Retrospective: Far Cry 2

By Phill Cameron Published 8 January, 2012

Friends like these.

Name: Quarbani Singh

Age: 45

Nationality: Mauritian

Eye Colour: Grey

Quarbani wasn't my first buddy in Far Cry 2, just the first person I'd met in Africa I didn't actively hate on sight. He seemed to at least have a little dignity in the depths of his mercenary psyche. Maybe it was just that he didn't say a whole lot, or what he did say was the bare minimum needed to convey his message. In a world notorious for its absurdly fast-talking, verbose residents, Quarbani was a breath of fresh air.

1

You'll regularly threaten and blackmail unarmed men, because you're such a great guy.

When Far Cry 2 gives you a buddy, there's not a lot of fanfare. They deliver their hyperspeed dialogue about how we should all be looking out for one another here in the depths of Africa, and then you've got some prick who will ring you up before you do a mission with something borderline genocidal and most definitely approaching a war crime for you to do on top of that. It's that or a guy who'll save your life a dozen times, at least.

Quarbani was the latter kind of buddy, the one that saves your life. When you go down in a firefight, you black out, getting snatches of consciousness as your buddy rushes in to save you, blasting away at whoever plugged you while dragging you to safety. Then he gives you a shot of morphine, a pistol, and you clear out the bad guys together.

It's an experience that'll create emotional ties between men. It's not often that I have my life saved by a game character in what wasn't a completely scripted occurrence, and to have it happen multiple times over a few hours made me really bloody grateful to have him around. Thanks to Quarbani, I was all but immortal. I relied on him. Hell, I even began to enjoy his company, when he had the time to give it.

Quarbani Singh died while I was trying to steal some diamonds from a militia checkpoint.

I'd gone in way too hot, rather than picking them off quietly. It was because I was being lazy and I had enough arrogance because I'd done it before. Except this time I got hit by an errant grenade and went down, doing that whole blacking out, semi conscious routine. Quarbani saved me, pulled me out of the fire, and we finished them off, splitting up to deal with them more quickly.

When your buddy goes down in Far Cry 2 they let loose a flare. It's always a bit of a shock to see, because they're tough bastards, but you just give them a morphine shot and they're done. Maybe two if you've taken your time getting to them.

I ran over to the flare, knelt down beside him and jammed a shot into his chest. His fingers beckoned at me. He needed more. Another shot rammed home, and another beckon. I only had one left, but he'd never needed this much before. So I gave him another shot, and again, he beckoned.

Well f**k.

I didn't have any more medicine, and so my buddy was going to die. He'd saved my life numerous times, and I couldn't even get him back up. I could leave him here to bleed out, or I could end his pain with a bullet to the head. The game, and I, looked away and the gun fired. I closed his eyes.

He was the first.

Name: Frank Bilders

Age: 36

Nationality: Northern Irish

Known Alias: The Mazeí

2

As if things weren't bad enough, rocket launchers have backfire, which sets more fires.

Frank Bilders, the ex-IRA nutcase who would do just about anything to get out of Africa and back to Ireland, including genocide, robbery, diamond heist and medicine destruction. Some really s**ty stuff. I never liked Frank, as charming as he was on the radio. Frank was a dick.

He'd always call me up when I was about to do another distasteful mission, giving me something even more unpalatable to complete, and I'd have to try and justify it to myself. More often than not I'd ignore him, but this time he was getting clear, getting the next plane out of Africa. I suppose I owed him that much.

I don't want to take blame for this one. My gun jammed, some piece of s**t AK-47 that I'd been using for far too long. It's probably my fault for not swapping to something that wasn't rusted through and covered in dirt, Far Cry 2's way of telling you your gun isn't worth the bullets you put in it, but firefights have a tendency for making you not really pay attention to the little things. A bullet has an amazing power to distract.

He was surrounded, and it'd just be a case of emptying a clip into them and he'd be fine. But the bloody gun jammed, and by the time I'd cleared the chamber he was dead.

So Frank never left Africa. The world is probably better off, but I've let down another person that didn't have to die.

Name: Andre Hyppolite

Age: 40

Nationality: Haitian

Andre replaced Quarbani as my secondary buddy. He was ok, did the job, didn't screw up too often. He only lasted a few hours though.

I think he got run over by a jeep while I was leaving the area. The residents of Far Cry 2's Africa are homicidal, and while you can blaze through the checkpoints in a jeep, if any of them have transport, they'll chase you like no one's business. After going down and getting rescued, I'd cut my losses and hit the accelerator. Andre didn't make it to the passenger seat.

I didn't exactly stop to go check he was alright, mind. I just never saw him again.

Name: Michele Dachss

Age: 35

Nationality: French

Hair: Blonde with a red bandana

Michele was annoying. I would've killed her myself if she hadn't taken a shotgun blast to the face in a militia camp somewhere.

Name: Xianyong Bai

Age: 24

Nationality: Chinese

Tattoos: Full sleeve Chinese Dragon on his right arm

3

A knife is a bulletwound's best friend.

He shouldn't even have been in Africa. What the hell does he know at 24? Idiot.

Got hit by a grenade.

Name: Josip Idormeno

Age: 48

Nationality: Kosovar Albanian

Known Alcoholic

Josip didn't die. How could he, when he had all these people sacrificing themselves to save his life?

