Far Cry 2 is a stunning first person shooter that takes you deep into some of the most beautiful but also most hostile environments of Africa. Ubisoft has certainly invested alot to bring you a unique first person experience.
You’re sent into a fictitious central African country with a failed government as a mercenary tasked with hunting down "The Jackal", a highly dangerous arms dealer that supplies both sides of an African Civil war leaving many civilians caught in the middle of the crossfire.
As you land in Africa you are driven by taxi to the town of Pala, you start to suffer the dizzying effects of Malaria. You awaken stretched out on a bed to see the Jackal himself scurraging through your characters files while you groan helplessly. He leaves you armed with a machete and pistol as you encounter the blasts and gunfire of a fragile ceasefire gone wrong. Finding yourself again waking up in another strange location, you encounter a lieutenant of another faction a short while away. Giving options to work for him, you start to take missions and meet various allies on your journey.
The map is probably the biggest free roaming map ever with over 50 squared kilometres of African terrain to roam through. Tasks involve running driving and shooting your way from location to location completing tasks for various people you meet. Not such a tedious task for players with side missions, enemy check points, and scattered briefcases loaded with what looks like huge diamonds for you to collect.
Your actions can often have a lasting effect on the game. Blow something up and it may make a future task alot harder for you to complete. If you crash a car and swap out for another one, you can drive back hours later and find the same vehicle in the exact same location.
The small realisms are what set this game apart from the other. When you get shot you need to manually heal yourself by using a pair of pliers to pull bullets out of your limbs, swallow pills to counter the effects of Malaria. Weapons often become jammed, if you find a flamethrower or machine gun from a dead enemy it’s most likely rusted, a quick trip to the gun store can get you brand new weapons that will not fail in the critical moments. The map feature is an interesting concept, instead of pausing the game like the usual first person shooter, you hold the map in real-time moving the mouse down to lower you concentration to the maps features, still able to run or drive your way around. Cars also have maps installed as a GPS with diamond locater that flashes whenever you pass one of the briefcases with tracking devices installed.
The save game system is another interesting feature. If you find yourself tired or weak there are many safe houses where you can refill on ammunition and get a rest, setting your watch to the time you want to wake up as the sky darkens until dawn or whatever time you set the alarm for.
Vegetation falls at the spray of a machine gun; the long grass easily burns and spreads quickly with a burst of fuel from the flamethrower. Walls and ceilings collapse with a well aimed grenade blast. Damaged vehicles can often be fixed with the right tool.
If you've ever played the original Far Cry, you may be disappointed to know that Jack Carver (the star of Far Cry) does not appear in the sequel. Alot of elements are not carried into the new game. You select one of 9 characters, with the rest becoming people 'buddies' meet later. These buddies can offer missions and sometimes appear out of nowhere, drag you to safety while providing covering fire and dialogue as you heal yourself, ready to continue the battle.
The online multiplayer includes all the features of the single player version. A maximum of sixteen players per map gives plenty of enjoyment after the single player game has been completed. The modes include: Death match, Team Death match, Capture the Diamond (similar to capture the flag). Uprising mode consists of teams with a captain who must capture enemy locations while other layers attempt to assassinate him.
The graphics in Far Cry 2 are great. There is a slightly less lifelike quality than Crysis, but the shading and lighting are incredible with realistic shadows that follow the direction of the sun and the life like movements of the foliage and water.
The Dunia engine takes full advantage of Multicore processors, specifically written for the game. With a slight use of the CryEngine seen in the original Far Cry, whose predecessor brought us Crysis and Crysis Warhead the game is less demanding on system resources.
Far Cry 2 has lived up to its expectations. A different type of First person Shooter with little comparisons, there are however noticeable improvements needed on gameplay. It's not completed as easily as other recent titles in this genre. This title is defiantly worth the money.
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