Let's start by looking at the influences that play upon the design.
It's open world but the game is subtly gated through difficulties in different regions and the capabilities of both your vehicle and your character. The fundamental engine of the game is the steady unlocking of the game world and the microachievements of removing your enemy's control from the world. This is fundamentally drawn from Far Cry.
However the combat draws heavily on the Batman Arkham series with hefty combat based on counters.
The storyline ultimately climaxes in an older father figure's responsibility to a young daughter character, a darker version of the story already told in The Last of Us.