Far Cry 2 review (PC)

Who can forget the original Far Cry? It was indeed a far cry from the usual first person shooter and surprised us all when it appeared - seemingly out of the blue. It gave us an open world environment and left us to reach our objectives in a variety of ways and is arguably one of the best shooters to ever have graced the PC.

Then there followed the furore and subsequent split of Crytek and Ubisoft, with Ubisoft getting the Far Cry name and Crytek keeping the Cryengine.

We all know how the new iteration of the Cryengine turned out but what about Ubisoft Montreal’s Dunia game engine and the continuation of the Far Cry franchise?

Well, it has certainly been beavering away feverishly and have come up with something quite miraculous to behold.

I Bless the Rains...

Set in a fictional African country, the premise for the plot is simple. Two main factions are vying for control of the country - the United Front for Liberation and Labour (UFLL) and the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR). Both sides get their weapons from the Jackal, a gun runner it’s your job to assassinate. It’s as simple as that. You are given plenty of freedom to find and kill your adversary but the game map for this country is so big (fifty square kilometres split into two maps) that you will need to assist people in order for them to help you complete your task.

As the game begins you take a ride in a taxi on a beautiful journey to the local hotel. The stark contrast of nature and ramshackle hovels sets the mood for a brooding, if rather adult game. This isn’t a pleasant country by any means (you even catch malaria in the opening section of the game) and uncut diamonds are the local currency, attracting the lowest of the low to the war torn region in search of a big payoff for a nefarious job well done.

When you finally take control of your character (one of a group chosen before the action starts) you are thrown into a battle that unfortunately for you has erupted outside your hotel. This is essentially the training mission and I found it a little too “in your face” for its own good. I do think however, that it may have been my impatience to see more of the beauty I had glimpsed on the way to the town.

After a brief fire-fight I met and saved the first of my buddies in the game. Buddies are people who you befriend, who can offer a helping hand when you are about to die by dragging you away from most of the danger to give you time to heal yourself, quite often in a rather gruesome way. They also throw missions your way, usually helping you with your main task in the process.

Cry Freedom

Safe houses are the places that you will meet your buddies most of the time and can be activated (allowing you to save your game when you sleep in them) by killing any guards hanging around outside. You will find both safe houses and friends very useful and should always keep track of where you need to run if in trouble. And trouble will find you, on countless occasions, many of which are completely random and catch you off guard, really adding to the air of danger in the game. One thing to note about the PC version is that although the safe houses are useful, the quick save feature takes away some of their original intent due to the fact you can save anywhere. That certainly isn’t too bad a thing if you play gung-ho like myself, throwing yourself into the fray with reckless abandon.

One of the main features of Far Cry 2 is freedom of choice; the freedom to choose which mission to take, when to take it and how to go about completing it. The further into this fictional African country I ventured the more I found myself changing tactics, one minute a sniper, the next getting up close and personal, using Molotov cocktails to start a brush fire, watching in amazement as the flames spread and consumed everything around them in an astoundingly realistic fashion, following the direction of the wind. It’s a pyromaniac’s delight and even ammunition piles explode like fireworks, killing anybody foolish enough to venture near. The fire was something considered by many (myself included) to be a sales gimmick before launch, but works so well in practice and really shows off the power of the amazing Dunia engine that I must humbly apologize for doubting Ubisoft Montreal’s vision. I’m only human after all.

Never before have I felt so at one with a game environment. The graphical detail, far from being diminished in any way because of the scale of the area (considering there are no loading times apart from when you begin your game) is bursting with little details and great animation. The sound is so immersive and helpful, especially if you have surround sound. Pinpointing an enemy by ear is a breeze, as is the sound whizzing past your ears as you scoot along in a small boat, taking in the sights of the local tributaries and lakes. The physics are also remarkable, with grenades throwing up leaves and clouds of dust whilst sending out a visible shock wave that affects all of the plants and grass in its radius. The plants also react realistically if you try to walk through them and can even be destroyed by a machete or gunfire.

The countryside, as picturesque as it is with its gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, has more than its fair share of danger. It seems everyone is out to take your head off with one projectile or another, regardless of if you spilled their pint or not.

Shot Through the Heart

Keeping a good supply of health syringes and anti malaria tablets is also essential for your survival. The malaria medication is a nice touch in itself because it forces you to do business with the downtrodden poor of the land in exchange for some of their pills, keeping your feet on the ground and reminding you that in every war there are innocents in the middle. Luckily for them they are never out in the open because the rules outside the towns are; if you see it – shoot it. Then shoot it again before poking it with a stick just to be sure.

The mechanics behind the gunplay in Far Cry 2 are solid and remind me a little of the Medal of Honor games where you really must look down the sights of your weapon if you want any chance of hitting anything smaller than the side of a mud hut. You certainly have to work for your upgrades too, from weapon accuracy, reliability, or ammo storage, and they do make a difference. You can purchase them at gun shops, which are also another source of missions, health packs and save points.

You should also only use your enemy’s weapons if you really have to because if a weapon looks old and used, it is, and will jam or blow up in your face. Not the best thing to happen during a blazing gun battle in the middle of a rope bridge overhanging a ravine when you have no-where to run, believe me. It is incredibly easy to find yourself overrun if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on around you and not so easy to run away. They won’t hesitate to shoot you in the back and they know how to shoot straight.

Burning Heart

It took me a couple of hours to really start to appreciate the nature of this game. Some of you may feel differently, but when thrown into such a big area, not sure about where you should be and having very inaccurate, unreliable weapons to start you off, you may feel a little overwhelmed. Persevere though and you will have many, many great adrenaline filled experiences.

There is so much to do and see in Far Cry 2 that saying the game will take you thirty hours to complete seems a bit redundant. Will you just play through it all with a single minded determination or will you try to find all of the two hundred and twenty one diamond briefcases, scout all of the fifty seven guard posts or just wander through the wilderness to see what other nuggets of pleasure come your way?

The multiplayer maps are the usual fare, taking a lot from the game world and while I didn’t find them very heavily populated when I was online they were, nonetheless, a pleasant change from the single player experience. Where I feel most people would get the most out of multiplayer is the ridiculously easy to use map editor. It is so simple and fun to create the most ingenious maps given a little time. With a healthy imagination the maps you show off online could end up being played by people all over the world. I have a few ideas for maps already and can’t wait to get stuck in.

The game is not without its faults (what game is?). Nothing too dramatic for the most part but it can get a little repetitive in places and some of the actors talk so fast you will be glad for the subtitles. The frame rate is generally very good (obviously that has a lot to do with your settings) and scales well but does judder a little on occasion in DX10 and runs more smoothly in DX9 with little loss of visual flair. These few little niggles don’t even come near to stopping your fun.

And that’s what it all boils down too. Far Cry 2 is phenomenal fun and brings new meaning to the term open world. It has surpassed my expectations and without a doubt Ubisoft Montreal have taken an uncut diamond and worked it into a nearly flawless gem.