I came to Far Cry 2 expecting intricate fire physics, a beautiful open world to explore and revel in, and a Heart of Darkness-lite story to tide things over. A standard shooter with a bit of extra weight on its bones, some freedom for the player, and the odd literary nod.

Thing is, Far Cry 2 managed to make me care about people I had no reason to care about. Nasty, amoral characters who cared about little more than themselves. Yet, because of the way the game worked, I built an attachment regardless.

And then, once all this had been done, it pushed me away, and made me care even less than I had when coming into the game. What's the point in investing in these people when they can die so easily? Why bother even learning their names, if the next grenade could finish them off? No, it's better to just take them for granted until they're gone, and then replace them with a new face.

4

It's still an astonishingly pretty game.

Far Cry 2 taught me the emotional detachment of a mercenary, while at the same time holding up a mirror so that I could see this happening to myself. It's not perfect by a long shot, with its psychotic inhabitants driving hell for leather the instant they even get a whiff of you, but it's still the only game I've played that managed to really nail emergent narrative in a way that felt natural and involving.

Every one of my buddies died in an unscripted scene that was a direct consequence of my own actions, and my own mistakes. Their blood is on my hands. I caused that, and I then have to live with a reminder that I messed up in the guise of whoever replaces them.

You're not Quarbani, Andre, and so I don't care about you. You're not Quarbani, Michele, so I couldn't give a s**t. You're not Quarbani, Xianyong, and so I'm not going to watch out for you, to make sure you don't get killed.

The fact that guns can jam, that fires can start, that grenades can roll innocuously down slopes and staircases before shredding the surrounding area created a game world where these battlefield stories can occur. And at the same time, it establishes a set of rules that ensures there's drama - eventually. The player will die, at some point, and so you'll have that last minute rescue. You're going to get into a critical state and have to perform some battlefield surgery, pulling bullets out of your arm or some rebar out of your leg. Things go wrong, and stories emerge.

Despite all of the problems with Far Cry 2, the fact that it can do that sets it head and shoulders over most other games. If you can get over the constantly respawning checkpoints and accept the grimy undertones of each mission objective there's a game that embraces the unpredictable, and has decided to strip away the heroic bulls**t of other FPS games. It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's good medicine.

Comments (105) Latest comment 4 months ago

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  • Machiavel #1 5 months ago

    Not all of my buddies died, and that made the ending even more of a shocker. No spoilers, suffice to say that you're reminded about the real motives of your buddies when it gets to the crutch of love, money and diamonds.

  • Virtual_Entity #2 5 months ago

    Roll on Far Cry 3.

  • Pinewood_Groves #3 5 months ago

    Wow, I just re-bought this yesterday after trading it in a few years ago following yet another Ubisoft save-game-corruption debacle.

    I missed it - not only does it have the 'battlefield stories' mentioned in the article, but such a dense atmosphere.

    Unfortunately my buddy is the American with a massively annoying voice. Reason enough to euthenise him I think.

  • M4RV #4 5 months ago

    Still my GOTY for 2008.

    Lost - or rather INVESTED - countless hours in it, either spying on the bad guys while they were taking a leak, listening to their BS talk, starting a fire and watching it burn, observing a gazelle stray away from the pack, staring at the night sky or just listening to the wind so to speak.

    Not the most... Uhmmmm... "conventional" retrospective but an enjoyable one nonetheless, concerning a minor(?!) aspect of the game. Gonna play it some more just before I crash. ;)

  • abdo #5 5 months ago

    My favourite buddy was The Wizard. Best thing about him was distracting the enemy with bird noises and nice segues.

  • jyrque #6 5 months ago

    I really hated this game, mostly for the respawning checkpoints and missions that had you driving for minutes when the actual mission could be finished within seconds and overall feeling of pointlessness. To me, Farcry 2 didn't feel alive but instead an empty savannah full of idiotic, murderous AI and nothing worthwhile to do. Then again, I never found the hang-glider so I suppose I missed out something.

    It's always great to see another point of view to a game, especially if the game is one I myself vilify.

  • dr_zoidthrob #7 5 months ago

    My 'best' buddy death went like this:

    1. See a lovely explosive gas canister.
    2. Shoot gas canister, expecting it to go skywards.
    3. See gas canister roar off into the distance, up a hill towards a rock, leaving a fantastic trail of flame in it's wake.
    4. See gas canister bounce off said rock 90° to the left, towards a tree.
    5. See gas canister bounce off the tree (thus setting the tree alight) and go 90° to the left, directly back at me.
    6. Go 'oooh' at the fire-y tree. Realise what's happening and...
    7. Sidestep to the right.
    8. See buddy take the full force of an exploding gas canister to the face.
    9. Marvel at the fire effects and physics.
    10. Forget to revive buddy.

  • Killerbee #8 5 months ago

    Great game. As a shooter it really rewarded you the more of your own creativity and experimentation you put into it. I loved the way it gave you an objective then left you to decide on your approach, whether stealth, all out assault or using fire to smoke your enemies out. Can't wait for Far Cry 3.

  • TheNonk #9 5 months ago

    An unforgiving, unconventional and unique experience. In some respects, the Demons Souls of FPS.

