By Sam Coles:
It’s often strange yet amazing how we look back on a certain
video games as time goes on; we show more of an appreciation compared our young
hot blooded selves that always craved action. That was my attitude with Far Cry
2 back in 2008, I never really got into it back in the day but over the years
it has become my favourite instalment in the series. I thought after playing
and reviewing Far Cry: New Dawn recently, I would go back and examine it over a
decade later.
Far Cry 2’s story is minimalistic intentionally so as it has
this fog of ambiguity, all you have to go on is that you are sent in to kill an
arms dealer simply called “The Jackal”. However as you go deeper through the
journey The Jackal is not the villain, it’s the war itself that is the ultimate
evil. Yes he is playing both sides by selling weapons to them, but he is
actually trying to end the conflict, which he eventually does at the end of the
game when you help him.
If you take the time to explore both open ended maps you’ll
find tapes in areas that have been devastated by conflict, where The Jackal talks
about horrendous scenarios. There is one that got to me where there is an
abandoned and rusted school bus; it shows how desperate they are in this war
where it details seeing a child sat there with an AK-47 his lap. I think the
narrative in Far Cry 2 is often overlooked as it doesn’t shove it in your face;
it takes a page out of Half-Life’s book with its hands-off approach where you
choose your level of immersion.
What really stands out in Far Cry 2 nearly 11 years later is
the world, it’s an oppressive yet beautiful with it sun kissed deserts and
humid jungles where anything is ready to gun you down. For a game that came out
in 2008, this game has aged really well visually and I’m playing this on an
Xbox 360 and I don’t say that often about games from that period. The beauty
doesn’t stop there, to awake from ones slumber to see the glowing hot fireball
that is sun rise over the horizon as it paints the open desert is truly
spectacular.
The gameplay is a contentious part as Far Cry 2 from its marketing
looks like an over the top shooter, but that very far from the truth as it is
more like a survival horror. Your resources are finite in terms of medical
supplies, ammunition and the condition of your weapons, well initially. You
have to juggle with the fact that your weapons may explode in your hand due
your over use of them, this makes exploration and combat precarious as going in
head first will leave you with more holes than the average flute.
Let’s address the standout feature of the game weapon degradation,
over time your guns will start to jam the more you use them and I’ve heard a
lot of people say this is an annoying feature. I would however disagree and say
it adds an extra layer of atmosphere to the game, you see when you are in a
gunfight and this happens it adds tension which makes you panic as you scramble
to take a gun off a fresh warm corpse. It adds to the oppressive and the quite
literal third world atmosphere, as you are in a country that is deprived of
basic needs such as clean water and food, so it thematically makes sense.
Another aspect that seems to ruffle gamer’s jimmies was the malaria
mechanic. Shortly after starting the game you contract the disease and have to
keep on top of it with medication, however it only happens a few times in the
game and most of the time it’s scripted and your buddies can rescue you and it
doesn’t really effect the game at all.
Far Cry 2 is often a game that is regarded as the black
sheep of the series and is often forgotten, I understand some of the mechanics
are a bit quirky however it is a tense game that even nearly 11 years later
holds up. This game was a standout back in 2008 and is still great now, this
was before Ubisoft turned it into a tower climbing simulator as if you were
working for British Telecom. It’s tense, oppressive and beautiful, you are
doing yourself a disservice by not playing this game and I would highly
recommend it!
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