Hard to believe this is almost a 3 year old game, doesn't seem like that long ago.
Got this a while back very cheap on a steam sale but just now tried it out again. Works very well with 360 controller on pc btw.
I remember when this came out I was convinced this was the predecessor to an incredible Ghost Recon game. Nope.
Take this game, the really nice navigation system, health system, vehicle repair, huge open map, good driving set up, absolute first person, minimal HUD, fire propagation, rarely is there a loading time, the map editor...would've been amazing. Just needed the MP from GRAW2. One of the last really solid Ubisoft single player games. Still, a great game with a LOT of atmosphere about it. Repetitive missions, but they were fun missions that you could approach a few different ways.

Seems this version comes with some dlc that I never got.
--There's a crossbow with explosive tips..didn't know they were explosive until I was trying to be stealthy and one poor guy was the teaching example
--Shotgun with I guess a silencer. Not touching that one.
--4 wheeler, I've just seen it around though
--BEST addition: there's a Unimog-like assault vehicle. See the pictures. This thing is a game changer since it can take a LOT more hits than the other vehicles, so you can blow through more checkpoints without the grinding ritual: stopping, shooting and repairing at every single checkpoint. Equipped with the cannon. Huge tires, doesn't get stuck easily like the others. Also seems to land on its feet when it gets rolled.

Absolutely agree.

I picked it up a month ago, and the scenery and atmosphere are wonderful. Lots of woooahhh... moments at African sunrise and jungle lighting, and great details, like your bug bitten arms and the engine sounds of the clapped-out cars (they could of sampled that directly from my aunt's car when I was a kid).

There's gameplay (such as detouring or sneaking past checkpoints) that gets you past the most irritating of the games flaws, and hopefully the below mod is not dead:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/farcry-2-immersion

That would be nice, especially slow respawn of the checkpoints, but it does ring of a dead mod.

Mod seems dead.

I would get back into this game in a heartbeat if they tweaked the stupid checkpoint respawns.

I just finished playing this game for the 2nd time (played it on release) and I enjoyed it just as much. Sure the respawning once you've gotten far enough away from a location is lame, but frankly it was the only negative I experienced.




The Jedi Master

Yep agreed... could of, should of been a GREAT game...was a great game, with many wrong gameplay decisions... if they would of used the gameplay of red Dead redeption... in this setting... WOW.

I had enormous hopes for this title back in the days, bought it on release, but never finished it, this title at that time had the biggest potential of sandbox titles, but sadly gameplay desicions made it PIA

no modding and no civilians there, really?

I think they said several times the civvies were for the most part fleeing the area. You see them in the underground buildings, but pretty much everyone else was working for one of the 2 factions. Oh, you also see them at the very end of the game, but in the cutscene, not as NPCs. I think not having them there was a concession to playability, so you know if you CAN shoot your gun it's always bad guys you'll be able to fire at, no accidentally shooting a civvie.

The only thing that really ever bugged me was "how do they all know I'm not working with them?" It's like I have a bright neon outfit on that says "shoot me".




The Jedi Master

good point JM

the fire propagation is still the best... in fact might give it another chance

Hmmm, I'll have to check out Far Cry 2.

What about Red Dead Redemption (as mentioned in above post)? What are some of the impressions here?

RDR is incredible. It's a lot like this game.
I do wish the stealth was a little easier to come by, sneaking around is possible but not easy. Would like to eliminate the malaria too.
IMO this is pretty close to the perfect shooter. Give us this as a squad based military shooter, even if it's a "behind enemy lines" type of thing, with co-op and it would rock.

I had a lot of fun with FC2, bought it for the xbox 360 and later on PC. Playing it at 1920x1080 AAx2 really makes it a different game. I also enjoyed the map editor specially for the console version which in my opinion it was much more intuitive than the PC version.

The only thing I didn't really like was that at some point missions became very repetitive but overall FC2 had a very nice gameplay.

I thought the malaria, and the effect were actually pretty cool.

Would like to see some additional wildlife around, particularly hippo and crocodile. Didn't feel quite right swimming without a threat.

Malaria seemed like a good idea at first, but in the end it was a pointless mechanic. Get the symptoms, pop the pills. That's it. About the only threat was if it hit in the middle of a firefight, when you couldn't stop to take pills and you couldn't see who was shooting at you! All it really did was compel you to take those underground missions so you could get pills, that's all.

I agree some dangerous wildlife would've been welcome. Zebras and wildebeest and gazelle are fine, but they're like moving speedbumps to the vehicles and irrelevant if you're on foot. Lions and hippos and hyenas would've been cool.

