I for one can't stand this game. While the graphics are beautiful, even by today's standards, the game is flawed on a fundamental level. I expected a fairly realistic open-world FPS where I would be able to deal with objectives in numerous ways, depending on my play style. This is not the case. Every mission has the same formula (get from point A to point B and kill/destroy C - stop by point X if you'll like to make the getaway easier). This usually means a lot of driving, before entering a small location that I usually cleared out in a few minutes regardless of difficulty or play-style. There are usually 2-3 entrances/exits to point B, but it really doesn't matter which one you choose. This, however, is not my main problem with this game. My biggest problem with this game, is how it perfectly portrays the problem of the "uncanny valley". It's obvious that the developers wanted to create an illusion of freedom, but it is just that - an illusion. This becomes fairly obvious the moment you attempt to grab the high ground - if there's a ledge higher than 0,5m, you wont be able to climb it due to invisible walls. The game world, while beautiful, is lifeless. There are few animals, and no carnivores, reptiles or insects whatsoever. For the most part the world seems like an empty backdrop. Furthermore, there are close to no civilians. The game tries to explain this (everyone has already fled), but seeing how large the game world is, it comes of as cheap game design. There are however quite a few people out to kill you (pretty much anyone you'll encounter outside the small neutral settlements). Even the faction you are currently helping will try to attack you. You are told this is due to the fact that you are on a covert mission for said faction, but after a while, it becomes painfully obvious that it's because of poor game design. The AI is (with a few exceptions) horrible (running directly towards gunfire regardless of difficulty). I'd say the AI is on par with "Sniper - Ghost warrior". The developers have tried to camouflage this, by giving your enemies a vast amount of health (when I shoot an enemy wearing nothing but pants and shoes 5 times in the chest with a G3 at point blanc-range, I expect that enemy to drop). Another problem is how enemies re-spawn. The game world is split into sections. On any mission you'll pass through 3-10 sections (if you go in a straight line and use fast travel - if you don't, you'll pass through even more sections). In every section you'll encounter enemies to sneak by or kill. You'll quickly get tired of sneaking past them, and eventually start to kill them. Only problem is, upon returning to that area, all enemies will have re-spawned. This is a problem on several missions where you'll pass through a certain section several times in mere minutes, having to kill the same enemies again and again, ruining any illusion of realism you might have. You could of course choose to travel by another route, but having to choose another route due to poor game design ruins any illusion of freedom you might have. The physics are bad. A truck should be able to pass through a small fence or tree with no problem whatsoever, this is not the case in Far Cry 2. Fences no higher that 1m make for impassable obstacles for both vehicle and man. All of these flaws I could live with, if the game didn't prey upon realism (weapons malfunction, healing means removing bullets and putting on bandages, vehicles break down). But seeing as the game does in fact prey upon realism, these flaws are in fact game breaking. At any point you are painfully aware that you are playing a game, and seeing as this game was meant to be realistic and immersive, this ruins any fun you might have had, if the developers would've chosen a different game design. IMO this game stands as a perfect example of how not to design a game. Any developer struggling to avoid the uncanny valley should play this game to learn from it's mistakes. Anyone seeking an entertaining/different/engrossing FPS-experience, should play something else.
