Ever since Far Cry 3 came out, most succeeding games have been more or less the same. They’ve become first person copies of Assassin’s Creed games except with more exotic locales and more insane locals. So as it stands right now, no matter how different a new Far Cry game promises itself to be, there’s a chance it will end up as more of the same.
There are times when players often feel like the developers of Far Cry games could push the envelope further with new features and at the same time, doing away with old formulas that only serve to hold the game back from reaching its true potential. So in order to make the newest Far Cry game a true “far cry” from its formulaic predecessor, some fundamental and mechanical things might need tweaking.
10 Do: An Option To Be Bad
Since Far Cry games have already adapted an RPG trope where players can have several endings based on their choices, they might as well give players the option to break off from the typical outsider-turned-hero path. Some players simply want to be on the other side of the coin.
There are also instances where the “good guys” are too irritating and players don’t want anything to do with them, such as the bratty tourists of Far Cry 3. After all, it’s a game about going all-out crazy in the middle of nowhere. Most Far Cry games have been surprisingly strict about their “good guy” script with not much opportunity for deviation.
9 Don’t: Ubisoft’s Map Unlock System
Ubisoft has been using its tried-and-tested waypoint tower system for too long now. They should spice things up by thinking of a more clever and more rewarding way to incentivize players with map exploration. They don’t even have to follow that checklist method of unlocking the map anymore.
At this point in the Far Cry games, doing that over and over again in the first-person perspective is just tedious. There’s also no logical reason in the game world why other NPCs can’t do it either. They’ve been there longer and are more armed and more capable than the player character.
8 Want: More Helpful And Overall Friendlier NPCs
Speaking of NPCs who are actually willing to help, Far Cry games are in dire need of them. Sure, Far Cry 5 might have included companions, but the general population of the area really could have offered more assistance than just being fodder in big assault missions.
For one, they could have easily done some of the more dull fetch quests or fixed up plenty of other stuff so that the players don’t have to feel like they’re doing all the work. Having NPCs that actually do stuff instead of ordering players around also makes the game world feel more alive and should make them at least likable.
7 Don’t: Obvious Villains And Unappealing Stories
It’s a little too late for this since Far Cry 6 already announced its villain in the form of Giancarlo Esposito. There are no complaints about that, but perhaps they could have been a little more flexible with the story instead of making it another tale of vengeance?
Ever since Far Cry 3, every Far Cry story is pretty much just a bare premise where villains A, B, and C are introduced and players have to go kill them because they wronged them. Even Call of Duty games have more engaging plots than that. Not making the villain or story too obvious or simple certainly would make the story less predictable and thus more exciting.
6 Want: More Populated Towns
Take a good look at Far Cry 2 and beyond and players can easily see that all towns and populated areas have little to no civilians. The bulk of the population is either combatants or prostitutes (in some games). It often makes players wonder why their character even ventured there in the first place, particularly in Far Cry 3 and 5’s case.
By comparison, similar open-world games like the Just Cause series take better care of their game world and add in some details that make them convincing instead of just empty playgrounds for the players. Even Assassin’s Creed games did it better.
5 Don’t: Grindy Gameplay
Grinding would have been acceptable in a multiplayer game or an open-world RPG where players need to feel some form of progression. However, Far Cry titles are action FPS games.
As such, locking some guns behind progression gates or walls that only serve to artificially prolong a non-RPG game is not a good practice. There’s also the fact that Ubisoft has been including an in-game microtransaction market for its single-player games, Far Cry included. That’s why grinding has been a constant mechanic in Far Cry 5 even though the game didn’t need it.
4 Want: Far Cry 2’s Realism And Atmosphere
Out of all the Far Cry games, none have captured the intensity and spirit of its simulated place other than Far Cry 2. It was based in Africa and it’s clear that the developers really went out of their way to make the game feel like a far cry trip away from comfy civilization.
The risks were high and players can almost smell the mud and the fire with Far Cry 2’s immersion level. The problem was, the developers went a bit too far and made the game needlessly hardcore. Still, a bit of polish and balancing was all Far Cry 2 needed. Hopefully, Far Cry 6 can capture the same atmosphere.
3 Don’t: Cutscenes That Rob Players Of Agency
It’s not just Far Cry games that are guilty of robbing player agency, but many other FPS titles as well. Beating a boss only for them to recover in the last minute and escape, or suddenly rob the players of victory, is a cheap way of combining storytelling with video game mechanics. There are also many moments in the Far Cry games where players could have done something if only a buzzkill of a cutscene wasn’t stopping them.
It robs the game of its interactivity, and we might as well be watching a film instead of playing a game. Our only hope is that Far Cry 6 doesn’t continue that practice and finds a way to be creative with their cutscenes.
2 Want: More Destructible Environments
After seeing how the debris, fire, and explosions wrecked the pseudo-African landscape in Far Cry 2, the future of the franchise’s action started looking more promising. Sadly, the developers never seemed to improved upon Far Cry 2’s environmental destructibility.
In fact, some objective comparisons even proved that they reduced or downgraded it. Sadly, that development choice only made the game feel flat and uninspiring especially with games like Battlefield 1 and V introducing impressive and doable amounts of environmental carnage. It’s time for Far Cry titles to step up their game and make the action more dynamic.
1 Don’t: Shoehorned RPG Elements
In RPG games, it’s understandable why the player character can’t do certain things. In FPS games, they’re merely questionable progression walls. Having to spend a skill point in order to shoot pistols from a zipline or stab someone after jumping doesn’t make sense in any context.
It’s not like the player character is on a peasant-to-god journey. Most of the time, Far Cry protagonists are tourists who are suddenly tasked with leading a rebellion of some sort. That’s not exactly an RPG adventure, so it shouldn’t have RPG mechanics that only serve to prolong the game by denying players some abilities at the start.
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