WARNING: Spoilers ahead. If you've never played the game, please read at your own risk. However if you've played the game and hated the hell out of it, please skip right down to JBbear's Two Cents.
Back in the tail end of 2016, I got a sudden craving for a sandbox first-person shooter. I’d already played Fallout: New Vegas, but I was yearning for something smaller and less dense, something with which I could just turn my brain off and play before bedtime to relax (I may have a strange definition of “relaxing”). I needed something my decent-but-not-quite-top-of-the-line gaming PC could accommodate (I avoid playing FPS’es on consoles like the plague), and had read good things about the Far Cry series, specifically Far Cry 3. However as and Far Cry 3 was not available on GOG.com (I refuse to deal with Steam for reasons that are obvious if you read my previous post), I settled for Far Cry 2. The game's premise seemed simple enough: you're a mercenary sent to an unnamed, war-torn African country to kill the Jackal, an arms dealer who's fueling the conflict by selling to both sides. There's a vast open world to explore, a shitload of guns and explosives to use, and a metric ton of bad guys to shoot at/explode/turn into roadkill: it looked promising enough.
Back in the tail end of 2016, I got a sudden craving for a sandbox first-person shooter. I’d already played Fallout: New Vegas, but I was yearning for something smaller and less dense, something with which I could just turn my brain off and play before bedtime to relax (I may have a strange definition of “relaxing”). I needed something my decent-but-not-quite-top-of-the-line gaming PC could accommodate (I avoid playing FPS’es on consoles like the plague), and had read good things about the Far Cry series, specifically Far Cry 3. However as and Far Cry 3 was not available on GOG.com (I refuse to deal with Steam for reasons that are obvious if you read my previous post), I settled for Far Cry 2. The game's premise seemed simple enough: you're a mercenary sent to an unnamed, war-torn African country to kill the Jackal, an arms dealer who's fueling the conflict by selling to both sides. There's a vast open world to explore, a shitload of guns and explosives to use, and a metric ton of bad guys to shoot at/explode/turn into roadkill: it looked promising enough.
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| Pictured on the left: Soon-to-be roadkill. |
Refreshingly, the installation process was the longest thing about starting the game: Far Cry 2 doesn’t bother overly much with any tutorial sequences or hand-holding crap (again, please refer to my previous post for my feelings concerning such crap).
Oh, it’ll give you quick hints early on, of the “press ‘E’ to pick up this rifle”, or “consider scouting this first enemy camp before rushing in, if you want to not get shot to hell” variety. But this game does not fuck around: after an introductory ride through part of the open-world map that serves to show how pretty the graphics were in 2008, you pass out from what has to be the quickest onset of malaria in all of recorded history. You then immediately get to meet the Jackal, your antagonist/mission objective, who indulges in a Nietzschean monologue (of course) before vaguely threatening you and then leaving you with a machete and a pistol.
Oh, it’ll give you quick hints early on, of the “press ‘E’ to pick up this rifle”, or “consider scouting this first enemy camp before rushing in, if you want to not get shot to hell” variety. But this game does not fuck around: after an introductory ride through part of the open-world map that serves to show how pretty the graphics were in 2008, you pass out from what has to be the quickest onset of malaria in all of recorded history. You then immediately get to meet the Jackal, your antagonist/mission objective, who indulges in a Nietzschean monologue (of course) before vaguely threatening you and then leaving you with a machete and a pistol.
Which you will need (along with the previously mentioned rifle, picked up by pressing “E” or whatever key you’ve assigned to picking stuff up) as soon as your selected character picks himself off his sickbed and finds himself in a war zone. And yes, your character will be a “him”; sorry ladies, Far Cry 2 is the archetypal sausage fest where playable characters are concerned.
On that note, there are nine playable characters, which could be an obscure nod to the Fellowship of the Ring but is really not, since all of these guys are pretty much personality-less mercenaries of various ethnic backgrounds (at least a token effort at racial diversity was made, genders be damned) and the game clearly doesn’t give a rat’s posterior as to which one you choose. SPOILER: this is kind of a recurring theme in Far Cry 2.
Immediately after the tutorial level (which will end with you either “dying” or passing out, depending on how long you manage to survive), you get forcibly recruited by one of the game’s warring factions, and then promptly dumped into a hostile world where everyone’s sole desire is to kill you. This is not a hyperbole: one of my most memorable moments with this game is seeing a car drive by me whilst hiking to some mission objective or other, going "oh, cool, it didn't try to run me over, which means there's non-hostile traffic in this game to make the world feel more alive? Nice touch."
"Ha ha," said the game, as the car stopped, a guy got out, and promptly started shooting at me with an Uzi. "Fuck you."
The game even puts a lampshade on this: during your mission briefings with both warring factions (and you WILL be forced to work for both), you'll be told something to the effect of "even our guys don't know you work for us, so they'll try to kill you." Indeed there are very few “friendly” characters in this game – the handful you get to interact with are either opportunistic (your fellow mercenaries, IE the characters you didn’t select, who constantly try to rope you into optional side-missions that really make you do twice the work for minimal rewards) or desperate (people trying to escape the country, who reluctantly trade you malaria medicine for delivering travel papers).
"Ha ha," said the game, as the car stopped, a guy got out, and promptly started shooting at me with an Uzi. "Fuck you."
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| "Well, fuck you right back," says I. |
The game even puts a lampshade on this: during your mission briefings with both warring factions (and you WILL be forced to work for both), you'll be told something to the effect of "even our guys don't know you work for us, so they'll try to kill you." Indeed there are very few “friendly” characters in this game – the handful you get to interact with are either opportunistic (your fellow mercenaries, IE the characters you didn’t select, who constantly try to rope you into optional side-missions that really make you do twice the work for minimal rewards) or desperate (people trying to escape the country, who reluctantly trade you malaria medicine for delivering travel papers).
Yes, the malaria is an actual gameplay mechanic, and you need to restock on medicine at key points in the game (read: after completing a set amount of missions). Every so often, your screen turns into a sickly shade of yellow as a droning sound drowns out everything else that may be going on, and your character will collapse unless you pop a pill. Doing so takes a mere couple seconds, however as the malaria episodes seem to have disproportionate odds of happening during combat, you may as well pop a handgun bullet for all the good it will do.
Speaking of guns, they degrade realistically over time in Far Cry 2.
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| Ha, no they don’t; that was a joke. |
Guns will arbitrarily start jamming after firing a set amount of rounds: the weapons gradually accumulate dust and rust with use, though some of the more “fragile” ones will visibly corrode with each shot. Any weapon picked up from a fallen foe will practically be falling apart with rust and most likely jam at every other shot (note that this never happens to them while they’re shooting at you). Should you somehow manage to not die and keep firing with a rusty/grimy weapon, the gun will ultimately disintegrate, often exploding like a set piece in a Michael Bay film, as seen above. There is an upgrade system in place to mitigate this issue (as well as improve other specs, such as accuracy), but this doesn’t make much difference in many cases. Thankfully there's gun shops located throughout the game world, and adjacent warehouses contain a self-replenishing supply of purchased (read: unlocked) guns. As such the only way to avoid the scenario pictured above is to regularly restock at those warehouses.
The in-game currency for all these shiny toys is blood diamonds (of course), which you either obtain by completing missions, or finding hidden briefcases scattered throughout the map. True to itself, the game doesn't hold your hand when choosing which weapons to unlock with your limited budget, so it's entirely possible for a player to purchase, say, all of the available shotgun models, and screw themselves out of any other weapons until they obtain more diamonds - until then, they'll be stuck scavenging barely-functioning guns off of dead enemies. It must be noted that the version I played included "Fortune's Pack", a DLC which automatically grants three free weapons, making things a tiny bit easier for new players.
The world, as previously stated, is beautiful by 2008 standards. Hell, even a decade later I think it still holds up quite nicely: fields of tall grasses sway in the wind, and – in what I found to be a very nice touch – foliage actually moves as you step in it. Some vistas are genuinely impressive and made me stop just to admire the scenery; leisurely driving through the savanna/jungle at sunset was particularly soothing.
However,despite the impressive-looking locales, the world presented in Far Cry 2 doesn't feel lived-in. Aside from the occasional zebra or wildebeest, the only life you see is at designated spots: enemy checkpoints and encampments, set patrol routes, "neutral zones" (where you get your mission objectives from), and some buildings. Though enemies constantly respawn, thus avoiding the issue mentioned in my Arkham Asylum restrospective (namely, an empty map with no one to fight), the world still feels very artificial, almost like a theme park ride that resets itself after each tour. This directly links into another, oft-mentioned issue: the enemies sometimes have a very short "respawn range", often reappearing as soon as you're barely out of eyeshot of their checkpoint/base. This can make backtracking through some areas particularly tedious at times, especially if you're just trying to get to a mission objective and happened to take a wrong turn.
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| Pictured: Guns. Lots of guns. (well, there WOULD be a lot if I'd bothered to unlock them all) |
The in-game currency for all these shiny toys is blood diamonds (of course), which you either obtain by completing missions, or finding hidden briefcases scattered throughout the map. True to itself, the game doesn't hold your hand when choosing which weapons to unlock with your limited budget, so it's entirely possible for a player to purchase, say, all of the available shotgun models, and screw themselves out of any other weapons until they obtain more diamonds - until then, they'll be stuck scavenging barely-functioning guns off of dead enemies. It must be noted that the version I played included "Fortune's Pack", a DLC which automatically grants three free weapons, making things a tiny bit easier for new players.
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| A silenced shotgun for the stealth players, a crossbow with explosive bolts for the rest (guess which one I went with). |
The world, as previously stated, is beautiful by 2008 standards. Hell, even a decade later I think it still holds up quite nicely: fields of tall grasses sway in the wind, and – in what I found to be a very nice touch – foliage actually moves as you step in it. Some vistas are genuinely impressive and made me stop just to admire the scenery; leisurely driving through the savanna/jungle at sunset was particularly soothing.
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| Very soothing indeed. |
However,despite the impressive-looking locales, the world presented in Far Cry 2 doesn't feel lived-in. Aside from the occasional zebra or wildebeest, the only life you see is at designated spots: enemy checkpoints and encampments, set patrol routes, "neutral zones" (where you get your mission objectives from), and some buildings. Though enemies constantly respawn, thus avoiding the issue mentioned in my Arkham Asylum restrospective (namely, an empty map with no one to fight), the world still feels very artificial, almost like a theme park ride that resets itself after each tour. This directly links into another, oft-mentioned issue: the enemies sometimes have a very short "respawn range", often reappearing as soon as you're barely out of eyeshot of their checkpoint/base. This can make backtracking through some areas particularly tedious at times, especially if you're just trying to get to a mission objective and happened to take a wrong turn.
The character models, while inevitably subject to the uncanny valley effect, are very acceptable; the texture work in particular is quite detailed.
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| Seriously, just look at the level of detail on this dead guy's pristine tactical vest (that I shot like 30 times before taking this screenshot). |
I should specify that I am cheating and playing with graphical mods that remove the default game’s brown filter. Even with said filter I still believe that the game looks great (if perhaps a bit monochrome), but with the mods, the world you play in is absolutely spectacular for its time.
And the game wants you to burn it all.
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| The cover art is very subtle in this regard. |
You don’t have to, of course. But Far Cry 2’s visual theme – and its main selling point – centers around fire and its effects on the game’s world. You may pick up a flamethrower or some molotovs to set fires in and around guard posts and see the enemies freak out, or simply snipe the explosive barrels liberally dispersed throughout every enemy base and watch the fireworks through your scope. Hell, many enemy bases are deliberately set up so that a well-placed explosion will trigger a Rube Goldberg-style chain of other explosions and flatten the whole place.
The roving patrols give more opportunities for wanton destruction: vehicles have lovingly detailed models, and will show damage in very satisfying ways: you can pop the hood and doors off and shatter windows by shooting them, or you can cut to the chase and simply lob a grenade underneath. In all cases, vehicles will catch fire when damaged enough, and then explode after a few seconds. Should there be anything flammable in the vicinity… well, you get the idea. The fire effects themselves are rather well done, and are subject to environmental variables; for instance, the aforementioned wind can direct the spread of a fire (and catch you in the flames if you’re not careful).
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| Pictured from left to right: Oil barrel, oil spill, and gasoline tank. Not pictured: Michael Bay wetting his pants (though the oil spill provides an adequate visual). |
The roving patrols give more opportunities for wanton destruction: vehicles have lovingly detailed models, and will show damage in very satisfying ways: you can pop the hood and doors off and shatter windows by shooting them, or you can cut to the chase and simply lob a grenade underneath. In all cases, vehicles will catch fire when damaged enough, and then explode after a few seconds. Should there be anything flammable in the vicinity… well, you get the idea. The fire effects themselves are rather well done, and are subject to environmental variables; for instance, the aforementioned wind can direct the spread of a fire (and catch you in the flames if you’re not careful).
Disappointingly, the enemies themselves won’t show damage, as seen above: there’s Mortal Kombat-like bursts of blood upon shooting them, but you won’t be able to visibly explode, crush, decapitate, or otherwise maim (or in gaming parlance, “gib”) your deceased foes as is common in so many FPS’es. Given the game’s emphasis on fire mechanics, one would at least expect that enemies could be burnt into charred husks, but even if shot non-fatally and left helpless to slowly perish in a blaze – I swear I totally did not spend hours doing just that – your foes will just leave an unblemished corpse. Initially this seemed to me like a gross oversight in a game that seems to revel in its carnage.
But therein lies Far Cry 2’s brilliance, in my opinion: it does not revel in much of anything, nor does it really let you, the player, revel in what you’re doing. Sure, there’s fun to be had in burning guard posts to the ground, and stealthily terrifying the enemy mercenaries before you mercilessly gun them down. That is, if you manage to be stealthy – sneaking mechanics are not well-defined in this game, with no indicator of whether you are properly concealed, or whether you’ve been spotted; being abruptly ventilated by machine gun fire is usually the only warning you’ll get that your cover’s been blown. As previously mentioned, guns break down at an alarming rate, and will often fail you at the most inopportune times. Scavenged weapons will jam offhand and get you killed more often than not; that is if you don’t succumb to an ill-timed bout of malaria first. What I'm saying is: if you play this game, prepare to die a lot.
The plot is a bleak homage to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (or of Apocalypse Now, if you are more familiar with the better-known film adaptation), and though you are presented with choices throughout the game, none of them really impact the endgame save for the order in which you’ll kill some characters. SPOILER: You’ll kill them all anyway. And then yourself.
Speaking of plot: want to avoid combat and quickly get to your mission objective? Assuming you can drive past a guard post without your vehicle being shot into Swiss cheese, the enemies will give pursuit and chase you to the end of the world. Well, the end of the map, at least.
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| To the game' credit, there's no "invisible walls" at the world's edge; if you exceed the limits of the map you simply "pass out" and wake up back within the boundaries of the game world. |
This is not a joke – enemies will literally chase you across the map if need be, and their vehicles are always faster than yours. And unless you play on PC with mods, it will likely take you an entire magazine of AK-47 rounds to take down one shirtless guy (that’s assuming every shot actually hits the enemy). Even the dialogue sounds rushed and clipped; this was allegedly done to cut down on the size of the sound files, but it made me feel as if everyone you talk to in this game can’t wait to be rid of you and just bulldoze through their dialogue in a desperate attempt to get you out of their faces. Even the “boss fights” are an anticlimax: named characters aren’t any tougher than the average mook, and in many instances will give you even less of a fight, often attempting to: A) talk you down, or B) surrender.
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| Refreshingly, this guy did not go for Option B. |
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| Interesting fact: this gold-plated AK-47 (there's only 8 of those hidden from the game world) degrades approximately four times slower than a regular one. This is perfectly realistic, much like the bolt and selector switch being on the wrong side, and a random lobster cage that arbitrarily goes flying upon shooting a guy in the face. |
Even the armed mercenaries you gun down by the dozen get in on the guilt-tripping action: by the game's mid-point, when your "reputation" score is high enough, wounded enemies can be heard miserably pleading for their lives, yelling that they don't want to die, or just want to go home.
Bottom line: Far Cry 2 makes it really hard to enjoy it, and extremely easy to hate it. But it hates you right back and gives no quarter. It doesn’t care for you or your gaming expectations. It challenges those expectations, and challenges you to find your own enjoyment, or not: it doesn’t care either way. And the revelation that I had shortly after starting Far Cry 2 was that, holy shit, I’d finally found a game as grumpy as myself. And I love it for that.
JBbear's Two Cents
My rage with this game prevented me from writing a coherent review, so I've collected my thoughts in bullet point form. Pick one:
- I put back cutting my lawn for THIS?!
- If you're looking for a great way to ruin your afternoon, this'll do it for just $5*!
- CENSORED (please insert the most colorful language you can think of).
- This game makes my blood boil.
- Screw this, I'm going fishing.
- I genuinely wish I'd spent that $5 on cold beer.
- I've had more pleasant experiences slipping on ice.
- MAFcat, you owe me a beer for this.
*Pawn shop price for XBox 360 version.
I hope you enjoyed this retrospective on Far Cry 2. Next up, I will be taking a look at another game/franchise that hates the player's guts: the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. Get the vodka ready, comrades; we're gonna need it!
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