A Solid FPS With A Politically Charged Setting Which However Has Its Issues
It was an original idea that the makers of the game stated was realistic in terms of gameplay, ranging from guns rusting and then blowing up eventually through over use to repairing vehicles and even carrying out first aid with pulling out shrapnel with pliers to relocating dislocated limps.
But Far Cry 2 over does these things, and you are left angry and irritated with how many times a gun jams or indeed your car breaks down and you are forced to repair the engine. You even contract Malaria during the game, and throughout it you are constantly doing missions to acquire Malaria medicine.
Other than that however the game has its upsides, the wide array of weaponary ranging from AK47's to a Dart Rifle. However the point of the game is stones, or more like payment of stones and diamons as you need these as currency to buy new guns, upgrades and equipment.
The reason is the enemies you kill drop guns, but they are old and rusty and are even closer to breaking so you buy the guns brand new and can get them from your safehouses.
Safehouses give you buddies, fellow mercenaries like yourself who can help you when you are in trouble or allow you to do buddy missions for them. In the gameworld, a African nation caught in the flames of civil war you are a Mercenary working freelance for the two main factions; the APR and UFLL. Basically don't worry so much about the factions, there isn't much backstory on them which is a letdown. Simply put they are the main enemies depending on who you work for, that pay you for jobs.
Of course you can do side missions such as Underground jobs to help civilians escape the country in exchange for Malaria medicine or go to phone towers and over the phone be given assassination jobs by a shady government agency.
But even with all these things to keep you busy and extend your game time but the faults of Far Cry 2 can make it a bummer to play.
The Good:
- Authentic weapons to use, including AK47's to modern M4 assault rifles, all of which deterioate over use giving a realstic twist on the FPS genre.
- Many side missions and quests, that help you get paid with diamonds, upgraded and open new story lines along the way.
- A realistic modern civil war storyline in a war torn African nation, between two warring parties.
The Bad:
- Weapons deterioating can be annoying, especially after only two or three uses they begin to rust.
- Vehicles through over use result in oversteaming of the engine and the vehicle halting, is just plaing irritating.
- The checkpoints are almost everywhere, manned by militias can be irritating to drive past as they can quickly ambush you.
If you can put aside the faults which can be a nuisance sometimes for the hardcore gunplay as well as the realistic fire effects then Far Cry 2 is for you. Nowadays you can get it cheap as its on classics range, keep an eye out for it.