Far Cry 2 Gameplay Discussion [NO SPOILERS]

[National Kato]

Since the last thread (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1497)was closed, this thread will serve as a gameplay discussion thread. Leave opinions about DRM or other technical issues out of it, please.

Use the Spoiler formatting to talk about mission specifics or other spoiler-type stuff.

[Schnoogs]

I'm on the fence with this one...played for a bit and found the constant cell phone interruptions to be annoying...plus when it's dawn, dusk or dark it's impossible to see anything.

I'm hoping it gets better but with Dead Space already sucking me in I might not find out for a while.

[Goronmon]

Posted this in the thread, but I put up some impression on my blog. (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=315)

Generally, I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. World looks and feels awesome. And the way your character actually animates in a viewable manner helps at to the atmosphere.

[Goronmon]

I'm hoping it gets better but with Dead Space already sucking me in I might not find out for a while.Yeah, I'm actually glad that Gamefly sent me Fable 2 instead of Dead Space. Now I don't have to switch between playing two shooters.

[DiBiddilyBop]

The immersion is really what's hooking me. When I pulled a bullet out of my arm with my teeth and a shard of glass out of my leg after my car got shot up, I was hooked.

There are a lot of really nice touches going on here and I'm sure I'll just find more and more as the game goes on.

[Goronmon]

There are a lot of really nice touches going on here and I'm sure I'll just find more and more as the game goes on.Yeah, the little things really do make a difference for open world games like this.

[Young Al Capone]

This game is freaking awesome. So what has been the craziest shit that has happened to you yet?

Maybe not the craziest, but definitely the weirdest thing that has happened to me happened while I was rummaging about in a camp I had just cleared. I was inside a building when I heard a loud explosion outside. I snuck out the back to check it out only to find a Jeep had crashed into the little awning thing outside, killing the two occupants and starting a very large fire in front of the building. I assume it was one of the patrols who lost control of thier Jeeps, but it is really hard to say.

[Young Al Capone]

Here are some of my impression from the other thread, updated a little.

__________________________________________________ ____________________

So first off the game is very good looking, the big rocks can look a little plasticy and there is a little bit of pop in (360) but overall the game is a real looker. I saw plenty of different environments, jungle, savannah, desert and sand dunes. All of it very impressive, especially the sand dunes.

As far as gameplay goes I found it plays pretty similar to the first, but a little faster paced. It is pretty easy to get noticed if you aren't being rather careful, so stealth is harder to do now but I still managed to machete plenty of fools.

Fire; fire is awesome. I was mostly using it as a diversion, but often times it will start up without you even noticing it and next thing you know you are in the middle of a huge fire.

The immersion is great, you actually have a body that is animated to do all of the things you may engage in. It is pretty surprising how well the body animates. For example; last night I was in a boat and being attacked, the boat was in pretty bad shape but I had to get rid of my persuers first. So after dispatching them with a grenade in the middle of thier boat, I turned around to fix my boat only to notice it was on fire a moment too late. As it exploded my character brought his arms up to shield his face and then went flailing into the air, all animated spectacularly. It was very cinematic.

Oh yeah, and the AI. I have seen it do everything from flanking me from two points while another guy held my attention to standing around dumbfounded after I through a grenade under thier Jeep, so it seems to be a mixed bag.

[Goronmon]

This game is freaking awesome. So what has been the craziest shit that has happened to you yet?From the other thread.

Already had a pretty cool moment. Came over a ridge into a group of buildings I thought was clear. So, I tried backing up in the slow crappy car. As I got back to the fork in the road and turn to pull away, a couple of enemies had gotten in a jeep and were coming straight at me. They decided to t-bone my vehicle flipping it over on it's back with me in it. I crawled out and hide behind the car as we fought it out.It was pretty cool because I thought I would be able to just get away, but just as I started to hit the accelerator I turned to the right and saw the jeep barreling down the slope at me.

[National Kato]

My two long impression posts from the other thread:

Had about an hour late last night with this after getting further annoyed with the Fable 2 expression system and the fact that the game has too many loading screens and delays during dialogue. Ugh.

Anyway, only about three missions in and I had a great moment:

It was night and the moon was full. The environment looks spectacular at different times of day. I had to get back to a safehouse in order to sleep, but there was a checkpoint between me and my goal and I didn't feel like slogging through the insect-infested jungles to get there. So I drove up to the outskirts of the crossroads and got out of my car. I could see the dancing light of the fires they had lit in trashcans - good, I thought, they'd be more nightblind than me.

After crouching behind the bole of a large tree, listening to their conversation, I stepped out and lobbed a grenade high into the middle of the small tin shelter they were using. The men fell silent, I suppose sensing my presence but unsure...and then one of them said, "Hey, what was that?" as my grenade came to a rest on the ground. BOOM! The explosive went off, sending corrugated sheet metal, debris and bodies flying.

One man had left the 'safety' of the checkpoint, presumably to take a piss, so he survived the explosion. I ran out of the darkness towards him, his confusion causing him to look in the opposite direction, and hacked him down with my machete.

:D

Also, I tried a Team Deathmatch round last night and, as expected, there isn't much teamwork yet and a lot of players dropping after connecting. Hopefully, that will work itself out as players decide to either stick with it or move back to their FPS du jour.

Does anyone know how you play or find the extra missions that came with a GameStop preorder? Apparently, there's '3 hours' of extra content? But after unlocking it in the menu I couldn't find an option to play them - so I'm assuming they're integrated into the main campaign? Any ideas?

[Bingley Joe]

Man.. that other thread was like a brother to me!

Keep the observations coming, guys.. all the talk of how crazy this game can be is really making this day drag on (picking it up after work tonight). I've been psyched to play this ever since the UBI FTP leak way back blew the cover on it, and it sounds like it's everything I hoped it would be..

[National Kato]

I want to add a comment on AI:

Although I've only played for about an hour, I've seen some impressive AI from my enemies. I had to clean out a small lumber yard early on. I counted (using my monocular) four enemies in the camp, all situated about a machine gun post. One guy was drinking from a bottle, another was smoking, and they all were talking to each other...but I was too far to hear.

I crept along the outskirts of the camp, trying to find a way to my target with the least amount of noise. As I was crouching behind some felled timber, I noticed the soldier who had been drinking walking in my direction. He stopped to relieve himself (apparently, there's a lot of pissing in this game) - but unfortunately decided to do so next to an explosive barrel. Poor choice. I figured now was my chance...

