As one of the more impressive games of 2004, Far Cry turned some heads by showing that your shooter didn't have to be confined to corridors, and could feature wide-open spaces, vehicles, diverse terrain, and bright, pleasant environments. As fun as Far Cry was, however, it was arguably more of a tech demo than a full-fledged game. Its shoestring storyline, terrible voice-acting and late-game sci-fi elements showed that Crytek was much more skilled at creating emergent gaming playgrounds for players, and that is where both Far Cry and the later Crysis both excelled.
In some ways, Far Cry 2 is similar to the original, but might as well be a completely different game, as, aside from featuring lush jungles and a huge, fairly open world to explore, it has nothing much to do with the first title, right down to the developer. Ubisoft Montreal is known for a lot of top franchises these days, such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Assassin's Creed, and they worked on the Far Cry Instincts spin-off series on the Xbox, so I wasn't too worried whether Far Cry 2 was going to be a good game or not. However, I was surprised at just how good, and unconventional, it is.
Far Cry 2 is the first game of its type: an open-world sandbox first-person shooter. After a brief introduction and tutorial section, the game launches you into its expansive African jungles, savannahs and swamps, the only limit being the impenetrable desert around the edges of the massive 50 square kilometre map. While the plot remains fairly linear as it hits a few pre-determined points, you may complete it at whatever pace you choose, going right from mission to mission, taking on side-quests, or simply exploring the huge world at your leisure. This allows Far Cry 2 to be a very diverse game: you can go straight for the action, blowing brains out with shotguns and torching buildings to drive your enemies into the open, or take the time to wander the seemingly endless space available to you.
However, if Far Cry 2 has any main strength, it lies in its sense of immersion. Although many games feature pretty graphics, Far Cry 2 is perhaps the only one to present a truly organic, living world. Day gradually changes to night. Procedurally-generated wind and weather causes the grass and foliage to swirl and bend in unison. Fire ravages the landscale, leaving lush vegetation dry and black. Weapons gradually become less reliable as they become dustier, worn out, and mud-caked. Wildlife grazes in the distance, running startled when approached. The sun is ever-present during the day, either scorching on or hiding underneath a layer of dense cloud and fog. The moonlight illuminates the landscape in an ethereal glow.
Similarly, combat has a visceral feel that is absent from many other shooters. Guns are gusty and powerful, with real heft and bulk, and all of them look and feel unique. Explosions are never absent from firefights, as grenades go off, fuel canisters ignite and fly into the air, and fire consumes evertything around, creating an ever-creeping environmental hazard. Your enemies are intelligent and exploit your weaknesses, sneaking up on you as you snipe their cowering friends, or tossing grenades when you hide inside buildings. Pulling bullets out of your forearms with your teeth, shrapnel out of your legs, and patting out fires provides a unique, graphic and entertaining form of healing in combat which can leave you exposed if performed out in the open. Far Cry 2 is primarily about shooting people and blowing stuff up, and in this respect it receives top marks.
That's not to say that it also doesn't have its issues. While not nearly as hokey as the first game in the series, it remains primarily a linear affair, and while some parts will require you to choose between helping and abandoning your friends, or different factions, it will culminate in a similar way for every player. The attempt to create dynamic storytelling with the "buddies" you come across in your game (different ones can appear in different places and at different times in your game, can be permanently killed, offer additional side-missions, will rescue you if you are gunned down, etc.) is an admirable one, but their sterile writing and voice-acting kills whatever sense of personality they may have had. There's also a few mechanical and technical caveats, like enemy soldiers which respawn much too often, requiring you to take out the same outposts again and again as you go back and forth from point to point, as well as a few occasional AI gaffes, and save points which come too far apart to be convenient all the time. Thematically, the game also straddles a rather difficult line; taking place in a romanticised "Africa", it plays on real-world political affairs, paying lip service to civil warfare, blood diamonds, drug trade, and the like, without ever really addressing the issues in any meaningful sort of way. It might not be the right place to talk about those sorts of subjects, but I always felt a little uneasy playing the game, like it was willfully ignoring some of the grimier aspects of its setting in favour of presenting a simpler, more digestible world. Despite this, Far Cry 2 deserves points for its strong grounding in reality and unusual setting.
Ultimately, Far Cry 2 is a game that has to be played. It might wind up overshadowed by other releases that boast similarly large worlds (Fallout 3 and Fable 2, also sequels and rather effy), but what it might lack in depth, it makes up for in ambiance, immersion, and explosive, highly enjoyable action. Clocking in at a bare minimum of 25 hours, it may be the only game you play this holiday, even with fierce competition available. A numeric score is made necessary by the current standards for games journalism, but doesn't fully do the game justice, as there really is no other title like it, despite its flaws. Typical shooter fans might feel conflicted by the game's juxtaposition of intense combat and open, sometimes empty world, but Far Cry 2 is a game that provides an experience unlike any other.
Final Score: 8
Pros: Huge, beautiful, organic, living world to explore; visceral, well-paced action; emergent and adaptive storytelling
Cons: Occasional AI issues; story is poorly-presented and not very involving; extensive travel times and large world may not appeal to pure action fans