  • Demiath #10 5 months ago

    I love Far Cry 2 precisely because of its controversial design decisions (not all of which were equally well-implemented), and its open world is one of the most memorable, visually interesting and explorable I've seen so far (even the collectible stuff was reasonably engaging). Although I initially played through the game on the PS3 I've recently discovered that the game happens to look great on PC with NVIDIA 3D Vision enabled, so I could easily see myself spending even more hours witg the game...

  • paavopaavo #11 5 months ago

    Far Cry 2 is one of those games that could have so easily become instant classics. Instead, due to just a few absolutely horrible design decisions the game basically crashed and burned for the most of us (I think). And the technical side seems to be kind of a mess too, considering there haven't been any mods to fix the spawning etc. in the PC version.

  • Triggerhappytel #12 5 months ago

    I thought it was an almost-great game hampered by some ridiculous design decisions. It's still a very distinctive game though, in terms of its setting, feel and gameplay features, and for the kind of prices you can buy it these days I would recommend it to all fans of the genre.

    Also, I thought that final twist at the game's end with all your buddies was an excellent one.

  • pualhorse #13 5 months ago

    I kept reloading to stop my chums dying... until half way through when they got killed and there seemed nothing i could do about it. :(

    But that was all pointless anyway because then all my save files got corrupted when i'd completed 85% of the game :cry:

    Still i liked the tactics of trying to work out which bus and which roads and rivers you needed to take to get to your next objective while passing through the fewest number of checkpoints.

  • freethinker101 #14 5 months ago

    I played it on and off over a couple years on the PS3. While there was a few faults, I remember it fondly. Also one of the most friendly multi players I have played.

  • RedSparrows #15 5 months ago

    Love love love this game.
    It didn't just nail emergent stories, it nailed oppression, fatigue, moral hollowness and mixed natural beauty with it. It's a cold, absurd world where the sun shines, and I adored it for what it put me through.

    Conceit? Yes, but I liked it nonetheless. Checkpoints were broken, but could be managed.

  • Paul_cz #16 5 months ago

    Fantastic game, despite its faults. I really hope Clint Hocking is cooking up something that will surpass this at LucasArts.

  • CaptainQuint #17 5 months ago

    I'm having déjà vu.
    Edited by CaptainQuint at 08/01/12 @ 11:17

  • RedSparrows #18 5 months ago

    Did they do this already?

  • Nova1977 #19 5 months ago

    My first experience with FC2 wasn't very pleasant, the first time you realise that you're doing the same thing over again made me uninstall it the next day. Then last year I started playing it again, I forgave the constant respawning of enemies and just played it. I was rewarded with a great experience, after the first chapter my eyes were opened and I genuinely started to enjoy the game, the deeper I went into Africa (not the chick) the more brilliant the gaming experience became. Far Cry 2 asks the player to be patient and it rewards you for it in the end, this game was a pleasant surprise and definitely one of my favourites. I beg of you Ubisoft please don't destroy the pc version with your satanic DRM.

  • schachmatt #20 5 months ago

    Someones being very emotional here ;)

    I never got any feeling of attachment to the buddies. They were a talking life+ - and a totally superfluous one when you can quicksave whenever you want.
    And when the twist happens, in contrast to Machiavel, I was cursing the creators instead of being shocked. It made everything worthless.

    But I did like the fire physics.

  • Raiko101 #21 5 months ago

    I really enjoyed this game. Far from perfect, but more enjoyable than most 360 games i've played. I got lost in the campaign for a good 30 - 40 hours and spent many more just pretending to be Rambo. Time well spent!

  • TheEarlOfZinger #22 5 months ago

    Could have been great, wasn't imo.

    1. Repetitive, respawning roadblocks. This ruined the entire experience making the travel a massive chore.

    2. Superhuman ai that could spot you hiding in dense jungle from 300 metres away - and then shoot you in the head with pinpoint accuracy from same said spot.

  • havoc2011 #23 5 months ago

    @TheEarlOfZinger Spot on.

  • Baranga #24 5 months ago

    I love it when people complain about too much shooting in a shooter.
    Far Cry 2 was an amazing game. Protip: watch Blood Diamond prior to playing it.

  • Breach #25 5 months ago

    Doesn't seem long ago it was cool to hate this game.
    Barely a good word said about it.
    lol @ the FarCry 2 flag waving in this discussion

  • FogHeart #26 5 months ago

    Every time Far Cry 2 comes up in discussion I end up saying the same thing - it's a brilliant game with some stupid flaws that could have been fixed by a modder in a day. But no SDK emerged for the Dunia engine, so I never got to do other cool stuff like photograph wildlife from a hot air balloon or build a medical centre. If this game was moddable in the way the Elder Scrolls series is, I'd be playing it constantly even now, the world is that compelling. An open world as engaging as this one deserved to have gameplay that made far more use of it.

    Edit: Oh yeah and shut up about Michele. Her missions were always about helping the oppressed Africans, whereas most of the others were looking for fortune.
    Edited by FogHeart at 08/01/12 @ 11:20

  • AdamAsunder #27 5 months ago

    Saw this for 2.98 in Game yesterday. I keep meaning to give it another go since renting it years ago.

  • Fenix` #28 5 months ago

    @TheEarlOfZinger Exactly.

    I recently played this (around a month ago, got a huge backlog and I go chronologically) and I really thought it was average.

    Visuals were good, gameplay could be fun, but every mission was the same, and just going to one point to another was such a tedious process.