I opened fire on the barrel from behind cover, killing the one soldier. The others now began swarming like ants, but I couldn't poke my head out long enough with the monocular to get a look at where they were. Usually, in an FPS like this I can bide my time in the confusion and pick off the enemies as they get closer, as they usually have no idea where I am.

Not this time.

As I was preparing to move to another vantage point, I heard gunfire and I began taking bullets...I couldn't understand who was shooting as I was behind good cover. Ultimately, one of the soldiers had flanked all the way around to my left and approached me from behind, out of the jungle. I never saw him flank nor did I hear him coming.

Now, I don't feel so safe using my normal tactics. I'm going to have to be better about this...In the aftermath, as the bodies lay on the ground, I realized there was at least three perfect paths around the lumber yard where I could've approached my target (a 'person of interest') without alerting any of the soldiers. I'll have to try a stealth approach soon...

[I am playing on the Hardcore difficulty setting.]

[Re3x]

I like how this could really be a different game all together, it really is NOTHING like the first FarCry and I like that.

The only thing I dont like is hot many bullets an African gaurd can take in normal... you would think 3 to the chest area would do it, but it was the same in Crysis.

[Crittias]

The waterfall (NE segment of the map) is very pretty. And worth visiting.

The game setting reminds me a lot of many of the Caribbean islands I've visited. Never been to Africa, can't speak to authenticity there. :)

[Goronmon]

The only thing I dont like is hot many bullets an African gaurd can take in normal... you would think 3 to the chest area would do it, but it was the same in Crysis.So it's like that on Normal too? I've been playing on Hardcore, and I thought it was just because I was playing on a more difficult setting, but yeah, the enemies seem to take a ridiculous amount of damage sometimes.

[Crittias]

So it's like that on Normal too? I've been playing on Hardcore, and I thought it was just because I was playing on a more difficult setting, but yeah, the enemies seem to take a ridiculous amount of damage sometimes.On Normal, they take a fair amount of damage, but it's reasonable.

I love how sometimes you think you've killed someone, but you've actually only knocked them to the ground. Suddenly someone you thought was dead is shooting you while they're lying on the ground bleeding.

I think this will be my GoTY. I'm liking it more than Dead Space (which isn't to say Dead Space isn't awesome. It is. I just think FC2 trumps it).

[Young Al Capone]

Q:The best thing about injuring but not killing an enemy?

A: Molotov cocktails, clearly. Especially if they are in the middle of a grass field.

[Crittias]

Q:The best thing about injuring but not killing an enemy?

A: Molotov cocktails, clearly. Especailly if they are in the middle of a grass field.Dude, that's sick!

...

(Rushes home from work to try it)

[Goronmon]

On Normal, they take a fair amount of damage, but it's reasonable.You know, I wonder if the damage enemies take mirrors how the damage the player takes in that there are stages of being injured and you heal back to full on a given stage after not getting hit for a while.

It just seems that occasional bursts of fire are less effective than sustaining fire until the enemy is down.

[Young Al Capone]

Dude, that's sick!

...

(Rushes home from work to try it)

I do what I can. In a less stable country I fear I might make for a very loathsome individual.

[Bingley Joe]

The waterfall (NE segment of the map) is very pretty. And worth visiting.

The game setting reminds me a lot of many of the Caribbean islands I've visited. Never been to Africa, can't speak to authenticity there. :)

The authenticity is one of the things I'm most interested in, myself.. I've spent a fair amount of time in both Ghana and Kenya, and I'm really curious to see how evocative they've managed to make things.

The screens and videos I've seen so far really did look a lot like parts of Kenya to me, and by all accounts, they've tried pretty hard to make the environment a 'best of' African back-country (if such a thing can even be imagined).. can't wait to spend some time just roaming around.


With that in mind, how dangerous is it to just go exploring? Are there any random encounters to speak of, or is the combat basically confined to roads and encampments?

[Re3x]

The Flamethrower is the god send.

But I stopped playign last night when I had to go to Mikes Bar and no one was at the arms dealer....

[National Kato]

With that in mind, how dangerous is it to just go exploring? Are there any random encounters to speak of, or is the combat basically confined to roads and encampments?

Oh, there's plenty of 'random' encounters, but they might just be on roads (as far as I've played). Jeep patrols being the most frustrating and numerous. Just part and parcel of being in a country falling into civil war, I guess.

[Goronmon]

But I stopped playign last night when I had to go to Mikes Bar and no one was at the arms dealer....Check your current mission objective by hitting Esc.

[Young Al Capone]

...the environment a 'best of' African back-country (if such a thing can even be imagined)..

It is real, I think it is called Heaven but I am not positive.

With that in mind, how dangerous is it to just go exploring? Are there any random encounters to speak of, or is the combat basically confined to roads and encampments?

Not too terribly dangerous as far as I can tell. I was stranded after a firefight took out my Jeep and had to go treking (for like ten minutes!) through the woods and I didn't see anyone hostile.

[National Kato]

Check your current mission objective by hitting Esc.

Same thing happened to me when I went to Mike's. I must've spent a good 20 minutes driving back and forth, wondering what I was missing, sleeping through to night in case it was only open late. Then I read my journal and felt like an idiot. :D

[Young Al Capone]

Same thing happened to me when I went to Mike's. I must've spent a good 20 minutes driving back and forth, wondering what I was missing, sleeping through to night in case it was only open late. Then I read my journal and felt like an idiot. :D

Me too, even leaving a few times to figure out if it was the wrong time or something. I just ended up buying a weapon online for the hell of it and it made the game progress.

I thought I had broken the game, cause I manage to do that more than anyone else I know.

[Goronmon]

With that in mind, how dangerous is it to just go exploring? Are there any random encounters to speak of, or is the combat basically confined to roads and encampments?I would say there aren't really any "random" encounters in the sense that there are random groups of enemies standing out in the middle of the woods.

I mean, the game does a job of making it seems as though things actually fit in with the setting. So, there might be a narrow path leading to a small encampment off the road a bit, but nothing actually truly random that I've seen.

[Goronmon]

Then I read my journal and felt like an idiot. :DYup, pretty much same thing happened to me, haha.

[Crittias]

With that in mind, how dangerous is it to just go exploring? Are there any random encounters to speak of, or is the combat basically confined to roads and encampments?So far most of my encounters have been confined to the bandit camps/checkpoints. But I have run into a wanderer or two in the bush, and certainly been chased by patrolling vehicles if I veer too near a road.

