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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Specimen-OMO |
Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 04:32:14
First Review:
http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/far-cry-2/review/far-cry-2/a-200810151546133881836/g-20070221105846871089
Copy/Paste
Punishing, unusual shooter thrives on tactical freedom
Words: Dave Houghton, PSM3 UK
When you first start playing Far Cry 2, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that it absolutely bloody hates you. Gunfire flies from nowhere, peppering you to pieces before you’ve even seen your attacker. Your fragile health bar drops to almost nothing within seconds. There are seemingly-random, one-hit deaths aplenty, and even when you do get a warning, the slow and cumbersome health recovery system means that you often won’t get the time to heal yourself before the final bullet sends you staggering to the ground in a pathetic heap.
But it would be a huge mistake to turn away. A huge and terrible mistake. It’s not Far Cry 2’s fault that its opening hour is defined by repeated stabbing of the continue option. It’s just that it’s trying to craft a richer, more satisfying – and challenging – experience for you than a lot of games do. While regenerating health, clueless enemies and a total disregard for the repercussions of death may have made a lot of recent shooters more accessible, they’ve also simplified them, stripping out some of the depth and replacing skill with perseverance. While Far Cry 2 is certainly no Ikaruga or Mega Man style endurance test, its less lenient approach is a deliberate move with the aim of teaching you how to get the best out of it. And there’s a lot to get.
It’s an intelligently designed game with the concept of thoughtful killing at its centre. The real joys of Far Cry 2 don’t come from gung-ho Rambo raids of enemy bases – although they’re certainly possible – or the sheer number of bad guys you’ve plastered by the end of a mission. They come from an immense sense of freedom and the smug satisfaction of a well-executed battle plan.
Dropped into war-torn Africa with just a pistol, a machete and a couple of contacts, the only instruction you’re given is to find the head bad guy (an amoral arms dealer called The Jackal) and kill him. You’ll talk to the local militia to get missions, using the respect earned to gather information. You’ll make friends with locals and traders, who will give you side-quests and even alternative ways to complete existing briefs. But which tasks you accept and how you carry them out will be entirely down to your own choices. Do you, for instance, tackle an assassination in a tense cease-fire zone by going in guns blazing, before making a quick escape in a waiting car and hiding out until the heat calms down? Or do you slowly stalk your prey into a lonely back alley and make a silent knife kill, walking away without a care in the world?
When asked to steal documents from an enemy base, do you snipe the perimeter guards from the bushes, soften up the rest with grenades and then make a quick smash-and-grab attack, or do you make a methodical stealth run, leaving undetected with a zero body count? No mission in Far Cry 2 ever dictates how you have to play it. You just get a location and an objective and are allowed to do whatever you want when you get there. And with new weapons and equipment unlockable at your own pace via side-missions, there are no limitations apart from your creativity.
Once you realize that those early punishments are just the game’s way of making you think a little harder about how you approach things, the brilliance of its design starts to emerge. Those random deaths weren’t random; you just hadn’t learned the subtle warning signs. The slow, manual healing system isn’t unfair; it just makes you think about falling back and using cover. Barring the occasional AI glitch, enemies react fast to any possible threat, fanning out to find and flank you before you can get close. They’ll use the jungle as camouflage, they’ll fall back defensively if they can’t find you and if they spot you out in the open, some will even jump into vehicles and try to run you over before you can get a shot off. They’re sharp, aggressive, and when they’re nearby you have to be thinking and adapting constantly. It’s an incredibly exhilarating change from the tired old “Circle-strafe for the win” routine.
And it’s not just during missions that you have to keep on your toes. The whole, vast, open-world map is littered with militia outposts, meaning that the journeys to and from your objectives are just as eventful as anything that happens when you get there. Whether you travel by car, boat, on foot, by hang-glider or a combination of all, anything can and will happen as you and your environment play an eternal, bullet-strewn game of cat and mouse. Everything feels organic and lived in, especially in the open countryside areas. There’s no hint of repeated design despite the vastness of the wilderness – a stunning achievement.
The sense of being part of a constantly evolving, unpredictable adventure is hugely liberating. As gorgeously real as Far Cry 2 looks in screenshots and video, nothing can prepare you for how deeply immersive and alive it feels to play. It really is your own story, unfolding spontaneously on a second-by-second basis. Ten playable characters are available too. Your choice won’t affect gameplay, but it will affect the plot. You’ll meet the ones you don’t choose as NPCs, and each will bring their own optional missions and side-stories.
End Paste.
I wanna play now
But my Steam game doesn't unlock for 1day and 13 hours
And there's that work thing too.
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| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Stingray |
Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 17:18:42
quote:
Originally posted by Expired-OMO
OK downloaded and shows new folder for intel missions in FC2 but the folder is empty so has anyone got it to work?
