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 Far
Cry 2 (Playstation 3)
Ubisoft's ambitious Far Cry 2 takes
you deep into war torn African jungles as you struggle against mysterious
forces who are profiting from an endless civil war. It takes many of the
conventions of FPS titles and turns them on their head. Instead of
mindlessly shooting anyone in your way, you instead need to communicate
and make friends as you play. The deep storyline unfolds gradually and
gives you a stake in the outcome. This emotional attachment means you'll
be forced to make sometimes unpleasant choices in order to survive.
Visually, the game offers a splendid rendering of the continent, with
brilliant environmental effects such as dust and dirt permeating
everything. It makes for a solid, and surprisingly deep FPS experience
that takes the series in a completely new, and yet more satisfying
direction. |
Forget everything you knew in the first Far
Cry title, since this new installment takes place in a completely
different continent with new characters, a revised sandbox structure and a
much deeper storyline. The only major carryover is the first game's sense
of depth and vision, which offers an incredible draw distance. Instead of
a remote tropical island, Far Cry 2 is set deep inside Africa in a country
that's been torn apart by a brutal civil war. Most of the mystery in the
game surrounds a murky character known only as the Jackal, who's been
selling arms to both sides in the conflict. Your ultimate goal is to put
an end to his activities, but first you'll need to traverse through some
extremely beautiful, yet incredibly dangerous territory. You begin as a
lowly foot soldier performing basic tasks but as the game opens up, you're
given more choices. Initial exploration is somewhat limited to the
missions at hand, which makes the first stages feel linear. However, you
are given more choices as you get deeper into the battle. Initially, you
have only a few weapons at your disposal, and they aren't as simple to use
as in the last game. You have a decent selection of weapons with rifles,
hand grenades, flame throwers and others to use. They're a bit dirty and
rusty and are usually jammed after awhile. This is particularly true if
you pick up weapons from fallen soldiers. Their performance can be
upgraded if you want, but you'll probably be better off purchasing new
weapons if you want consistent firing. It can be frustrating to find
yourself reloading and working out the kinks in your weapons, but you can
get used to it after awhile. In addition to your weapons, you have other
gadgets at your disposal including a handy GPS receiver, which serves
several functions. You can obviously use it to find your location on the
map, which can be quite helpful when navigating the game's expansive
levels. However, it can also be tuned in some instances to locate objects
such as diamond cases, that are scattered around. There's also basic maps
that you can use to locate missions and other areas, which can be used
along with your monocle to locate and mark areas and locations when
scouting a new area. As you get deeper in Far Cry 2, you're inventory will
also grow to include other items that can be used in battle or to keep
your character healthy.
 Staying
alive in Far Cry 2 requires much more than avoiding enemy fire, since your
character has been infected with Malaria since their arrival on this
hostile terrain. It doesn't have an immediately noticeable effect on your
performance, but if go too long without your pills, you'll find yourself
staggering around until you collapse. At this point, you'll need to
restart from the last checkpoint, which can mean a lot of backtracking.
Fortunately, there are also frequent save points, though you need to know
where to look for them. Injecting yourself with medical needles is another
way in which you can stay alive. Between this system and the need to keep
an eye on your weapons, Far Cry 2 creates a much more challenging and
somewhat more realistic sense of the weight you'll carry throughout the
game. As stated earlier, one of your key tasks in your adventure is to
gain the trust and support of friends and allies. Its fairly simple once
you start completing missions and helping them, they can aid you in a
number of ways such as pointing you towards the next mission, providing
you with valuable intelligence and giving you rewards such as extra pills
or weapons. It makes for an immersive game where the other characters and
how you interact with them can create a huge difference in how difficult
it will be to complete your missions. Most of the Far Cry 2's objectives
are fairly simple, and once finished, seem to unlock seamlessly into the
next task. You can keep track of your progress in a number of ways such as
with your cell-phone, where you'll receive updates and by reading and
listening to the intelligence notes and audio tapes you find along the
way. Not only do these reveal a lot about Far Cry 2's back-story, but they
can also give you very important information that will help you complete
your tasks and figure out what the other characters' true motives are.
This helps to further put you in the middle of the action and makes for a
fairly immersive experience.
While its initial levels are somewhat
linear, Far Cry 2 quickly opens up with multiple branching paths and gives
players a great deal of freedom in how they proceed. It's not as
complicated as it sounds on paper, and the game's cohesive and massive
environments are so richly detailed and impressive, you'll barely notice
the minimal load times. This structure makes for an impressive FPS though
there are some interesting ideas in the game that are both innovative and
useful. The most important of these concepts are called Safe Houses, where
you can not only save your game, but store other items as well. They are
logically placed throughout the game and usually mark the end of a
significant chapter in the storyline. Other save locations are available
as well, and this helps to keep things at a good pace throughout but
you'll still find yourself backtracking occasionally. The missions
themselves are fairly straightforward and most objectives are easy to find
on your GPS, making it easy to locate and find rebel camps and hideouts.
Once you get into combat itself, you'll find the weapons are fairly easy
to use in practice. Enemies in the game are surprisingly intelligent, so
you won't be able to go in with both guns blazing and expect to make any
progress. A better strategy in the game is to hold back a little, survey
the surroundings, locate enemy positions and try and pick them of
individually. Trying to take on more than one is a recipe for disaster.
This is especially true if you alert others nearby who will swarm to your
position. Once your infiltration has been discovered, you'll probably need
to keep moving to stay alive. The battles can be pretty intense, but most
of them are winnable if you strategize and keep one step ahead of their
attacks. Far Cry 2's expansive levels make it easy to find cover and
escape if you find yourself in a jam, and the use of vehicles allows for
quick getaways. Since the character places their GPS on the dashboard,
it's hard to become lost. Most areas are also well signed, so you should
be able to find your destinations without much effort. Controlling the
vehicles is fairly straightforward and most players get up and running
seamlessly. There are many aspects to each mission, and it's a little
daunting at first getting used to all these mechanics, but the game
becomes more seamless and enjoyable with a little bit of practice.
 As
stated earlier, Far Cry 2's production values are simply incredible. Not
only is each area richly detailed in terms of light-sourcing,
environmental effects and layout, but the variety is quite impressive as
well. With levels encompassing everything from dense jungles, to desolate
hideouts and claustrophobic dust covered slums, you'll find yourself
traveling through an incredible array of environments. Distant calls of
wild animals, echoes of gunfire and disembodied radio programs help to
create a constant sense of danger and unpredictability. It extends to the
game's structure and pacing as well. Long stretches of quiet suddenly turn
into violent outbursts that shatter the peace and put the player into
immediate danger. Your mercenary character's ability to play both sides of
the fence is important because it helps you to see the larger picture
while not succumbing to it. On the other hand, your actions play a key
role in how the story turns out, so while you aren't directly involved,
everything you do has consequences. This approach makes Far Cry 2 an
incredibly deep and challenging title that becomes more immersive and
intense as you play it through. While it shares some superficial
similarities to the first game, Far Cry 2 very much stands on its own and
creates a unique experience that creates an adventure of incredible scope
and unpredictability that rewards players who take the time to explore its
nuances, communicate with other characters, fight its intense battles, and
soak in its layered, sophisticated storyline. Some of the elements, such
as your constant battle with Malaria and the need to watch your weapon's
performance deteriorate become a little annoying after awhile, and some of
the missions are a little tedious, but these problems shouldn't dissuade
players from considering this excellent title. The mysteries that unfold
throughout Far Cry 2 makes this a consistently engaging title that
delivers an action pack FPS that brings many innovative elements to the
genre.
- Michael Palisano
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