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Specimen-OMO
OMO stalker
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 Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 04:32:14
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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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Country: Canada
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burniste
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 06:33:36
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that's a beautifully pasted review, Speciman! can't wait for it
to unlock. . .
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Country: USA
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Bloody
OMO groupie
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Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 07:22:01
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Oh no's, I could be in trouble with this game. lol
quote:
The real joys of Far Cry 2 don’t come from gung-ho Rambo raids of enemy bases
Thank goodness he saysquote:
although they’re certainly possible
right after that. lol
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Nosehair-OMO
Administrator
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Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 12:53:11
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No place for Rambo types?!?
Where will I fit in then???
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Country: USA
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Bloody
OMO groupie
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Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 12:55:00
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That's what I was saying. lol
BTW, looks like even though the release date was today, you can't pick it up from most stores until Wed. 22nd or Thurs. the 23rd. Biaches.
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Bedpan-OMO
Too much coffee, Not a good thing.
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 17:53:45
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I'm doing the download now! ;^)
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, bourbon in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" |
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burniste
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 18:12:31
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i'm @ 82%, looks like this will cut into my BF2 nite . . .
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Country: USA
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Dirtbag-OMO
freakofnature
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 18:27:21
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Single player is fun. Different than most shootem up games.
I tried to do the multiplayer but the game crashed twice while connecting, so I think I'll do a round or two of COD4 and give FC2 a try tomorrow.
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Country: USA
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Petrified-OMO
Taxing Patience
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 19:22:45
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The game is out?
Wait... the FULL game is available for free? (course, as free as ad supported gets...)
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Country: USA
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Stingray
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 20:43:46
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Really good RPG/FPS game.
MP Blows chunks though, I haven't even been able to get in a game yet. I guess will all have to make our own game some nite to try it out.
1st reaction to FC2 mp, FAIL! I guess none of the developers have ever played BF2 or CoD. I just want to find a server, click join and enjoy myself. Can't be done with FC2.
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Dirtbag-OMO
freakofnature
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 20:48:33
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I got into a couple of servers. My first impression after 2 rounds is as Stingray puts it. "MP Blows"
I didnt like much at all. Graphics are mediocre(sp) at best and movement is jumpy. Oh yea, guns at close range don't work very well. Long range not at all!
I'm kinda?? liking the single player.
Dirtbags overall review says......wait for COD5!
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Country: USA
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Dirtbag-OMO
freakofnature
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 20:49:26
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Wish I could get my money back!
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Petrified-OMO
Taxing Patience
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 20:59:43
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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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burniste
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 22 2008 : 21:26:35
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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 . . . =)
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Country: USA
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Specimen-OMO
OMO stalker
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 05:36:29
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Anybody get out of the hotel/village alive?
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Country: Canada
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Stingray
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 06:35:43
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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?
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Dirtbag-OMO
freakofnature
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 07:06:23
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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!
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Country: USA
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Bloody
OMO groupie
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 07:14:16
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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
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medicated
frequent visitor
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 17:47:34
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Im waiting.
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 Evil is powerless.....if the good are unafraid. (Ronald Regan)
Free speech is intended to protect the controversial and even outrageous word, and not just comforting platitudes too mundane to need protection. - General Colin Powell
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Country: USA
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Dirtbag-OMO
freakofnature
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Posted - Oct 23 2008 : 17:54:12
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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.
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Country: USA
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Bloody
OMO groupie
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Posted - Oct 24 2008 : 07:16:47
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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!
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Far Cry 2
