After six main titles, we understand if you’re bored of the same old FPS experience. Perhaps way before the sixth entry, you were looking for something else. We’re not saying the series is not worth your time. Quite the contrary, we’re here to provide alternatives to the best entries in the franchise. Its original trilogy and Far Cry 4 left a huge mark in the industry.
Selecting Games Like Far Cry
There’re six main entries, plus nine spin-offs in the franchise. Most follow the formula while adding or taking out elements from previous entries. But when we think about Far Cry, we can identify a series of elements present in its core games. We believe fans would like titles featuring a mix or a twist of these aspects:
Genre: Far Cry is an open-world first-person shooter series. Each entry introduces a new setting, story, and characters.Storylines: All Far Cry stories revolve around a revolutionary group fighting against a tyrannical or military government or group. Map: The map is fully open, but the enemy’s strength limits your progression. You advance through the map by weakening the enemy.Progression: On each map area, you must take down enemy camps, fortresses, and leaders to conquer the area for your faction. Rising action: The progression thrives with “rising action.” Each area offers increasingly bigger action-set pieces and fortresses to defend or conquer.Action set pieces: Far Cry’s main story quests can feel cinematic, bombastic, explosive, and over-the-top. End-game: The growing settings ultimately take you to the goal of defeating the rival faction leader. Action: The FPS depends on looting and customizing weapons and leveling up to customize skills and perks. Run-and-gun: Combat is fast and relies on taking cover, running, gunning, and shooting while staying mobile.Combat approaches: You can approach combat in other ways as well. For example, you can use long-range weapons, stealth melee takedowns, or stealth weapons like bows. Driving: You can steal and use many vehicles in Far Cry games. It includes boats, trucks, cars, choppers, horses, etc. Exploration: You have multiple tools to explore the map. You can often climb, run, jump, swim, drive, rappel, dive, etc.Discovery: Maps are full of markers. These include relics, animals, mini-games, loot drops, towers, side content, bounties, etc.Hunting: Some Far Cry games allow you to hunt for meat and skin. You can use these items to craft upgrades like extra carrying capacity. Dynamic mechanics: Some Far Cry games offer AI-enhanced mechanics like destructible environments, reactionary AI, and fire spread.Disease: In particular, the Far Cry 2 protagonist gets Malaria at the start of the game. Players must loot and take Malaria pills every 30 minutes to avoid being paralyzed.
Extra content: Some Far Cry games offer additional multiplayer support, plus a map editor to create and share content. Overall, Far Cry offers a huge adventure within a conflict between two rival factions. The combat is fast and furious, the stories provide memorable villains, and the set pieces are over the top and hard to match.
Games Like Far Cry
Crysis Remastered
Crysis is the spiritual successor to Crytek’s original Far Cry game. The remaster of the 2007 game debuted with bad publicity due to widespread bugs. However, it’s currently working flawlessly. Back on release, the game pushed way beyond the technical boundaries for visual and sound. The title even became a meme, a test for your PC: “can you run Crysis?” The newer version is easier on hardware, but it keeps the game the same. It’s an action FPS with a sci-fi setting. The action-packed adventure takes you across 11 semi-open levels where you battle against aliens and rival factions. The story begins with a rescue mission. You play as a powerful soldier wearing an advanced Nanosuit. It allows you to become invisible for stealth and resists a lot of punishment. Also, it can grant temporary boosts to your strength and speed. Aside from the suit’s skills, you play with a vast array of weapons. You must adapt your tactics as the AI learns and adapts, and the environment is dynamic and changes. Moreover, you can customize your weapons, drive vehicles, and make your own path across each level.
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 may be the crazy-fueled open-world FPS you may be looking for. And it’s more than that, as the title has enough RPG elements to warrant a fun New Game+ playthrough. You play as one of the available “Vault Hunters.” Each of these characters has an active ability plus three skill trees. So, by choosing one and leveling, you have the chance to customize your character and create powerful builds. These Hunters are searching for alien vaults and treasures on different planets. The campaign is about finding these vaults before your enemies, the Calypso twins, and his armies of enemies. So, you travel across planets on a hub ship and explore these planets freely for loot and combat. And the loot is massive: there’re millions of weapons, armor, and gadgets you can loot, most of which are randomized. Lastly, combat is fast and unpredictable. The enemies are vicious and arranged, and the number of weapons available will make you swap gears every 5 minutes. You’ll never get bored, and “just another fight” will be your singular thought as you go past 2AM playing Borderlands 3.
