Review by _Stormer_
"Based on where it should be left...In the middle of Africa."
Far Cry 2 is a highly anticipated game, bounded by the large abundant nature of Africa and is a sequel to the underdone Far Cry. The game, crafted from its highly ambiguous graphics, lacks anything other than the graphics. You will see why Far Cry 2 is completely overdone.
The Storyline is simple, you are basically thrown into the copious environment of Africa are on a mission to kill the man known as; The Jackal. The real reason to this entire trauma. The simplicity of this storyline lacks, as you are to basically work your way your up through these missions. The whole basis of a mission? To kill. The pretentious cycle of the game is a major flaw, and is a reason why Far Cry 2 can be considered an utter waste.
Basking in the glory of the graphics, we see the environment beautifully portrayed. The cutlets of shadows, player animation, weather and in general, the environment itself has been articulated beyond belief. Although we see this, the graphics is simply the cover of the unread book, to which, is beautifully illustrated. The comparison shows that Ubisoft have spent too much time on the graphics and less time on the game itself.
The sound itself puts itself into varying positions. The environment and the connection to sound can be very well done but other parts can be distinguished as horrible amateur failures. The grass you crunch and the ambient environment around can be expressed as beauty, yet basic aspects such as the AI talking and pace can be way off where it should be. They can speak ridiculously low at times that it can really frustrate you. Other problems distinguished are the sound to the enemies. When hiding and trying to take them down from afar, you will hear the enemies' constant banter. But the problem here is that whether they are right in front of you, or quite a distance from you, they will sound almost the same. Other from these game-changing issues, the sound is pretty decent.
The presentation of the game similar to graphics is visually expressed. The enemies will yell at each other, the atmosphere, the buildings, the background is all prominently conveyed. It all uses certain techniques to portray the war-torn African estate. What may be the eye-catcher is the use of fire in this game. Visually standing out as a beautiful game play mechanic. All-in-all, the game is shafted and presented as visually stunning.
Game play 4/10
The area where gaming changes, I will break it down into smaller areas to critically perceive each aspect of the game.
The health system in this game is surprising quite a good one. To start, the general aspect of this game is the Malaria' disease. This is a disease commonly associated with Africa and the mosquito (a lot learnt from school). Every now and then it will cause you to go all dizzy and cause you to blur out if you don't take a pill, which is basically something you work for in-game by doing missions. The universal health method is the use of needles and self meditated surgery. This health method is gathered in the form of needles and used whenever low of health. As you reach a certain point you will have to do some self meditated surgery on yourself to heal yourself back up. This system is simple and quite effective for the game. As you progress in the game, you will also gather friends. From time to time when you fail to heal, these friends will be your savior and help you back up, fundamentally used as a second chance.
Factions & AIs.
The centre of the game play is to gather more information on the Jackal, complete missions and keep yourself alive by gaining medicine. Factions are what caused the problems of the game. You basically work for both the UFLL and APR, each trying to take one another out trying to gain power over the land. The idyllic nature of the game is overrun by the lack that everyone wants to kill you, no matter who you work for. An aspect of the game is to scout' point of mini-barracks so you can deem it as safe and a way of acknowledging you have searched the area. After leaving it for a minute you will then have to kill everyone there again, which with the large amount of enemies there are can just be annoying. As you progress with the game, you won't see much character development and will always be relying on yourself and maybe your friends.
Weapons & Missions
The weapons and range of weapons in this game are decent. Basically finding and gaining the currency of gold is the only method to which, you can gain money. An annoying aspect to the game may be the jamming function while using an old weapon. This is caused by the age of the weapon and repeatedly pressing a button will unjam the item. This is can be of annoyance when constantly using old weapons. Although this does push you to buy weapons and conserve your ammo. We see a large amount of weapons from the basics of shooters, the pistol & rifles through to flamethrowers and snipers. The missions of the game are what cause the most problems. They require you to go to town, travel a really long way, and generally kill someone then repeat. This of again a frustrating feature especially while roaming the vast natures of Africa.
I felt that I wanted to kill myself (literally) at times because of the game play. In addiction to this, I maintained a scene of nausea from time to time playing this. With the screen playing as a FPS and constantly shaking, it does not help at all. Beyond the negativity of the game, this game is quite challenging and can take a while to finish (for obvious reasons). It is stylized very nicely for another typical FPS but the additional functions are the downfall to what could've been an awesome piece of work.
This is where the game is just lackluster. Dropped off in Africa, gather missions, search for diamonds, gain weapons, kill the enemy. Repeat. That is the general consensus of the game. Voicing the opinion of many, this is a pivotal part of the game which just persists throughout the game. The multi-player game play is generally alright' but can see bugs and flaws emerge. Other than that, you'd be crazy to buy this game.
Passing it's ridiculously good looks, the centre of the game itself, is an utter failure. In strong apathetic words, I see no reason to why people would want to buy this game. In summary of all the problems:
- The game can be nauseating to many.
- It is a repetitive cycle of gaming.
- The game is full of bugs.
- Game play can be annoying.
- Factions are seriously flawed as neither faction will help you.
- Bounding the vast environments of Africa is just frustrating.
In conclusion, the game is lost outside of its graphics. I myself will be going to Africa and burning it. Although this will not out-do the graphics of Far Cry 2, the game play will certainly be better than playing Far Cry 2 itself.
Reviewer's Score: 4/10 | Originally Posted: 12/23/08
Game Release: Far Cry 2 (AU, 10/23/08)
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