Recall, if you will, this trailer for Ubisoft's 2008 shooter opus Far Cry 2. It's called The Jackal Trailer, and despite showing nothing of the titular villain it does an excellent job of distilling down the most appealing bits of Far Cry 2 into a compact showcase - namely sumptuous visuals, visceral combat and cracking action. The music backing the trailer is done by a man called Rachid Taha, a song called "Barra Barra". Like the game, it too is cut down for the trailer. I liked it so much I went and found the full version online only to find that once I had the whole thing, a much more stretched out version than what we find in the trailer, the piece had lost a lot of its immediate appeal. The same thing can be said for sitting down to play the full version of Far Cry 2. It's an experience I enjoyed immensely, but one that felt at times quite thinly spread and lacking in punch and structure.

The game opens with a statement of intent; a leisurely ride in a beaten up taxi that showcases the size and scale of what the developers have managed to build. The commitment to first person is total. As you look about you and try to take in the acres of of sun-baked scrub and golden long grass rolling by while your driver drones on about the civil war the first thing you'll be reminded of is the tram ride from the original Half-Life. It's not nearly as good as that lofty benchmark you understand, but the similarities are obvious. You pass refugees huddled on the road, wandering wildlife and a checkpoint manned by some menacing militia. The sun feels inescapable, baking everything. Sitting at my PC in my dark little bedroom I started to worry I was getting sun burned. Far Cry 2's environment is absolutely stunning, the parched beauty of the countryside like nothing you will have ever seen before. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

You're a mercenary, the character you play chosen from a pre-defined roster before you start the game, and you've come to this African outback to kill an arms dealer called the Jackal. It's a mission I thought was going to be over rather quickly. I’d only been in the country five minutes when the Jackal appeared in my hotel room, standing over my paralyzed, malaria-racked body. I, his would-be assassin, was unarmed and entirely at his mercy. And he just stood there and quoted Nietzsche at me. The bastard. Before I was allowed do anything he was gone, and the town around the hotel I was staying in was exploding.

I'm going to be frank - Ubisoft have been very, very brave. No doubt driven partly by the desire to one-up old flame Crytek and their new bit of stuff, Crysis, and emboldened by the success of free form shooters like Stalker, the decision to go all "open world" on us with Far Cry 2 is one to be thoroughly commended. It is not, however, something they've managed to pull off as well as I would have liked. Once you escape that hotel and get set on your way by whatever faction the game has decided was going to rescue you, you're essentially free to wander about as you please. Missions are marked on your map (held in front of you when selected, like a weapon, which is a nice touch) and can be anything from anonymous contract killings or a task for a specific faction that will drive the story. Somewhere out there is the Jackal, and each of the factions might have information on his whereabouts.

The space you're in is enormous and unrestrained by loading screens, even when going from exterior areas to inside buildings. Stalk the long grass on foot or steal any one of the plentiful vehicles and go anywhere you like - Far Cry 2 is in no mood to stop you. Or at least, that's what it claims. The map is littered with guarded checkpoints whose soldiers will shoot you (and presumably anyone else) on sight. Try and drive right by them and you'll be chased as they jump into their own vehicles, running you off the road or just trying to run you down if you're on foot. The checkpoints respawn too, so even if you wipe one out on your way somewhere, it'll be there to cause you further pain on the way back. While this does help keep you on your toes by providing an infinite supply of enemy fodder to mow down, it is wearying. And there's already enough in Far Cry 2 to weary you.

It's massive, yes, but it's also a little too unstructured at times. At first I thought I wasn't playing the game properly. Far Cry 2 is unmistakably a shooter, untainted by any tacked on RPG elements. The only way to interact meaningfully with any NPC or object is to hurl bullets at them or, if that doesn't elicit the appropriate response, some explosives. And that's fine. It's uncluttered and easy to grasp. But because of the way we've been conditioned by every other FPS ever, you expect to be constantly shepherded, given instructions to go somewhere and kill something where upon you have a cutscene and a new objective is assigned. Far Cry 2 just doesn't work like that and once you understand that it becomes a much more enjoyable game.