[Bingley Joe]

Awesome! I'm going to spend a ton of time walking around then -- I'm one of those people who never actually used fast-travel in Oblivion and never got bored of traipsing through the countryside (it was other things that turned me off that one)

[H.Bogard]

Good:

Great graphics
Pyromania
Weapon jamming, car fixing and realtime on-field bullet wound surgeries are pretty cool
First person view is well implemented
Faction/side missions are aplenty. I've played for quite a few hours now and only 10% covered so far.

The Bad:
AI can be really really buggy and dumb at times, total immersion breaker.
Weapon carry limit is lamely implemented. For example, you can carry a sniper rifle and a heavy MG, but not a Sniper and assault rifle combination. And why do explosives replace your side arm slot? Bad design choice.
Physics are very VERY disappointing. As impressive as the fire propogation and breakable vegetation is, you can't do SHIT to a tiny hut made out of metal plates with a goddamn rocket launcher.
The level (map?) design fails to provide sufficient opportunities for stealth gameplay. Even finding a good point to scout an area can be hard at times. This wouldn't be pointed out if the game wasn't called "Far Cry 2"

Overall:
Extremely fun game. While it doesn't edge out the other contenders for this years FPS GOTY, it certainly stands out on its own next to games like Stalker, Warhead and BF:H.

[National Kato]

...it certainly stands out on its own next to games like Stalker...

One of the reviews (IGN UK, perhaps?) basically summarized it as STALKER without all the bugs. That's good in my book. :)

As for your issue with destructible buildings: I agree that it would be great to be able to shoot an RPG at a house and have it collapse. But it's a potential gamebreaker. I mean, even games that support destructible buildings (e.g. Crysis) have limits placed so that you don't break the game while fooling around.

Would it be better if you were able to shoot down one of those tin huts but then a day later it's all rebuilt identically because it's needed for the game? Or if you could destroy Tin Hut A but not Tin Hut B, because Tin Hut B is necessary for narrative progression? That wouldn't be realistic either.

I'm on your side in the hopes that eventually, all games will allow you to do what you want to the environment or NPCs - we're getting closer, and those who forget to save their game and break it be damned! But until then, I'm never that upset or disappointed about something I understand from a design and programming perspective.

Ultimately, it's about fun. And no one has fun if they inadvertently destroy something they need to progress in the game.

[H.Bogard]

One of the reviews (IGN UK, perhaps?) basically summarized it as STALKER without all the bugs. That's good in my book. :)


First off, that's IGN you're talking about... and no, its not like Stalker at all. Aside from the factions... but you wouldn't call it Mercenaries 2 for the same reason too, right?

As for your issue with destructible buildings: I agree that it would be great to be able to shoot an RPG at a house and have it collapse. But it's a potential gamebreaker. I mean, even games that support destructible buildings (e.g. Crysis) have limits placed so that you don't break the game while fooling around.

Yeah, but it was still aplenty in Crysis. FC2 has so many realistic elements and physical interactions (breaking and burning trees?) in it that the non-destructability really sticks out like a sore thumb in the midst.

Would it be better if you were able to shoot down one of those tin huts but then a day later it's all rebuilt identically because it's needed for the game? Or if you could destroy Tin Hut A but not Tin Hut B, because Tin Hut B is necessary for narrative progression? That wouldn't be realistic either.

They could've modelled the safehouses/places that were important to be made out of concrete and shit, you know? Add some temporary decals to the walls when you shoot that stuff and its not much of an issue.

I'm on your side in the hopes that eventually, all games will allow you to do what you want to the environment or NPCs - we're getting closer, and those who forget to save their game and break it be damned! But until then, I'm never that upset or disappointed about something I understand from a design and programming perspective.

It is possible in a controlled fashion. But they shouldn't have gone through so many strides for realism and yet left out something that is so apparent to the player like that.

Ultimately, it's about fun. And no one has fun if they inadvertently destroy something they need to progress in the game.

You know, I think it WOULD be kinda cool if you did get penalized for destroying a safehouse. :D

[Bingley Joe]

You know, I think it WOULD be kinda cool if you did get penalized for destroying a safehouse. :D

I always liked how in Morrowind when you broke the game somehow, a simple YES/NO dialogue popped up informing you of this, and asking if you'd like to continue..

I still remember how long and hard I toiled at killing Delvyn Fyr (sp?) waaaayy before I was ever supposed to even know about him, just so I could get a look inside his chests, LOL. Grinding away at skills and enchantments, and perfecting my assault..

By the time I finally managed it, and that message popped up, did I give a shit? Hellz no! By that time, I had already become the most badass motherfucker in the realm, and was more than happy to roam around doing causing mayhem and doing side-quests :)

[Virtual Machine]

I've spent about 3 hours with the game at this point. Having an absolute blast. Did my first convoy hit for the Arms Dealer, which was a HUGE upriver trek, with a few stopovers for boat on boat violence. Some of these guard checkpoints are damned aggressive.

Show stopping moments of concentrated awesome:

- The first time i got taken down, expecting to have to reload form my last save, only to see my buddy come out, guns blazing, and pull me to safety. Then what happened after they got taken down and i was out of Syrettes.

- The fire. I know it's been talked about a dozen times, but burning trees and savannah at night... wow.

- The opening. That little jeep run into Pala was a great setup, the Jackal's appearance was pretty cool as well (Is it just me, or does he look a bit like Carver?)

- The feel of the weapons is great.

- The GPS navigation, broken weapons, and overall feel of first person immersion is awesome.

Slight letdowns:

- The world feels a little "sparse". Not a whole lot of wildlife or anything running around. Anyone come across any packs of non-human inhabitants? I would like to have seen groups of animals (birds, zebras, lions, even Elephants or whatever). As is, the world feels pretty empty for Africa.

- The save system sucks on consoles. The aforementioned Arms Dealer mission took me a good 3 or 4 tries, each of which was preceeded by a 20 or so minute northbound journey.

- Some of the voice acting is pretty harsh. Like the readers are in a goddamn hurry to get the dialog out. The Jackal, and his line delivery early on is most evident. I kept thinking, "Take a breath man!"

Overall it's an amazing game though, stunning stuff.

This year is going to kill us all.

[Nura]

[...]
- The world feels a little "sparse". Not a whole lot of wildlife or anything running around. Anyone come across any packs of non-human inhabitants? I would like to have seen groups of animals (birds, zebras, lions, even Elephants or whatever). As is, the world feels pretty empty for Africa.
[...]

I've seen a couple of zebras and some gazels running around, but only 3 at a time max though, but yea, the wildlife is rare.