Get your copy from Steam? If so you'll have to wait until Steam comes out with an installer as they change default locations of the files. |
| burniste |
Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 13:39:40
no - it's a problem with the installer.
just wait, the patch will fix it. |
| Expired-OMO |
Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 12:05:22
OK downloaded and shows new folder for intel missions in FC2 but the folder is empty so has anyone got it to work? |
| Expired-OMO |
Posted - Dec 08 2008 : 15:33:09
Thks for info, I finished FC2 single player so this gives me some more play time. I really enjoyed the Single player but the multiplayer really sucks but then I knew that before I got it. |
| Stingray |
Posted - Dec 08 2008 : 13:55:37
quote:
Originally posted by Specimen-OMO
There are Bonus missions!
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/13398/Far+Cry+2+Intel+Bonus+Missions
Notice that, also available from fileplanet. Waiting on steam to make it available, I'm assuming they have to do their voodoo on it before it works with steam downloads.
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| Specimen-OMO |
Posted - Dec 08 2008 : 13:51:45
There are Bonus missions!
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/13398/Far+Cry+2+Intel+Bonus+Missions |
| burniste |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 22:03:39
bought mine from Steam, Arcane.
this rates up there with HL2 for single player for me, so
i'm glad i went through Steam.
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| Arcane |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 18:56:28
I'd consider buying a used copy from someone who doesn't like it |
| Rigormortis-OMO |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 10:11:58
Haven't gotten that far in the game yet, but so far I'm enjoying it. Really like the environment. |
| Dirtbag-OMO |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 08:25:56
I will say that the SP part of it is a time killer. I was playing last night and wasn't SUPER thrilled but I was entertained because before I knew it 2 1/2 hours went by. |
| Specimen-OMO |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 08:11:34
Played a bit last night too. I've gotta remap the keys for sure though. I am hoping there will be a key set for the fang soon. As for the game play, I find myself being ambushed unexpectedley from time to time. Still working out the 'quests' and purchasing weapons. |
| Bloody |
Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 07:16:47
I have really not played enough yet to give a full review of both SP and MP (been mapping so much with it I have little play time. lol). I did get to play some ranked MP games finally (sounds like the PB issue was on the server side and I guess it's fixed now). The MP is actually fun, but it is slower than COD4. Weapons don't kill as fast, and the maps I played (a city one and an airport one) were pretty large for 16 people, so it felt more like BF than COD4).
I am much more impressed with the MP now than day one, but still think that COD5 is the MP game for everyone. I still would recommend FC2 for anyone that likes SP and for anyone that wants something to play casually in MP. I would really suggest it for any map makers like myself, it's the best editor to date! |
| Dirtbag-OMO |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 17:54:12
quote:
Originally posted by medicated
Im waiting.
Yup, If I had to do it again I wouldn't. The SP was fun to start with because its different, but now its just kinda ho hum same dum. |
| medicated |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 17:47:34
Im waiting.
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| Bloody |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 07:14:16
Yeah, later on you have a similar situation where you can steal some diamonds from an area in town and the run like the wind cause if you get out of town your good. lol
I echo what Stingray says about MP. It could be a blast, but the server set up right now is piss poor. To top it off, I can't even get into a ranked game cause of PB. Seems that anyone running a 64bit OS is PB screwed at the moment (hope they fix that today).
As for a single player game, it's really good. No regrets buying it, but I do wish MP was better. The map editor rocks and I spent half my time yesterday in the editor. lol |
| Dirtbag-OMO |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 07:06:23
quote:
Originally posted by Specimen-OMO
Anybody get out of the hotel/village alive?
Yeah, I got lucky and ran my ass off in the lucky direction and it brought me out of the city limits and they quit shooting me.
The funny thing is, after you get out of town its like they forget you were the bad guy. you have to go right back in and they don't shoot at you??? WTH?
Weird! |
| Stingray |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 06:35:43
quote:
Originally posted by Specimen-OMO
Anybody get out of the hotel/village alive?
No, ended up being carried away, only tried it once though.
I bought FC2 for SP only and was hoping to capture some of the fun I had with FC1. I'm not disappointed in that regard.
FC2 has much more of a RPG side to it then FC1 ever had and so far am enjoying it a lot.
MP could be fun if a bunch of us could get together and setup a match. We need to set aside a FC2 MP night. Still don't see FC2 taking off at the moment though.
I'm still not sure though if once you setup a match if its on an external server or being hosted on your home machine. Anybody know? |
| Specimen-OMO |
Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 05:36:29
Anybody get out of the hotel/village alive? |
| burniste |
Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 21:26:35
quote:
Originally posted by Petrified-OMO
I will still pick up FC2 simply because the single player from FC was darn good.
is exactly why i D/L it, and for me, i am NOT disappointed.
i liked the original, was disappointed Crysis (for me) wasn't
as fun as Far Cry.
now, i'm reading that the side missions are repetitive,
i don't know. on hardcore, the AI seemed better
than, say, playing BF2 @ Badsquadron.
Gorgeous graphics, easy controls, will follow up
when i get pissed like DB . . . =) |
| Petrified-OMO |
Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 20:59:43
Well, considering that the first FarCry's MP was lame it does not surprise me that FC2's does as well. Disappointing however. So... CoD5 should be the MP winner for us then.
I will still pick up FC2 simply because the single player from FC was darn good. |
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