    As for the companions, I really tried to care for the first one - Michelle I think - but after she died in the act 1 final sequence and I was given a new set of companions, I stopped caring about them and their stupid time-consuming alternate solutions altogether.

  • Pumpatron #29 5 months ago

    @schachmatt, yeah I never felt any connection with the buddies, or any of the characters really. For me they were one of the weaker elements of the game.

    It was almost a great game though. I loved the freedom and atmosphere, the world really sucked me in. My main gripe was the awkward clunky gunplay, If that had been better I wouldn't have cared about the magic respawning roadblocks etc.

  • Miths #30 5 months ago

    I never finished Far Cry 2 (as I do with very few games, no matter how great) but I loved just about every minute of the ~30 hours I put into it.
    ... Alright, those respawning check points did start to become a bit of a pain in the ass after a while :), but not enough to seriously detract from the excellent open world experience.

    And unlike many I liked all the driving and sailing (check points issues aside) - the game world was just so beautiful that I could often simply sit in a boat on a river and admire the landscape.

  • Chakitty #31 5 months ago

    Was loving this till I came across a game breaking bug not long after the Paddleboat mission. Never got around to playing it again.

  • polaris70 #32 5 months ago

    Some of the firefights in this were the best I've had in an FPS. Totally unpredictable and it felt great when you made a plan to assault an objective and it actually worked. Sometimes I'd just sit in the bushes for 15 minutes just working out my plan. Also, I completed it again a few months ago and the game still looks fantastic, I rebought the 360 after a couple of years without one and this was the first game I got even though I'd already completed it. A thinking mans shooter ;p
    Edited by polaris70 at 08/01/12 @ 11:56

  • Darksjeik #33 5 months ago

    The game was amazing once you started to test it's AI.

  • mattk84 #34 5 months ago

    I finished it but the whole experience would have been so much better if after spending time expertly and stealthily clearing a checkpoint you drive by it 30 seconds later to find it fully populated again!

  • tuco44 #35 5 months ago

    I bought this on the PS3 and never got past 12% completion, the acceleration on movement controls made shooting annoying but worst of all was the lazy widescreen implementation. Cropping a 4:3 view and slightly zooming in is not the way to it, gives the impression of wearing the wrong prescription glasses, add in the woeful support which included deleting posts on their support forum concerning the problem.

  • kassmageant #36 5 months ago

    concept in this game deserves another chance. For some reason i can understand that FC2 did many things right, that it tried new things, that deserves applaud... but for some reason, i simply found it boring, not only me from the looks of game's reception by players :p also it didn't helped that i simply Sucked at it, which is weird for me, 'cause i consider myself quite adept at shooting stuff in the face

  • RedSparrows #37 5 months ago

    I never ever felt the AI cheated with that pin point accuracy thing.

    As for the twist making it 'worthless', for me it highlighted and accentuated the utter callousness of the gameworld.

    People don't give it enough respect, imo. Yes, it's got annoyances, but it pushed FPS immersion and player involvement all the way. Far more than most.

  • Sharzam #38 5 months ago

    The gunplay frustrated me massivly on the Xbox. Ok i get it real weapons are not perfect accuracy but i had to unload whole clips to kill anything and when enemys respawn and swarm you i basically threw my hands in the air.

    However i later got the game on a steam sale and it transformed my experience. Having the ablity to use a mouse in a fps as we all know improves accuracy but normally its a personal preference. In far cry 2 it was not so much personal choice but a nessaity as made the game actually playable for me.

  • robbiejc85 #39 5 months ago

    A brilliant, roughly hewn diamond of a game game. The characters and settings were even convincing enough to convince the gf to watch me play. I'm guessing however, that I joined the long queue of people who never finished it because they wanted to explore the massive savannahs, but spent most of the time killing the identical twins of checkpoint goons who clearly hadn't learned their lesson and respawned the moment you drove out of view. Sigh.

    I have two standout moments - the first was my pointlessly stealthy approach to the assassin mission at the political 'rally' (well, fairly sparse Fifa-esque crowd in a 20m square patch). The second one was and the moment when I gleefully pulled out my rusty rocket launcher (oooo er), lined up the jeep trying to run me over, let loose with a grin, only for the rocket to take out the jeep's left wheel causing it to veer and cartwheel well off course and right plum onto my head - a brilliant, unscripted death I could never moan about!

  • Lunatic4ever #40 5 months ago

    Far Cry 2 could've been an amazing game but there is one thing that absolutely ruined the game for:

    THE EVER RESPAWNING OUTPOSTS!

    Whenever I hear someone talking about FarCry2 I get really angry because I just rememberhow the developers fucked up this beautiful game by making a reallyawful design choice. You simply can't enjoy the game,drive around and watch the beautiful graphics because most of the time you're being chased by the guards in the outposts. And not being able to clear and conquer them was really what ruined this game...especially because the game forced you to travel a lot!

  • LittleRiver #41 5 months ago

    Got about halfway through before I couldn't take any more of the tedium. Constant respawning check points, poor quality mission; what a yawn-fest.

    The map editor however was great! Shame the MP was pointless and laggy though.

    FC3 has a great big "wait and see" on it for me.

    Just for perspective: I wondered around in Oblivion for 100+ hours before even doing one story mission without getting annoyed.
    Edited by LittleRiver at 08/01/12 @ 13:38

  • ComradePete #42 5 months ago

    Hmm - this has piqued my interest.

