Nov 22 2008
Far Cry 2 for X-Box 360
Although you can’t say the same for the plot, Far Cry 2’s first-person action squeezes every last drop of potential out of the unique African setting.
Far Cry 2’s story is filled with potential. You’re a mercenary working for a client who’s sent you to an unnamed African nation engulfed in civil war, and your job is to take out a notorious arms dealer known as “The Jackal.” He quickly proves to be an elusive figure, so you’ll need to begin working for various warring factions that the Jackal has armed so you can trace the supply line back to your target. The two primary organizations at the heart of all this bloodshed are the militaristic UFLL and the revolutionary APR. You’ll spend the bulk of the story working for these two groups, getting to know their power structures, and taking on all of the violent tasks they throw your way. Complicating things is the fact that your character has malaria, which means you’ll need to occasionally play nice with the more ragtag Underground, the only group with the medical connections necessary to keep your potentially life-threatening symptoms at bay.
Each story mission can be played in multiple ways. There are 12 potential buddies randomly scattered throughout the storyline who you can befriend (nine of whom are available to choose as your silent protagonist), and they’re often keen to tack on their own interests to the quests handed out by the UFLL and APR. Instead of just taking out a target, you have the option to earn extra reputation points by working alongside your buddy to first squeeze any remaining assets from the soon-to-be-deceased. This also earns you the ability to increase your level of companionship with that buddy. It’s a neat reward, but it doesn’t shed much light on their backgrounds. But that’s par for the course; the main story is delivered in such a rushed, quick-and-dirty way that you never feel very involved in the game’s overarching conflicts. The plot is less Blood Diamond than it is early Grand Theft Auto, a long roster of changing faces that scroll by far too quickly to capitalize on the politically charged setting.
Overall, Far Cry 2 is a game in which you can quite literally get lost for hours at a time. But that feeling of exploration is precisely what makes the game so much fun; your creativity never feels stifled when approaching a mission, and the game’s overall structure of side tasks, friends, rewards, and upgrades is a diverse ecosystem rivaling the landscape itself. No matter whether you’re a PC fan whose played through the similarly structured Crysis or a console owner new to the world of open-ended first-person shooters, you won’t be disappointed by Far Cry 2.
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