Product Description

Exploring 20 square miles of African savannah and jungle is never an easy task. But when youâTMre up against an army of highly trained mercenaries, the danger becomes unimaginable. Welcome to the world of Far Cry 2.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #671 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2008-10-24
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Original language: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Dimensions: .34 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Exploring 20 square miles of African savannah and jungle is never an easy task. But when you’re up against an army of highly trained mercenaries, the danger becomes unimaginable. Welcome to the world of Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2 has some of the best explosions in the business

Vehicles are great for cover as well as transport

It’s best to keep some of the game’s factions on your side

The environmental graphics are both stunning and highly varied

It’s been over four years since the release of the first Far Cry, and Far Cry 2 has almost nothing in common with it beyond being a first-person shooter with excellent graphics and advanced artificial intelligence. It’s by a different developer, and you now play one of eight different mercenary characters out to catch an arms dealer nicknamed “The Jackal.”

The sci-fi enemies have also been jettisoned in favour of a much more realistic game where survival skills are just as important as a good aim. The rules of engagement--either by stealth or all guns blazing--are entirely up to you.

Key Features

• Virtual safari: The game features 20 square miles of terrain for you to travel, filled with realistic fauna and flora and fully destructible trees and buildings.
• Fiery realism: With an all-new graphics engine created just for the game, fire moves and propagates exactly as in real-life, with vegetation breaking and snapping realistically.
• The coming storm: A dynamic weather system changes to reflect your mood, with the sky turning dark and stormy during bad times.
• Jungle survival: Highly realistic weapons degrade with use, bullets need to be dug out of your body, and vehicles break down if pushed beyond their limits.
• Buying friends: Meet and co-operate with fellow mercenaries as you pit different factions against one another in a war-torn African state.

About the Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft’s huge development studio in Canada has created many of the French publisher’s biggest hits, including the Splinter Cel series, the modern Prince of Persia games, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and the Far Cry sequels and spin-offs.

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Customer Reviews

No, I Will Not Load My Last Save...
...because I've just spent half an hour driving across a huge map to get to the mission location, only to be ran over by a truck driven by the bad guys that appeared out of nowhere as soon as I dared to get out of my jeep.

What I have just described is a common occurence in this game. I feel that the game developers looked up the meaning of the word 'FRUSTRATION' and tried their best to encorporate everything that the word stands for into this game. Correct me if I'm wrong but I always assumed that games should be fun. How is having malaria, a potentially fatal disease, any fun? Your character is stricken with malaria right from the get go. Sure, you have medication to take when you have a sudden 'malaria attack' in the middle of a gunfight but you are being shot at from every angle and to take it your character lowers his weapon. Cue collapsing and dying. Load last save and drive half an hour across the map and do everything all over again. Cue collapsing and dying. Load last save and drive... See where I am going with this? Ok, I know this game is about deploying tactics etc but the game just isn't any fun. If you enjoy this game then that's fine. Personally, I hate it right to the very core. Okay, I don't mind the guns jamming, it's just another factor in combat, and I don't mind having to deal with my character's complete inability for a large part of the beginning of the game to shoot a bloody gun straight. But I mind cheap deaths, particularly in a game where save points are considerably spread out (exactly why can console owners not simply save wherever they like, as their PC brethren can? It's not like the PS3 or Xbox 360 don't have room for save files).

On a positive note the graphics look nice.

Could have been much more...
Ubisofts sequel shares little with the Crytek original. The sci-fi leanings have been removed; in fact the only real similarity is the jungle setting. Controversially, the setting for Fary Cry 2 is Africa. However, its more like a safari version than anything seen on TV. The population comprises a baffling selection of nationalities, reinforcing the fact this is a fictional recreation of a country.

The plot quickly gets going, and after a few set pieces, the protagonist has been struck with malaria, and narrowly avoids murder at the hands of your intended target; arms dealer The Jackal. Various tutorials follow, explaining aspects like health and weapons.
Far Cry 2 does make attempts to innovate. Recharging health is out, replaced by an irritating syringe system. When the protagonist reaches critical health, a quick press of L2 repairs his wounds. This is done via a quick animation showing a bullet being removed or bandage getting applied. This gives weight to the character, even if they soon get repetitive.

Fire effects are where Far Cry 2 excels. Until now, this has never been realised so effectively in-game. Watching a bush fire spread, engulfing everything it touches has a truly hypnotic quality. Not only is it a fantastic visual effect, but can be used tactically in combat. Effective use of molotov cocktails prevents enemies flanking, and can also provide the means for a quick retreat.

Theres a nice selection of guns throughout the game. Ones from fallen enemies are generally in poor condition; jamming and in some cases falling apart completely. This creates a lot of tension when entering a fire fight, and treads a fine line between chaos and control. However, if combat had the same lethality as Modern Warfare, this would be a fantastic addition. Yet, headshots do not register at all, many enemies take a full clip to put down. This is unacceptable, especially considering how the odds are stacked against you. As a result, progress can feel a matter of luck than actual skill.

Vehicles are included to traverse the 50km2 landscape. This is limited to a few jeeps, trucks and the occasional gunboat. Trucks have the tendency to flip when travelling on anything other than dirt roads, and just a few bullets will causethem to smoke uncontrollably. Another problem is reading the map whilst driving. This takes a long time to get used to, and isnt helped by an abscence of map markers.
It is refreshing to see Ubisoft Montreal trying a more organic approach to navigation, but like much of its innovations, isnt really appreciated.
The environment is split into sections, with the map switching upon entering a new location. This felt confusing, and an unnecessary complication, making the map seem even larger.
Considering the general lack of things to do, Far Cry 2 proves that open world games shouldnt rely on size alone. Smaller, more densely populated maps are surely the future.

There are approximately 57 guard posts scattered throughout the map. When cleared of enemies the location has been 'scouted'. Sadly, this makes no difference as they re-spawn indefinitely. A very frustrating aspect, and leaves the impression that progression is impeded by poor design. Unlike the PC version, theres no quick save option. So saving is limited to safe houses, or directly after completing an objective, which can only aggravate matters. There are 221 diamonds located on the map, which act as currency. These can be used to purchase weapons and upgrades; giving some depth to a surprisingly empty game.

For everything Far Cry 2 gets right, it spectacularly fails at another.
The location is stunningly attractive and unique, yet there is a distinct lacks of things to do.
Attempts to deepen the combat system are undermined by poor basics.
Solid and boring in equal measures. A real shame, as this had the potential to be a classic.

No wildlife but plenty of bugs - the software kind
There are plenty of reviews out there that already give a good overview, so this will be brief.

I think the disappointment with this game is that it has the potential to be so good. The graphics are excellent and basic storyline is fine. I like games that have an open environment you can explore and the realism of guns deteriorating adds to the overall experience.

I really loved the game until I encountered my first bug. I was rescuing a new buddy (my last having disappeared), and having rescued him, the game wouldn't move on. My "buddy" just stood in the room I had released him from waiting for some personal invite from the Queen I think.

Going back to my last save point didn't work, i had to go back to a save point before my previous buddy got lost, a good 2 hours of gameplay to repeat. This is where going through all the checkpoints with the respawning guards became tortuous, so I gave up.

Eliminating the bugs would make this a good game. Some alternative ways of negotiating the checkpoints (e.g. bribing/ going over hills to avoid completely)and a litle bit more realism (people who don't try and shoot you on sight and some indiginous wild anaimals to negotiate) would make this a great game.