    Never played any of the Far Cry games but just ordered this now. Can't go wrong for£2.98 - I paid more for games on the Acorn Electron :/

  • polaris70 #43 5 months ago

    I get that people didn't like the enemy checkpoints. But you had a map and an open-world to actually bypass them. There was only a handful that you had to take out. Even then it was approach in a jeep, stop 50m short - hop onto the machine gun and blast away. Problem solved within 20 seconds. Sometimes I actually just took on an enemy checkpoint for a bit of gunplay, and some of the firefights were better than most main missions in other FPS's. Use fire to protect your flank, get sniper rifle out and follow up with the Uzi, the options were endless because nothing was scripted and would turn out different every time.

  • LittleRiver #44 5 months ago

    @polaris70

    Jumping on to the machine gun before the checkpoint was also my tactic; it was fun for a while, then it became repetitive and annoying.

    Oh, and the Malaria thing got tiresome quickly too.
    Edited by LittleRiver at 08/01/12 @ 13:44

  • AllenSpawn #45 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:15:25 17-01-2012

  • RedSparrows #46 5 months ago

    Malaria was only an issue in main story missions. Gamey, but avoidable.

    Ditto with the checkpoints.

  • Rusty_M #47 5 months ago

    This rekindled my interest in trying the PC version some time

  • digitalash #48 5 months ago

    It's a pity Ubisoft basically seem to have bowed to pressure for FC3. There's nothing here that couldn't be solved with a) checkpoints that don't respawn, except maybe very occasionally to keep you on your toes b) a few more civilians. Maybe some longer set-piece missions occasionally to break up the open world stuff.

  • MattyD #49 5 months ago

    I really enjoyed this game, nasty as it was, but I have to admit I kind of lost interest after that bit where The Jackal attacks the bar and kills all your friends.

  • Collymilad #50 5 months ago

    I personally enjoyed Far Cry 2.

    Sure it was kinda annoying how everyone hated you and there was a checkpoint every 10 yards, but the atmosphere and gunplay were pretty unique and it had a really good feeling to the gameplay.

  • Yossarian #51 5 months ago

    Most underrated game of the generation. If you don't like it, you are a part of the problem with videogames.

  • Spuzzell #52 5 months ago

    I liked lots about Far Cry 2, but I'm just not sure about any game where I spend more than half my playtime walking to distant bus stops and catching buses everywhere because its less boring than fighting through the same damn checkpoints every 2 minutes.

  • Lunatic4ever #53 5 months ago

    @polaris70

    Some of the firefights were fun? You said it yourself,takes 20 sec to clean with the 50m. So where's the fun to be found there? I don't get it. And bypassing them? Which makes the ride take like 3 times longer? Nope...not my cup.

    BUT I' still happy that you were able to enjoy the game

  • Pwnsweet #54 5 months ago

    this game was so fail

  • Lucodeath #55 5 months ago

    The first Far Cry on Xbox1 pissed all over Far Cry2. I thought it was better than the 360 version aswell.

  • agent55 #56 5 months ago

    I recall enjoying FC2 on PS3, but I was ultimately turned off by the wooden gameplay. It just felt crude compared to the FPS leaders (i.e. KZ, BFBC2 etc.).

  • RedSparrows #57 5 months ago

    It's an entirely different game to those shooters. Far more ambitious and grown up.

  • Zerobob #58 5 months ago

    A welcome but strange article in my eyes, in that my memories of Far Cry 2 were never about the buddys, but rather the environment and what the game could have been.

    If my buddy saved me I always saw that as a bit of a failure and more often than not reload from the last checkpoint. The buddy system also felt badly implemented to me as I was never sure who these people were and what the hell they think they are doing in my safehouse. The shooting felt terrible at times too.

    That said, I always go back to Far Cry 2 and I'm not even sure why. One of the few games I played in 2011. And 2010. And 2009.

    The game as a whole isn't even that amazing. I think I just love the environment and how alive it feels and the way you can sneak with a sniper rifle, or just set things on fire and blow thing up. If the game had been purely about this with emphasis on stealth, the missions were a lot more varied and the higher-level terrain more accessible, I'm almost positive it would have a been a great game. Oh and no respawning checkpoints. Or malaria.

    I do agree it was awesome running around blowing bad guys away while pulling bullets out your arm though, hardcore motherfucker.

  • Vortex808 #59 5 months ago

    Way to make me feel bad EG - I think Josip was my main buddy who walked through fire to rescue me for most of the game. To thank him, I eventually shot him in the head later when he was down just for an achievement. /o\

    :(
    Edited by Vortex808 at 08/01/12 @ 16:56

  • irrelevanthuman #60 5 months ago

    Enjoyed the shit out of this, but weirdly, this article has been put me in the mood for some Just Cause 2 crazinesss. In any case, snippets of Far Cry 3 look top, looking forward to that one.

  • jogyourmind #61 5 months ago

    It was almost a good game, but almost dont pay the bills! Err.

