Looking at: Far Cry 2

http://www.pcgamesarchive.com/archive/f/far-cry-2/wallpapers/far-cry-2-4.jpg

Big Game Hunter.

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/26/176547-farcry2_04.jpg

Rocket launchers are rare, but incredibly useful.

It's midday on the plains of an unnamed central African country. I'm on a hill overlooking a small guard post. I spot my objective, a box of medical supplies that I need to keep me alive. I check my equipment:
My trust .45 hangun, two mags of ammo.
My 1903 Springfield rifle, half rusted, about 12 rounds left.
My RPG7, one rocket.

I look at the map one more time and try a headcount of the mercenaries in the camp. I count three, but know from experience there's likely six or seven. I take a breath, sight down my first target, and open fire.

Moments later I emerge, bruised, bloody, but victorious. My rifle broke after a few shots, so I had to resort to my handgun. I snagged an AK47 off one unfortunate soul and had just enough ammo to put down the last remaining merc. I got winged more then a few times, and once had to stop to yank a stray bullet out of my leg with my pliers. There is no time for pain here.

I grab the meds from the cabinet, inject myself with some life saving drugs, and pull out my map. My objective is still several kilometers away, and I'll be doing this dance at least two more times before my mission is through.

You can only push a man so far...

http://gamezilla.komputerswiat.pl/media/2012/342/1194066/far-cry-2-mapa1.jpg

Rather than a static mini-map, you'll need to actually pull out a map to navigate around.

I've already spoken about the Far Cry series as a whole before, but the second game deserves particular attention. It's an odd game, flying in the face of other shooters and it's own offspring. It's a game that's worth examining and talking about, even seven years after it's release.

The setup for FC2's story is simple: you are a mercenary hired to enter a central African nation and assassinate an arms dealer known as The Jackal. He's a known sociopath that's been selling guns dirt cheap to the two major factions. You enter the country, faint, and are awoken by the Jackal lecturing you on how much you suck and how he can't be killed. Civil war erupts and, seeing as you have no other option, you decide to lend your services to the factions in exchange for information on Jackal's whereabouts.

What follows is a series of almost completely unconnected fetch or assassinate missions that see you trekking back and forth through the country, engaging in brief but violent gunfights with the local mercenary population. You'll take down targets, earn diamonds, buy equipment, rinse and repeat for ~15-20 hours.

The Big Suck

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/14/nov/FarCry2_4.jpg

Always make sure you have a friend on hand to save you in a firefight.

By today's standards, FC2 is somewhat antiquated. While not technically true, FC2 is widely considered the first open-world shooter, and as such it had quite a few stumbles. Most notoriously is the respawning enemy checkpoints, like the one mentioned at the beginning of this article.  These are littered throughout the world, often at road intersections or strategic hard-points, and most of the time they can't be easily avoided. This might not be an issue, since most checkpoints have less then ten enemies and always contain useful supplies, but they respawn so fast that it feels like you never make any difference. Occasionally you'll clear a checkpoint, finish a mission, and comeback to see the checkpoint manned again, despite the corpses of it's former inhabitants still lying around.

The other big complaint is Malaria. You start the game with it and it comes back several times. It's a shitty disease, sure, but here it's an incredible annoyance. When it flairs up you won't be able to see very well, you can't jump or sprint, and you'll need to pop some pills. That means taking your finger off the trigger and staying exposed for a few seconds. Worse is that you only get pills a few at a time, and when you run out you'll need to finish a mission to get some more. It can't be cured, and actually gets worse as the game wears on, making it a constant annoyance.

Let's talk about the guns too. Like I mentioned in my story, my sniper rifle broke after use, forcing me to resort to my side arm. That's not an uncommon occurrence. The weapons of Africa are terrible, jamming all the time and occasionally just flat-out breaking. Weapons bought from the friendly arms dealer are ok for a while, but will slowly degrade. Weapons picked up out in the field, however, start shitty and only go downhill from there. You'll find yourself aiming at an enemy's head, only to pull the trigger and have nothing happen.

Slapping You Around.

Here's the thing about all of this, is that they're there to reinforce the story and atmosphere. Africa is a shitty place at the best of times, but war-torn Africa is a whole new level of hell that's impossible to quantify. That's what FC2 is trying to convey to you, that life is pain, everything is terrible, and people suck. FC2 doesn't have a great story, but it does have a great way of telling that story.

Life is brutal short, and this is constantly shoved at you time and time again. There aren't any doctors in Africa, so you'll find yourself improvising, yanking bullets out with pliers, twigs, or even your teeth. If you have the stomach, here's all of the possible healing animations:

If you wince in pain from that, don't worry, that's normal. That's how your supposed to feel. You leave a trail of bodies in your wake, but every fight take a small piece of you with it. Life is pain.

Here's most of the guns of FC2 jamming. Try watching and not getting annoyed:

Infuriating isn't it? In that video it doesn't show any firefights, but imagine that happening with bullets flying past your head. That's life in Africa. Dirty, grime, and dust getting into your guns and turning even the most rugged of weapons into scrap heaps. Everything is terrible.

There's a complete sense of moral greynes pervasive throughout FC2. No one is a hero here, not even your player character. At the start of the game you get to choose from a small roster, it's a completely arbitrary choice with no effect on the gameplay. But none of your choices are particularly good, ranging from professional mercenaries, to AWOL soldiers, to smugglers and known criminals. This extends to the cast of characters you meet, from the selection of buddies that'll give you side quests and save your life in combat, to the various faction representatives that give you missions. People suck.

Day of the Jackal.

https://extralives.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/fc2_1.jpg

Firefights are brutal and explosive.

Graphically, FC2 doesn't quiet hold up. When it came out in 2008 it was at the top of it's game, especially the PC version. In the face of more modern shooters like Metro Last Light, ARMA3 or even COD: AW it just looks dated and muddy. It's not a bad looking game, and it certainly has a great atmosphere to it, but it's a relic by today's standards and just can't hold a candle any more.

Where it fails graphically, it makes up with innovation. There are a staggering amount of first person animations in FC2, as evidenced in the videos above. Everything you do in FC2 feels real, from reloading and interacting with your weapons, to just opening a door or getting into a vehicle. This really helps to sell the immersion.

Even more innovative is they way FC2 handles it's world. There are things FC2 does that I have yet to see any other shooter do as well. Take, for instance, the time of day. Most games have it so that stealth is easier at night since you have the cover of darkness. In FC2 the AI's awareness changes based on the time, so during high noon they can see for a mile, but are usually distracted grabbing a drink or sitting in the shade. At night, they can't see anything, but because of this they're more alert and respond quicker to loud noises. Planning an assault also means picking the time of day, what weapons to bring, and how you're going to approach the situation.

The biggest selling feature of FC2's world is it's fire propagation system. Africa is a dry place, and as such fires can rage uncontrollably, burning down entire fields in the blink of an eye. Set fire to an enemy position to flush them out, or cajole them into a killing field. It's unfortunate that the fires end at arbitrary lenghts, mostly to stop you from burning down the country with one Molotov, but it's fun to play around with regardless.

Far Cry 2 isn't a game for everyone,and certainly not for fans of it's own sequels. It's a hard, ruthless game that challenges you and never plays fair. I hesitate to call it the shooter equivalent to Dark Souls, but there's no denying the difficulty of this game. It's a shooter for people who are tired of being the supersoldier, tired of instantly winning and being told "good job". It's the anti-shooter, making you hurt for your prize and spitting on you when you win. It's an odd relic of the past, and a truly one of a kind experience.