Why Far Cry 2 fell far from expectations

Farcry 2 review-Xbox 360

Before this game came out i was amazed at the looks of this game and the exciting action that was showed, thus causing me to shoot out and pre-order the game. I felt like this was the game going to be the game of year. then 2 weeks passed, went out and picked up the game, and drove home in a hurry. I shoved it in the xbox 360 and started playing. At first I thought that this game was so good that i would never stop playing. But as 2 hours passed i began to grow bored of the shooting, driving, shooting, driving, and shooting. The action just feels slow and dumb. It takes at times 15 bullets to kill someone who is shooting at you like there is no tomorrow. The artificial intelligence cheats too. If you are sneaking up behind someone and speed up just a tiny, tiny, bit, they will turn around and shoot at you while your still thinking how you will kill him. Or when your driving through a camp as fast as you can to avoid the annoying, repetitive, little war that will break out, they will somehow shoot you when you are 50 yards away going 30 mph. And if you think that cars will always get you out of trouble think again. When you are going as fast as you can somehow the enemy's can drive faster than you can. Plus the driving controls are sluggish and unforgiving.

The story for me was bland and lame. You have to do pointless missions in order for you to find and kill the Jackal who is giving both sides weapons and supplies. The story also seems to have a hole in it. If they want to kill the Jackal so bad just send the army over there and find and kill him. Not one guy with friends he meets along the way. Luckily there are side missions if you get bored of the main story. Like for instance, If you want more guns to buy you must go the weapon shop and do missions for the clerk.

Lets get to the good side of things now. You can choose a character rather than the game making you be a certain character. The action can be intense at times when you finally accept that this game is repetitive. The visuals are amazing but at times the frame rate will chug because too much is happening in such a beautiful game. The world is alive with buffaloes, zebra, cow, deer, and the English talking Africans. The sense that you are actually in Africa is great and exploring will be a thing not to miss with this game. The online multiplayer is strong but not a call of duty 4. A thing that i really wish was in this game is split screen so i could play with my friends who dont have xbox live. But i got over that rather quickly. The map creator is a very welcome feature to this game. I spend hours making and tweaking my maps that I make. Sadly but obviously you can only put so much in a map.

Overall Farcry 2 was a average game that has its good times. If your into first person shooters rent this before buying it! If your a die hard farcry fan you should pick this one up but with not to much expectations. Also this is MY viewpoint on the game, I know some people will see things another way than I do.
3/5

the pros outweigh the cons

my main problem with this game is that it takes too many shots to kill people unless you shoot them in the head or with a sniper/dart rifle (the dart rifle is really cool by the way). other than that the game is definitely a lot of fun, the visuals are amazing and the storyline is really cool.

A great game amidst a sea of veritable holiday hits!

Far Cry 2 is an excellent game, amongst many of the shooters being released this holiday, Far Cry 2 is unique enough to stand out. After spending close to 25 hours with the game, I was able to explore the nooks and crannies of the game play, mission structure, story, sound, and graphics.

Game Play: Far Cry 2 sticks to the basics in terms of shooting, but puts a twist on it by adding realistic reactions stemming from your injuries, the environment, and your equipment. It adds a level of intricacy on top of a rather formulaic game play. Driving is also fun i short bursts, land vehicles and gliders mind you, as with cars, when you hit a bump, the camera acts accordingly, and with the glider, its just a blast overlooking the landscape from up high. The boats sadly, is like a faster form of tedious running, nothing special but gets the job done. Control-wise, it is structurally sound, except no matter how much I fiddle with the analog sensitivity, looking up and down is slow compared to looking left and right.

Mission Structure: Missions are almost uniformly the same, which is travel to target, and then proceed to kill/disable/or destroy said target, but the locales are diverse enough so monotony does not set in. Furthermore, the option to take a second path via one of your "Buddies" (who are people you encounter or save and then become a contact) changes up the formula enough to keep the fun going.

Story: The story is relatively straightforward, yet above other cookie-cutter stories that accompany most shooters due to the dialog from NPC's and a few plot twists which won't disclose so that you may figure them out for yourselves. There is also a nice injection of political commentary to make it socially viable, so if your reading this and are under 17, use this as an excuse for an "in depth" look at Africa's turmoil, so maybe your parents will be keen on buying it for you haha.

Sound: The sound is stunning, as someone who has gone to the shooting range a few times, I can safely say the guns sound good with a satisfying report, although enemy dialog can be a little repetitive at times. If you have a home theatre setup, this is the game to use in showing off your surround sound.

Graphics: for the size of the game, the graphics are pretty damn good, especially the lighting, I enjoyed walking through the jungle during the sunrise and letting the light peer through the shrubbery, pure graphical excellence. The varied environments are also nice, each showing strengths, such as the grass and rocks in the valley, the deserts worn paths, and the jungles thick trees and vines, I thought the water had nice effects on the surface, but not so much underwater, they relied to heavy on the murky effect. But what i appreciated the most graphically was fire and the effects that accompanied it, burn a little bit of dead grass, and it will spread far into the neighboring trees, and maybe onto some unsuspecting enemies.

Overall: If you are looking for a game that feels like a full package, then Far cry 2 should satisfy. While it isn't revolutionary over its predecessor, it has many improvements, and is still loads of fun.

Far Cry 2

Being an avid first-person shooter addict and Far Cry fan, I was excited to pick up a copy of Far Cry 2 the day it came out. Now, after playing the game for nearly a week, I can say without a doubt that it is a great game! You've all heard about the storyline, characters, level design, multiplayer, map editor, and other details concerning the build of Far Cry 2, so I'm going to lay down the facts from a gamer's perspective on graphics, sound, control, and fun factor (the way Gamepro used to review games).

Graphics: 8

The graphics in Far Cry 2 are very well done. You won't be blown away at first (like I was the first time I played Gears of War), but the little details, such as lighting, immense open areas, and moderately high-res textures, will grow on you. The dynamic lighting is so smooth that Ubisoft literally created a 24-hour day in real time. From a sunrise to a sunset, someone could play an entire day out, watching the sun move from one end of the sky to another.

Compared to the muddy up-close textures of Call of Duty 4, Far Cry 2 really shines. The large areas and vast world to explore have significant detail and special touches added almost everywhere, from the realistic water effects to the trees swaying in the wind. And did I mention, there are few load times? Nearly non-existent (except for the startup and a few during play), the player won't be bogged down with a loading screen.

The only reason why I didn't give Far Cry 2 with a perfect score in graphics is because of some flaws. The graphics are phenomenal, but there's some frame-rate drops, texture pop-in, and odd collision detection in certain places.

Sound: 10

Everything in the sound department is right on target. The African wilderness sounds like an African wilderness, the explosions and gunfire rock the 5.1 surround sound, and the voice-acting is top-notch. I honestly can't think of one thing that Ubisoft could have done better in this area of Far Cry 2.

Control: 6

This is where I have to dock some points on the game. I found that both the 360 and PS3 versions did not handle as well as the PC. It's sad, really, because first-person shooters have really migrated over to the consoles lately, especially to the 360 and its controller scheme. The controls seem ultra-sensitive, unresponsive at times, and even hit-detection was slightly off (eventhough it wasn't half as bad as Medal of Honor Airborne).

Fun Factor: 8

Don't get me wrong, though, I really did enjoy the game (and I am still enjoying it). I just have high standards from a Ubisoft Montreal project, and this time around it wasn't quite up to par. In fact, their past couple of games haven't lived up to expectations. I still think it's a great game with plenty of replayability and solid gameplay, but Far Cry 2 is far from perfect (no pun intended).