It's going to be one of those things that polarises people. Personally, I like the idea - too many games (and players) rely on guns. It was one of the things I liked about Dead Island and Dying Light; the minimal reliance on weapons that you'd constantly need to be finding ammunition for. This will be more about skill.
I quite enjoyed riding the elephant around with a co-op partner on their own elephant causing total chaos.
I have to say that I disagree with that. Far Cry is an excellent shooter, but I don't think that its shooting mechanics are necessarily synonymous with the series. Rather, I think its appeal lies in its ability to subvert player expectations; in many ways, while you play the game, the game plays you. Look at Far Cry 3 where the mission is to rescue your friends, but your friends are all horrible people - Liza wants Jason to grow up, but only on her terms and denies him any sense of identity unless he follows her script. In the end, you wind up killing hundreds (if not thousands) of people for the sake of a cause that is increaingly difficult to justify. Likewise Far Cry 4, where you are repeatedly misled in the fight with Pagan Min - where he is portrayed as a bloodthirsty, ruthless and dangerously unstable tyrant by the Golden Path, an alternative view shows a man who let his own personal tragedy get the better of him and that the war in Kyrat is an extension of his fighting his own grief, and the game counts on you getting caught up in side-quests and missing the finer points that duggest something is amiss.
Some of their best games have been the ones that did something new and interesting. Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 stand out for their subversive elements, but Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Rogue introduced naval gameplay that was a lot of fun (the only missed opportunity was an Edward vs. Shay title).
I've been massively looking forward to Ark Survival Evolved on PS4, but I'm going to keep an eye on this too.
I actively look for games that try something new, which is why I like the idea of this approach in an established series.
I'd recommend Far Cry 4, if you're interested. As far as open-world first-person shooters go, there's nothing better out there. There are plenty of missions and side-quests and collectibles, and even just exploring the world is fun and rewarding. And it helps that the voice cast is outstanding to boot.Looks like an interesting game! I've never played Far Cry, so I'm pretty much reading what you guys are saying to get the gist of the series.
I was about to say what about FC3 and Michael Mando but having just looked at who Troy Baker has voiced over the years, I think you are absolutely correct: Joel, Delsin Rowe and Pagan Min? That's quite a range of difference, not to mention the hundred or so other game characters I have no idea about.
I don't think it will be all that different to previous games. From the sounds of things, the game is set in a time when humankind is emerging as the dominant species. Every new experience will be uncharted territory, so there are some really interesting questions to be asked about how we collectively define ourselves. How do we explain what it means to be human when we ourselves don't know what that means? How will the course that we choose continue to define us years and even generations after that choice is made?
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