Far Cry 2 - Review

In this game you play as a mercenary and can work for either the APR or UFLL who are two rival factions trying to take control of the region which is in total anarchy. It is a free-roaming game so you can progress through the missions at the pace you want doing what you want. This game is all about being realistic and it is one of the most realistic games I’ve ever played.

Explosions and weapon fire is remarkable. Weapons will rust and jam more frequently the more they are used. There is an incredible destructive environment, you can burn down trees with flamethrowers, explosions will set fire to the grass and you can see the fire spread across the plains. There is also a very high-tec weather system that alters the AI of enemies according to the weather. At night the enemies have a heightened awareness to danger but it is harder for them to see you. In the middle of the day when it is very hot the enemies may be resting in the shade not very aware of possible danger however they will be able to see you coming in the distance. When near death you will have perform a life saving action like pulling a bullet out of you or you may have to relocate a limb after a fall. Every 30 to 40 minutes of real time playing on the game you will have to take a pill because you are suffering from malaria. In order to obtain these pills you will have to complete simple missions that you are rewarded with a few pills for completing.

The main missions include attacking a lot of enemy bases where you can take a stealthy approach and use weapons like a silenced MP5 or sniper or just run in spraying bullets out of a saw machine gun. The main storyline is quite long, about 20 hours of game play on an easy difficulty. The missions get harder the further you go into the game and you get a lot more money for doing them which you can spend on some of the cooler weapons like grenade launchers. There are a lot of side missions which include having to assassinate people and helping out your buddies which can be completed during any point in the game as long as you’re not in the middle of a mission. These side missions are very useful when you need a bit of money to buy a better weapon.

There is a wide range of weapons that are split into three categories, primary, secondary and special. Primary weapons consist of assault rifles sniper rifles and shotguns. Secondary weapons are mostly handguns, automatic handguns and explosives. Special weapons are larger heavier guns that include LMGs and RPGs. Also you always have a machete with you. Other things like ammo upgrades, accuracy upgrades, reliability upgrades and many more can also be purchased at gun shops. New weapons are unlocked by doing missions from the gun shops. This involves ambushing a convoy which I found very entertaining. You can hide in the bushes having planted some IED's in the road and blow the covey into pieces as it drives by or just stand in the road and fire a RPG at it. When you buy weapons there are stored in an armory next to the weapon store so you can always pick up a new weapon once you have purchased it. This is good as the weapons degrade over time. Ammo is quite easy to find and you don't have to pay for it like on Fallout 3 where I found you had to spend most your money on ammo.

There is a colossal map (50km²) that you can roam around looking for diamond cases (diamonds are the currency on this game) or clearing out enemy guard posts which are all over the map. Radio masts are also spread out over the map, from these you can get side missions which involve assassinating people.

There is a mode in which you can create your own map then play it online against other people which is great once you get the hang of it. Also people can rate your map when they play with you on it online.

One of the annoying things about this game is that you can't continue once you have completed the game (like fallout 3) and would have to load an earlier save to continue playing after you have completed it. Also it can be very long drives to destinations and driving around is very dangerous as there are a lot of enemy guard posts.

Overall it is a very exciting game with stunning visuals that is well worth buying however it is quite a challenging game even on the easiest difficulty level so I would not recommend it to anyone who is knew to FPS games. However if you like realistic games that are very challenging you will love this game.