Cry formula. This means a resistance movement to join, enemy camps to conquer, vehicles to acquire, and a charismatic tyrant to overthrow.
This last point has been a staple of the series for almost a decade now, and doesn’t look set to change. Ever since Far Cry 3, the series’ antagonists have had a lot in common with each other, but that isn’t always a good thing. Ubisoft has drawn criticism in the past for being too formulaic with its game design. It may be that Far Cry 6‘s Anton Castillo is just one charismatic tyrant too far.
While some foreshadowing of the archetype can be seen in Far Cry 2‘s arms dealer The Jackal, Vaas Montenegro is the first real example of the current Far Cry villain. The antagonist of Far Cry 3, Vaas is equal parts psychopathic, unpredictable, charismatic, and Machiavellian. Thanks to improved facial motion-capture technology and the talents of voice actor Michael Mando, Vaas made a powerful impression on fans and critics alike.
This overwhelming audience reaction to Vaas helped Ubisoft to solidify their concept of a good Far Cry villain. As a result, many of his character traits returned in Pagan Min, the antagonist of Far Cry 4. While Pagan is a little more level-headed than Vaas, he still maintains the unpredictability, the charisma, and an undertone of psychopathic violence. Like Vaas, he is king of his own private kingdom, and uses his hordes of followers to suppress all sedition.
Following in the footsteps of Pagan Min’s soft-spoken style is Far Cry 5‘s villain, Joseph Seed. Despite this, the leader of the New Eden cult is every bit as psychopathic and charismatic as Vaas. Although the mask begins to slip a little toward the end of the game, he maintains a façade of reasonability through most of it. Beneath this, he is just as violent, unpredictable, and vindictive as his predecessors. And that’s all without mentioning figures like Hoyt and New Dawn’s Mickey and Lou.
Everything revealed so far about Far Cry 6‘s Anton Castillo seems to indicate that he’s also going to follow the classic archetype. As the dictator of a small Caribbean nation, he leads with an iron fist, making speeches about responsibility while brutally suppressing his own people. His psychopathic tendencies also emerge in his interactions with his young son, Diego.
In the cinematic trailer, Anton forces Diego to carry a live grenade through the palace, apparently to teach him a lesson about control. The lesson seemingly concludes with Anton commanding Diego to drop the grenade onto a group of surrendered protestors. This combination of absolute power, twisted reasoning, and unpredictable violence is at core of the Far Cry villain archetype.
While it’s a little early to be considering Far Cry 7, it might be time Ubisoft mixed up the style. Even after three games, the main Far Cry series still hasn’t quite managed to recapture the impact of Vaas Montenegro. In addition, Ubisoft have recently experienced success with a change to another series criticized as too formulaic. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey impressed audiences in 2018 by moving its series fully into the action-RPG genre. That’s nothing against Anton who does seem to be appealing, but some innovation in the on-going franchise would likely go far.
While fans can’t expect any big changes to the gameplay of the Far Cry series, there’s definitely something to be said for exploring new character types. Far Cry‘s villains are beginning to feel a little too similar, and while it’s clear that Ubisoft is still following in the footsteps of Vaas Montenegro, perhaps it’s time for a fresh approach.
Far Cry 6 releases on February 18, 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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