Far Cry 2 Review!

I have reviewed many great games before but none have come close to the epic realism that Far Cry 2 offers. Ubisoft Montreal has been experimenting in their mad scientist labs and has brought the Dunia engine to life kicking and screaming. Suffice to say, Far Cry 2 is a revolutionary new FPS, truly and open world.

Far Cry 2 looks absolutely spectacular. We’ve been fearing that it might have caught “Console-it is”; a sickness of PC games when they are ported into the consoles. It involves dumbing down of the game to fit the consoles. On the contrary, the game is absolutely brilliant in its execution.

Textures, shading, shadows, lighting and even environmental effects feel solid, tangible and yes, very Africa. You certainly feel like you’re in Africa with lush vegetation, open desserts, swamplands, and of course the occasional wildlife. All of which are rendered in real time with varying weather conditions and day and night cycles. Far Cry 2’s graphics really bring you to Africa although it’s not as advanced as its main competition Cry Engine2.

We have however noticed a few jinks when you play the game at lower display levels than very high. Sometimes vegetation and even objects pop out of nowhere, seemingly because the draw distance has been reduced. However, it does not hinder game play. In fact, we’re just nitpicking here.

Good news to our kababayans who have not upgraded their systems yet. You do not need a super computer assembled by space aliens to run this game. The minimum requirements, despite doubts, can really run the game smoothly. Even if you want to run the game at Ultra High settings, you don’t need the top of the line PC. A midrange one will do. The Dunia engine used in this game is a technical marvel that can actually run on most PCs.

The game sounds fantastic. Adding to the immersion, you can hear animals, bugs, an African radio DJ in the background, depending on where you are. (Pero kakatawa nag E-english sila di sila gumagamit ng dialect nila. Yokyokyok). My only complaint is some of the gun sounds don’t quite feel powerful enough, even if you’re firing a high calibre rifle. I hope this can be corrected in future patches.

Far Cry 2 controls pretty much like a standard modern FPS, however, the way they coat the game with missions, mini games, and all other add-ons totally immerses you in the world the designers intended. Let’s take for example injuries, when you get injured enough, you have to perform “field surgery” on yourself. You need to stick your knife at your wound and pull the bullet out with a pair of pliers. Or pull a twig out of your thigh. Another notable immersive experience is that guns rust and jam. You need to purchase more reliable guns at a gun shop and if you don’t replace them once in a while, they will rust. In fact, the game is so immersive that you contract Malaria! You need to take pills to relieve yourself of the symptoms. Another important thing to note is fire. When you set something on fire in Far Cry 2, if given enough fuel, it can spread. It will burn down sections of a forest, buildings, heck even people. That said, there are things that I’ve noticed that are quite quirky. I shot a rocket into a stack of boxes, none of them were destroyed (karton ata yun ng mga damit ni Superman).

Far Cry 2, being an open ended world, has a lot of replay value. It has multiplayer capabilities but I’ve yet to see servers here in the Philippines that have decent enough ping. I end up playing at servers with my ping reaching 200 or so. What the game really centers on is its singleplayer campaign. Each decision you make affects the total outcome of the game. When an NPC dies, he’s dead, he will not be back. Later on, that NPC will not be able to help you in a certain situation.

If you decide to go off mission, and just start shooting at everything, you can. It has consequences however. I was sniping once when I accidentally shot a buddy of mine. He never came back. That was it. Trauma for me, my buddy is dead.

You can also decide to be a total jackass like what I did. I stole a jeep and started running over the wildlife. Yun yung first time nakakita ako ng zebra na lumilipad pagkatapos ko bangain. I also tried to impersonate Steve Irwin (yung croc hunter sa discovery channel) and took screenshots of the animals I saw. So far I’ve seen a water bison, gazelle, zebra, a goat, some chicken, and a chopped op cow. Yokyokyok.

As said, the game is brilliant in its execution. There are a few quirks here and there but they don’t ruin the experience. In fact, I am bold enough to say that Far Cry 2, is THE first person shooter of the year. Belat to Crysis and Crysis Warhead. yokyokyok

Graphics – 9

Sound – 9

Gameplay – 9

Replay Value – 10