[National Kato]

- Some of the voice acting is pretty harsh. Like the readers are in a goddamn hurry to get the dialog out. The Jackal, and his line delivery early on is most evident. I kept thinking, "Take a breath man!"

It's almost like the developers of Far Cry 2 and Fable 2 need to have a cage match. The games are complete opposites in how they deliver dialogue. :D

Before I started the game for the first time, I turned subtitles off. Then, as I'm riding in that jeep with the African guy, I realized there's no way in hell I'm deciphering that accent. Subtitles are now on.

[Reverant]

I was a little worried that the lack of similar game systems to the first Far Cry would hurt my enjoyment of this one, but after getting into it, I don't even care. Fucking amazing game.

[Goronmon]

I love how you can approach missions however you like. Got a mission to take out some guy. So I grabbed a sniper rifle, a little dune buggy type vehicle and drove the long way around to where I had to take the guy out. Was able to find a nice high position looking into the building and taking a guess at which guy I had to take out (wasn't hard) and then Boom! Headshot. At which point I ran back to the buggy and booked it out of there, leaving my pursuers in my dust.

[Schnoogs]

It's no STALKER...

[digitalErich]

You mean it's got polish and went through QA? :)

I kid because I care, really

[ClannerDelta]

Best part yet?

Getting a mission to go up river. Once I got there, I saw my my target. I turned my boat around, hopped out of the seat with my sniper rifle. While slowly coasting back the way I came, I took aim, fired, got the mission completed message. Then simply went back down river.

Was a new experience in gaming for me, so it really stands out.

[National Kato]

I'm playing on Hardcore and I'm having to retry some segments of my missions in order to get the loadout and tactics right. Endlessly enjoyable, because each time the NPCs are a bit different.

I love the buddy system. Completely. I do wish the save system was an 'anytime' thing. I just like to play games as I wish: I'm okay with being given full freedom when your AI is good.

[H.Bogard]

What? The game has quicksave, dude.

And yes, its no stalakar. But its still fun.

[Schnoogs]

So I found a jeep with a machine gun...well I drove into some camp and decided to fight them with the mounted machine gun...I unload 10-15 rounds into one guy and then swivel to engage the next.

Hmmm....looks like that last guy isn't dead. 10-15 more rounds....swivel....still not dead....swivel back....10-15 rounds....still not dead despite enough blood splatter to blanket the earth.

I jump out of the jeep and kill him with my pistol.

FAIL

[H.Bogard]

So I found a jeep with a machine gun...well I drove into some camp and decided to fight them with the mounted machine gun...I unload 10-15 rounds into one guy and then swivel to engage the next.

Hmmm....looks like that last guy isn't dead. 10-15 more rounds....swivel....still not dead....swivel back....10-15 rounds....still not dead despite enough blood splatter to blanket the earth.

I jump out of the jeep and kill him with my pistol.

FAIL

I had worse luck. I was supposed to unlock a safehouse that was at the top of a hill. I make my way up killing atleast 7 guards (two in a jeep) to the hut, and there's this one guy just standing there ignoring all my actions and sneaking around as if though he's looking for me (I was standing in front of him 10 feet away). Totally killed the immersion and excitement from the combat.

[Schnoogs]

This is officially the most bad ass game ever...things are REALLY beginning to pick up.

Got a boat...followed the river as far as I could...talk about bad ass. This engine will give ANY game a run for its money.

(runs back to game)

[National Kato]

What? The game has quicksave, dude.


Not on the 360 it doesn't.

[H.Bogard]

Not on the 360 it doesn't.

That sucks. There's no reason not to have it on the hard drive ones, atleast.

[Crowe]

Wow this game is fucking awesome. Like most Open-World games it takes a good few hours and a bit of variety before it hits the sweet spot. After exploring and unlocking weapons for bit, then doing maybe 4 main missions if that, after cruising down river in absolute awe, and after running around for the first time at night to hear the wind howling and the leaves rustling, and then for it too start raining. IM HOOKED!!!!!.

The missions are as straight forward as they come and like everyone probably knows its about making the missions fun by trying new things. Trying new weapons and tactics is a great idea. Like going all Arnie and using the grenade launcher he used to perfection in Terminator.

Something I just did as of 3 minutes ago. It's middle of the night, I fly in on a jeep straight between 2 enemies, jump out of the car turn around shoot a grenade at the jeep following at me blowing everyone up at the same time while lighting my screen up and putting a huge smile of satisfaction on my face.

I've been on it for long enough to know whether I'm going to like this game, and I can tell now that as I unlock more gadgets and try new things, I'm going to love this game more and more. With open ended games, I always give them a few more hours than I would a linear game. Just like with S.T.A.L.K.E.R I found this to be 'just another' game for the first couple of hours, but I'm in love with it now just like I was with S.T.A.L.K.E.R after a good session.

P.S. I cant wait to try this on the 40 inch, it won't run as well as it does on the 19inch and I will have to have everything on low or maybe medium with some serious frame problems, but It will still blow my mind.

[Young Al Capone]

The Flare Gun= best weapon I have ever used.

Hyperbole to be sure, but damn if it isn't satisfying to scout a camp, launch a flare into it to start a huge fire and then assassinate your target while everyone is freaking out. Or to just shoot someone point blank with it.

[scythe]

If you want the extra GameStop pre-order missions, the code (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738393) is THaCupR4.
Enter it in Main Menu > Additional Content > Promotional Content.

Coolest moment for me yet: accidentally throwing a grenade at an ammo box in a shed and seeing bullets go off like popcorn for a good 20 seconds, murdering everyone inside. :D

[National Kato]

If you want the extra GameStop pre-order missions, the code (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738393) is THaCupR4.
Enter it in Main Menu > Additional Content > Promotional Content.

My code was different, so I'm not sure if it only works once - I would assume it does. The real question is: how/where do you play these missions? Do they just get mixed in with the rest?

Last night, I played Far Cry 2 for about 5 hours. This game has definitely become a contender for my GOTY (Fallout 3, I'm looking at you). Because of the limited save system, I actually have to plan out my travels so that I'm properly loaded out and prepared for the task at hand - except I never know what I'm going to be up against. Several missions have thrown curveballs at me and I've been forced to rethink my approach, or even worse, backtrack through dangerous outposts and roadblocks to find additional syrettes or ammo. Yes, I'm playing without reloading saves (except when I die). Do I take a sniper rifle and risk being outgunned if the enemy rushes me? Or do I load out with some SMGs and bring myself face-to-face with those I have to kill?

