Ubisoft’s upcomingFar Cry 6has a lot of hype and speculation surrounding itself, with theFar Cry 7Jason Schreier rumor fanning those to a further extent. Ubisoft has shown a great deal of the game the last month, and the developer has made some significant changes to the open-world formula of the franchise.
In addition to a multitude of relatively smaller changes,Far Cry 6seems to be having a reinvigorated focus on stealth. During one of the game’s trailers, protagonist Dani Rojas can be seen disguised as a member of Yara’s military forces to pass a checkpoint.
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Ubisoft has already confirmed such social stealth elements to be an integral part of the game, which opens the door for speculation. Now thatFar Cry 6is indeed dipping its toes into social stealth, there is a multitude of lessons that it could be taking fromcontemporaries such asHitman 3.
Far Cry 6’s Sandbox Is Perfect For Hitman Style Assassinations
TheFar Cryfranchise is known for dropping players into incredibly reactive sandboxes with a bunch of systems constantly interacting with each other.Far Cry 2popularized systemic open-worlds, and future entries in the series have constantly built upon those foundations. On the other hand, theHitmangames also drop players into sprawling maps teeming with interconnected systems that the player can leverage to their benefit and complete their objectives.
Given how similar the two titles are with their design philosophies, it seems thatFar Cry 6is a perfect opportunity to incorporate more ofHitman-Esque assassinations in its missions. The former has already set a predicament about how Dani Rojas isn’t a one-man (or woman) army and how using deceit and allies will be the best way to go about things. This easily fits within the narrative structure of fighting a larger-than-life tyrant along with a relatively small group of rebels, and hence it makes perfect sense to carry out operations as stealthily as possible.
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Far Cry 6: Changing Up The Sandbox
However, there are a number of changes that should be made toFar Cry 6’s sandbox to better fit any such assassinations. For starters, the world ofFar Cry 6seems to be systemic in a way that is indifferent to the player’s presence, which doesn’t suit itself well tostealth assassinations.Hitman, on the other hand, has levels where Agent 47 is himself a wrench, as players find ways to change up NPC schedules and behaviors by silently causing a ruckus in the environment.Far Cry 6seems to be continuing the series traditional styleof systemic worlds, which is great in its own right. That being said, dialing back some of the systems and interactivity to empower the player could just be the trick that the game needs.
This also ties perfectly intoHitman’s opportunities system. TheHitmanWorld of Assassinationtrilogy features a plethora of “opportunities,“which are self-contained vignettes within the level that guide the player to a number of cool assassination attempts.Far Cry 6could borrow ideas from the system, giving players a number of ways to go about missions.Far Cryalways has had such freedom, but most attempts towards stealthily taking out targets eventually go wrong mostly because the levels aren’t designed in such a way.
Taking cues from the opportunities system from theHitmangames can allow Ubisoft to create somewhat linear paths within the larger sandbox that players can follow to complete given objectives. Furthermore,Far Cry 6could also allow multiple paths leading to different outcomes such as an entirely different cutscene or select routes of exits being locked. This, in particular, could help a lot in giving the game more replay value, as it has proven to be such for Hitman.
Another lesson that Ubisoft might draw to make players follow a stealthy approach is to make protagonist Dani Rojas vulnerable. All priorFar Cryprotagonists have been survivors turned into warriors, but the upcoming entry has a chance to flip the concept on its head. While Dani has already been shown to be competent with a wide array of tools and weaponry, reducing the overall health pool should incentivize players into taking stealth options whenever possible. Of course, player freedom is the cornerstone of the series and hence the change would be walking on a fine line if the developer indeed makes the change.
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Far Cry 6 Should Incorporate Hitman 3’s Stealth Mechanics By All Means
While the multitude of teachings presented by the comparisons might seem surprising to some, it wouldn’t be such for long-time fans of the publisher. Adding up these comparisons paints a picture that looks incredibly similar to traditionalAssassin’s Creedgames likeAC UnityandAC Syndicate. Both of these games modified their sandboxes in a way to featureHitman-esque assassination missions, that have similar opportunities comprising of multiple points of entry and exits. Many fans are incredibly fond of these levels, and as such seem to be clamoring for them to make a return in futureACgames.
Ubisoft was once considered by many as a pioneer of modern action-adventure stealth games, withSplinter CellandAssassin’s Creedraging in full force. The former is nowhere to be found and the latter seems to be heading towards a live-service model withthe newly-announcedAssassin’s Creed Infinity. This has created a great void as many fans still clamor for such options, andFar Cry 6seems to be the perfect contender for filling these shoes.
Far Cry 6is seemingly the last entry with the traditional style of series gameplay, as rumors from notable sources such as Jason Schreier seem to indicate Ubisoft heading towards a radically different direction with the next game. Given how Ubisoft has been changing up its biggest franchises to suit the live-service model, it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise ifFar Cryfinds itself in a similar spot. Although this is pure speculation at this point,Far Cry 6has the luxury of going all-inwith its mechanics and should make the best use of it by all means.
Far Cry 6launches July 23, 2025, on Luna, PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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