I LIKE THE AI SO MUCH
And now we have Far Cry 2. And if two words can be used to describe what separates this game from the others, they would be wide open. Good lord this dense jungle is friggin' huge.
Welcome to Africa folks.
Far Cry 2 is the true sequel to the original. It's a little disappointing for fans of Instincts and Predator, as the science fiction angle was forming quite nicely. Oh well, maybe the next installment (Far Cry 2 Instincts perhaps?). They didn't do what they could have with the story making it a more secondary part of the game. But meh…screw it.
The storyline pops you in the middle of an un-named portion of Africa that is currently at war with itself. You choose one of several different mercenaries and head out. The two factions you'll be dealing with are the APR (revolutionaries) and the UFLL (military). Your main mission is to find and eliminate 'The Jackal' - an arms dealer providing weapons to both sides of the war. Along the way you'll make friends with twelve other mercenaries that will provide you with health, weapons and various additions to your regular missions - which give the game a much longer playing time if you choose to accept them.
It's that concept that delivers the most in Far Cry 2: Choice. You are in a chunk of jungle 50 square kilometers in size. There are guns to be purchased/upgraded, and a great reputation system you can build at your own pace. It's stunning. Everything is open right off the bat and you can choose to use the terrain how you see fit. Want to take out some guards at a post without turning into Rambo? Just use your flamethrower to set the grass on fire and the wind will take care of the rest - just clear out any stragglers and voila! There are so many options that could be easily missed. Have a ton of guys to kill? Explode a barrel that just happens to be next to a bunch of ammo. Instant fun! It's so much more rewarding when you just pay attention to your surroundings. Those other mercenaries I mentioned? Take them up on their offers and your reputation will build even faster. Huzzah!!
Far Cry 2s graphics are split between outstanding to merely great. The lighting is truly a sight to behold as are the character faces, guns, and various rock formations. Even your personal system and management. Health getting a little too low for your taste? Try re-locating that pesky twisted arm. How about digging out a bullet with your butterfly knife? Or perhaps just push it through with your finger. Hey, need some health? stab that syringe in your arm - there ya go!! The Malaria you contracted right off the bat gives you a sickly-yellow view of things that nicely compliment your dumbfounded staggering (fighting while this is going on is a very bad idea). Luckily, you can see yourself taking those hard-earned pills to help (no such thing as a free lunch, you know). You can even tell the condition of your gun when you pick it up. If it looks crappy, you might want to stick with buying or risk it jamming constantly (and always at the worst possible time it seems). The point is that Far Cry 2 always works to keep you drawn into what's happening to your on screen counterpart - the detailed gore helps with this also. The lighting is a very important aspect of completing your missions as well. If things are looking a little sketchy in the day, try a nighttime approach. Feeling a little vulnerable in the bright sun? Try sneaking up in the shadows, that's always fun. Sometimes, though, it seems that the AI can catch you before you think they should (200 feet of dense jungle with me crouched at night and you saw me how exactly?). Other times it feels as if you could walk up and poke them in the eye and meander away with no reaction whatsoever. Odd.
It is obvious that there was more attention paid to the things we see more than others in the game. It makes the things that aren't fantastic seem even less great by comparison *AHEMfoliage*. But that's just splitting hairs. Overall, Far Cry 2's interpretation of Africa is beautiful and spot-on. The PC version of course looks way better - if you have the power to run it properly, that is (the specs are impressive to say the least). Tribal music accompanies you throughout the whole game and adds the perfect mood - it speeds up when a conflict occurs, raising your anxiety level enough to frazzle you a bit more than you would expect, which is awesome by the way. Gunfire sounds spot on as well as machete effects. If you have a 5.1 surround, you're in for a treat - it's almost spooky.
The controls are the most odd part of the game. It's not to say that they're bad by any means. It almost feels like the the game's controls don't fit the view properly. You can do what you do, how you want. But I always felt that every action had just a half a second of lag, and the view when moving quickly - especially in combat, and SUPER especially when you're driving jeeps and cars - had me squinting at the screen like the picture wasn't large enough to fit everything that was going on in it. It sounds odd, but that's the only way I can describe it. It's disorienting enough to be mildly problematic at critical times. Also odd was how well done the boat controls were. Huh.
Gun accuracy also felt slightly off, at least in comparison with FPS like COD4 and Halo 3. And remember that this only applies to console versions, keyboard and mouse controls are as tight as they should be on a PC. Man, I wish the console could adapt these controls. Blargh.
The multiplayer is the best execution of the basics. A 16-person online match in the areas are a complete blast and are as natural to play as the story mode. Nothing new or unexpected really, various deathmatches and CTF are available. But fun as hell. The level editor is really the best part of the online experience - there is so much you can do and the size of the area available gives neigh-endless possibilities to the players. Make sure you have plenty of time to spare when you head out for the first time is what I'm saying.
No, seriously. Lots of time.
Anyways.
Overall, Far Cry 2 is a game worth playing. The amount of time you can burn through just walking around is incredible and once you get into the whole game, you're in it for 35+ hours. Should you buy it? Probably. But with the aforementioned visual oddities and dodgy AI (either retarded or Ninja), a quick one-night rental isn't such a bad idea. The PC crowd has the best version and if you have any option at all, that is the copy you should pick up without a second thought (the save anywhere of the PC is much better than the checkpoint system of the consoles, by the way). Everybody else has a choice to make - albeit a fairly easy one.
So get to it. You've got some time to put in. Skip showering while you're at it.
Durka!