Far Cry® 2: Fortune's Edition

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.

The game has some cool weapons and a few good ideas. You can choose how you take out a target. You can use stealth and sniper rifles or go in guns blazing. You get a flame thrower. I love flame throwers. But there is very little to do and very little content. There is a huge empty world and you have to drive from one end of this world to the other. Sometimes some enemies pop up and you have to kill them. But the AI is terrible and they are just a nuisance. They are easily dispatched. Then you go back to driving. Sometimes the game makes you drive 10 minutes to get a mission. Then the mission sends you on another 10 minute drive. So you can spend 20 minutes between missions just driving back and forth, back and forth. The missions are boring. To unlock weapons you have to do a mission for the weapon dealers. That mission is always to drive somewhere and shoot a truck with a rocket launcher. So you drive for 10 minutes or so. Get out of your car. Shoot truck. Drive back for 10 minutes. There are also a ton of annoying animations that you can't skip. Just about anything you do leads to an unskippable animation. Take a pill? Heal yourself? Die? Gun jam? All lead to animations that bring game play to a halt. That's my biggest complaint about this game. Every time you start to play and start having fun, something comes up and makes you stop having fun to do a chore. Like drive on a dirt road for 15 minutes to get some pills because you're sick. Or kill a bunch of easy enemies that won't stop respawning.

The graphics are beautiful, the game runs perfectly, but it's all just so dull. It seems more like a driving game than an FPS, because you'll spend more time in a car than on foot. Oh, and why does everyone in Africa instantly try and kill you the moment they meet you? Sometimes even the people who've sent you on a mission will later try and kill you! Oh and it has nothing what so ever to do with Far Cry.

This game is incredible. It ranks as number 4 on my top 5 games of all time. Why? Why do I think this game is so great even though others will tell you otherwise? Its because this game is one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever encountered in gaming. However, this game does require a number of things from the player, the first requirement being patience. Yes, you will spend a majority of the game driving and enemy camps will respawn quite frequently, but if you can get past these major problems you will be treated to one of the most immersive video games ever created. This is because almost everything in the game feels appropriate when the situation arrives, and almost everything is an obstacle. Being able to only use a physical map in the game makes planning your journey and approach feel so real. The way the environment, enemies, and fire reacts to you makes you feel foreign and weak. You feel as if everything and everyone is against you and this is where the game shines. Far Cry 2 is not a game that will give you what you want, and it'll punish you for asking. Its not a game that will allow you to go guns blazing and become a super soldier, however, if you can overcome the odds it will leave you feeling exetremely satisfied and accomplished. This is not a game that will make you feel like you're right at home. Because you're not at home, you're in war torn Africa, and if you're lucky, you'll survive your visit.