  • andy06 #62 5 months ago

    This game is a classic example of what happens when you couch a game in dreadful game dynamics. The game may have been good, but few can be bothered to battle through it to realise it. I certainly didn't and traded it in shortly after purchase, despite thoroughly enjoying the first instalment (notwithstanding its B-movie 'qualities').
    Edited by andy06 at 08/01/12 @ 18:01

  • ilovemyps3 #63 5 months ago

    I'd like to thank the writter of this post.
    I really liked the first farcry.I bought farcry2 one year ago,because it was cheap.actually, the box is still closed,had other games to play,and skipped fc2.
    A few times,I wanted to play it, but always ended up playing another game.
    All the comments about checkpoints and respawing enemies certainly helped me with my decision.
    But all those graphics and fire and everything, looked really great.

    But now,thanks to the guy and his story,it just put me in such a mood, I now want to play farcry 2.whenever I finish arkham city, I'm gonna play this game,for sure.

    So once again, great read, and THANK YOU.

  • basstaverns #64 5 months ago

    Every mission was exactly the same, such a disappointment after the 1st game.

  • TheGuvernor #65 5 months ago

    Criminally under rated by the ADHD generation.

    Mature story line, big game hunting by vehicle, phenomenal mechanics (malaria, injuries etc), emergent game, play & stunning visuals/physics.
    With a fully open world.

    I just loved tooling Africa, alternately dishing out carnage & or fleeing for my life.

    Revolutionary fps title & one of my top shooters of all time - bring on Far Cry 3.

  • Iain815 #66 5 months ago

    Ah Far-Cry 2. Within a few hours it went from "Wow, this is quite something!" to being too bored and frustrated to even speak and turning off the console in disgust.

    The enemy checkpoints were too much, so was the AI which could spot me hiding in a bush miles away. If they just removed the checkpoints and improved the stealth and AI mechanics it would have been gold.

    Update: But credit to the Dunia engine. Even just on DX9 with high settings, it was stunning (and still is today).
    Edited by Iain815 at 08/01/12 @ 19:07

  • super_monty #67 5 months ago

    I have got the 360 version in my games collection but it never even been played - shame on me

  • TazerFan #68 5 months ago

    If the stealth system from Crysis (not the suit, just the ability to reliably slink through foliage and shadows) were dropped into this game, it would have gone from a game I sold out of frustration to perhaps a top 10 all-time game for me.

    Such a shame.

  • David_W #69 5 months ago

    Terrible, terrible game. I bought it when it was on sale on PSN some weeks ago and it has the most stupid AI I've encountered in a game in quite some time.

    I love the part when you're out driving, as usual, in a HMG-equipped jeep and a single bad guy in his Datsun rear ends you and just sits there for a minute.

    Using stealth is also fun. If spotted you can jump in a car, drive for miles, climb a mountain, and hide behind a rock. Within 2 minutes you will have 5-6 jeeps crashing into each other a few meters of your hiding spot.
    Also, it doesn't really matter if they see you or not. I had an episode where there were two guards left at an outpost, I could see them running away from me in my scope, still every time they fired their guns - away from me - I took damage.

    Also, Ubisoft isn't fooling anyone with the faction leaders: "Remember, no one knows you're working for us, so even our side will attack you...". They simply couldn't code a working solution for handling friendlies, so much easier to have everybody attack you on sight.

    Also, the convoy missions for weapons, WTH! Go to the spot where 3-4 cars are driving in their idiotic, endless circle. Plant IEV, rinse and repeat 5-6 times. Very creative.

    Sure, the surroundings look amazing, but the AI is beyond ridiculos. I usually finish games but I just can't stand going back to FC2. Rubbish game.

  • gallow #70 5 months ago

    I really enjoyed playing FC2. It made you realise quickly that everybody is an asshole, even yourself, and the only people I cared about where the poor civilians caught in the middle of it all.

    My best moment was sneaking into a camp housed over a lake on stilits, finding my target and killing him with a single headshot from a sniper rifle and the sneaking back out. Mission completed with a single kill from a single shot.

  • Hendo #71 5 months ago

    @abdo Bravo!

  • agent55 #72 5 months ago

    @RedSparrows I wasn't referring to the game design, it just felt poorly implemented to a controller, overly light and floaty.

  • Blacklodge #73 5 months ago

    Far Cry 2 is the finest game ever made. I've been making games 10 years and at the time it had little effect, but it is the only one that I come back to over and over again. Not for the game itself, but for the world it created. Clint Hocking is the worlds greatest designer.

    Just live a day in the world of far cry 2 and all other games just seem slight. A beautiful experience - the perfect storm of narrative, design and joy. Just wonderful.

  • RedSparrows #74 5 months ago

    I repeat, I have never encountered the psychic AI..I suspect the game was less forgiving of poor stealth than people expected.

  • skinfasst #75 5 months ago

    @Blacklodge

    Finest game ever? Just....no. Are you drunk?

    Even PDC World Championship Darts 2008 is better than Far Cry 2. Nice graphics though.

  • ilmaestro #76 5 months ago

    The idea of a retrospective on a current-gen game didn't exactly fill me with hope, but I liked the format of the article.

  • zen_bullet #77 5 months ago

    My main memory of this game is playing it on my 360 in a ramshackle flophouse on the westside of Chicago with no heat in the middle of December due to a carbon monoxide leak. The amazing looking environments actually helped quite a bit with the ridiculous, overpowering cold, or at least as a temporary remedy for seasonal affective disorder.

