Far Cry 2 (Sony Playstation 3, 2008)

In Far Cry 2's chaotic world of mercenaries, gunrunners, and armed militias, you'll find yourself dropped into a dizzying web of shady clients and paper-thin alliances. All manner of names and faces are introduced during the course of the storyline, but the real star isn't anyone brandishing a smuggled weapon in search of blood diamonds; it's the daunting and awe-inspiring 50-square kilometers of African landscape that make up the game's open-world setting. Aside from providing the opportunity to soak up an amazing sunset, Far Cry 2's free-roaming terrain brilliantly harmonizes with the first-person combat. The diverse landscape and myriad environmental factors work alongside a wide assortment of weaponry to give you tremendous freedom to approach each mission. Combined with solid multiplayer, Far Cry 2's sheer breadth of action provides you with plenty of reason to stay lost in the African wilderness despite an underwhelming plot and the occasional sense of tedium in navigating from one location to another on the gargantuan map.


Far Cry 2's story is filled with potential. You're a mercenary working for a client who's sent you to an unnamed African nation engulfed in civil war, and your job is to take out a notorious arms dealer known as "The Jackal." He quickly proves to be an elusive figure, so you'll need to begin working for various warring factions that the Jackal has armed so you can trace the supply line back to your target. The two primary organizations at the heart of all this bloodshed are the militaristic UFLL and the revolutionary APR. You'll spend the bulk of the story working for these two groups, getting to know their power structures, and taking on all of the violent tasks they throw your way. Complicating things is the fact that your character has malaria, which means you'll need to occasionally play nice with the more ragtag Underground, the only group with the medical connections necessary to keep your potentially life-threatening symptoms at bay.

Each story mission can be played in multiple ways. There are 12 potential buddies randomly scattered throughout the storyline who you can befriend (nine of whom are available to choose as your silent protagonist), and they're often keen to tack on their own interests to the quests handed out by the UFLL and APR. Instead of just taking out a target, you have the option to earn extra reputation points by working alongside your buddy to first squeeze any remaining assets from the soon-to-be-deceased. This also earns you the ability to increase your level of companionship with that buddy. It's a neat reward, but it doesn't shed much light on their backgrounds. But that's par for the course; the main story is delivered in such a rushed, quick-and-dirty way that you never feel very involved in the game's overarching conflicts. The plot is less Blood Diamond than it is early Grand Theft Auto, a long roster of changing faces that scroll by far too quickly to capitalize on the politically charged setting.

Although disappointing for a single-player campaign that could easily drain more than 30 hours of your time, any shortcomings in the plot are mostly forgivable thanks to Far Cry 2's overall structure. The game is organized in a way that provides a daunting amount of freedom to explore, earn currency, and wreak havoc on the game's landscape and its denizens. It's all laid out in a manner typical of sandbox action games. Pulling out your map reveals a collection of icons

Having played a demo of the original Far Cry Instincts for XBOX, I skipped over the enhanced XBOX 360 Far Cry Instincts/Instincts Preditor (which was really more of a FarCry 1 1/2 than a sequel), and went straight to FarCry 2 on PS3 (which was not really a sequel either, but rather another story and character altogether, along with a completely new game engine and graphics,- still, a great game in its own right).

Now that I have come back around to play FarCry Instincts and Preditor, I can appreciate it for it own worth,- though the environment is miniscule in comparrison to the expansive area that can be covered and traveled back and forth within without getting boring in FarCry 2.

FarCry Instincts/Preditor is a pretty basic firstperson shooter that while allowing for some interesting elements in exploring environments,- is conspicuously missing the natural expected elements that would make the experience more believable,- which would be some serious interactive wildlife. (FarCry 2 suffered the same failed imagination and creative element that should have made it more plausible,- such as no crocodiles attacking waterbuffalo or zebra crossing water,- and of course would have posed a heartpounding threat to players crossing water as well).

