For the most part it lives up to what it promised, but Farcry 2 fell short on some crucial things.
The graphics would more than likely put this game up in the top five games with the best graphics on the 360. They're definitely amazing and it's hard to believe they did such an outstanding job with the quality for the console. Unfortunately, the amazing looks doesn't make up for some of the issues I have with Farcry 2 personally.
Sound:
The sound is not amazing and not bad. The game found suiting music for the situations brought upon you, weapon fire, weather, and even driving in the dirt. Definitely nothing the game fell short on here.
Combat:
The combat is challenging, which makes the gameplay very interesting and aligned with what the developers promised. You're going to need to improvise a lot, just like they said, with what you've got on your person at the time. Unlike other players, the AI is not entirely stupid as they say. The AI works together in groups and is appropriately responsive to your actions. However, it can be very easy to die at times, especially when your improvised plan of action backfires harshly, which leads to one of my major gripes about the game - which I'll get to next.
My biggest problems with the game are:
- Giant World (a pro), yet almost nothing fills it other than the African landscape. The view will get boring fast.
- It's semi open world, not like they promised. You're going to be limited to taking paths in certain areas that'll take you through any number of hostile checkpoints where you'll have to fight a handful of soldiers. Awkward natural vegetation will get in the way of taking alternate routes other than the road and large, unavoidable hills or mountains will force you in a specific area.
- The long drives. You're going to be forced to drive here and there for objectives that will sometimes only take you less than a minute to complete and then to immediately go somewhere else much further away. The drives aren't bad at first, but they become boring and tedious quickly because of the numerous enemy checkpoints, lack of activity within the landscape, and the limited routes you can take.
Along with the long, boring drives comes a risk. The enemy checkpoints. During the fight you may lose your vehicle. In that case, you're going to have to walk to your objective where, chances are, there isn't another vehicle nearby. Walking will take MUCH longer in this massive landscape. Since combat is difficult and puts a lot of risk into improvision, you're also putting a lot of risk on having to drive all the way back from your last save point to your objective... YET AGAIN.
Personally, this game was vastly disappointing - but not a total trash heap of a game. I've tried to make myself like the game, but I can't get over what I stated above - it just ruins the game for me. It could've been much more. However, I'm glad many others are joining it.
This game did teach me something that I thought was already a rule for myself. And that is to always rent the game first, no matter how good the previews look.