I was racing from mission to mission, ignoring enemy checkpoints and other points of interest on my map because I felt I just had to go out and get the job done. And then the realisation hit me while I was staring down a sniper scope at a target and a zebra wandered by and blocked my shot. This game had given me this beautiful landscape, this beautiful experience with all these little bits of incidental detail, and I was ignoring it. So I took a step back, relaxed, and just watched the zebra for a bit. It was actually quite a relief. From then on I slowed my play right down. I started scouting out enemy locations more, trying stealth, going cross-country instead of following the roads. I went on freakin' safari, and it was brilliant. The atmosphere just drew me in. I nearly went native, so enthralled was I. And then I hit the wall.

It's not that Far Cry 2 is too big (at 15 hours I was halfway through the game, and then the map doubled in size), or that there's not enough to do. It's just that, even coming into this from the likes of Stalker (a game where missions are still fed to you, free form though it may be) I found myself craving a bit more structure. Wandering aimlessly one night, I willed for my cell phone to ring and a mission to be dispensed, rather than for me to have to go looking for another one. The game is just a little too hands-off when it comes to directing your play. I appreciate the freedom but long for just a little pinch of prompting from the game. As it stands, not only does the sheer expanse of the playground before you wear you down, it muddles the pacing resulting in a story and plot that comes in fits and starts. They never feel like they gel with the environment they're supposed to be taking place in.

And Far Cry 2 makes some seriously questionable design choices too. For instance, the game makes no attempt to explain the Buddy system to you, which is a little bizarre as it's a feature Ubisoft have been pimping since they devised it. In game, depending on the other mercenaries you encounter, you'll be assigned a Best Buddy (who offers alternative options in story missions) and a back-up (who'll show up to rescue you if you get seriously injured and replace your Best Buddy if they kick the bucket). Now, I don't know about you, but if my supposed best buddy isn't the one showing up to pull my ass out of the fire when things go bad then I don't know what they're doing calling themselves my best buddy. That aside, it's very hard to form any kind of emotional connection to any of the Buddies because of the way the game arbitrarily assigns them to you and because it makes no attempt at character development what so ever. I'd have preferred the option to choose my buddies from the pool of people I'd met (you might be able to actually, but the game made no attempt to show me) rather than essentially be told, "This person whom you met five minutes ago is now your best friend in this warzone. Deal with it." On paper, the Buddy system is an excellent idea, but in practice it provides little more than an emergency respawn feature in the form of the aforementioned buddy rescue, which in itself is very handy.

There's more to moan about, so brace yourself. NPCstalklikethis, with nary a nano-second between words. I thought it was a speech bug, but it's consistent. Everyone talks too fast and some of the acting is terrible. It's a slap in the face after the pains the rest of the game has gone to provide you with the opportunity to immerse yourself. There don't seem to be any civilians in Far Cry 2, presumably because they've all been killed by the trigger-happy soldiers who are all out to get you. For a game that requires so much roaming the inability to queue a few objectives and do them in one big excursion is maddening. A lot of the vehicles have mounted guns, but you can't bring a buddy along to use it while you drive. There's a few weird animations for enemies, such as when exiting vehicles they have a habit of standing stock still for a second as if pondering the nature of life. I kept running into invisible-bloody-walls! But I digress.

There's a lot of little things to call Far Cry 2 on, and how some of them managed to slip through into a game which such a budget is baffling. But I promise you will be able to get over these things, because the core of Far Cry 2 is truly astonishing. The environment, the freedom, the commitment to first-person; all these are ambitious undertakings in themselves, and to see that they have meshed into such a beautiful piece of game is something that will put a smile on any gamer's face. You'll notice I haven't talked about some things like the gruesome injury animations, the fire propagation or the wear and tear on weapons. These aspects, ultimately, fade into the heat haze, fitting together so well that they become almost indistinguishable from the whole, complete experience. It's gigantic, accomplished and it works. If you've any cash left over after this month's gaming glut, you'd be remiss if you didn't buy this.

Barry 'Imperial Creed' White

3 Comments

Cianmc1 November 14, 2008 Votes: +0	Looks cool Must play it...Bought it 2 weeks ago and havnt played it yet! report abuse vote down vote up
gribb85 December 01, 2008 Votes: +0	Mr Imperial Creed you have once again made me spend my money and I have to say your right, Farcry 2 is absolutely awesome! Best fire in any game, easily. report abuse vote down vote up
cooleh December 17, 2008 Votes: +0	Sounds awesome, still think im gunna get L4D though. I shall go and check out your review now report abuse vote down vote up