By One abandoned Far Cry 4 concept appeared so intriguing that the director of the open-world game believes “that’s where the enjoyment of the entire genre could reside.”
Far Cry is unmistakably renowned for its over-the-top antagonists – some are extravagant, some menacing, yet all are simply entertaining – and Far Cry 4 maintains this trend. However, the franchise typically places us in opposition to the villains, so an initial concept for the fourth installment would have allowed players to determine their allegiances.
In a conversation with Edge 413 – currently available – creative director Alex Hutchinson of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 4 disclosed that a tossed-around idea for the FPS enabled players to return outposts to the game’s antagonist, Pagan Min, after initially seizing them. Ubisoft‘s open-world titles usually focus on conquering or clearing a map, but this notion would have reversed the narrative.
“Consider if you find common ground with the villain – if you think, ‘Actually, I don’t believe he was as terrible as depicted, and I’m not fond of these people I’ve allied with’? That kind of freedom to rethink and switch your stance, I believed could be extraordinarily captivating,” he remarked. “I think that’s potentially where the enjoyment of the entire genre may lie.”
Far Cry 7 is currently absent from the scene, but one can hope that such a concept can find its way back into the franchise, particularly since Far Cry 6 left me feeling somewhat indifferent when all was concluded.