    I think if they cut the random roadside encounters down to about half (or at least introduced some sort of system for mitigating them, like posting your own mercenaries at checkpoints for enemy interdiction) then we would have the world's first FPS done in the mindset of a Herzog of Malick, perfectly capturing the 'bad man in Eden' feeling that I think they were originally going for. I loved how the actual conflict in the civil war and who was right and wrong were treated as pointless by the story, and the Micro Machines guy-esque dialogue really helped with that. Or maybe the developers didn't care one way or the other. Tremendous game.

  • zen_bullet #78 5 months ago

    @JAGUARCD32x In this case it was $200 a month to live in a horrible frozen ghetto nightmare that I escaped from as soon as I found gainful employment, but I think this site is a good way to find places to crash: http://www.couchsurfing.org/

  • danidrums #79 5 months ago

    @Breach TRUE STORY! I loved this game!

  • El_MUERkO #80 5 months ago

    @paavopaavo I think I've said the same on a dozen forums and a comments threads like this. It had the possibility of greatness snatched away from it. Fucking UBISOFT!!!

  • ubergine #81 5 months ago

    God damn it, I just went out and bought this game again.

  • ubergine #82 5 months ago

    @Blacklodge
    So are you Clint Hocking then?

  • Forte22 #83 5 months ago

    Well I for one adored the game. The checkpoint issue is nonsense - I just used to either hurtle through in a jeep or sneak through / round. And the game truly comes alive when you get the stealth suit, silenced weapons and dart gun. Much more fun then.

    The key is thing that makes me love a game is the atmosphere of the world. Some of my favourite games (Assassins 2, GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption, Both of the Arkhams) evoke such a strong vibe and style that I feel compelled to overlook some of a games flaws (The malaria thing was lame for example). Far Cry 2 had that in spades. I finished it. Hell I cleared every safe house. And I loved the weather, the feel that the place was alive, the way it looked.

    This game isn't for everyone. But if you have some patience it is the best single player shooter experience I've ever had - better than HALO, COD, Battlefield or the utterly bland Crysis 2. The freedom is mind-blowing and for £3? No brainer.

  • StooMonster #84 5 months ago

    @JAGUARCD32x I've done many a US road trip, e.g. length of highway 1 along the west coast (awesome), or start in CA and drive through the south western desert states, etc.

    I have just hired a car and stopped at whatever motel is in the town at the end up in at end of day / early evening.

    It's dead easy to do and you can get some pretty good motels for $20 a night.

  • Pasco #85 5 months ago

    I understand it when people have tried it and didn't like it. What I don't understand is hating the game for trying to do something different and then obviously failing in part. This must be the same people who think that Battlefield 3 is the solution to the Call of Duty sequelitis problem.

  • Sunyavadin #86 5 months ago

    Never completed it. Got halfway through then the mission giver to get to the second map disappeared. Could not work up the will to go back over the whole map finding every hidden spot again.

    A shame, as it's a SUPERB game.
    Edited by Sunyavadin at 09/01/12 @ 10:46

  • bliprunner #87 5 months ago

    I remember the xbox version as being quite a frustrating experience (murdered by stray bullets from miles away, constantly chased by jeeps) - was the PC version any different? Other than being prettier?

  • Agente_Silva #88 5 months ago

    The game was a graphic and environment breakthrough and I consider it a great game. Still, it pissed me off to clear one of those surveillance posts and past 2 minutes it was crawling with niggas again!

  • Agente_Silva #89 5 months ago

    @David_W

    I wouldn´t classified it as rubish, but you pointed out many aspects that lower the game and made this game a bit of a flop considering all the expectations around it!

  • FogHeart #90 5 months ago

    @kaufmann Negging your ignorance sir, but Far Cry 2 has nothing to do with Crytek.

  • Yossarian #91 5 months ago

    Far Cry 2: the FPS for people who prefer actually doing things to 'cinematic' scripted sequences.

  • jogyourmind #92 5 months ago

    @Blacklodge

    You dont play MMO's do you.

  • Pumpatron #93 5 months ago

    Judging from the comments it's clearly a game that divides opinion, I can see both sides. I personally enjoyed the game, I finished it twice sinking many hours into both playthroughs.

    The game world is so immersive, mostly due to the weather and day & night cycle, the world just feels alive. Calmly walking through some grassland could suddenly become very ominous just due to the wind picking up and it starting to rain, even more so at night. The game world was brilliant, as was the freedom it gave you.

    However is also has it's problems, most are well documented. But my main issue was the gunplay. Imo, it's clunky awkward and made combat a chore. But I stuck with it, and the atmosphere of the world kept me playing. I spent most of my time sniping as that seemed less clunky, and the snipers were much more reliable in how many bullets it took to kill, something the assault rifles were horrible for.

    I can totally see why someone wouldn't like the game, I can also see why some here love it.

  • SteveHolt #94 5 months ago

    My favourite FPS of this gen, I really loved the campaign for all the reasons mentioned above, and the jackal was a superb antagonist. Didn't really enjoy the MP, but it had a large and very dedicated community last time I checked (sept 09).

  • jabberwocky #95 5 months ago

    This could have been great if it wasn't for respawning enemies. Why clear out an area so i can snipe from the nearby hill when those enemies just respawn after a few minutes only to shoot me up the arse.

    Pity as the game had some fantastic ideas just let down by some bad design choices.

  • Lunatic4ever #96 5 months ago

    Developers should really take a look at the comments here. Maybe that will teach em a lesson.