Add to that one of the most realistic lighting/weather systems I've ever seen in a game. They really nailed the way light looks at different times of the day. I was traveling down a thin river at dusk, wildfires raging on the upwind bank. The smoke hung over the water...I swear for a second I felt like Cpt. Willard hunting for the rogue Colonel Kurtz. :D Another time I just stood on a stony ridge scouting a shantytown as the breeze slowly picked up with the rising sun. Absolutely beautiful.

[scythe]

My code was different, so I'm not sure if it only works once - I would assume it does. The real question is: how/where do you play these missions? Do they just get mixed in with the rest?

There are many different codes, but there doesn't seem to be any limit on number of uses. That code was posted on the Steam Forums and several people (including myself) have used it successfully.

Not really sure about how to play them, but my best guess would be that they get mixed in with the other side missions. I think my in-game stats sheet shows 40 side missions available... it would be interesting to see if the number goes up after you input the code.

[Crittias]

I'm playing on PC, and with the ability to save anywhere via Quicksave or the menu save, I just wasn't really getting the point of safehouses. But on the consoles, I guess safehouses are your only option for saving?

[National Kato]

But on the consoles, I guess safehouses are your only option for saving?

Not just the safehouses. There are save spots in many buildings (Mike's Bar, Pala, bus stations, etc.). The true use of safehouses for me is to advance the time of day. I don't know/haven't found a way to do it otherwise?

[Tayaya]

I was gonna skip this one, but after reading all the positive press about it, and these awesome stories here about the different ways you guys are going nuts assaulting camps and the like, I decided I'd be a fool for passing on it.

Bought it yesterday on my lunch hour, but last night was devoted to finishing up Dead Space. While I'm sad that ride is over, I'm looking forward to tearing into this one for the weekend.

[RandoM51]

Feels like Jagged Alliance turned into an FPS, which is a good thing.

It plays a lot like mercenaries 2, while looking much better. Mercenaries on the other hand had better vehicles and better destructibility.

I'm enjoying it although the mission variety---there really isn't any---is getting kind of stale. Every mission so far has been A. Go here, kill every aggro mob in range, B. Kill somebody in a building, pickup something in a building, blow up something with explosives.

AI is a mixed bag. Play this on harcore or whatever the level above normal is if you're playing on PC as normal will not be a challenge. I've put 10+ hours into it without ever needing a buddy revive, for example. Wait, that isn't true, I did need it once when I was knocked out from fall damage.

[Purple Santa]

The immersion is really what's hooking me. When I pulled a bullet out of my arm with my teeth and a shard of glass out of my leg after my car got shot up, I was hooked.

There are a lot of really nice touches going on here and I'm sure I'll just find more and more as the game goes on.
Your observation has sold me on this game. Now only to find the time to play...

Good:

Great graphics
Pyromania
Weapon jamming, car fixing and realtime on-field bullet wound surgeries are pretty cool
First person view is well implemented
Faction/side missions are aplenty. I've played for quite a few hours now and only 10% covered so far.

The Bad:
AI can be really really buggy and dumb at times, total immersion breaker.
Weapon carry limit is lamely implemented. For example, you can carry a sniper rifle and a heavy MG, but not a Sniper and assault rifle combination. And why do explosives replace your side arm slot? Bad design choice.
Physics are very VERY disappointing. As impressive as the fire propogation and breakable vegetation is, you can't do SHIT to a tiny hut made out of metal plates with a goddamn rocket launcher.
The level (map?) design fails to provide sufficient opportunities for stealth gameplay. Even finding a good point to scout an area can be hard at times. This wouldn't be pointed out if the game wasn't called "Far Cry 2"

Overall:
Extremely fun game. While it doesn't edge out the other contenders for this years FPS GOTY, it certainly stands out on its own next to games like Stalker, Warhead and BF:H.

Nice mini-review. This thread has been awesome to someone like myself who didn't play the first (I know, I should be tarred and feathered...thrown out of the gaming community) and certainly didn't have FC2 on my radar. But the buzz around here I had to look...and glad I did. The games sounds awesome! Threads like this is why gaming communities are so great...

[Schnoogs]

I want to go home sick so I can play this.

[Young Al Capone]

I want to go home sick so I can play this.

You know, I was thinking the exact same thing earlier this morning. I have even been considering calling in during my lunch break and saying I have some sort of emergency to tend to. I am not going to though, that sort of shit always seems to bite me in the ass.

At least I work early, 2:30 cannot come soon enough.

[Tayaya]

I'm thinking about cutting my afternoon at work short too.... Boss is being a dipshit today so I just want to get away from him anyway, and there's Farcry waiting for me at home.

[National Kato]

That's the great thing about being the boss on slow Fridays: I get to close up and go home and play. :D (but not until 4 pm...i mean, i have to make money)

[Young Al Capone]

That's the great thing about being the boss on slow Fridays: I get to close up and go home and play. :D (but not until 4 pm...i mean, i have to make money)

My boss just doesn't show up, as the place is so damn big that no one notices and holds him accountable.

[Jackel]

Favorite Moment so far....drove into a Guard outpost and smashed my jeep into another causing a massive explosion / fire...grabbed a second one to escape the survivors...only to find a gazelle running alongside me during my escape.

Needless to say I turned to the right slightly to run it over lol.

[scythe]

Yeah the animal life is kind of fun to mess around with but I was extremely disappointed at the lack of blood when I slashed a deer with my machete.

[axion]

BTW there have been newer new drivers released yesterday, 180.43. For clarification these are the second set of drivers for Far Cry 2.

[Crittias]

BTW there have been newer new drivers released yesterday, 180.43. For clarification these are the second set of drivers for Far Cry 2.They cost me 4-5fps in Vista64. I'll probably revert to the 178.13 drivers.

[Schnoogs]

I was a bit upset when I dove into the river and wasnt greeted by an angry alligator or something.

[Virtual Machine]

Saw my first sunset last night. MAN o MAN. This game is one beautiful experience. I know you can advance time at the safehouses, but it seems like the day/night cycle moves extremely slow ordinarily, which is a refreshing change from say, Fable 2, where it turns dark what feels like every 5 minutes.

[scythe]

Saw my first sunset last night. MAN o MAN. This game is one beautiful experience. I know you can advance time at the safehouses, but it seems like the day/night cycle moves extremely slow ordinarily, which is a refreshing change from say, Fable 2, where it turns dark what feels like every 5 minutes.

