Verdict:
4/10
D++
Conclusion: Far Cry 2 is an overhyped, boring, terrible game that has some enjoyable moments, but overall it's a bore. This is the game for you if you can tolerate performing the same thing constantly. I can only assume that those who like this game were suffering from nostalgia or the "new bad, old good" syndrome.
The Good:
- 3.4GB Install Size.
- Price is cheap.
- The driving controls are quite solid for a 2009 game.
- The visuals and aesthetics are quite good for a 2009 game.
- AI is very aggressive and good for a 2009 game.
- The use of the African setting was excellent and highly immersive.
- The destructible vegetation is one example of how well the game pays attention to detail. A tree or bush can have its individual branches shot off. They will become flat when you drive over them. The spread of fire is another amazing system. Seeing the fire rip across the savanna is quite amazing.
- The HUD has a great replacement in the game. Your character pulls out a paper map and a GPS to locate you instead of a map menu and mini map. Vehicles also have GPS systems. The visuals on the menu resemble pages in a book that you turn to access different menu options.
- The first person animations, such as healing, weapon reloading, and jamming, are very good.
- The process of modding the game is quite simple. Simply drag and drop the mod files over the game files that have been installed.
The Bad:
- Story: The story was weak, unmemorable, and generally uninteresting; it made little effort to hold your interest. The voice acting is awful, which just serves to emphasise the writing's increasing boredom. The game begins with a unskippable boring driving in-game sequence, so have fun with that lol. 9 avatar characters or 12 with mods are available for you to select as the main character. The other non-selected avatars will show up as buddies, which are allied NPCs that engage in combat with you. Your protagonist is also silent, so enjoy a blank slate character in an already uninteresting story. Apart from your first person model with your arms, legs, and skin tone, your choice of protagonist has no effect on the game.
- Gameplay: This is, without a doubt, one of the most repetitive and boring gameplay loop you could create. It entails holding on W while driving toward the same objective while under constant gunfire and ambushes. You will have to observe an animation to exit the vehicle while losing half of your health from gunfire if you wanted to fight back. You do this because, in contrast to the new games, you can't choose to have your secondary out when driving. The problem is ten times worse in the vanilla, non-modded version of the game since enemies that you have previously defeated will keep respawning at checkpoints and outposts. In addition, there are only five locations on the map that you can fast travel between, so enjoy getting ambushed again and over again. When it comes to mission objectives, they are all essentially the same: blast this car, kill this guy, save this person, destroy this object, etc. Even if you occasionally have the option to select a different route that your buddy suggests, nothing really changes. The lack of an auto save is another nuisance. Therefore, enjoy yourself pressing the F5 button as often as possible. If not, you risk losing a significant amount of progress due to dying or encountering a game-breaking glitch. In addition, everything seems vacant; all that connects the towns and outposts are the roads and rivers, with the remaining space left empty. You will also have to deal with the malaria system, which is a time waster. It was really annoying and just unnecessary filler to extend the game time.
Now here is a list of some more criticism: There is a lack of blood and gore; You cannot complete multiple missions at the same time. Enemies will always spot you because stealth is nonexistent; Stealth is rendered even more impossible by the ability of enemies to see through dense foliage and shoot you; Machete kills are not considered as a stealth kill; There is no melee button, so you'll have to switch to the machete; I guess your character doesn't know how to whack his gun at someone; Going above 60fps can cause major issues, so keeping it at 60 is recommended; You'll need to download mods to fix several issues. The mouse sensitivity is strange and doesn't feel right; Weapon jamming does not affect enemies, but it does affect you. Malaria medicine has the same hotkey as healing, which you cannot change;
- Buggy Mess: This game contains a lot of bugs that you will run into. Though most are minor some are game breaking. For me, the breaking point came when my game decided to completely wreck itself. I encountered a game-breaking glitch that prevented me from firing my weapon at all, rendering the game absolutely unplayable. My attempt to load a previous save was unsuccessful. I restarted the game, but nothing changed. My saves are utterly screwed. I'm not sure what caused it, but the incident convinced me that I should quit playing this game.
Specs: Windows 11, 165hz 1080p Monitor, GPU: 8GB RTX 3060Ti, CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F, DDR4 3200MHz 16GB RAM, SSD.
Difficulty: Hardcore and Infamous Redux.
Mods Used: Realism+Redux.
