Far Cry 2 Impressions
Far Cry 2
My Rating:
Impression: Far Cry 2 would be the end result of taking the Grand Theft Auto world and relocating it to Africa, only to substitute fancy cars for inoperative, unreliable rust buckets, massive buildings for endless fields of arid Savannah grass, and amusing city pedestrians for systematic dictatorship overseeing the slaughtering of the innocent. I consider Far Cry 2 as a step up from its predecessor because the sandbox style of game play shines brightly, as does the sun throughout the game.
Graphics & Stuff: Most, if not all the A.I is relatively smart seeing as there were many times when the A.I. maneuvered to cover and aimed more precisely than I ever could. Vehicles, weapons and missions load up flawlessly and so far the game has not froze once as a result of too many guns and vehicles in the same area. The only noticeable glitch that I found was getting stuck between rocks on occasion, probably because most of the world is covered in them. A simple fix for this minor glitch would be to incorporate moon boots, this way you could launch yourself from being jammed in between two rocks. In terms of graphics, this game just looks good and works well, especially when you use a flamethrower to set a field of Savannah grass on fire, only to step back and witness how realistically and furiously the flames spread. Setting stuff on fire never gets old in real life, or in Far Cry 2. There were moments when I would stop for a second after making my way up a large hill just to take in how meticulously detailed everything was. Rolling hills as far as the eyes can see covered in all kinds of African brush, surrounded by overlapping soft sanded dunes and ridged rocks, all overseen by a real time weather system and sun cycle. What ultimately sets Far Cry’s world apart from all others is its awing scenery and how consuming it is.
Achievements: For the record, I play most of my games focusing purposely on obtaining as much achievement points as possible without having to replay, repeat and rinse. From what I’ve read, it’s estimated that it should take roughly 140 hours to complete the game and get all thousand achievement points. My goal is to do it in less than 50 hours, seeing that I’m only able to play for an hour each day. In this game, about half of the achievements are story based, meaning you get them in the laziest fashion possible. As for the other half, some are online and the rest are a pain in the ass -- meaning in game of course. A few of the achievements have such high expectations for so little points. For example, you are expected to collect thousand diamonds by finding hidden “Easter egg-brief cases” spread all over the map in places you’d never stumble across if not for a strategy guide. The rest come from missions and so on. The reward for this time consuming, oh so annoying achievement is a worthless ten points and I believe Ubisoft did this on purpose, as have many other developers, just to annoy gamers even more so.
Entertainment: While the first Far Cry was somewhat linear in its game play and extremely hard at the same time, its superior sister Far Cry 2 has left me reengaged in the series wanting more. In fact, I find myself eager to see what the Far Cry team has up their sleeves for the next installment in the Far Cry series, as I’m certain they will out do themselves again just as they have with the Prince of Persia series. Let’s just hope there is more rain in Far Cry 3 because I get enough Far Cry 2 weather here everyday in Arizona.
+ Pros: Well-built graphics, sound, mechanics, A.I., open world, somewhat challenging, operational vehicles, satisfying art style, nice box art and menu layouts, open ended story and missions.
- Cons: No Co-operative mode or multiplayer, online is weak, online achievements are impractical, not enough rain, not enough black people.
