Far Cry® 2: Fortune's Edition

Far Cry 2 is the sequel to 2004's Far Cry although you wouldn't know it by playing it. The guided island locales filled with pirates who kidnapped your friends has been replaced by war-torn Africa. The main story is interested but the main character is simply boring. Whereas in the first game, you have a personal stake in the mission (free your friends and escape the island), now players are thrown into a war that has no meaning to them against a bad guy we're not sure why we care about. The developers attempt to give players a stake in the mission by giving the main character malaria but this only serves as a repetitive annoyance where the screen wigs out. Still, most shooter fans don't play shooters for the plot and that's fine. This takes the standard shooter gameplay and gives it a huge open world to run around in. Guns can be picked up but are usually purchased from a store via diamonds found throughout the world. Aside from the main plot missions, there are several side objectives like taking special assassination missions, clearing out safe houses, searching for said diamonds and saving companions who may save your life in the future. Despite the wealth of things to do, most of your time will end up being spent driving a car from point A to point B. Roads are confusing and you will find yourself checking your map constantly. As if the roads weren't enough of an obstacle, random checkpoints are set up almost everywhere which contain enemies that shoot at you for no apparent reason. This can be frustrating especially since these encounters feature little to no reward and simply waste your time. The game isn't all bad, the missions, when you finally get into them, can be a lot of fun. One mission that has you assaulting an armed fortress gives an amazing sense of power and intelligence as you figure out the best way to pick off the several soldiers. Even the standard, run of the mill missions can be a lot of fun as you get to test out the weapons you spent your hard earned diamonds on. It's unfortunate that these missions don't make up the bulk of the game. Much of your time will be spent rummaging around for diamonds that seem to take forever to accumulate since you only get a couple at a time. And most of your time will be driving around roads hoping against hope that you will actually be able to make it to the mission instead of being stopped by pointless battles. If you are starving for a shooter to play, Far Cry 2 may satiate your desire but it's more likely to feel like a tedious trudging through awkwardly implemented gameplay.

I personally love it! No level system that holds you back because of a stupid “XP” number, no HUD clutter and no "do this to play the game correctly" game mechanics. Things make sense in this game, see a weapon, you pick it up. See a mission on the map: you just do it (your way!). For a game being released in 2008, it looks great and plays smoothly. Even comes with a level map editor (even if multiplayer is dead, I think it’s cool). The only (small) negative things are: - Weapon damage suddenly goes to zero after a certain range (depending on weapon), instead of a continuous decline. - Characters doing wonky head movements and rubberbanding jumps when talking to them sometimes, looks very silly. - The missions can be repetitive. - Sometimes there is a lot of driving for the missions. Overall, if you are tired of modern number grinding single player RPG FPS games, this game is a good break from that. Hint: The GamerProfile.xlm file can be edited to do more “exact” values of settings than in game one, good for mouse sensitivity for an example.

I started play it 9 days ago, and finished yesterday. And I started play it again, new character, raised difficulty. And I love play it. Now, can't live without it! All activities have its purpuse: 1. Need medicine - complete underground mission 2. Need new and stable weapon - buy it in store. If you need cash: 2a. Play Assasination mission or 2b. Fraction Mission. I know - you can take weapons from enemies, but in rusty state with 60% of jammed situations. 3. To earn new weapons in store play in Destroy Convoy missions. 4. Need better camp layer - go to Buddie mission on loyality. 5. Need a variations - play Fraction mission on Buddie suggested sub-mission. And with this - many realistic features not presented in other games in series. Day-Night time, weather, jammed and broken weapons if not overseer about it.

This game is a hard sell nowdays. There are so many QoL improvements that the series has had over the years that coming back to the Ubisoft Open World protoype feels like driving a clunky stick shift after years of only using a bike. Following that analogy, you realise the car has its own language and is enjoyable on its own, but not if it's constantly being compared. The base formula is there and it is flawless (as the development of the series proves that point). But, as you play, you realise that every decision to make life hell was made consciously. It really is a great adaptation of the idea of the Heart of Darkness. If you're impatient, you won't really enjoy it. If you meet the game on its own terms, it will not disappoint. In many ways, it peaked Ubisoft design.

I just love the feel of the african desert in this game, the game just feels HOT you know? I love the feeling. It's definitely one of the the best FC games and for me it's the best Far Cry.