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What we want from Far Cry: New Dawn
Ubisoft are giving us a new Far Cry earlier than expected, but how could it top the last game?
As a surprise (and very late) announcement, Ubisoft revealing Far Cry: New Dawn for a February 15, 2019 release was very welcome indeed. Far Cry 5 attempted to tell a serious story that veered towards social commentary without ever fully committing, but it did give us a stunning open world to explore alone or with friends (and animal friends at that).
There is room for improvement, however, so we’ve had a think about how New Dawn could topple Far Cry 5, and maybe even Far Cry 3 as the best in the series. With a lower price point and tying into the previous game, there are risks and possibilities. Here’s what we want from Far Cry: New Dawn.
Don’t go full-RPG and definitely don’t go the Survival route
Releasing a standalone sequel that ties into a previous game, or even uses assets and a world from another game isn’t a new thing – especially to developers Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed Origins was, all told, a magnificent game, but the feeling around 2018’s follow-up (Odyssey) was that it was “too soon”. What we actually got, however, was yet another superb lead protagonist in Kassandra, and Ubi decided to push Assassin’s Creed into the RPG category, with conversation wheels, more skill trees, and a general feeling that you’re impacting the world more.
While we do want to feel as though we’re having an effect on Far Cry 5’s Hope County (17 years on), we think there are currently enough open-world RPGs on the market, and we’re quite happy blowing things up and generally having a fun time with the tools on offer. Far Cry has dabbled with survival aspects in the past with Far Cry 2’s malaria gameplay, but after such enormous worlds in Red Dead Redemption 2 which also requires you to manage “real world” things, we just want Far Cry to remain our “tune in, turn up, explode things” game. Resist the temptation, Ubi, and let us drive a bike with our dog in the sidecar while shooting everything in sight. Thanks.
Give us a satisfying conclusion
Far Cry 5 was incredible. It delivered not one, but four terrific villains and a story that kept you guessing right up until the end. Indeed, without spoiling here, the final moments of the game were fairly strange, not quite delivering on a full-on explanation for everything we saw prior to the credits rolling. New Dawn is set 17 years after Far Cry 5, meaning there will be some characters from the previous game.
There’s a chance for Ubisoft to go “full crazy”, here. A post-apocalyptic world of sorts is, again, nothing new, but when you think about it, this is a setting that suits the series beautifully. No rules, jerry-rigging things together. Play into the setting; play into the over-the-top nature of the series, but don’t forget that if you deliver a story, make it satisfying for the player when the 20 minute credits kick in. On top of that, we’d really like to see the company take a stand (one way or another), because dipping your toes in the water with the social commentary isn’t really enough. Far Cry 5 offered so much potential but by the time we were done we wanted a little more from the story.
More weapons and skills, please
The thing about Far Cry 5 is that, while excellent, we fell into a routine of using our favourite guns and skills, barely caring about vehicles and just ploughing onwards with that loadout. The setting lends to creativity, and hopefully there will be some bizarre weapons either unlockable as you progress, or perhaps modifications you can make yourself. We’re not expecting a Borderlands-like number of weapons, but there are enough games with the standard fare of guns, so hopefully this time we won’t use our Bow (or if we do, it better have some daft ammo and attachments) and that automatic rifle again.
Keep the co-op, but refine it
One of the most fun things to do in Far Cry 5 was to party up with a real-world friend and maruade around the world together, literally causing chaos as you roamed. However, there was a major flaw: whoever the host was would be happy as Larry when the session finished, having progressed their story as you acted out your jolly cooperation. The poor sap who left the world though would be right back where they started when the session began. Only the host’s world was persistent, and we’d like to see that fixed. While friends will always enjoy hanging out together, when you’re getting nothing from the experience to take back to your own game aside perhaps some skill unlocks, it’s going to cause arguments as to who hosts the game. Fix this please, Ubi!
More animals as buddies, have fun with the game
Will we be able to take mutated buddies into battle?
© Ubisoft
It was great running around with Boomer the dog in Far Cry 5. He was your friendly companion who could fetch weapons for you and spot enemies. But the idea that New Dawn is set after a nuclear disaster means we could be set to see some outlandish buddies, and we’re all for that. A Fallout-style Super Mutant as an unlockable buddy? Yes please. Don’t get us wrong, we’re happy with the fact your dog can now ride in a sidecar so you can still use vehicles, but we want a bit more than a dog and bear this time.
We’re hoping Ubisoft really has fun with this one. As a standalone, “non-numbered” entry in the series, we want them to take the chance to forget about grounding the game in the real world. The DLC for the last game took us to space at one point, so we at least know there are some crazy ideas floating about. Here’s hoping we see some of that in the new game.