4/10
D++
Conclusion: Far Cry 2 is an overhyped, boring, terrible game that has some enjoyable moments, but overall it's a bore. This is the game for you if you can tolerate performing the same thing constantly. I can only assume that those who like this game were suffering from nostalgia or the "new bad, old good" syndrome.
The Good:
- 3.4GB Install Size.
- Price is cheap.
- The driving controls are quite solid for a 2009 game.
- The visuals and aesthetics are quite good for a 2009 game.
- AI is very aggressive and good for a 2009 game.
- The use of the African setting was excellent and highly immersive.
- The destructible vegetation is one example of how well the game pays attention to detail. A tree or bush can have its individual branches shot off. They will become flat when you drive over them. The spread of fire is another amazing system. Seeing the fire rip across the savanna is quite amazing.
- The HUD has a great replacement in the game. Your character pulls out a paper map and a GPS to locate you instead of a map menu and mini map. Vehicles also have GPS systems. The visuals on the menu resemble pages in a book that you turn to access different menu options.
- The first person animations, such as healing, weapon reloading, and jamming, are very good.
- The process of modding the game is quite simple. Simply drag and drop the mod files over the game files that have been installed.
The Bad:
- Story: The story was weak, unmemorable, and generally uninteresting; it made little effort to hold your interest. The voice acting is awful, which just serves to emphasise the writing's increasing boredom. The game begins with a unskippable boring driving in-game sequence, so have fun with that lol. 9 avatar characters or 12 with mods are available for you to select as the main character. The other non-selected avatars will show up as buddies, which are allied NPCs that engage in combat with you. Your protagonist is also silent, so enjoy a blank slate character in an already uninteresting story. Apart from your first person model with your arms, legs, and skin tone, your choice of protagonist has no effect on the game.
- Gameplay: This is, without a doubt, one of the most repetitive and boring gameplay loop you could create. It entails holding on W while driving toward the same objective while under constant gunfire and ambushes. You will have to observe an animation to exit the vehicle while losing half of your health from gunfire if you wanted to fight back. You do this because, in contrast to the new games, you can't choose to have your secondary out when driving. The problem is ten times worse in the vanilla, non-modded version of the game since enemies that you have previously defeated will keep respawning at checkpoints and outposts. In addition, there are only five locations on the map that you can fast travel between, so enjoy getting ambushed again and over again. When it comes to mission objectives, they are all essentially the same: blast this car, kill this guy, save this person, destroy this object, etc. Even if you occasionally have the option to select a different route that your buddy suggests, nothing really changes. The lack of an auto save is another nuisance. Therefore, enjoy yourself pressing the F5 button as often as possible. If not, you risk losing a significant amount of progress due to dying or encountering a game-breaking glitch. In addition, everything seems vacant; all that connects the towns and outposts are the roads and rivers, with the remaining space left empty. You will also have to deal with the malaria system, which is a time waster. It was really annoying and just unnecessary filler to extend the game time.
Now here is a list of some more criticism: There is a lack of blood and gore; You cannot complete multiple missions at the same time. Enemies will always spot you because stealth is nonexistent; Stealth is rendered even more impossible by the ability of enemies to see through dense foliage and shoot you; Machete kills are not considered as a stealth kill; There is no melee button, so you'll have to switch to the machete; I guess your character doesn't know how to whack his gun at someone; Going above 60fps can cause major issues, so keeping it at 60 is recommended; You'll need to download mods to fix several issues. The mouse sensitivity is strange and doesn't feel right; Weapon jamming does not affect enemies, but it does affect you. Malaria medicine has the same hotkey as healing, which you cannot change;
- Buggy Mess: This game contains a lot of bugs that you will run into. Though most are minor some are game breaking. For me, the breaking point came when my game decided to completely wreck itself. I encountered a game-breaking glitch that prevented me from firing my weapon at all, rendering the game absolutely unplayable. My attempt to load a previous save was unsuccessful. I restarted the game, but nothing changed. My saves are utterly screwed. I'm not sure what caused it, but the incident convinced me that I should quit playing this game.
Specs: Windows 11, 165hz 1080p Monitor, GPU: 8GB RTX 3060Ti, CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F, DDR4 3200MHz 16GB RAM, SSD.
Difficulty: Hardcore and Infamous Redux.
Mods Used: Realism+Redux.