Far Cry 2 makes great improvements over it's predecessor, and while there are a few minor problems, the game offers it's player a great ride while it lasts.
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I sat down and started to play the first Far Cry back in the winter of 2004, and my first thoughts were that this game was over-hyped and the developers under-delivered. Sure, the graphics were great at the time. Coming from the original Rainbow Six games, they had accustomed me to fairly lame graphics, but the gameplay won me over each time. Unfortunately, I had the exact opposite experience with Far Cry. Every level was beautifully rendered and gave me the sense of actually being there, but as I progressed through the game, each stage felt like a rehashing of the previous one with no real problem solving except that your problem was the mercenaries and the solution was to put a bullet in each one of their heads. The gameplay was weak and much too arcadey for my liking. I never got the sense, even with the vast armament I was given, that this was as gritty and real the developers wanted it to be. The guns in the game felt useless, like the sounds were taken straight out of a studio where a few audio engineers tried slamming together a couple books to make it sound like an M-16.
When the credits started to roll, I was far from fulfilled and when Far Cry 2 was released, I wasn't even interested in getting the game because of my experience with the original. Thankfully, though, I was treated to a preview at a friend's house and when I finally got my hands on the sequel to one of the most unimpressive games I'd ever played, you couldn't pry me off his system.
The story takes place in an unnamed African country where, believe it or not, there is a civil war taking place between two factions jockeying for total control. Yes you've seen this narrative many, many times before in film and TV but I can think of no other time when this has been the basis of a storyline for a video game. You play as a mercenary who gets captured early on by his target, The Jackal. From that point, you are your own man to take contracts from either the UFLL or the APR and complete missions to gain diamonds so you can buy more advanced weapons and skills.
Now, let me take a quick detour and talk about the characters. Ubisoft's writers did such a great job on developing characters to the point where you either love 'em or hate 'em. The Jackal is a prime example. When in a video game have you been introduced to what you think is a heartless, moral-free gunrunner, but it turns out that he is well versed in classical literature, philosophy and has taken on arms smuggling to effectively wipe out the evil factions and end the violence so that civilians may live in peace? Answer: never. A lot of thought went into the story and the people it involves.
The graphics of Far Cry 2 make the game, and without their complexity, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much. Vast sub-Saharan landscapes mirror scenes from the National Geographic channel, and serve as a way to pull you into the story. While it isn't Crysis quality, the engine Ubisoft uses has some really nice graphical touches like "god-rays" through the canopy and entire fields burning when introduced to fire. Also, when you are hurt, you can "heal" yourself though short sequences where the main character will attempt to correct an injury in a bloody/gore ridden scripted sequence initiated by the player. If you type "Far Cry 2 healing" into Youtube, you'll see what I mean.
I could find no problems in the sound department, with the voice acting done so well and the gun sounds so authentic and satisfying, I enjoyed the audio quite a bit. Just as a look into the game, something that I couldn't get enough of while playing was using the sniper rifle. Let me tell you all this, there is nothing more satisfying in Far Cry 2 than when you first get the bolt action sniper rifle and are able to pick off a few baddies from a tower, one by one. The crack of the gun sounded so realistic and powerful, that I used that gun as my main weapon for the better part of the game.
I didn't have a chance to play the multiplayer online, but Far Cry 2 was a hit at our most recent LAN. There are the usual suspects: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and CTF (called Capture the Diamond), but a new mode called Uprising keeps things fresh.
In all, I was very impressed by how much effort and thought went into Far Cry 2. This game exceeded all of my previous expectations and I can safely say that this game is one of the best of 2008.