Without the stealth suit, that cost 45 diamonds, stealth was impossible. With it, it was only very difficult! Using silenced weapons often worked well, though, as they'd be looking for you but not know exactly where you were. The crossbow was great because they rarely tracked it back to you. The fire was definitely a highlight of the game, although I got very few kills with it.



The Jedi Master

I hated the constant (at lest in my way of driving) cars repairs, it was cool, well made feature that got boring after fifth time, sep. with bad guys all around...

BTW I was playing that Serbian guy IIRC, had the selection any impact on later story or cutscenes etc?

I'd love some dangerous animals as dlc. Crocs in and around the water, a lion here and there like the cougars, wolves and rattlesnakes in RDR. It's nice to have some variables in there.
The Molotavs are fun for the ambush missions. Block the road at a choke point, fire behind the back jeep...mayhem ensues. Then a really big boom. LOL

FWIW, I didn't see that the character selection made any difference except in what your arms looked like. It was another pointless feature.



The Jedi Master

Have you seen the released screenshots of Far Cry 3 already?
I'm looking forward to that one!
I think they learned from their mistakes.
Google it, looks awesome!

My best regards, Kodiak.

back to the jungle... looks ok, might turn interesting

Far Cry 2 reminds me of Boiling Point, anyone played that title?

Didn't even know FC3 was in the works.
http://far-cry.ubi.com/far-cry-3/en-GB/
Due next year.

Doesn't look quite the same, a little more of a traditional shooter. Map in the corner, "skill point" pops up in there (I love that in FC2 you're just a guy, not perpetually in training). The sniper rifle conveniently placed is odd, at least in FC2 things are usually in storage or picked up off a dead guy if you didn't pick up at the armory. The option for take down's is nice, something missing in FC2. Hope it's got co-op.
Maybe they'll pull it off. Ubi really does need to get some of their big titles back on the market.

Ubisoft: The Company That Killed Clancy.

I wish Red Storm Entertainment still existed as a separate entity.




The Jedi Master

I wish Dynamix and Microprose were still around...

FC2 had such potential, and a few things superbly. Too bad it wasn't fun to play.

i loved the concept of the game, but consoles killed it for me,every time i see a good elevations that seems like a perfect sniper spot, i cant misteriously climb it, even coming out of water to a riverbed, cant be done on certain areas that clearly can be climbed.

The checkpoint doesnt even need comment,yeah we got it, you didnt want the game to be boring but seriously ?
the sniper 50 cal, the car drives sees you,makes a instant u turn and the machine gun doesnt even miss your car, you cant even try to dodge, its just bettter to get out of car,take cover behind it and kill them.

stealth sucks,my immersion and most fun is ruined by stealth weapons that are not stealth at ALL.Also it doesnt matter what you do, once you shoot any weapon move as much as you want, the AI ALWAYS knows where you are.....pathetic.

But...they perfected the setting things on fire !! i dont even need to say what is my favorite weapon in the game. Why must games always give us little advancements, instead of the whole package ? i doubt another game will ever try to simulate things catching on fire like this one, i played alone in the dark, that fire sucked,nice damage to object on fire tough.....again.....always snippets of goodness never a full content.

Same here.


Wheels

Not just Dynamix, but even Sierra itself is long gone. I remember when a significant part of my shelf was occupied by Sierra games, half of them Dynamix. Spec Holo, DI, DID, Razorworks, Rowan, Origin, Lucasarts (90s version), Papyrus...


It's like reading the roll of the honored dead...



The Jedi Master

Looking Glass, Janes'...

There was no "Jane's", it depended on the title. The air combat games were Origin, the naval were Sonalyst...


The Jedi Master

Wish Origin was still around.

My annoying blue jeans ATF "handbook" has Jane's all over the cover, wanna discuss that JM?

They weren't a developer. It's like saying Tom Clancy himself made Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon instead of Red Storm Entertainment!




The Jedi Master

Bought FC2 when it first came out on DVD and loved it. Easy to play yet it drew you in. It got into your head. It was creepy in a way but I liked the free roam and the fact that you could avoid trouble when you wanted for as long as you wanted. Creeping up on the checkpoints to maximum distance and taking them out with a sniper rifle was fun. The graphics are great and it didn't need an uber pc to get it looking nice. I played it every day until I finished it but then never went back to it again.

May be worth paying for the Steam version just to get the updates. I assume you cannot update the DVD version.

I had just bought a new graphics card and this came with it. I was amazed at the graphics and loved the intro scene where you drive into town. I think I salivated in anticipation of getting into the game. Then I actually played the damn thing and found myself getting extremely bored after about an hour or two. AI that seemed to find you almost immediately, boring, repetitious missions and the most stupid checkpoint respawns I think I have ever come across made this game a chore to play and that's not what a game is supposed to be about.

As said in the headline...so much potential.