I cannot count the number of times I was point blank shooting an enemy in the face with a shotgun, only to have them continue to finish whatever stupid nonsense they were lipping off to me, as if I hadn't hit them,..NO DAMAGE,.. when I could have poked out their eye with the barrel! It doesn't occur continually, but happens enough to really piss you off,- when you work your ass off to stealthfully get the drop on them.

Both Preditor and FarCry 2 are great games, but have AI that can get inanely repetative in their actions and dialog, but provide enough variety in weapons, enemies and behaviour/tactics to continue to present a challenge and carry a reasonably well written storyline.

All of the FarCry games have replay value and are must have additions to any collectors library.

I have scored FarCry Instincts Preditor 4 of 5 stars, but that is relative to other console games published when it was. The PC version was better, and FarCry 2 still only scores 4 of 5 stars, in spite of being considerably better than its predecesor,- as I am rating it against console games that were published when it was and are its better.

This is a really really well made game. Its requirement for hard-drive space makes a lot of sense due to the game's enormous open-world environment, thus limiting the load times down to only save/load points. Its visually appealing, with very detailed use of shadows, sounds, and daytime/night-time progressions. The missions vary quite a bit, and one of the things I like which is also a con is the fact that you MUST travel to every location (as opposed to Fallout 3's quick-travel to a location once it's been discovered). This can be somewhat time-consuming, but you get used to where to go and what means of transportation would be best (should you choose to play that way). I like the idea of being able to drive to locations, though I felt that the horsepower of each vehicle were too equally matched, but it doesn't take away from the suspense when you are being chased and shot at.
Now, the cons may seem a bit strange but I am somewhat picky with these sorts of things. For one, when you reload a weapon while there is still a bullet in the chamber, your current-ammo count for the MP-5, for example, won't read "31" but still "30." I've noticed this in the Call of Duty games, which I find a bit odd because it seems like while going for realism with their own respective games, the developers forget minor details such as this. I am currently playing on the hard difficulty, and have also found that eliminating targets seems to take way more rounds than normal. I know this is just being nit-picky, but I would LOVE to see a game in which characters react to their wounds in a realistic matter (such as limps, holding wound, open wounds, bleeding, etc.). One other thing I didn't really like all too much with the enemy AI is that they are ALWAYS after you. Perhaps this will be explained a little later on in the story, but it seems to me that if in the beginning you are stopped at a checkpoint, shouldn't you be stopped at every checkpoint before fired upon? Again, just a nit-picky thing with me.
All this said, I do really really enjoy this game, especially since it gives the player CHOICE.

This game is very detailed and has a vast environment that will blow any viewer away. The game play may seem like it gets old after a while, but there is always something new around every corner. The deeper in that you get in the game, the more challenging it gets. It has a great variety of weapons and the AI can get challenging as well. Anything from (shooting/knife fights on the ground, to shooting while driving a vehicle). An annoying aspect of this game, is that in order to upgrade your arsenal of weapons, you need to locate these gems (money) (that are in briefcases which are scattered randomly throughout the world), and trade them in at the merchant shack on a computer. A plus to this game, is that throughout it, you will complete missions, which in turn you can gain more allies to help you in fights and vehicles to drive around in. Also, about every other mission or to, the enemy that you are after, in the end, you can decide whether or not you want to let them live or die (you can shoot and kill them)...or not. Every decision you make, effects the game later on. It's a great game. I definitely recommend it. I just hope that if this company makes a 3rd version, that they make it co-op. That would be sweet.

I must say that this game is great, but you have to get over the learning curve at the begining. I would say that you have to get about 3 hours in to acutally appreciate what your playing, but thats my opinion. After that I just thought the game was great. Fire is very cool, the fact that you have a big open world is nice but you do end up driving around alot. When you get used to driving around its not that bad. The enemies do soak up a bit of bullets, and it seems like everyone wants you dead, but then again, it wouldnt be too much fun if you didnt have alot of action. Graphics are awesome of course, and there are alot of weapons(once you unlock them). I have not tryed the map editor yet but its just an added bonus in my opinion anyway. Multiplayer is good but dont expect it to replace your current online game. All in all the game is worth your money if you have time to play it.