Far Cry 2 Hands On
An open world shooter with an insane amount of detail
Tags: Far Cry 2 Categories: PC Previews, PS3 Previews, Previews, Xbox 360 Previews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 21st, 2008
Ugh, this is not a great year for PC gaming PR. With all the comments (some by developer Epic Games) about the platform’s demise, now Far Cry 2 will be coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Of course this wasn’t billed as backpedaling or another nail in the video card coffin, but that the Unreal Engine ended up being more scalable than originally thought. PC gaming is not dead, there are just better programmers than initially thought.
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Far Cry 2 is a return to the sandbox FPS style of the original game. While the setting and story are much different this time around, the action is basically unchanged with the exception of an improved partner system. This allows players to to make a deal to take care of a raid for somebody in exchange for information or support further down the line. The goal here is to take down an arms dealer named “The Jackal” who has stirred up conflict in the region.
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One of the really impressive features of Far Cry 2 is how the different characters respond depending on how the player is armed. This goes to display the level of depth the developers have created in the world. enemies will swarm quickly when attempting to invade their area with a small army’s worth of weapons.
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Set in the dry grasslands of Africa, it will be possible to use the environment as a weapon. This means starting wildfires to corral enemies into an area so as to direct their fire and prevent them from flanking. If “Rambo” isn’t your style, you can disguise yourself as a civilian and scout out the island, even allowing you to use public transportation to get around.
Far Cry 2 is easy to pick up for FPS fans, and the system really allows for a variety of ways to play. Using “loadouts” players equip their character to their particular style of action. I went with “The Insurgent” load out, which gives provides an AK-47 and rocket propelled grenade to play around with.
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I tested out a mission where I had to raid a water pipeline to keep the rebels from diverting water from civilians. My RPGs were used to destroy the sniper towers that stood guard which started a fire that kept the enemy corralled in a corner. However once I blew the pipeline, reinforcements arrived, and I was quickly dispatched. One of the partners I work with came to the rescue, leaving me with a pistol to slip out in the wake of his counter attack.
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Far Cry 2 is huge, and with a ton of details the open world shooter does everything the first game did, and goes bigger. Sandbox and FPS fans should both be excited at the sheer detail they are trying to cram into this game.
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Tags: Far Cry 2
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 21st, 2008 and is filed under PC Previews, PS3 Previews, Previews, Xbox 360 Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
