Far Cry 3's Open World Ten Times Bigger than Far Cry 2

Ubisoft announced Far Cry 3 at last month's E3 2011 conference and has now confirmed that the open world that can be explored in the new title will be ten times bigger than what we were able to see in the previous titles, including Far Cry 2 or the original game.

The Far Cry series made a name for itself by offering technologically impressive experience with smooth graphics, realistic gameplay and big virtual worlds.

For the third iteration, Ubisoft Montreal, the developer of the title, is certain that it can top the previous games, and deliver an even larger world that looks even more impressive.

Speaking with Edge, via CVG, Far Cry 3, narrative director Jason VandenBerghe confirmed that the scale of the world in the new title would dramatically overtake the environments from the original or its sequel.

"If you look at the vistas and the scale of Far Cry 1 and 2, take that and multiply it by ten," VandenBerghe said. "That's a key in open-world experiences. We ask ourselves: if there wasn't anyone to shoot in the game, could it still be fun?"

Ubisoft Montreal should be careful, however, as Far Cry 2 also had a large open world, filled with things to do, but these usually involved the player needing to go through military checkpoints and engage in lengthy firefights before continuing on his journey, fact that became extremely tedious because the soldiers would respawn the next time the player reached that location.

Still, if there's one studio that can pull off striking the perfect balance between building a graphically impressive open world and populating it with plenty of activities and encounters, it's Ubisoft Montreal, as the studio managed to impress lots of people with the Assassin's Creed series up until now.

Expect Far Cry 3 to appear in the middle of next year from Ubisoft.