Ubisoft has been polling Far Cry 4 players about what setting they would be most excited by for the next entry in the series, according to Eurogamer. The list ranges from real world, contemporary settings to the historical and the fantastical.
At the realistic end of the spectrum you have the cocaine trade and natural perils of the Peruvian jungle, or the frigid northern wilds of Alaska, which could be reminiscent of recently popular survival titles such as The Long Dark and Rust.
Historical settings suggested included the 19th century American West (Far Cry meets Red Dead Redemption? Yes, please) or the Vietnam War. Apocalypse Now‘s Colonel Kurtz perfectly fits the mold of the colorfully unhinged, tropical warlords that the series has come to love like Far Cry 3‘s Vaas or, more recently, Pagan Min, which means there’s plenty of source material for a Vietnam game.
Drifting further from realism, the list also mentions fantastical settings like a focused return to the Far Cry 4‘s mythological fantasia, Shangri-La. The obvious suggestion of zombies is made as well, alongside a Mad Max-esque post-apocalypse and extraterrestrial science fiction.
Two of the most interesting settings on the list were a modern island with dinosaurs à la Jurassic Park, or a world where you could either fight or join vampires. There’s nothing particularly far afield from mainstream pop mythology, but within that range there are quite a few directions in which the series is poised to move.
The main series has focused on contemporary realism in exotic locales recently, but has also shown a creative range with the aforementioned Shangri-La missions in Far Cry 4 and the ’80s neon absurdity of the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon spin-off (not to mention some of the more surreal moments of Far Cry 3). The possibility of a direct Blood Dragon sequel is also floated in the poll.
Ubisoft has proven responsive to similar polls in the past, particularly for the Assassin’s Creed series. A 2011 poll raised the possibility of Assassin’s Creed games set in revolutionary America, Victorian England, and Imperial China, among other locales.
The American revolution already provided the backdrop for Assassin’s Creed 3, China will feature in the upcoming 2.5-D download Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, and Victorian London was leaked as the supposed setting for the next major entry, Assassin’s Creed Victory.
Only time will tell how much of this new poll appears in Far Cry’s future. Which setting would get you most excited?