In what world these games are comparable??
I think he's actually suggesting it's a mix of Far Cry 2, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R + the typical Arkane stuff. He's not comparing Far Cry 2 to STALKER he's actually meaning to differentiate them there in that sentence .
He stated essentially that it's like Far Cry 2 in that, it sounds like, it's "map" and how you traverse an open world is similar. I think he also seems to be suggesting the map is a similar size (not really huge by today's standard, but still a big open world):
You're in a big-ass open world," enthuses Bare. "We have a home base where you can talk to NPCs and get side-quests. You can go to the mission table and pick up story-driven missions. Or you can not give a shit about any of that and just head outside; pick a direction, start hauling ass, and run into the living-world stuff that we have going on."
How is it like other Akane games? Well they implied the world is still full of little areas that are like the "levels" in Arkane's other games would be in their other games (and to some extent, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.)
"You'll want to see if you can get into a barn you found, climb a fire lookout tower that you spotted in the distance, or try and get into a house to read all the notes scattered inside," Smith continues, explaining that you'll still have the freedom to approach missions, areas, and in-world locations with the same curiosity and ingenuity as you could in Dishonored or Prey.
You don't see that in Far Cry 2.
How is it like S.T.A.L.K.E.R? Well they mention time is an element, and day night cycles for instance:
"The sun sets and the sun rises, and we have different times of the day," says Smith. "It changes the feel of the game radically."
It seems like the only real comparison they were making to Far Cry 2 was just in it's open world structure.. hence why they bring up STALKER for it's gameplay and "Systems", and of course past Arkane games for their level design.
All in all, goof stuff.
People knee-jerk reacting to "Far Cry" really should just read the article. If they actually have interest at least, most of this forum is not interested in games but WARRRZZ.