Far Cry 2
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Far Cry 2
Far Cry was a much loved and hated game on the PC, Xbox and Xbox 360 for various reasons. The PC version had some issues with the story because adding mutants half way through the game just did not work well with most gamers. The problem with the console version was two fold that the game did not follow the open nature of the PC version and it turned you into a mutant part way into the game. While some gamers enjoyed it (I did) many complained. Fear not, when Ubisoft purchased the Far Cry rights from Crytek and announced they were working on a new game they announced the issues gamers had with the first game would not be present in the second. No more mutants more open ended and the science fiction side of things would be gone and replaced with a more realistic game. Thankfully their promises were fulfilled in spades.
Far Cry 2 takes place in Africa, in an un-named war torn country with many factions all aiming their weapons towards you. Sent to Africa by some unknown intelligence agency, you have been tasked to hunt down and kill the most dangerous man in the area, The Jackal. The Jackal is an arms dealer who as been keeping the war going by selling very cheap weapons to all sides. Playing these different sides, helping and hindering the innocent people and just trying to stay alive are your goals and how you complete these goals is completely up to you. Are you ready to Rumble in the Jungle?
Gameplay
Far Cry 2 is far from your typical first person shooter, the basic controls are exactly the same, but it is completely wide open and free roaming like The Elder Scrolls Oblivion or Grand Theft Auto IV. You find and complete missions for rough diamonds, the only currency worth a damn in this war torn world of deep dark Africa, then you can buy weapons, do more missions and choose the faction you will put your will behind.
The missions you will complete include simple destruction missions, assassinations, delivery, destroying convoys, blowing up various parts of the country and more. While the missions are similar to each other, with each of the different missions set in different locations and all of the missions have their own unique challenge.
Starting out just moments after you landed in Africa, in this unnamed, war torn country you soon discover you have malaria and there are many times through out the game when you must take medication to keep yourself healthy, if you do not the side effects of malaria are tough to deal with. This is more then a simple gimmick, in fact it is part of your main goal to keep malaria medication on hand and the only way to do this is to work for one of the factions, while working for or against the other three and this is all part of the fun of the game. Depending on how you play, depends on what missions you will take and how you will do them.
Far Cry was open, or at least one of the most open games at the time of its release, but Far Cry 2 is by far the most open game of this type we have ever seen, much more open then the PC hit Crysis. I have now finished the game twice and played it completely two different ways, the first was a Rambo style, big weapons, grenade launchers and basically blowing the crap out of everything. The second time, I used a second character and used stealth by going in quiet hiding in the tall grass, or at night, sneaking into camps with silenced weapons, using long range weapons, and well placed explosives, setting them off and using the explosion to my advantage. Both ways are just the tip of the gameplay choice iceberg, I can imagine going 100 percent as a sniper using one of the various sniper rifles like the Dragunov or the .50 caliber, using the mortar for VERY long range hits and silenced pistol for when the enemies get too close for comfort.
Part of the wide open aspect of Far Cry 2 is the use of vehicles such as Jeeps, cars, large trucks, boats and dune buggies, the Jeeps are all armed with big guns and the best vehicle to use because as you travel the roads and trails someone will often find you and you will be chased and in a fight very often unless you are smart. Boats allow you to travel the river system, which is extensive but there are always boats travelling the rivers and armed camps along the river that will attack you. But the fastest way to travel is by bus, which is automatic and will arrive at one of five locations which all have a vehicle to use, very handy.
During your travels you will find safe houses and these are very important because these are really the best and one of the places you can save the game by sleeping. Now you can save after completing missions, or at the arms dealer but travelling across the map it always risky so finding these safe houses is very important.
Buddies are AI controlled characters who can and will help you during the game, but if they die they are dead and on top of that you must keep your reputation with them high because if they begin to hate you they will be gone and this can and will have consequences in side the game. The one nice thing about buddies is once in a while, if you are killed, a buddy will rescue you in the middle of the fight, but it is important to watch out once you are rescued because they seem to get shot a lot. Once they are down and screaming for help you have three choices, to leave them to die, heal them with a morphine shot out of your supply and lastly you can take out your side arm and put them out of their misery. But remember this all has consequences for you in the game as buddies are important and not having them around could hurt you.