Halo: Infinite
The Halo series came back with Halo Infinite, a two-part debut. The multiplayer portion debuted first, it’s free, but it doesn’t have a lot of content. The campaign debuted after, and many believe it’s the best Halo single-player experience in recent years. You’re Master Chief, and you’re the only hope of humanity against a new threat. The story introduces a new villain, the Harbinger, and brings back Cortana’s rogue AI plot from previous entries. Also, it presents a semi-open-world design to the series. The setting is the ringworld Zeta. You can explore parts of it freely, but some areas are closed until you complete parts of the main story. Then, the main quests progress on the surface and dungeon-like areas that advance the plot. Across the map, you’ll find side content like “high-value targets,” Marine squads you can rescue, propaganda towers you can destroy, and similar. Completing quests and side quests levels up your Valor, unlocking new weapons and vehicles. As in Halo games before, the gameplay relies on first-person shooting against different types of alien enemies. You use many sci-fi guns, vehicles, and gadgets to take down positions, conquer fortresses, and defend areas. You have a Grapple shot to pull yourself toward foes or pick up items.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear V is the latest entry of the Metal Gear Solid series. Even though the franchise’s plotline is quite convoluted, you can enjoy this entry as a stand-alone experience. The title features a semi-open-world design. It means completing missions on certain parts of the map unlocks new areas. Moreover, you can approach tasks in multiple ways: stealth, combat, gadgets, traps, etc. Still, you have wider freedom than on any other Metal Gear game. It means you won’t rely on stealth so much if you don’t want it. However, enemies, especially bosses, will halt you from going to certain areas. The story happens nine years after Metal Gear: Ground Zeroes. After a nine-year coma, you play as Big Boss, the original Snake. The year is 1984, and the character creates a private military army in the backdrop of the Cold War. The story grants opportunities to explore morally-grey and complex tones. It talks about war, violent cycles, atrocities, and psychological damage. Moreover, character moments, cinematics, and plot twists are top-tier.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Any Assassin’s Creed title would fill the Far Cry gap. As it comes from the same developer, it shares many elements. That includes a massive open world, a lengthy adventure across various areas, and hundreds of map markers for many side activities. Odyssey is our personal favorite, though. The 11th main entry of the series features an ancient Greece open-world. It puts a lot of emphasis on historical settings and characters. Also, the setting grants unique options like looting mystical tombs, defeating myth monsters, and fighting as a gladiator in arenas. Your character is either Alexios or Kassandra. These are descended from Spartan king Leonidas I. You are a mercenary in the middle of the Peloponnesian War. Your mission is reuniting your family and defeating the Cult of Kosmos. The action-adventure offers many RPG elements, plenty of action, but not much stealth. You explore, complete quests, level up, unlock skills, loot, and go through increasingly challenging quests. Rising activities form in hit targets, battles, long journeys, ancient ruins, and similar. Lastly, the world is fully open, but enemy level gates your progress. Additionally, you have dialogue options to slightly alter the scene’s tone. It’s not a full-on RPG, so there are no branching paths or endings, even though you can choose where you go.
GTA V
GTA V is one of the biggest games in the industry. The 2013 action-adventure open-world game still remains relevant, and Rockstar is about to release a new-gen version. You play in third-person perspective as three protagonists you can swap at any time. These come with distinct personalities, lines, and relationships, but the gameplay is similar. For gameplay, the world is a sandbox. The setting is a massive open-world city, Los Santos, and you can freely explore it. You can steal or buy many vehicles and guns. You can also pursue many side activities or visit the NPC quest markers for main and side quests. The storyline features increasingly bigger heists. You’d go from small robberies to local shops to massive robberies to banks, thefts, expensive car thieves, and more. The gameplay may feel janky, as aiming and shooting are not the best. However, the story, the driving, and the reactive authority AI make it a must-play and must-replay experience for Far Cry fans.
Rage 2
Rage 2 is an open-world title with the kind of insane tone you may be craving. It’s also an FPS game, but the carnage, gore, and violence are way beyond any Far Cry title. You play in a post-apocalyptic setting. It’s a dystopian world where various factions rival for power after an asteroid destroyed most of humanity. Your role as Walker, the last Ranger, is to help those who most need help. You have chaotic vehicle combat, customizable powers, and explosive weapons at your disposal for the task. The world is full of madness, which you see in monstrous and human enemies alike. Often, enemies are sadistic gangs, and your only tool to deal with them is gory weapons. You can travel the land on foot or in vehicles. The map includes various biomes like swamps, deserts, jungles, and lakes. Your quest is lengthy, and so is the map. As such, every corner hides secrets, loot, and quests. Lastly, you and the enemies can use tons of vehicles and powers. That includes gyrocopters, bikes, and rugged cars ready for the wasteland. As in Far Cry, action-set pieces, enemy areas, and questlines will stick to the “rising action” idea and only become bigger as you advance.
