Grand Theft Auto + Call of Duty + Splinter Cell = Far Cry 2

User Rating: 9 | Far Cry 2 X360
I'm going to be honest, I have been waiting for this game for a while now. Who hasn't? But does it deliver, or should it take a one-way ticket back to Ubisoft?


First things first, the gameplay. The first Far Cry was a great success, but for every standout element, there was a flaw. The biggest problem was the invisible walls or that stupid bush that wouldn't let you go past a certain area. Not so anymore. Ubisoft promised unlimited freedom from the get-go, and I must say that for the most part, they succeeded! Whether on foot, in a car or boat, swimming, and yes, handgliding, you no mostly no bounds. The only problem that I have had is not being able to jump over a couple of small rocks and maybe the occasional hill. As for the shooting elements they are fine, but take a bit of getting used to because of the fast moving nature of the gun (default setting that can be adjusted) and the fact that enemies don't just sit there and let you shoot them; they are constantly moving to keep from getting shot. To go on about the shooting, there are about 25 weapons to choose from, and all of which can jam, misfire, and break in the most unfortunate times. However, unjamming your weapon is as easy as hitting the reload button a couple of times. A small but realistic touch that adds immersion and tension to every encounter. One of the biggest draws is the fire propagation that Ubisoft has been going on an on about forever. Well, it works great,and if you think you can start a fire with something, chances are you can. And it is fully realized, and not just a quick gimmick. Another nice touch is your active health system. You have bars on the bottom of the screen, and when you get shot and take damage, the bars go down. Stop taking damage, and that bar will regenerate. Get down to the final one, and you will have to perform an active medic procedure. This includes pulling a bullet out of a certain body part or patting out flames. Realistic and intense, making sure that you stay on your toes at all times. To round everything off, you have a full day/night cycle, and you can attempt any mission in either time. Just go to your safehouse and set your alarm on your watch. There is more to do, but I just gave you the main ones. Perfect for those wanting to play like Rambo or either Solid Snake or Sam Fisher.


Like GTA and SR, you are given an open world to play in, and that does mean that side quest are available. Now, the options are much fewer than them, but what is delivered here is enough to care about. They range from finding diamond cases, hitting supply convoys to unlock new weapons, scouting guard posts, and more. All there to keep you coming back for a while. All in a world that is the size of an actual city, and is yes, bigger than Oblivion!


Now the graphics and sound are a sight to behold. The world is fully realized, with sprawling jungles, long stretches of roads, rivers, lagoons, and small towns. There is a ton of variety to the locations. Characters look fantastic and are varied, but the henchman star to look repetitive by the 2nd half of the game. Ubisoft also included some wild life including some rhinos and zebras from what I have seen so far. The sounds are great, and perfectly compliment the graphics. All characters sound different, but for some strange reason, talk a little too fast. Ambient noises from the environment, vehicles, guns and more all sound appropriate and realistic.


The story is good, but is just there to let you shoot everything that isn't a friend (or is if you are just trigger happy). But it goes: you are a mercenary sent to track down the mysterious arms dealer known as The Jackel. Things go wrong, you get infected with malaria, and The Jackel goes into hiding. Now, you are on the fast track to kill him...blah, blah, blah, yatta, yatta, yatta. Standard story. What is weird is that it carries NO story over from Far Cry. No scientist, no mention of Jack Carver, and although it's technically not story, NO instinct or predator powers. This is going for a realistic plot, setting, and characters.


Now, no game is perfect, and Far Cry 2 is no exception. Now this is more of a design choice more than anything else, and that is that enemies take a little too many bullets to kill. However, as always, hitting them in the head is an instant kill (and a bloody mess). Also a design choice is that you have to drive to all of your destinations. There is no magic portal to take you to your destination. This is a love/hate part of the game, and if you hate it, there is a bus that will take you to some locations like a safehouse that you have cleared out. Also, you can't save anywhere you want, you have to go to a safehouse, gun store, or friendly base to save your game. There is no nice way to put it, that is just plain dumb. In an open world such as this, driving out of your way to save, especially during a mission, is very tedious. Thankfully, during a crucial part of your current mission, you usually get the option to save. Now to the flaws. Enemy AI can sometimes spaz out, you can get caught on rocks and other environmental objects with your vehicles (sometimes forcing you to abandon them). Last but not least, why can't I walk up a hill that is obviously not that steep, jet walk up to another one very similar to the other and get up it just fine!?


Far Cry 2 is a great game, which the vision and overall quality beat out is flaws. Its just unusual that it carries over nothing from the first. But what we do have is a game that blends many different genres together to give us outstanding visual and audio while giving us very immersive gameplay. FPS fans will have a field day with this one while action fans will find something to love here.