  • Bremenacht #97 5 months ago

    I know it's a bit boring, but can I relate another FC2 'experience'?

    It was one of those 'destroy a convoy' type missions. Probably my first in the game. I'd gone in rough direction of the convoy, not realising at the time that convoys moved. 'Well, durrr' you're thinking -if you can be bothered reading this at all- 'that's what convoys do!'. Well, most FPS' had taught me to expect a static, predictable target, which I could replay again and again until I found a strategy that didn't involve dieing, so what actually happened was unexpected.

    Driving through the jungle in the enjoyably-handling Jeep, I stopped at a safe-house/arms-dealer for a change of weapons, to try out the newly purchased RPG. Tooled-up, I headed off through the jungle again in the general direction of where I thought the target was. I guessed my way through a couple of junctions and got to a bit where the jungle stopped, with the remaining trees acting as a window out onto a lovely, wide, open, grass-covered, gently-sloping hill, up which the road continued in a straight line to the brow of the hill, where something that looked like a convoy had appeared and was travelling down towards me.

    I was still in the shade of the jungle, which meant I was possibly still in cover while I made a panicky check on the map to confirm this was really the convoy I wanted. How had it got here?!

    Perhaps it was the cover that gave me time to hop out of the Jeep, select the RPG and line up the sight. I'd not fired the thing before. Either way, the convoy was half way down the hill when I had the joyous experience of firing and actually hitting the lead truck (probably the actual target) and seeing it turn into a flaming wreck and block the road, forcing the trailing vehicles to move out either side, presenting more targets for my remaining RPG rounds. The resulting grass fire took care of the other vehicles and some of the occupants. The wind was blowing the right way, which gave me time (and advantage) to drive up and dispatch the others.

    I write this long winded account to get across the idea that it could have been a completely different experience. If I'd spent another minute with the arms-dealer, it could have been a fight in the jungle. 30 seconds early and I'd have had a surprise convoy encounter at the brow of the hill. If I'd had a different weapon, it would have much less one-sided, and I'd not have had a grass-fire to help me. If the wind wasn't blowing the right way, it would have been less one-sided. As it was, it was a unpredictable, (probably) unrepeatable, satisfying FPS experience of the type you rarely get to enjoy.

    FC2 has many faults, but the possibility of chance occurances like the above completely redeemed it for me.
    Edited by Bremenacht at 09/01/12 @ 17:00

  • blooter #98 5 months ago

    Good to see FC2 getting some love after all the hate it seems to get. For a while I thought I was the only one who liked it. My favourite FPS, roll on FC3

  • peppergomez #99 5 months ago

    Really wanted to like this, but the gameworld was barren. Only enemies and respawning checkpoints. No civilians, very little sense that any of the environments were actually lived in. And the tediousness of the gameplay after awhile, no matter how awesome the gunplay was (and it was).

    It's like they built the sandbox, an incredible one, but neglected to populate it.

    Could have been so much more. Here's hoping FC3 gets the balance right.
    Edited by peppergomez at 09/01/12 @ 21:00

  • Okamiwolf #100 5 months ago

    Far Cry 2 still ranks in the top 3 most beautiful open worlds ever made alongside Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption. If anyone only played FC2 on console, I highly encourage them to pick it up for PC when/if they ever get a modern gaming PC. I've played both and the difference that the extra resolution and textures bring is night and day.

  • NiolK #101 5 months ago

    Easily one of the most overrated games of it's time. So incredibly dull and repetitive.

    Drive here. Shoot some fellas. Take meds. Drive back. Repeat 'til eyes bleed.

  • TonyCB #102 5 months ago

    That was the best retrospective I have read on here - or anywhere - for some time. Wow - please keep this standard of writing up Eurogamer, it bodes so well for the coming year

  • Agente_Silva #103 5 months ago

    @LaFlamaBlanca

    LoL... I knew the "thumbs down" were because of the "niggas"... For god sake grow up and relax, it isn´t racist prejudice at all...
    Edited by Agente_Silva at 10/01/12 @ 20:41

  • peppergomez #104 4 months ago

    @TonyCB I disagree. I thought this piece was more about the affectation of the writer (basically, an exercise in style and in addressing only a narrow aspect of the game) than a true retrospective of the game.
    Edited by peppergomez at 12/01/12 @ 19:53

  • atroxic #105 4 months ago

    I just recently got to play this game, so I have a fresh take on things. I'm still on act 1, doing all the side missions that comes along. I was starting to agree with the complaints about the respawning, the agressive AI and the long travel distances. But then I started taking the bus (the fast travel system) and realized it avoids 90% of the mentioned issues. So, if you are thinking about (re)playing far cry 2, take the bus. It will make the game much better. And the best thing is there's always a vehicle outside every bus station. So, even if your objective isn't very near, you won't have to walk.

    @TheEarlOfZinger
    I don't agree with you saying the AI can spot you from hundreds of meters and shoot you with pinpoint accuracy. For what I notticed, only enemies with sniper rifles can spot you from further away. And yes, they are more accurate than the regular AK grunt, but what would you expect? They are snipers.

    A personnal complaint is about the weapons balance. With the exception of the sniper rifle and shotgun, it takes too many hits to kill anyone. It's ridiculous having to hit a enemy 4-6 with a LMG before he drops dead. If you a using a pistol, you'll always have to empty your magazine.