About a month ago, Ubisoft announced Far Cry 2 and it looks like Ubisoft Montreal is putting a new coat of paint onto the already successful FPS franchise. But what about Far Cry’s original developer, Crytek? Simply put, Crytek is off to greener pastures (Crysis, anyone?) but rather than have a suitable (and bankable) game franchise go to waste, Ubisoft is putting their guns on auto for Far Cry 2.
No more Jack Carver, no more tropical islands and no more mutants. This time around, the currently unnamed main character will be running through the grasslands and plains of Africa fighting human enemies and the African wildlife.
The reason why Ubisoft decided to do-away with the mutants and keep the human enemies for Far Cry 2 is the fact that that’s what the players liked in Far Cry. Louis-Pierre Pharand, Producer for Far Cry 2, said, "Our research with consumers showed that there was more interest in the earlier parts of Far Cry… where you were raiding mercenary encampments."
Trying to distance themselves from Crytek’s upcoming Crysis, Far Cry 2 won’t feature upgradable nano suits with over-the-top abilities. There are also no aliens, and no fantasy/sci-fi storyline. Pharand said, "Neither the player nor the enemy have any ‘powers’ other than those that any individual human can summon up…"
But taking ideas from Far Cry, Far Cry 2 won’t skimp on the awesome landscapes. The game will actually be two fully open worlds with a total of 50 square kilometers to romp through, according to Pharand.
Apparently the plot will encompass the main character being in the wrong place at the wrong time — accidentally (or purposefully?) killing an arms dealer who was selling arms to two feuding groups. So what happens when bad guys don’t get their weapons? They go after the person who stopped the weapons flow, and that’s you! Pharand also said the story will be non-linear, dynamic and, "…procedurally assembled using a simple drama-management engine to popular the story with key characters…"
Far Cry 2 is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal for PC and is set for release sometime in 2008.