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus is an immersive survival horror first-person shooter. We chose it because it’s one of the best experiences in the genre, even though it’s linear and more grounded than Far Cry. You play as Artyom, leader of a group of survivors. After a devastating nuclear war, Moscow residents took the metro tunnels as their shelter. After many years, you’re leading the group on the surface for the first time. The title takes you across various semi-open-worlds. To progress towards the next part, you need to complete the main quest in each area. Additionally, you can complete side quests, but they’re no markers on the map. In fact, there’re no maps and no in-game menus. The title is immersive, so every action happens in-game and in real-time. That includes checking the map, using your binoculars, surveilling radiation levels, illuminating areas, and crafting or modifying weapons. Then, combat is dangerous, tactical, yet frenetic. You’ll fight against other factions, as well as mutated monsters. However, ammo and supplies are scarce, so you need to carefully approach each situation. Luckily, stealth is very strong in Metro. You can sneak by most areas, take enemies in stealth, and use silent weapons. It’s also necessary, particularly during the first hours of the game, as your character is weaker than most enemies.
Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive is a third-person playground shooter. You play through a series of quests in an open world, and each quest happens in isolated locations like circuses and skate parks. The story happens in 2027, and your city is under siege. An energy drink transformed the population into toxic mutants. It’s the opportunity the hero gets to escape his boring life by saving the world. Your characters combat from a third-person perspective. You shoot various weapons, each one featuring effects like elemental damage. Then, you have tons of traversal abilities like gliding, skating, diving, and more. The combat is energetic, fast, and hyper-agile. You have too many options, like leaping off a building, wall running, or grinding across power lines. You can destroy enemies from any angle and use elements from the environment for attack and defense. Lastly, you level up, which allows you to customize special abilities and weapons. As with the rest of the game, your character’s perks are cartoonish but stylish. It’s a parkour experience that delivers a new set of rules for shooter games.
Serious Sam 4
Serious Sam 4 is the newest main entry of the classic high-powered FPS series. It’s also a prequel, so newcomers can join up without missing story beats. And if you like its gameplay, you can continue on the stand-alone expansion Siberian Mayhem. The title offers a series of wide episodes, plus an arena FPS design. It means you go from one big area to the next, but you need to defeat a horde of enemies to progress. You can use an arsenal of explosive, sci-fi, and gory weapons for the task. Your enemies are aliens, and you’re humanity’s last chance of survival. As the tough hero, Sam is, his dialogue is full of action-flick one-liners. As you fight, you need to micromanage a huge arsenal of weapons. That’s because foes have different behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, and skills. As a result, the arena combat is fast, dynamic, and explosive. The combat is very similar to the Doom series, and so are the enemy designs and the weapons. You’d find weapons such as a double-barrel shotgun or enemies like giant demons wearing a rocket launcher on each shoulder.
Saints Row IV
Saints IV is a high-octane open-world game with a comedic tone. You play as the US President, and your mission is to save Earth from the invasion of the alien overlord Zinyak. The action relies on wild sci-fi weapons, a dynamic open-world, and sandbox mechanics. Moreover, the President travels to various countries, space, and even time to complete the quest. As the story goes on, you unite old and new companions. The title features characters from previous entries, but you can experience the story as a newcomer. Also, the title includes superpowers. You can leap over buildings, blow up enemies with your mind, and run through vehicles. You can also wield chaotic alien tools to fire some science at your enemies. Lastly, the dialogue, cinematics, and story are comedic, over-the-top, and fun. It turns Saints Row IV into the lightest title on the list and the best entry in the series.
Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4 is an open-world action-adventure experience featuring chaotic gameplay. The title is expansive and explosive as it mixes a heavy weather system, a wing-suit, a grappling hook, and rag-doll physics. With these items, you’re free to explore and cause havoc. On top of that, you have a wide arsenal, vehicles to steal, and customizable tools to improve your traversal options. You play as Rico, a highly-skilled operative. Your quest is to take down a military government, like in Far Cry. Then, the setting is a massive tropical island where two factions conflict against each other. You advance to new areas by winning significant battles. The game includes an AI system that controls the struggle between the two factions. These armies, the Black Hand and the rebels fight automatically on the borders of their territories. You can participate in a battle at any time to change the tides. However, we left the game for last because it has received plenty of fan backlash. In particular, the performance is not very good, and the story won’t get your attention. We consider it fun and chaotic trainwreck that may inspire you to play the better Just Cause 4.
