This game is disappointing. It has nothing to do with Far Cry #1. Poor plot development and repetitious.
It is pretty much my opinion if your going to call a game " # 2 ", it will have something to do with the original. I loved the original game. The story was captivating and the plot you followed was always clear, with a few twists. The original also had a strong sci-fil slant which was fun. It was built on a solid game engine with stunning visuals and realistic looking world. The music and sound effects were quite a nice touch. With the Far Cry 2 the story is very weak....very poor plot development. It does a very good job at being realistic in a war torn region. They add a more open world which you seem to be able to affect. You can make friends who are supposedly to help you along the way. I myself really want more convincing plot development, and all the friends you make end up dying or turning on you in the end. Would be nice to be able to have some loyal friend that makes it to the end of the game. You can never develop a sense of loyalty with any of the factions in the game, never have a sense that you have a sense of direction, and never really know if your progressing in the game. The only way to check this is to look at this in the game stats. A kind of kewl effect in the game is night and day. You can hang out in safe houses and set a clock to wake up at a certain time. But, it doesn't really seem to make the game play much better.
Initially it is very fun to be able to drive all the vehicles. You can repair them if they are damaged. As you travel around you come across check points where you blow up and kill the militants. After a while this gets to be annoying. You are driving long distances gets annoying, and fighting the same check points over and over again gets annoying. You can scout the check points and mark them with your spy glass, but really doesn't seem to affect the game play in any way.
The ending seems to really suck. It is open ended so you can chose two diff paths, but really ends in you dying anyway you choose.
I played this one right to the bitter end, always do, but halfway through it became a conscious effort to play a couple hours a day til I was done. I have talked with a few others and have much the same opinion. Strong:
Graphics
Real world atmosphere (night/day, water falls, weather)
Vehicles
Repairing vehicles
Weak:
Nothing to do with Far Cry 1 (Crysis would be much better suited to be Far Cry 2) Weak plot
Buddies don't last
Repetitious checkpoints
Too much driving