Yeah the god rays are amazing in this game. The moon looks a little hokey though. It actually startled me the first time I saw it since it's so huge.

[Crittias]

Yeah the god rays are amazing in this game. The moon looks a little hokey though. It actually startled me the first time I saw it since it's so huge.Africa is closer to the moon than Texas is, scythe. Duh.

[Lekon]

Some other things I noticed: The AI is either really sneaky.. or really dumb. There isn't too much middle ground it seems.

The reviews I read from Eurogamer apparently were wrong. Enemy Guns DO jam. It happened on a mission in .. well, a mess of a place. I was going through alleys and twisted metal using a flamethrower. Guy takes a shot at me, starts screaming "God, No, no, not now, work damn you, work!" while punching his ak-47. Well. He punched it for a few moments before the burning sensations changed his priorities.

[CES]

After having some time to get used to the game, I have to say this. It is completely awesome, thought the fire propgation is a bit of a bastard when you find your former escape route now in flames.

Incidentally, how are people handling the "stealth" weapons? IED's are a whole new level of fun.

[National Kato]

I've not yet bought any IEDs. I find myself still attempting missions in the day and thus need to loadout with some good assault rifles.

[Crittias]

BTW there have been newer new drivers released yesterday, 180.43. For clarification these are the second set of drivers for Far Cry 2.

They cost me 4-5fps in Vista64. I'll probably revert to the 178.13 drivers.Doh! I flipped the outputs. The new drivers gave me a 4-5fps improvement! Yay!

[Crittias]

After having some time to get used to the game, I have to say this. It is completely awesome, thought the fire propgation is a bit of a bastard when you find your former escape route now in flames.

Incidentally, how are people handling the "stealth" weapons? IED's are a whole new level of fun.I need to try out some IEDs. It seems like their use would be limited but very fun. I wonder what the camo outfit does for you, has anyone tried it yet?

[Bingley Joe]

Goddamnit you guys, stop having so much fun with this game!!! I was forced to hold off until next pay, and now all I want to do it hop out to EB and pick it up anyway :p

[Disgustipated]

BTW there have been newer new drivers released yesterday, 180.43. For clarification these are the second set of drivers for Far Cry 2.

Doesn't make sense. The previous ones were 180.44.

[axion]

No they were 180.42, I have the zip sitting in my trash.

[Disgustipated]

No they were 180.42, I have the zip sitting in my trash.

Then explain how I have the 180.44's. :confused:

[axion]

You must have a magic PC.

[digitalErich]

I need to try out some IEDs. It seems like their use would be limited but very fun. I wonder what the camo outfit does for you, has anyone tried it yet?
If you crouch in grass you are much harder to see when you have this.

So, how doe IEDs work? Can I strap one to the jeep I'm using? Can I remote detonate them?

I just started the game today and I'm loving it, outside of having way too many of those encounters with the random jeep patrols. They need to cut those down to about 25% of what they are now. They are Ok, but every time I have to go somewhere for a mission, I can't help but think "God dammit, I know I'm going to have to stop 3 or 4 times between here and there to fight those god damn patrols."

I can't wait until someone finds a way to mod those encounters so they occur less often or not at all.

[Schnoogs]

The IEDs rule.

I had to take out a caravan....I found a bridge and crashed a car at one end...placed an IED at the middle of the bridge. The caravan drove onto the bridge and I detonated the IED right after they stopped at the car.

KABOOM!!! Cars flying every which way.

[Housemixer]

I really hate the respawn time in FC2. You clear out a guard post, and 5 minutes later when you return after having finished your mission it's like you were never there, everbody is alive again. Otherwise I'm having a lot of fun with the game.

[Schnoogs]

I really hate the respawn time in FC2. You clear out a guard post, and 5 minutes later when you return after having finished your mission it's like you were never there, everbody is alive again. Otherwise I'm having a lot of fun with the game.

That's a good observation...it would be cool if the outposts went through a cycle...you clear them out...they get looted...some faction tries to re-establish itself...they rebuild it...change the gun placement...then you take it out again.

[Nura]

That's a good observation...it would be cool if the outposts went through a cycle...you clear them out...they get looted...some faction tries to re-establish itself...they rebuild it...change the gun placement...then you take it out again.

Yea, that would be sweet. And again, i really hope they release some sort of SDK, even though it has been mentioned before that Ubi doesn't really do that sort of thing :(

[Crittias]

Cool! I just found a hang-glider! Not surprising to find one in a Far Cry game I guess, but it was still a fun little easter egg.

[JayK47]

Glad to see so many of you are having fun with the game. I am too. It really is WAY better than I thought it would be. I essentially hated Far Cry. This game is not Far Cry. Thank God. I have the PC version, and it looks and runs great on an 8800GT. I was worried it would run like ass on high settings like Stalker Clear Sky did. What a pleasant surprise. It sounds like the PC version may be a bit buggy. I can't use machine gun placements. if I do, I get stuck on them and have to reload. And they can be so much fun:( Besides that one bug, everything else seems fine. The PC version lets you save anywhere. Suck on that 360 users;)

[digitalErich]

I thought I was getting stuck on emplacements too, but it's really just a bug with the key mapping. No matter what you change your keys to, it never remaps E from Exit for the gun emplacements. Just press E to release no matter what you have Use bound to.

[JayK47]

I tried that, figuring that may be the issue. It didn't work for me. Right now I am not really using E. Too bad you can't map one function to 2 keys like so many other PC games. The question is, can I wait for the patch? With so many other games to play right now, I just may;)

[Nura]

Slight offtopic, kind of..

Widescreen fix tool (http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=143018#143018) for those of us who has a widescreen! (haven't tried the tool out yet)

[Zrikz]

Have only put in about 2 hours so far, but its great so far. I too hate the damn guard post respawn, but meh, they are easy enough to take care of.

[Deadend]

I really hate the respawn time in FC2. You clear out a guard post, and 5 minutes later when you return after having finished your mission it's like you were never there, everbody is alive again. Otherwise I'm having a lot of fun with the game.

Ah, that sucks, I wish you could have it so capturing guard points would make it so that when it gets respawned it is manned by your allies, and by that I mean, a neutral party that likes the player.

[National Kato]

I've experienced so many great moments over the last 24 hours...there's nothing like flushing your enemy out into the open and keeping them corraled like setting a wildfire in a high wind afternoon. Then, from a dusty ridge a few hundred yards away, your scoped bolt action rifle as you pick them off, one by one. I felt like the fucking Man with No Name. :D

The way cookfires at night will paint the horizon like beating, red hearts? How you can see them hundreds of yards away against the night sky? Sneaking up on them, knowing they'll be too nightblind to mount a defense against your assault?

