Welcome To The Jungle- Far Cry 2 Review

You're stranded in a foreign land ravaged by war, death, pestilence and famine. Two opposing factions constantly kill each other while innocents try to flee. Their supply of arms comes from an elusive figure who is your number one priority. To find him, you must make unshaky alliances with vile figures, trading your morality for the currency of the land: information. Everyone's out to get you, even Mother Nature, as you've caught malaria. How you overcome the dangers of the land and complete your mission is entirely up to you. This is Far Cry 2.

You may have forgotten all about Far Cry 2 in the hectic holiday months of big title games being released. None can blame you, as this past holiday season saw the release of big games like Gears 2, Fallout 3, Resistance 2, etc. Yet within the weeks of blockbuster game releases came Far Cry 2, Ubisoft Montreal's sequel to their PC first person shooter (sequel is lightly put though as the game has absolutely no ties with the previous game and its expansions). Though the game suffers from several noticeable flaws, this game provides an extremely engrossing experience not seen in many FPS games.

On the outset, many will complain that the story, a reworking of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, is a bit on the shallow side. You play as a mercenary (one of 9 you can choose before the game) sent to an unnamed African country in the midst of a civil war. Your goal is to eliminate an arms dealer called The Jackal, the man who armed both sides. Naturally, upon arrival things begin to unravel quickly. You catch malaria, are ambushed by The Jackal and left to fend for yourself in a hostile environment. You'll spend the rest of the game trying to find The Jackal. You'll do so by doing jobs for the two warring factions who will provide you information in exchange for assistance in continuing their civil war. It's a fairly realistic and grim tale that touches upon themes of genocide, warfare, and the loss of morality. You'll find yourself committing blatant war crimes for people who could very easily turn against you. You'll make friends with other mercs who will help you out on missions and save you when you die, but if need be you may have to abandon them or even euthanize them. And your elusive target? Let's just say there might be more to him. A lot more. Through numerous audio tapes you can collect, you learn about The Jackal's experience. By the game's finale, you'll still be scrambling to distinguish the "good" guys and "bad" guys.

Don't go into Far Cary 2 like a regular FPS. Ten minutes in, you'll learn the hard way if you do. This game's difficulty is staggering. You will die a lot. Often times you won't know where that bullet came from or where those enemies appear from. Yet don't let that turn you off to the game. It's just a steep learning curve that'll even out eventually. The game is merely making you think about your actions. Rather than running into that enemy outpost guns blazing and getting torn to pieces, you can instead wait for nightfall and try a more stealthy approach with silent weapons. Instead of using main roads where enemy outposts and patrols lie, try to cut corners instead. Far Cry 2 doesn't forgive recklessness; once you realize that and look for alternative methods of gameplay, the game becomes quite fun.

Far Cry 2 is structured like a typical sandbox game. You have the main story missions of the two factions, which you can do alternatively. You'll have to work with both sides in order to progress, and there's no real consequence from either side on you playing them both, which I think is a shame as it could have created some more tension. There are also several side missions which fortunately are actually worth doing for the rewards. Doing smuggling passport jobs for the Underground nets you malaria medicine, which you'll need to keep yourself alive and healthy; Taking jobs from gun dealers nets you discounts on weapons and upgrades; Doing the cell tower assassination missions nets you more diamonds (the currency of the game. This is Africa remember?) which you'll need for purchasing better guns; Doing buddy missions also provides you with alternate ways of completing story missions and will increase your rep with buddies, enabling them to come to your aid if you're killed. It's definitely rewarding to do the side missions, as it'll make your odds of surviving in this country better.

Speaking of the environment, this country is HUGE. Over 25 square kilometers make up this country. This is both a blessing and a curse. The scenery is certainly impressive on an aesthetic scale, but travelling around the map gets cumbersome quickly. And if you plan on nabbing all 221 hidden diamond cases scattered throughout the land, it'll get really aggravating. There are bus stations scattered around the land, but like a subway in NYC it may not always get you where you need to go. Not to mention that there are plenty of patrol jeeps who will gun you down on sight you'll run into. Travelling through the land certainly gives you a feeling of doom as any minute you might get ambushed. Without any sort of autosave system, one wrong step could have you retracing quite a lot of steps. The game only lets you save at specific points (usually after completing a mission) and at safe houses spread throughout the country, which require travelling to and eliminating enemies at said safe house. It can get pretty aggravating at times. The respawning guard outposts don't help either. After I clear out an outpost, I shouldn't be able to come back 5 minutes later and find it repopulated with trigger happy guards like I was never there.

The bonus diamond cases also prove to be aggravating to find. Though you'll certainly need to find at least some of them as you'll need the money. Weapons will deteriorate over time, constantly jamming and eventually breaking, so you'll need to purchase new weapons. Guns from weapons are guaranteeed to die quickly, so stockpiling your own arsenal and buying upgrades are a must. There are 221 cases, which you can identify using your GPS system. Most of them are easy to get, but there are quite a few that are quite aggravating to get and sometimes require the use of very crappy platforming and hang gliders. Seriously how the hell does a diamond case get on top of a cliff that has no conceivable means of scaling?

Bickering aside, here are some more positives of the game. First off, the game is absolutely beautiful. As stated earlier, the environment looks absolutely amazing. Wildlife roam the plains, grass blows realistically in the wind, it's beautiful. Not to mention the outstanding fire effects. One little spark can cause a huge brushfire depending on the wind, which can be used as a tactical advantage in battle. The character models look pretty good as well, though the guards are fairly generic. The audio also shines: the African music changes from calm to hectic depending on the situation; voice acting contains authentic accents for the environment though every character rushes through their dialogue really quickly which is a little annoying.

Despite its punishing difficulty and gameplay flaws, Far Cry 2 is still worth a look if you're looking for a game that will really engross you. It's definitely worth the $60, but if you're looking for another typical run and gun FPS, this may not be to your liking. A rental will probably not be enough to really get the most out of your gameplay, so if anything wait until the price goes down.

The Rundown:
Concept: You're a mercenary placed into war ravaged Africa to find an arms dealer. Work for factions and others in order to gain info and other perks in order to complete your mission and keep yourself alive. How you do it is completely up to you!

Story: Simple, yet still engrossing. When one really takes it all in, it becomes a morality tale about the things people will do in exchange for survival. The setting of an African nation in civil war is certainly not out of place in today's world which also brings up compelling issues about genocide and anarchy.

Sound and Music: The music is fairly forgettable but the African music is authentic to the setting. Voice acting is often hurried but the accents are also authentic to the African setting. Weapon sound effects are for the most part good.

Controls: Usual FPS contols with some twists. You'll have to heal yourself if you take too many hits, unjam if your gun if it malfunctions and repair your car if it starts to smoke. Once you get a feel for things, these twists become easily manageable.

Graphics: The environment is damn near photorealistic. Deserts, plains, canyons, jungles, it all looks absolutely amazing! Character models are also fairly well done as well. The rust and dirt that accumulate on your guns and cars is also a neat little touch.

Verdict: Don't be afraid of the difficulty, especially if you're looking for something new in a FPS. It's definitely worth the buy.

Score: 8/10