Diamonds are the currency of choice in the game and you get them from finishing missions and finding hidden stashes all over the map and you must find them to buy new weapons, gear upgrades and more. Luckily it is not hard to find diamonds because all vehicles have a GPS system which will locate a lo-jack on all the cases.
Healing yourself is very cool when you are near death and dying. Digging bullets out of your legs or arms, popping joints back into place, bandaging wounds and more is what you will see your character do when you are very low on health. Low on health you just inject yourself with a syrette which will heal all of your health issues.
Multiplayer is very good, but does not bring anything new to the genre. The various game modes are including Death Match, Team Death Match, Capture the Diamond (Flag) and Uprising (Conquest). But what makes the multiplayer fun, are the maps and just not the maps that come with the game, but the maps made with the map editor. You can download various maps made by Far Cry 2 users, while some of these are bad, some of these are very creative and original which is the best way to extend the online life to this game.
The map editor is very easy to use and one of the best seen on a console game, but in the end how well you can create a map depends on how much time you put into the actual level and you must realize that in order to create a great map you can easily spend a couple of dozen hours building and testing before it feels right.
Graphics
The first Far Cry was a great looking game and while Ubisoft did not use the CryEngine for Far Cry 2, their new in house engine creates a beautiful and lush world with jungles, swamps, deserts, mountains, rivers and lakes. Not once during the game, even through the most intense action does the frame rate drop which is extremely impressive, especially when fighting, starting fires, blowing up a large variety of vehicles and fighting a ton of bad guys. I will not say the game is on par with Crysis, but it does prove the power of the consoles is not as low as people like to claim. But the environmental models for trees, desert, rocks, etc are extremely well done and should please everyone graphically.
Fire is your friend in Far Cry 2 and almost everything will burn in someway or blow up in a very cool way. The developers created the most impressive and realistic looking fire we have seen yet in a video game and beyond looking real, the fire actually reacts in a semi-real fire. You will see fire burn up the grass, doing so in the direction of the wind, which is something you should take notice of before setting one. Trees, grass, most buildings, ammo cases, fuel stations and vehicles are all affected by fire.
Weapon and character models are very well done and are animated realistically. From the weapon reloads to shooting the knee cap and watching them try and get away while wounded, this is very rewarding to do this with a sniper rifle then start a fire and watch them burn.
Audio
Far Cry 2 has some great audio which impressed me on so many levels, from the fantastic African Earth style of music which plays through out the game and is subtle enough it becomes just part of the experience. The music pulls you deeper into the game then you would expect, especially if you enjoy the music which comes out of Africa. Very deep, soulful, tribal and mythical are the words to describe the musical experience in the game.
The excellent music is accompanied by outstanding sound effects for everything in the game which makes sound effects from the vehicles, walking, guns, and explosions to the environmental sounds of the African setting and the top notch voice acting for every character. There are characters with African, Latin American, American, Ukrainian and many more dialects and accents which adds life to this impressive game. The voice acting of lead characters such as your buddies and The Jackal himself is some of the best voice over work we have heard this year.
Value
With multiple playable characters, basically unlimited user created maps and multiple ways to play the story and then with the actual game, you will find this game has a ton of value. With much more actual value then we have seen in a video game in a very long time.
Bottom Line
Great game and one of the best first person shooters of all time with only a few minor issues such as you will always be on the run and sometimes you must travel far distances for missions. But with plenty of weapons, vehicles, zebras, and for you pyromaniacs out there you can do some major damage with fire, there is a lot of fun to be had.Pros
+ Graphics are very good
+ Audio is very good on all levels including voice over work and music
+ Gameplay is excellent
+ AI is smart, it will flank you, hide, run you off the road, pin you down and more
+ Some great fire and weather effects
+ No slow down at all at any time
+ Map Editor is decent and you can make some great maps if you want to spend the time
+ Fixing your wounds is cool, I love popping dislocated joints back in
Cons
- Some times you will have to travel a very long ways for a quick mission that is annoying
- AI will rarely do some silly things
- More save points needed
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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