Far Cry 2
This game kicks ass.
First of all, the shadows, and the sun, works pretty much exactly as you would expect it to. I was walking into the sunset and the sun in my eyes almost made me squint. So I got out my map and held it up infront of me and the suns rays shone through the ring binder holes in the paper of the map! Where the edge of the map was half covering the sun there was glare!
Also what I thought was cool, was the jamming guns. If you pick up an old crappy gun off some dude, it is likely to jam and you have to hold down the R button to unjam it. It could happen in the middle of a gun fight or just as you are about to pop some guy. Definitely gets the adrenaline pumping. I even had an Uzi misfire and explode in my hand. My character yelled and threw it away which attracted the attention of the guys I was hiding from.
Which brings me to the next point. Stealth. It works pretty well. I can sprint into a bush away from some dudes and they’ll try to chase me, but I zig zag around a bit and circle back around them and they don’t know where I am. You can constantly change your attacking position by taking cover in the jungle and running around.
And if its night time they pretty much can’t see shit which means you have the mean advantage. I managed to take out a whole guard post without them even seeing where I was or getting a shot off.
Plus if you get the camo suit you can almost be invisible. Although at times the AI can be kindof dumb, they are really agressive. They’ll chase you down. If you speed through a guard post they’ll jump into the nearest jeep and come after you hammer down while shooting you with the jeeps mounted gun.
I managed to take out and entire camp by shooting 3 bullets into a propane tank with a sniper rifle. Propagating fire is another cool feature. Throw a molotov or use the flamethrower in the dry parts of the environment and shit will catch on fire and spread whatever way the wind is blowing – into an enemy camp perhaps. Nothing in the Jungle parts catch fire though.
I really like the game, I haven’t had too many repeatitive gimmicks that get annoying, and there’s usually a stealthy way around guard posts if you’re low on ammo or health, or cbf fighting anyone.
I also find it makes me think about africa. The poverty and the squalor. The dudes I kill in the jungle leaving a pistol or grenade lying around for some kid to find – even though there’s no kids in the game, there are these kind of conflicts in real life in Africa I am sure.
The one thing I am missing though is more wild animals. I want to see monkeys running through the trees above me, attacking Leopards or Lions. There are zebra, gazelle, wilderbeast and waterbuffalo but never in groups larger than 4. I want to see herds of them. The occasional Hippo or crocodile in the river ready to snap you in half.
But in reality with all these yobos running round with guns, I see the reason for there not to be any wild animals. But there are some really secluded places and deep jungle in the game.
I think its a mean game, I can almost feel the sticky humidity in the jungles and I love to explore the absolutely massive environment. Makes me want to go to Africa and drive everywhere exploring. I would probably die though.
Tags: gaming