Ubisoft Line up Far Cry 3 back in Africa.

Follow up game in “preliminary stages” now

by XboxOZ360:

©2008 Grant Smythe:

Africa, a far more foreboding place than many jungles

Well the current title has yet to settle on the shelves, but Ubisoft are hard at it’s next iteration of the Far Cry Franchise, and we’re back in Africa this time as well.

For me that’s a good thing actually. I prefer games based around this style of gameplay rather than some demonic unnatural force. The monsters this time are Human Beings, the worst kind.

It’s great to see their commitment to staying in the African region, as there’s much to be said about both current situations, as well as past without the need to get all up-close-n-personal with zombies and monsters. Far Cry 2 is due for release in October this year, and it’s looking at being perhaps one of the best looking and physics based games out on consoles yet. However, Ubisoft, in their normal manner (as do most development studios) are into the “preliminary stages” of the next iteration of the Far Cry franchise.

Patrick Redding, Ubisoft’s narrative designer had this to say at the recent Games Convention in Leipzieg the other week:

“For us, Africa still has a huge amount of promise,” Redding told videogaming24/7. “There are still things we want to do with the African setting, and I think it’s safe to say we’ll continue to explore it.” A return to Africa isn’t a lock however, as Redding also noted that “we might find something new and compelling about the Antarctic setting that wants us to make the next game there.”

Reeding did comment that Ubisoft had “made a commitment to the African setting” And at Game Convention last week he did say:-

“If we wanted to make the next game set in the… forest of South America, we could do it,” he said.

“But I think to save time, for us, one of the reasons we chose to use the African setting is because we felt that in order to retain the Far Cry brand value, of an exotic, dangerous environment, a place that maybe people haven’t had a chance to see themselves, or have seen extensively in film, television and other games, we wanted to choose Africa.”

“Let’s face it, jungle islands are probably less exciting as they were four years ago,”

While a definite local has yet to be set in stone, it’s a far bet to say that Africa will be the logical choice. This allows a much quicker time frame between iterations and as he commented that he believe the game will not be making a return to the original setting, such as tropical jungles and the like.

I think the jungles are over done as it is right now, and with some FPS War based games returning there now (COD5 and Crysis Warhead etc) by the time Far Cry 3 reaches us in about 18 - 24 months time, the jungle will be as popular as European WWII settings are now - not.

©2008 Grant Smythe: