Far Cry 2

Written by Tom Clare in PS3 Game Reviews, Thursday 21 January, 2010

Released: 2008
Developer: Ubi-Soft Montreal
Publisher: Ubi-Soft
Genre: FPS, Sandbox
Platform: PS3
Version: 1.04

Given the sustained popularity of the first-person shoot ‘em up over the last decade and the increasing move towards open world games, it was perhaps inevitable that hybrids of the two would become commonplace in their own right. Whilst Far Cry 2 at times borders on excellence in the technical stakes, its selective adherence to realism often proves unpalatable as a gaming experience, especially as it tends to place emphasis more on the humdrum than the exciting.

After picking from a bunch of mercenaries (a largely cosmetic choice), the player is promptly dumped into a lawless African state with the aim of killing the Jackal, an enigma selling weapons to warring gang factions, who is very good at making himself scarce save for when he wishes to tease you with the moral ambiguity of the whole situation. It’s a lengthy game though, so you’ve plenty of time to admire the swamps, rivers and none-too-subtle nods to Apocalypse Now as you head for the an off-limits area known as ‘Heart of Darkness’, still wondering whether or not you’re destined to kill Colonel Kurtz. Whoops, I mean the Jackal.

In fairness though, if there’s one single attribute by which you remember Far Cry 2 after the event, it’s likely to be a positive one; the enormity and incredible aesthetic beauty of the game environment. You travel on foot, by car, or by boat and there are literally dozens of square-kilometres to explore with near-total freedom. The bright sand dunes with swirling wind effects are breathtakingly pretty; the jungle canopies are lushly coloured and provide effective cover, whilst sites such as a tribal village that stretches up into the hills and a suspension bridge that overlooks a vast river make for some genuine ‘wow’ moments.

Though you’ll meet a myriad of people (99.9% of whom want to kill you) on your travels, it’s the environment itself that’s the real living entity in Far Cry 2. Day cycles into night and back again; you’ll see the sun set, the moon rise and generally come to appreciate how the surroundings take on a different quality depending on the time they are visited. You can see for massive distances if you scale high ground, and the proficiency of the graphics engine is all the more impressive when you consider the almost-complete absence of loading times or lag.

Unfortunately, Far Cry 2’s immense size proves to be a double-edged sword. The sublime architecture is sadly not matched by the rather less than visionary mission design, whilst the games deliberate inaccessibility and demands on realism at times make life a hassle. Objectives tend not to stray from assassinations or stealing/blowing up something important – the commonality between all of them being the requirement of a heck of a lot of travelling. The bus service, which allows instant movement between five locations on the map, is put to irritatingly poor use, as almost all mission objectives are placed directly between two stations, meaning they don’t actually alleviate all that much travelling, and these trips back and forth rapidly become laborious. There are times when you have to drive for several minutes in order to instigate a mission, only to then have to retrace your route (a common occurrence) having found that your designated target is miles away.

And it isn’t just the primary missions; most of the optional ones prove equally off the beaten track, and it’s annoying that having completed a deed for a fellow mercenary, you then have to travel all the way back to them to ‘end’ the mission. The idea of the bus service itself seems ludicrous in light of the fact you can barely travel 300 yards without being shot at by someone, either at checkpoints that populate almost every junction, or the numerous patrol sweeps. And should you find yourself in the middle of nowhere with your mode of transport destroyed or wedged irretrievably in the scenery, well, you’ll have even longer to ponder things.

Novel authentic touches are often tainted by their overuse and needless prominence. Should you collect a gun from a fallen foe, you’ll notice their rusted appearance belies their use. Nevertheless, the sheer regularity that weapons jam whilst firing is utterly tiresome, forcing you in many instances to trawl to the armouries scattered about the map for some newer weapons of your own. The developers also figured that as a foreigner in a generic African state, it’s a given that you must have contracted Malaria; thus you can’t run for long and need to seek out medication every now and then to stop bouts of blurred vision and shakes, which all feels a bit pointless really.

The vehicles, which include Jeep’s, cars and buggies handle nicely and details like bullets in the windscreen and the Sat-Nav style map are pleasing. On measure they’re good fun to drive, even if they aren’t particularly fast and prove highly susceptible to damage from both gunfire and scenery, leaving you to pay frequent visits to the bonnet in order to alleviate some of the damage incurred.

It’s a shame you so frequently find yourself bogged down in such pursuits, as the gun fights are decent. Enemies are intelligent and the often-large numbers you’ll face make for some absorbing battles, with the need to identify and utilise cover becoming quite important. It’s tense skulking around buildings and perimeters when you’re not sure where your last few assailants are hiding. Weapons are superior to those seen in most shoot ‘em ups as you’ll genuinely find it advantageous to think about which types to carry into specific missions. Sniper rifles are excellent in open areas, whilst flamethrowers can set the ground alight and cause fires to push back your foes, and thanks to some top quality destructible scenery, firing a rocket launcher into a building or explosive barrel never gets old.

A little spice is thrown into the mix in the form of your ‘buddy’ (fellow mercenaries who’ll help out) joining in with the fights. You have to pay particular attention to them, as in Far Cry 2 the death of a comrade is permanent. Exploring the surroundings is encouraged by an element of treasure hunting, as your electronic map blips when you are near one of the 200+ briefcases housing diamonds. Whilst the placement of some of them is downright stupid, finding the diamonds is highly rewarding and satisfying, not least because you can trade your findings for new weapons and upgrades.

With all the extras and side-quests taken into account, it’s definitely one of the lengthiest first-person shoot ‘em ups available, with the main game being good for around 30 hours (considerably more so if you intend to find all of the diamonds and missions). Almost all the main missions offer an alternative approach to completing the job which is nice, even if the only real reward for even more trekking is a couple of PSN Trophies. An atmospheric prison escape scene towards the end is sadly squandered by the lacklustre conclusion. Much of your hard work feels like it has gone to waste as it ends with an absolute cliché-fest of a finale, riddled with moralistic rhetoric that feels like the hollow imitation of cinematic licence rather than a genuine gravitas of its own.

Online adds mileage, with Team Deathmatch the most enjoyable of the four battle setups. Though it doesn’t allow for as many players or as great a set of game variants as Killzone 2, it’s still a very credible experience, helped greatly by a vast network of user-created maps, which unlike the aforementioned titles pricey extra levels, are all free to download.
 
Ultimately if you like your shooting mixed with massive-scale exploration, then there are plenty of reasons to recommend Far Cry 2. It will take awhile to complete, but whether you wish to see it through largely depends on how much time you have and how patient you are with the hundreds of kilometres worth of travelling that stands between you and the credits. On a technical level it’s a marvel, and as a shoot ‘em up it is very good, but for many, the endless slogs to get to the good stuff will not be time well spent.

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