Discussing the Expanded Scope of Far Cry: New Dawn with Ubisoft Montreal

Ubisoft Montreal has placed itself in the precarious position of crafting a direct sequel with Far Cry: New Dawn. The bombastically chaotic FPS series often keeps its tone in check, skirting the fine line between too serious and too dumb. We all have stories of gunning down a band of soldiers after a brisk wingsuit flight from some distant peak, only to be attacked by a voracious predator like a bear or a turkey, and then seeing the whole scene catch on fire when a stray bullet or molotov strikes a nearby vehicle. If you are susceptible enough,Far Cry‘s penchant for freedom can often clash with the cruel and psychotic villains terrorizing the protagonist over the course of the narrative.

Yet each game in the series is its own slice of anarchy, mostly separated from each other. Attempts have been made to thread the narrative needle through each game due to a tucked away Easter egg or vague reference. By dropping bombs at the end of Far Cry 5, Ubisoft Montreal wiped the slate clean just enough to allow New Dawn the distance it needs to stand on its own and evoke a feeling of familiarity. Outside of returning characters, New Dawn bathes Hope County in a new light but takes players on brief journeys across the wounded United States. Zany moments and entertaining mechanics still exist but with an RPG spin to extend satisfaction. By all accounts, the Montreal team is implementing these changes to prepare fans for what’s to come.

We had the opportunity to speak with Jean-Sébastien Decant, Creative Director, and Olivia Alexander, Scriptwriter and Narrative Designer, from Ubisoft Montreal about Far Cry: New Dawn and how the game is pushing the series and not simply a spin-off beholden to its predecessor. And we also made an honest attempt to see if Joseph Seed’s prophecy was a sign that all of the Far Cry games are in fact connected… but we’re not sure if anyone was fooled.

First up, we spoke with Olivia Alexander about how the events of Far Cry 5 transform Far Cry: New Dawn. We touch on the process behind bringing two new “villains” into the fold and whether this is hope for Hope County after the dust has settled. Listen to the full interview below:

As Creative Director, Jean-Sébastien Decant is pushing the team at Ubisoft Montreal to expand upon what a Far Cry game can be. Elements like enemy levels and increased difficulties for side activities are giving players a more active role in how they conquer this deadly new world. He answers what it was like to take the foundation of Far Cry 5 and create something new without it becoming stale.

Digital Chumps: Far Cry New Dawn is colorful and vibrant for a post-apocalyptic game, especially after the devastating ending of Far Cry 5. What were the inspirations and creative decisions behind taking this approach? What kind of feelings do you hope the setting elicits from players?

Jean-Sébastien Decant: We had two challenges on our mind when we started Far Cry New Dawn. First was how do we transform Far Cry 5’s Hope County so much that the world feels like a brand new playground to explore. Second was how do we carve our own space in the post-apocalyptic genre that does not feel like a rehash of existing movies, TV shows or video games. The answer to both these challenges came by going “world first.” This meant that we studied potential outcomes of a global nuclear apocalypse, came up with a model spanning over twenty years, contacted specialists to ensure that our theories made sense and used it as the basis of inspiration for game features, art and narrative. Through the “world first” approach, we realized that after a nuclear winter, when the rain and the sun would come back in a world with much less human population, nature and wildlife would take over in a dramatic way. It also made us realize how survivors would have to make do with what they have, how farming would become key for survival. It helped us realize our vision, to create a beautiful and inviting world in which players could spend hours exploring, while telling a very brutal and uncompromising story about survival in a lawless frontier.

Digital Chumps: Choices and the consequences of those choices seem to inspire the story of New Dawn and how its characters deal with such a dramatic aftermath. While the gameplay has always given players a great deal of freedom, is the team working towards a narrative with more branching paths?

JSD: Indeed Far Cry is about freedom. Our games are focused on giving players the freedom to explore a space in any direction and at their own pace. Moreover, we provide the tools to be able to tackle any challenge in a sneaky stealthy way or in a very bombastic fashion. In Far Cry New Dawn – as we have been doing since Far Cry 3 – we do have a few narrative choices, but there are no major branching paths. I see the unfolding of our narrative more like a puzzle that players assemble in their own way depending on where they go, what they do and how much they want to pay attention to the details around them.

Digital Chumps: Looking back, the political and societal climate Far Cry 5 was released in is a fascinating thing to analyze. How did the team handle the backlash and the praise from different groups of people who wanted the game to say something personal to or for them? Do you think Far Cry 5 became an important part of the conversations people were having about current events or how something like a video game or piece of art could inspire a dialog?

JSD: Far Cry 5 was about our fear of the world being on the brink of a collapse, and observing that world through the lens of doomsday cultists who were going all the way in order to get ready. That’s what we were aiming for way before the announcement at E3 2017, and that’s what we delivered when Far Cry 5 was released. Then again, through the “world first” approach we had created our own documented parallel universe about cults and preppers. We did our best to move forward without getting sidetracked by the comments of people who were projecting their own views of the real world before they could actually put their hands on the game.

Digital Chumps: Is Far Cry New Dawn a kind of “worst case scenario” in the event a figurehead like Joseph Seed, Pagan Min, or Vaas rise to power? How are you approaching not only two “villains” in the story but two female ones?