Seriously, I'm really enjoying this game.

[SilentScreams]

This game is awesome, apart from the occasional graphical glitch.
Every now and again after a loading screen all the trees and bushes turn really blocky. The only way I've found to fix it is by closing down the game and reloading.

Cool! I just found a hang-glider! Not surprising to find one in a Far Cry game I guess, but it was still a fun little easter egg.

Yeah I found one too, but I couldn't figure out how to work it in time. That was painful.

[Virtual Machine]

Haven't managed to get to any high ground yet. I did get into a really deep chasm in the northeast side of the map with a waterfall at the end and a bridge running along the top of it, man it was WAY up there too. Roamed around that place for the better part of an hour trying to find the route to that bridge. Also just finished an AMAZING mission. I really love the 2-tiered mission structure, how your Buddy always gets you involved in some kind of subplot to the main mission strand. And the missions are considerably more detailed than reviews would have you believe. Sure they are of the "go here, kill this" variety, but there's enough meat on the bones to make them seem much more detailed.

And that Desert in the northeastern corner is awesome!

I'm curious to see how much the mission strands change from person to person depending on what buddies you have/factions you work for. I spent the better part of 8 hours with this game yesterday, and i'm really still nowhere in the grand scheme of it all. I could see the 50 hour claim on the retail box being accurate.

[Reverant]

Quicksave freaks be warned: FC2 makes a separate quicksave every time you hit the button. I amassed over 300 save files (yeah yeah) the past couple days, coming out to about 900megs.

[Zrikz]

Quicksave freaks be warned: FC2 makes a separate quicksave every time you hit the button. I amassed over 300 save files (yeah yeah) the past couple days, coming out to about 900megs.

Thats not too bad.. you shoulda played the witcher. It did the same thing, except each save file was like 10 megs each, so I had like 10 gigs of save files before the end of the game and I was like WTF, where is my hd space going?

[Schnoogs]

One thing that made Far Cry and now Crysis such an amazingly immersive experience was being able to go prone and use the environment as concealment.

Far Cry 2 fails at both...not being able to go prone and not allowing for realistic concealment. I've routinely been behind thick vegetation yet still got shot at and have been spotted by guys who would never spotted me in the real world.

And what's up with the lack of a stealth kill. Even with the machete the guy screams loud enough to alert the entire base.

[Nura]

One thing that made Far Cry and now Crysis such an amazingly immersive experience was being able to go prone and use the environment as concealment.

Far Cry 2 fails at both...not being able to go prone and not allowing for realistic concealment. I've routinely been behind thick vegetation yet still got shot at and have been spotted by guys who would never spotted me in the real world.

And what's up with the lack of a stealth kill. Even with the machete the guy screams loud enough to alert the entire base.

Yea, the concelment thing is kind of annoying :/ but stealthkills are possible with a silenced gun and headshots.

Also i've just found out, that if you sprint, and then press crouch, you make a sliding move!

[tombofsoldier]

Bloody damned game overheats my processor. It runs fine on max settings sure, and I can run Crysis on all high without my cpu overheating. But no, not this game. Same thing was happening with ME Pc version until I got a fan made patch that fixed it.

[axion]

I feel like there are some controls/actions that aren't really explained to you but are available, like the slide crouch thing. Is there a way to check the previous tutorials/hints that have been given to you? I know I forgot which button to press to change the map scale, and there was nowhere to find out in the controls section.

[SilentScreams]

One thing that made Far Cry and now Crysis such an amazingly immersive experience was being able to go prone and use the environment as concealment.

Far Cry 2 fails at both...not being able to go prone and not allowing for realistic concealment. I've routinely been behind thick vegetation yet still got shot at and have been spotted by guys who would never spotted me in the real world.

And what's up with the lack of a stealth kill. Even with the machete the guy screams loud enough to alert the entire base.

I agree on this. I just did an assassination mission, and I had the idea to try and get in, kill the guy and get out before anybody noticed. Not to be.
I took out 2 guards with the dart rifle, but as soon as I went in close and whacked somebody from behind with a machete, the whole place errupted and I ended up breaking out my "plan B" (LMG).

[tombofsoldier]

Bleh, apparently overheating is a universal problem, it doesn't matter almost what specs you have the game will overheat on a pc. That just sucks.

[Nura]

I feel like there are some controls/actions that aren't really explained to you but are available, like the slide crouch thing. Is there a way to check the previous tutorials/hints that have been given to you? I know I forgot which button to press to change the map scale, and there was nowhere to find out in the controls section.

It's R to change the scale :)
but yea, some kind of tutorial overview would be nice to have.

I agree on this. I just did an assassination mission, and I had the idea to try and get in, kill the guy and get out before anybody noticed. Not to be.
I took out 2 guards with the dart rifle, but as soon as I went in close and whacked somebody from behind with a machete, the whole place errupted and I ended up breaking out my "plan B" (LMG).

i find that for stealth kills then only thing that really works is the dart rifle, and the silenced gun. The manchete makes them scream ;/

Bleh, apparently overheating is a universal problem, it doesn't matter almost what specs you have the game will overheat on a pc. That just sucks.

That sounds odd, i haven't experienced any heat problems, and i've been playing it for hours on end.

[Jackel]

I haven't had any heat issues either...and I run this on a laptop.

[Codicier]

Bleh, apparently overheating is a universal problem, it doesn't matter almost what specs you have the game will overheat on a pc. That just sucks.

Really? How long have you played? I played for about 4-5 hours straight last night and nary a hitch. I've got most of the settings maxed. It does use the CPU very heavily though.

I have so many stories to relate from that 4-5 hour time period. I can't even remember all of them anymore:

Driving down the road in that dune buggy type thing, I pulled out my map while driving and looked down to check it for a second. As I look up, out of nowhere, a technical is bearing down on me from ahead. I jink to the right side slightly but their left wheels still ride up the left of my buggy as they swipe past and as I look back I see the technical flip sideways into the air to land on it's hood by the side of the road.

===

Walking down the road, some crazy fucker in a car is speeding towards me. I turn, pull my sidearm, and fire a single shot through the windshield, pegging him right in the head and making the car come to a rolling stop in front of me.

===

An assassination mission where this target was circling the airfield to the south of the map in a jeep, covered by two technicals. I manage to counter-snipe the sniper in the scaffolding tower next to the airport runway and climb it.

