Far Cry 2

Fans of the FPS genre of gaming will probably have mixed feelings towards this game. In many respects, Far Cry 2 shows the true potential available to users of the current generation of console platforms, but at the same time, many of the functions break no new ground, and serve no great purpose.

The game is mission-based, a la Grand Theft Auto, allowing the player to roam 50 square kilometres of land, ranging from Vietnamesque jungle, to the African savanna, and everything in-between. The player travels across the war-torn countryside on assassination missions, convoy-interceptions, and underground networking assistance. Vehicles include Jeeps, trucks, gun-wagons, buggies, 4WD vehicles, hang-gliders, and swamp boats. There is always more than one way to get somewhere, which adds to the depth of the game, and detracts from the boredom of repetition so inherent in the latest Grand Theft Auto installment. The downside to this way of playing the game is that the gamer has to do an incredible amount of travelling, and for a first-person-shooter, this can grate immensely.

Currency in the game comes in the form of rough diamonds, which the gamer receives for accepting missions, but the gamer can also use trackers to find hidden diamonds. The gamer uses the diamonds to unlock weapons from arms dealers for use on future missions. The range of weaponry is incredible, and the varied use of multiple weapons can change the required approach to an enemy outpost (ie sneaking using silenced weapons and remote explosives, rather than going in with all guns blazing).

On the groundbreaking side of things, hearing enemies communicating with one another adds realism and depth to the people the gamer needs to kill, which causes further immersion into the game. Fire can be started, but not controlled, and the science of it seems realistic enough to put a smile on anyone's face. Add to this the buddy system, where people whose lives you save end up saving yours, and you'll see that Far Cry 2 certainly offers something new to the seasoned gamer.

As already mentioned, the mission-based large-map way of completing the game may impress some, but it is fully understandable why other gamers, who played the first Far Cry may be disappointed, and may see this as a nod to GTA.

By far the most disappointing aspect of this game is the online mode. It is not a terrible addition to the game, but once a gamer has played the Halo series online, or indeed the immaculate Call of Duty 4, it becomes obvious that the developers threw the online mode together, with seemingly no interest in maintaining an online fanbase.

Overall, Far Cry 2 breaks new ground in realism (watching fire spread is a joy to behold), but at the same time it is clear that the developers have taken ideas (not necessarily good ones) from other titles, in an attempt to please the masses. Whether the ideas work or not is merely a matter of opinion. The gamer can expect a lot of travelling, almost endless carnage, and online play fit for few.

"Far Cry 2" evokes ambiguous emotions. On the one hand, this is a game in which many mechanics have become the basis for future installments of the series. A huge open world, dynamic missions, the ability to apply different approaches to combat, a huge number of weapons - all this was supposed to immerse you in the gameplay. However, in practice, the game is disappointing.

I tried to start the passage twice, and both times I quickly lost interest. You seem to understand that it was "Far Cry 2" that laid the foundations that developed so successfully in subsequent games that I love, but for some reason I don't want to play the second part. Perhaps it's the atmosphere itself or the boring pace: frequent transport breakdowns, constant enemy attacks and excessive attention to detail, like treatment, all this slows down the gameplay. The map of Africa, even if it is open, quickly gets bored with monotony. The map in your hands is wildly inconvenient for orientation The plot also leaves no special trace. The characters seem dry, the motivations are boring, and the missions quickly start repeating themselves. This is a game that, despite all attempts to immerse you in the atmosphere of survival and war, is more tiring than exciting. And the game is strikingly inferior in atmosphere to the original. If the future parts of the series were able to correct these mistakes, then "Far Cry 2" remains for me the project that can hardly be called successful.

4 out of 10.

I loved this game. I thought it captured the atmosphere of a dirty bush war very well. You go in all guns blazing and its all fun and games, but as the story goes on, it becomes darker, dubious moral choices, hurting the little people. And all this is enhanced by the Jackal Tapes. Whoever wrote those is a genius, they set the mood very well. You're no hero, you're just another exploiter.

Mayfield in The Mandalorian has a variation on it "Yeah, Empire, new Republic. It's all the same to these people. Invaders on their land is all we are." And if you follow those Jackal Tapes you KNOW you're just another invader.

The Zulu and Afrikaans spoke by the mercenaries is a great detail too, helped the atmosphere.

If you play all your games in 3D like I do then you will love this game. Rarely has an experience immersed me so deeply in the atmosphere that I have actually wanted to go out and buy a ticket to visit Africa. The story keeps you involved and you play in real time, meaning that you will be playing during nightime hours and daylight hours although you can sleep at anytime at a safe house until your preferred time of day. IE: I would sleep until dawn then play until it started to get dark and find a safehouse etc etc. Any seasoned FPS player must play this game. Your weapon can become damaged during a firefight, jam and leave you vulnerable so you must be prepared at all times. You will hear African drums and wildlife are in abundance. Very enjoyable and replayable. Well made and even wildfires if you please! Worth every cent so as Molly Meldrum would say, "Do yourself a favour and buy this game!

I don't think it's aged well. You'll spend much more time travelling from the mission-giver to the destination than actually performing the tasks required in the mission. Spend five minutes driving to a corner of the map, destroy an enemy cache with a single grenade in a maximum of two minutes, spend another five minutes or more returning for the next mission. Sprinkle in the endless enemy patrols, meandering road network and on-brand repetition from this Ubisoft game, and you end up with a title that felt fresh and even next-gen in 2008, but a very faded product now.