JSD: Far Cry New Dawn gave us the opportunity to observe how three different philosophies could grow in a world where humanity has to start from scratch. The Survivors want to rebuild America and secure a peaceful future for their children. As for Joseph Seed and his cult, they are in a new headspace now. They call themselves New Eden, they have rejected our ways, our technology and even our culture. They live in communion with nature like trappers from the 18th century, only taking what they need. While the Highwaymen are more nihilistic, they live for the day. They want all the good stuff for themselves and it’s going to go very, very badly if you are in their way. Survivors and New Eden have more of a sedentary approach to livelihood, while Highwaymen are nomads. They go from place to place and claim all the resources for themselves. The Highwaymen leaders Mickey and Lou – the infamous Twins – are the daughters of the founder of the Highwaymen. They grew up following the rules of the group in a dog eat dog world. They put people in two categories: you are either a problem maker or a problem solver. At some point their father became a problem, so they solved it. Since then, they are in charge of the whole operation which expands way beyond Hope County as they have “chapters” all across the States. In terms of narrative, being confronted with two villains at the same time changes the dynamic of the encounters. We were focused on one on ones since Far Cry 3, and we felt it was time to try a different approach. Plus, diving into the world of twins who entertain a very deep level of familiarity, who have their own world in a way, make the situations intriguing and unpredictable.

Digital Chumps: What were the challenges of making a direct sequel to a numbered Far Cry game? Do you think players will be more attached to New Dawn because of returning characters and themes? What lengths did you go through to ensure newcomers don’t feel left out?

JSD: Far Cry New Dawn is a standalone sequel to Far Cry 5. Meaning that returning players will be provided with a continuation and a conclusion to Far Cry 5, while newcomers will be able to enjoy a post-apocalyptic Far Cry without feeling lost because they don’t know what happened before. Actually, it’s a bit like our characters in the game. You have the old generation like Nick and Kim Rye or the Father who are coming from Far Cry 5. They know the world from before and are now operating based on what they went through. And then you have the new generation like Carmina Rye or, to a certain extent, the Twins. They only know the world from after the global nuclear apocalypse, their views are very different from those of the “elders” who are constantly reminding them of things or values they never knew or needed. If, as a player you are from the Far Cry 5 generation you will be able to connect instantly with Hope County and its characters, but if you are a player from the Far Cry New Dawn generation we made sure to use that “conflict” of generation to provide context while making the story move forward.

Digital Chumps: The introduction of RPG mechanics like enemy rarities and equipment levels in New Dawn is a major evolution of the Far Cry formula. Why is now the best time to bring these elements into the game? How do you draw the line between giving players too much choice and too little?

JSD: Due to the post-apocalyptic setting, we aimed to inject a little bit more danger in the world. We wanted to put our players in a mindset where they would be a little bit more cautious about their surroundings: being constantly on the lookout for resources to gather in order to craft tools and improve the homebase, but also be more cautious about engaging with enemies who potentially could outrank them. I need to state though that New Dawn at its core is a Far Cry game, meaning that despite the gathering / crafting plus enemy and weapon ranking, Far Cry New Dawn remains a very easy to pick up and play shooter, we are not a simulation or a hardcore survival game. It’s more a matter of introducing light RPG notions to push the players to be more aware of their surroundings, also to encourage co-op play in order to tackle the toughest challenges.

Digital Chumps: During my time with New Dawn I particularly enjoyed the one-off nature of Expeditions and how it brought the player outside the area they were most familiar with. What was the process behind creating these new zones and giving them their own bit of backstory? Do you see them almost as small dungeons in an RPG?

JSD: You can see Expeditions as “dungeons” in an RPG, yes. An expedition is a “snatch and grab” operation, you go on Highwaymen territories outside of Hope County to gather rare resources. You have to locate a package, steal it and go back to the helicopter which will bring you back to the Homebase. Expeditions are mostly 1sqkm instanced maps in which we could go a little bit crazier than in the open world because we don’t have the same technical constraints. We can push the graphics, the max number of enemies and set up larger enclosed spaces which create fresh opportunities for close quarter combat. Expeditions are an opportunity to travel beyond Hope County and discover how other places in the States have been transformed 17 years after the events. We picked regions, biomes and locations that would feel drastically different from Hope County, like the West Coast, the Bayou or the Canyons. At first, I pushed for visiting Alcatraz and an amusement park in the South, the rest of the maps came from the team at the Shanghai studio who were in charge of the Expeditions.

Digital Chumps: How fun and challenging was it to literally blow off one of the worlds you created, only to piece it back together in a new way? Is it just as hard to make an old space feel new as it is to create a new playground for players?

JSD: We were constantly pushing ourselves to refresh and transform Hope County to make it feel really different. It’s the “world first” approach which provided most of the answers, starting with the explosion of nature and wildlife post nuclear winter. To cite a few others, there was also the sand and verbena flowers from the West Coast which had been blown inland by years of strong winds. This buried locations and transformed the plains of Hope County into a flowery desert. There was also the idea of magnetic fields still altered by the events which brought us aurora borealis in the sky… The survivors refurbishing their houses with energy efficiency in mind… The Highwaymen marking their territories with colorful graffiti and planting cars in the ground…

Digital Chumps: While I know Far Cry New Dawn is the team’s focus, do you hope that future Far Cry installments take inspiration from the new foundations you have laid out? What’s one thing you would love to see in the franchise as it grows?

JSD: From an homage to the 80s action films with Blood Dragon, to travelling back in time to the prehistoric age with Primal, this time we are going full post-apocalyptic… Who knows what will happen next? Because Far Cry is a place of creative freedom, we have been trying out a lot of unexpected approaches in the past and be sure that we will continue to do so.

Digital Chumps: Is it safe to assume that things just get worse in Far Cry New Dawn and we find out it is a prequel to Far Cry Primal (which is actually set thousands of years in the future, not in prehistoric times), that in turn all other games in the franchise stem from Far Cry 5, and that Joseph Seed actually saw it all coming the whole time?

JSD: My mind is blown right now. You just found out that all this time we were seeding this Shyamalan style meta universe… Not 🙂

Far Cry: New Dawn releases on February 15, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.