Far Cry 2 : Game Reviews

Where’s Jack Carver? I thought this was part 2 of Far Cry? Apparently, this game is just called Far Cry 2 to get people like you and me to buy it and play it, based on the popularity of Far Cry — sucks; I hate being made an ass of.

Initial irritation aside, I find that the game is rather pretty. The graphics are very, very nice. Obviously, being set in Africa, there’s so much more in terms of scenery to play with.

I’m not going to give out too many details and spoil what little fun is to be had from this title. However, I will say that this game is either going to be one of the most boring shooters you have played, or is going to be one of your all-time favorites. The main reason for all this chopping and changing of opinions is the way the game is made — certain things will impress you while others will bore you to death.

To begin with, there’s the AI, which at times is so smart that you die often. Other times, I could just walk up right behind an enemy, and shoot him in the back of the head, without his buddy, whose standing 12 feet away, ever reacting. Standard FPS madness this.

Your character is suffering from malaria, and you need to find tablets to keep yourself alive. The currency you use to buy things are diamonds you find along the way, and in true African style, you can use diamonds to buy anything but malaria tablets — you need to do favors for priests for those!

The good bit of this game is its immersiveness — great audio effects and music, good environment physics, a large open world, a good feel of being in ruthless Africa, and time actually changing — from day to night and back.

So is this a must buy? Sure, if you want about 30 hours of great gameplay in the single player mode, with decent replayability, though without a compelling storyline. If you’re looking for a Crysis-like experience, forget it. This seems like an attempt to bring a lot more realism into an FPS — and I’m not talking just graphics here. Just remember that Far Cry 2 fails as much here as it succeeds. Besides, I’m still miffed at being cheated out of a proper sequel!

Rating: 7/10
Developer: Ubisoft

Recommended system config:

1. Core 2 Duo / AMD X2 5200 or better
2. 2 GB RAM
3. NVIDIA 8600 GTS / ATI X1900 (or better);
4. 5.1 surround sound (required, or you will not know where your enemies are shooting at you from!)