Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 is a 2008 first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second installment of the main Far Cry series, preceded by 2004’s Far Cry and followed by 2012’s Far Cry 3. Ubisoft has marketed Far Cry 2 as the true sequel to Far Cry, however the sequel has very few noticeable similarities to the original game. Instead, it features completely new characters and setting, as well as a new style of gameplay that allows the player greater freedom to explore different African landscapes such as deserts, jungles, and savannas. The game takes place in a modern-day Central African nation during civil war. The player takes control of a mercenary on a lengthy journey to locate and assassinate “The Jackal”, a notorious arms dealer. Far Cry 2 was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in October 2008. It is backwards compatible with the Xbox One.

Far Cry 2 was met with positive reception upon its release, with critics praising the game’s setting, open-ended gameplay, visuals and AI, while criticism was directed at glitches, design choices and the writing. By January 2009, the game had sold nearly three million copies.

Far Cry 2 is a sequel to the original Far Cry. The game features an open-ended experience. Players are able to ally with one or multiple factions, and to progress through the game world and missions as they see fit, resulting in a nonlinear style of gameplay commonly referred to as sandbox mode that allows the story to progress at their speed and in the order they choose.^[3] Players can use a range of vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats and hang gliders,^[4] to travel within the 50 km² (19 sq mi) gameplay area. The playing styles range from head-on assaults to stealthy infiltrations and assassinations. The game takes place in a sprawling African landscape, with terrain ranging from desert to savannah to jungle.^[5]

Various factions and vehicles are featured; enemies include human mercenaries.^[6] There is a dynamic weather system that has a day-night cycle and different weather conditions such as storms and strong winds. The time of day also affects the behavior of AI, in terms of enemy alertness and aggressiveness; for example, an enemy might have a slightly heightened awareness at night, but be unable to see the player in hiding, while during the hot part of the day the enemies might be sitting in the shade in groups but easily spot the player from a distance.

The health bar represents the health of the protagonist that is divided into five segments, each of which automatically refills if it is not fully depleted and the player avoids taking damage for a few seconds. Players carry a limited supply of syrettes which can be used at any time to fully replenish the health bar, and are obtainable from first aid boxes located throughout the game world, specifically at guard posts. When nearing death (only one health bar remaining), the character must perform first aid on himself, for example removing bullets with pliers,^[7] or snapping twisted or broken fingers into position.

Weapons

The player has access to a large arsenal of real world weapons, including machine pistols, battle rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, handguns, light machine guns, mortars, and IEDs. The game breaks these weapons down into three inventory slots, each with a specific list of weapons assigned to it.

In addition to the three selectable types of weapons, a machete is carried at all times, which can be used to execute enemies, and the player can carry a number of hand grenades and molotov cocktails. All weapons in the game are “mirrored”, with ejection ports, charging handles and other user-operated parts on the left side; the exception being the belt-fed machine guns which eject to the right (though this means the PKM is still mirrored). Further changes are made to some, such as the Ithaca 37 having a side ejection port.

A major gameplay feature is that these weapons degrade over time. Weapons in poor shape have a chance of jamming, requiring several seconds to clear, and weapons in a severe state of decay can break during usage, rendering the weapon unusable. The player can purchase weapons at various gun shops, which provide an unlimited supply of the weapon in serviceable condition, along with manuals to upgrade weapon’s reliability and accuracy. More weapons can be unlocked at the gun shop by completing missions involving the destruction of competitors’ arms convoys for the gun shop owner. Weapons can also be picked up off of fallen enemies, but they are always in their most degraded condition and can only be used for a short period of time before jamming and ultimately breaking down completely.