I can distinctly remember how excited I was by Far Cry 2's pre-release trailers. It looked like the most ambitious take to the "FPS/adventure/RPG hybrid" I had ever seen before. With the trailers showing off the large and detailed world, some NPC interaction, the competing factions, the "advanced A.I." and so on, in my mind the game was already an improved STALKER, with much more production value and a more realistic setting. Sadly, the truth was quite different. Far Cry 2 comes short pretty much in every aspect, and it's probably one of the dullest, most boring gaming experiences I can remember. The "gunplay" is unsatisfying, with weapons that never feel right and enemies that are bullet sponges even when the run around with the naked torso. Enemy respawn is just *excruciating*. You can cross a enemy roadblock, kill dozens of enemies and if you come back two minutes later you will find everyone alive and ready to shoot you on sight. Oh, right. *Everyone* will ever shoot on sight, even the faction you are working for, and the game makes a lame attempt to justify this claiming you are working "undercover". The player doesn't even need to bother choosing a faction, as he can work for all of them without any coherence. NPC interaction is a joke. You will talk with few characters in specific "quest hubs", when the story demands it, without any chance to choose your answers, but beside that it's all a uninterrupted killing on sight across the entire map. But the worst offender is that enemy variety is virtually non- existent. Those generic guys you are killing in the first minutes of the game are what you will kill for its entire extent. On a side note, the AI is underwhelming, and it doesn't even attempt to come out as realistic, as you can snipe a guy from a mile and everyone in that area will instantly spot and chase you. To be completely honest the *only* praise I can reserve for this game is how it shows off a beautiful landscape, which sadly is dramatically underused in terms of game mechanics. My advice for those who want a non-linear, immersive shooter is to buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and ignore this uninteresting game.
There are a lot of good things one could say about Ultima VII, but the most relevant one is this: after almost 20 years, it's simply the best, unmatched king of the RPG genre. You won't find any game which could came even close to this when it comes to size, detail, world interaction, NPC behavior, amount of content, etc. It's not the sort of game you can define as "good for its age". it's the best RPG ever made, period.
You are a space ranger, a loner fighting for saving the galaxy. Your only final goal is to fight Dominators, belligerent sentient machines. To achieve your goal, you will have to explore a whole galaxy, develop your ship, increase your stats, making allies and enemies, accepting missions from different alien races. You can be a pirate, a merchant, a mercenary, a bounty hunter and much more. You can rob other ships or fight robbers, being a loner or hire companions. Part RPG, part RTS, part space simulator, with tons of amazing (and very short) text based adventures as sidequests. You can think of Space rangers 2 like some sort of Pirates! in space, just way better, bigger and far more challenging. What's very impressive is how many other A.I. driven space rangers will act exactly like you. The game will never freeze waiting for your actions, the whole galaxy will be alive and kicking despise of what you are going to do, giving an unmatched immersion and a compelling sense of urgency. If I ever met an overlook masterpiece in my whole gaming career, it is definitely this game.
