If it’s any wonder why this review is a little late, it can only be said that the length of the game had something to do with it. Never before have I come across a first-person shooter that immersed me to the extent Far Cry 2 has, and with a single player mode that can stretch up to 50 hours long it is no surprise that it took a fair amount of willpower to pull myself away from it.
Far Cry 2 is a sequel to Far Cry by name only and could easily have been called GTA: Africa Adventures due to its amazingly open ended nature, both in the “go wherever you want” sense as well as the nature of the missions and sub-missions. So what did Far Cry 2 do right, and is there any reason to hesitate a purchase?
The game starts with you choosing the character who you’ll be immersed within. While there are no differences between any of them, therefore no risk in your decision, you will become fairly intimate with their bodies — yes each character has a different body model — since every little motion has been animated. You’ll see your character pull bullets from his limbs, reset dislocated joints, set his watch alarm, pull out his map, move from driver seat to mounted artillery, take folders/documents out of the hands of others and many, MANY others that it becomes expected. This is also why it comes as a shock when your character uses the power of his mind to flip an overturned vehicle.
The game sees your character dead in the centre of turmoil in the village of Pala in Africa. The UFLL and the APR are at war, and while you’re really there to take down “The Jackal” — a man responsible for giving armament to both factions — your mission takes a nasty turn for the worst when you find yourself with a bout of Malaria. While this was a great way to help you through the first chunk of the game — stray to far from the tutorial section of the map and you pass out and reawaken in your safe house — it eventually becomes a nuisance when you’re having to hunt down medication in between missions. You may only have to tap the LB once an hour to take your medication, but once that is run out it can become a right hassle getting to your Underground buddies and then completing a mission before you’re able to feel comfortable wandering about.
Although, wandering isn’t really what you’ll be doing in Far Cry 2. Firstly, the map you are given to start on is HUGE. There are missions you can pick up from communication towers, a small bar that houses a few of friends you’ll become familiar with, gun stores that will send you on missions to help them “acquire” more weaponry, guard stations to scout out and safe houses to…. well…. save. On first look it’d be easy to assume that once everything is done on the map that the game would round off, and after 16 hours of gameplay to try and prove that theory you might be shocked that the game then extends itself over an entire new map. All in all there are 50 square kilometres to make yourself comfortable with, and so, like I said before, wandering won’t be your main means of transport.
The world is full of vehicles to help you get about, and this will either annoy you or you’ll appreciate it for what it is. There have been a lot of complaints about needing to drive from one end of the map to the other, and for those who decide that a jeep/buggy/car is the best way to do so, they’re missing one vital part of the equation. Every corner of the map (as well as being located in the village centre) is a bus station that will help you about whenever you need it. The people ignoring these stations seem to think that it’s a cheap way to get about, but even if you utilise the buses there’s plenty of driving still to do.
Each vehicle is kitted with a GPS system which helps you navigate to an extent, but there are a number of other means to help you get about. The map that you can pull out whether you’re driving through a jungle, or standing in an open field next to some zebras is something you’ll be using a lot of, pull the left trigger while the map is out and you’ll be looking down the eye of a monocle to help scout anything or anyone near by. But neither the GPS nor the map is what blew me away. What amazed me was the roadsigns, and I know plenty of games have road signs, but how many times have you actually used them, read them, or known where they were pointing just by looking at them off in the distance.
Everything important is signposted, but the colour co-ordination that is applied to them when you have missions is downright brilliant. Missions show up as red markers on your map and sub-missions in yellow, so if you see a red roadsign on your drive through the wilderness, you know exactly where it points and which fork in the road to take. But it won’t all be smooth driving, or sailing if you’re on the water, as there are a bunch of guard stations scattered around most intersections, and it just so happens that no-one there are friendly, and they’re all annoyingly accurate with their weaponry.
The AI for the guards and enemies littered around the area range from amazing, to downright idiotic. While you may see a wounded soldier call for help and a comrade run to his aid, pick him up and carry him to safety, you’ll also see people standing metres from you without any idea where you are after slaughtering their entire group of colleagues. You may also see someone on the back of a grenade launcher mounted jeep explode himself and the immediate radius with an amazingly inaccurate blast. And we all know where that leads: fire.
The big selling feature of this product was the ability to be able to burn things, and for the fire to take on a life of its own, or be swept about by the African winds. While Ubisoft felt it was a necessity to push this bullet point, I can’t help but feel they sold themselves short, as it isn’t the fire that makes this game so good, it’s the entire environment. Sure, it’s fun to wound a bunch of men then set fire to the grass and huts around them, but it’s also fun to just stop and take in everything around you. The environment in Far Cry 2 would have to be the most immersive I have ever come across, to the point where I sat my character down by a flowing stream, could hear the sounds of insects and birds around me and started getting memories of when I myself was a kid playing down by a creek. If that isn’t immersive, then I don’t know what is.
Of course, by default the game isn’t as immersive as it could be, and I suggest to anyone that is playing this game to turn off the music immediately. If there are any enemy soldiers around the music starts up and instantly takes you out of the game. Turn it off, you’ll thank me for it.
While the environments may be spectacular (from the swaying trees, flickering fires, sun shining through trees and the grass flattening behind your 4×4) everything isn’t as polished. One thing hit me when I first loaded up Far Cry 2 and that is that the shadows are just terrible. So, so terrible. Using some kind of cross hatched system that can only be described as “interlaced” you won’t be able to do anything but grimace at what could have helped make the game look even better. It’s disappointing that this wasn’t fixed up, but I’m sure there are reasons behind going this way, after all the frame-rate is fairly solid. The only other graphical issue is the facial animation behind the people you’ll be getting up close and personal with. Not many people have mastered this, but when you’re getting within a metre of people’s faces to get missions, things should be a little more polished.
Closing comments
I could make this review a lot longer and go into the details surrounding the level editor and multiplayer modes, but its nothing you haven’t seen before (although the level editor is a lot easier to manipulate this time through). Anyone who enjoys an fps, and probably anyone who doesn’t, will find themselves in love with Far Cry 2. Sure there are a few bad points — shadows, enemies are sharpshooters, AI is questionable — but all in all the game is damn near perfect.
People who enjoy unlocking everything a game has to offer will find themselves with 50 or so hours of gameplay while people who want to fight through the solo experience will struggle with the lack of weaponry (it’s nice to finally be rewarded for doing some side missions) but should have it all finished between 20 and 30 hours. There’s a LOT to do here, and it is all done in an amazingly immersive world.
i got the game its decent by it shoots it self in the foot a few times (also only plan on doing ranked multi player if your bandwith is at least 100 kb down and at least 40 up) i would rent for 6 days or so this isnt a buy (you get malira instead of instint powers just to kill the rumor that you get it later in the game)