The Far Cry series has had a good run of games in the last few years. Since 2012, four games in the series have been released: Far Cry 3, Far Cry Blood Dragon, Far Cry 4 and Far Cry Primal. All the games were well-received; Far Cry 3 in particular was widely praised as a major advancement for the Ubisoft series. Just one problem: All four games were made with the same engine, with the same basic gameplay. Far Cry 5 is up next, and we all need to plead desperately with Ubisoft: Please, give us a new engine and a big revamp.
Far Cry 5 Needs A New Engine Or It Will Be Stale
Far Cry 3 reinvented the Far Cry series and the open world shooter more generally. Far Cry 4 was a very similar game, but set in the high mountains, on a next-gen system, and with a handful of new features. It felt great (especially for this newcomer to the series), but didn’t break tons of new ground. Blood Dragon was a DLC-priced ’80s action romp, and Far Cry Primal is set in the Stone Age, so both had big differences from the main series—but the fundamental action, progression and goals involved were largely similar. That’s all fine; each game was a lot of fun. But the revolution of Far Cry 3 is beginning to get stale.
Far Cry 5 needs to reinvent the wheel. It might seem weird to fix what isn’t broken; the Far Cry formula still works. It’s just been done now by four games in four years. We need something new. The Far Cry series now stands next to Assassin’s Creed as a pillar in Ubisoft’s lineup, and the company would surely like the game to stay that way. To ensure that, the next game in the series really needs to have a new engine—a major graphical and gameplay overhaul.
As long as Far Cry 5 feels different, it will likely be a success. If the game feels just like an advanced Far Cry 3 for the fifth time, there may not be an outcry—but there certainly won’t be a great deal of excitement. Ubisoft should take its time, let Far Cry rest for a year (after all, we’ve already had one Far Cry game in 2016), and introduce us to a revitalized and reborn series with Far Cry 5. Because that really would be cause for excitement.
