Far Cry 2 is the sequel to the Crytek developed Far Cry, but only in name. In spirit it is a completely different game. The only thing it shares with its predecessor is that it is a first person shooter and that it has the same open element of approaching a mission or level in a multitude of ways.
Far Cry 2 is set in an unnamed country in Africa and you play the role of a mercenary of your choice. Players are given a list of mercenaries to pick from the beginning of the game. Players are then set on their way with their mission to kill 'The Jackal'. A mysterious arms dealer that is fueling the war in this troubled region.
You end up getting sick with Malaria and being caught by the jackal early on. The jackal lets you go and you start your very long journey of hunting him down. The game is ultimately an open world game like Grand Theft Auto. You get missions from NPC's and completing them gains you reputation and diamonds, the in game currency.
Far Cry 2 is an interesting FPS that really is close in comparison to Stalker rather than any other first person shooter. I found the whole 'you've got Malaria' thing completely irritating and frustrating. In between missions with no warning you can be attacking by bouts of Malaria that take you away from the action. You will need to complete certain missions to get pills that you need to pop when you get your Malaria attack.
The map is really huge and your missions are spread across this map, which means you will have to travel all the way to and back from your missions. Yes there are buses that act like fast travel, but they only take you to the four corners and the center of the map. Some missions are a ways off these bus stations.
If you do choose to drive to your mission, you will be faced with patrols and guard post that will require you to take them out first then continue on your way. I found this as a very artificial way of increasing difficulty and increasing the game length. Using the river to move around is a bit better but you will still be faced with river patrols.
Reputation in this game is a useless factor. I found no use gaining reputation by completing buddy missions. Everyone in the world is hostile towards you and will shoot on sight(except in the neutral zones).
Missions are a tad bit repetitive and generally of the flavour of go here blow up this convoy or go here kill this guy, or retrieve this document etc. The main story missions are a bit better as they are more diverse. Your buddies will offer your alternative ways of completing your main mission. They will claim that it will make your mission easier...but often times you just have to run further and complete many different things before completing the mission, it makes you wonder if it would have been much easier just finishing the mission without listening to the alternative way of completing it.
But there is something about this game that makes me look past these short comings. It made me feel like a bad ass mercenary. Half way through the game I felt so into the mechanic of earning diamonds that i took mission to just get more diamonds and ignoring the missions that just net me better reputation.
Because of its open nature of the gameplay, i adopted a more stealth oriented gameplay and carried a sniper rifle and silenced pistol. The weapons you carry will define how you play the game.
I found the buddy mechanic to be extremely immersive. Your buddies will come to your rescue if you go down during missions. But they are not invulnerable and can die. I had one buddy named Josip who died even after i jabbed him with 4 health syrette's in vain. Which goes to prove that sometimes you just cant rescue everyone. It goes against all gaming conventions of you being the good hero that saves everyone.
The game will also force you to make some very difficult decisions. I actually stopped playing the game to think about what i was about to do for about 15 minutes. I actually questioned the moral dilemma of that situation i was in. Now that is something not many games do to a player.
Far Cry 2 will beat you down and torture you at times with its frustrating mechanics. But when you finally get what it tries to do, you suddenly realise how special and rare such a game is. A game that doesn't try to hold your hand all the time. It is an endearing, immersive yet very flawed masterpiece.
Retail Price : RM 179
Availablity : pcgame.com.my
The Software Boutique
Rating - 4/5
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