This game has epic written all over it, and would be a perfect 10 if it weren't for a few annoying gameplay problems.
In FC2 you will find yourself stuck out in the jungle or on the wide savannah without a vehicle or any living soul for as far as the eye can see many times. The only thing left to do is walk, sometimes for miles. The game world is supposedly 50 square kilometres, and this game will make you travel to nearly every corner of it.
The story isn't a bad one, but I won't go into that. There are conflict diamonds scattered around and good luck to you if you can find all 221 of them (one of the game's most annoying Achievements). There is help from your handy GPS unit which comes up every time you equip your map in-game, and using it effectively will soon become second nature. There's just so many of them and a lot of them are hard to reach for such a little reward and if you want to upgrade your weapons to something decent you'll need to find a lot of them.
The weapons aren't anything special. You'll have three at any given time and will doubtlessly soon discover that a lot of them are useless. Unfortunately, you'll end up using the same three guns throughout the entire game because the rest don't aim well or fire effectively. Old guns jamming in the midst of a firefight can also be infuriating, so you'll want to keep buying and replacing them for new ones from the weapon stores.
One annoying thing is the omnipotent enemy AI. They'll see in the dark, around corners, through bush and trees, and the promised stealth ability is all but a moot point with such ridiculously all-seeing enemies. Firefights can be intense, but they can also cause frustration if you don't have a Buddy who is 'rescue-ready' to come in and save you when you cop a bullet in the head from a sniper. You'll be saving a lot; at every opportunity in fact, because you don't want to traverse 20km to retry a mission every time - particularly for something as trivial as passing through a road checkpoint. (Ah, the dreaded checkpoint. You'll be going out of your way to avoid these. The enemies here are like zombies hungry for your flesh. Dumb and lumbering, but surprisingly good shots, these guys will follow you in a machine-gun-mounted truck and hunt you down for even daring to look at their roadblock. If they spot you, you're best off trying to eliminate them all because you'll have almost no chance at outrunning them on the road, even if you have a faster vehicle.)
On the plus side, the game is huge. Missions aren't varied but they are saitsfying to pull off. All (and I do mean all) of the missions are of the "Drive here, shoot guys" variety, but you'll have some fun doing it for the diamonds, which is the game's currency, so you can upgrade weapons and health packs.
Far Cry 2 is one of the best-looking games around. The world in it is staggeringly beautiful. The much talked-about fire effects are probably the most realistic ever in a video game, and the water, sunsets and plains make for an authentically recreated world. The sheer ambience is stunning. Hopping in a sampan boat and driving downriver can be a nice chance to unwind after tense gun battles.
There's so much to explore in this game it would be a shame to miss it because of the little problems featured in the gameplay. And that's just it: the complaints are little compared to the sheer scale of the single player campaign. Even the multiplayer is pretty solid. I've had some fun there in ranked matches. Dive into the cool waters of an African stream and resurface to watch the sunset, or fly over the landscape in a hang-glider looking for diamond briefcases. If you like adventure games and FPS you should get something out of Far Cry 2.
But you better like bush-bashing.
(jtbug doesn't review games unless he has finished them)