From there I start taking shots at the circling convoy; aiming for the windows of the jeep. I manage to kill one of the target's guards riding shotgun and he falls from the vehicle. I continue doing this for a while until the jeep is badly damaged but still moving.

I return to the base of the tower and grab a nearby parked car. I move overland to intercept the target and manage to emerge onto the road just in front of his jeep, causing it to T-bone my car and stop.

I get out the passenger side door and swing around the back of the car, whipping out my machine pistol and spraying a blast through the windscreen. The driver dies and as the target leaps out to try and run I take him down with a burst to the back.

God I love this game.

[Disgustipated]

Bleh, apparently overheating is a universal problem, it doesn't matter almost what specs you have the game will overheat on a pc. That just sucks.

Wrong. A game isn't forcing your PC to overheat. It's shitty cooling/dust/poor ventilation.

[National Kato]

...the whole place errupted and I ended up breaking out my "plan B" (LMG).

Don't you love "Plan B"? :D

[National Kato]

*assassination mission detail*

God I love this game.

You said it. :)

[Wasson_]

OMG this game...

It feels like it was custom made for me. I just got done with my first venture into the african country side, consuming my whole day essentially, basically just doing side missions and attacking checkpoints...Driving my Buggy around, it's just a huge adventure, wooo!

My new Favorite game, hands down. This game is fucking epic. I LOOOVE having them pull up in their cars and whatnot and try to kill me, blasting dudes with the flare gun and setting everything on fire...omg so awesome. Being able to save your vehicles from destruction...awesome...the health system is awesome....everything in this game is just fucking awesome. It's times like this that I'm reminded why I spend so much time with this habit, this "life style" why we all support and enjoy it. Far Cry 2...I <3 thee.

[JayK47]

No doubt about it, this game is far from perfect. But damn, it is something that is fun as all hell. I have spent all day playing this game, and so far it is the most fun I have had all year. So perhaps it is not the best game ever, but it sure has hell tries to be. And so far is the best of the year. That is to say, you agree with everything I say;)

Pros: Shotgun, sniper rifle. So many games fuck these two up. Freedom to pick my missions. Awesome graphics. Popping a sniper in the head from 150 yards with a handgun.

Cons: Respawning guards. Not being able to fix up a gun you picked up. Jammed guns you picked up. Everybody is out to get you. (government conspiracy). (hey, at least the game prepares you for real life;))

[Deadend]

I don't get it. The game wants me to be sneaky, but it's impossible to be sneaky. Then I die and it wants me to load last save. Sorry, I got lost in playing the fucking game that I forgot to save. Done with this shit.

[EvoG]

*Sigh* Firefox died on my while typing my lengthy observations on stealth, and now I'm not up to retyping all of it. :(

I'll perhaps post about this in more detail tomorrow but in short:



AI is keen if you play loose with your approach. Their direct perception is balanced by your ability to lose them very easily. This allows players that want to MAC-10 or auto shotty their asses through each conflict to enjoy some hit and run 'stealth'. This was my first major discovery about stealth and is verifiable all through the past 24 hours I've put into this perfect game. Keep moving...sometimes...see last bullet!
Get the camo-suit asap! Crouched and stationary and you're practically invisible (in grass, more so in bushes)...do that at night and you're a ghost.
Enemy can be suppressed with enough overwhelming force that they'll go and hide and not even bother coming for you.
Listen to their dialog...You'll know if they're suspicious...move to a new location and wait. Contrary to my first bullet, don't always keep moving... :D


Long and the short of it, I've entered heavily armed camps (12+ dudes) with nothing more than a dart gun shot to a sniper (he would've definitely seen me...another good game balance IMHO), and left with my target/goal completed with no further conflict. I've stealth'd right up to and past and around guys on patrol in the dead of night, with not so much than maybe a hushed "huh?".

The game is encouraging guerrilla warfare in it's most literal execution; come up short on a checkpoint...pull on the glorious SVD and lay down some damage and go in flank for cleanup.

The game ALSO encourages overwhelming force. We talk about stealth but fail to realize that, for example, if you unlock a certain vehicle upgrade for one of your safe houses...and boy is it bad ass...you charge a check point and while rolling jump into to the gunner and thump thump thump everything before they even know what is going on. They scurry to cover or jump in vehicles and it's entirely possible to just rush and devastate before they have time to get a bead on you...glorious.

[digitalErich]

Does the camo-suit open up at a certain point in the game or do I just have to keep running missions for the arms dealer?

In my probably 8 hours of playing I've done one mission from town. I've spent most of my time doing the arms dealer mission, unlocking shit I can't afford yet, and hunting for cases and unlocking safe/guard houses as I pass them.

[EvoG]

Only weapons unlock from dealer missions...the camo-suit is simply expensive as fuck (45 diamonds) so it was probably grey'd out for you simply for lack of funds. :D

[digitalErich]

I can double check, but I'm pretty sure it's not even on my list at this point. With some effort you could fairly easily get 45 diamonds before you even take a mission...are you sure it's not progression locked?

[National Kato]

Stealth is definitely doable, and you don't even need silenced weapons. I just finished assassinating a target within a heavily defended fortification, two stories up, with a MAC-10 and a flare gun. Unloaded the SMG into my target's chest at 10 yards, played hide n' seek with the guards' response (they'll eventually return to patrols if they can't find you - EvoG's right, I listened to their dialog) before sprinting into the tall grass to safety, without a single shot fired in my direction.

Just brilliant.

[EvoG]

@Erich - Yea I caught mention of it in one of the pop-up dialog box's early, and found it on the computer, albeit grey'd; are you checking the very last page, at the bottom?

@Kato - As per my last comment about guerrilla warfare, I've changed my game up from strictly stealth (Silenced MP5 and Marakov, Dart Gun) to long range (SVD), and medium range (PKV) to CQC support (MAC-10). Interestingly enough, of those 24 hours playtime, I still have a shit-ton of weapons yet to unlock...

...and it's killing me not to mention this to someone, anyone, but I have to...for those that have hit a major plot point (it's technically not even a spoiler as I don't discuss the plot at all...in fact it has nothing to do with anything regarding anything...you even learn of what's hidden below straight out of the game case contents...but I hid it regardless :D):

The southern half of the game opens up, and I'm even MORE in love with the way the environment looks and feels I can't even stand it. They managed to make it look and feel different from the northern half! Also it seems to have kicked up the enemy aggression noticeably...wow.

[Disgustipated]

*Sigh* Firefox died on my while typing my lengthy observations on stealth, and now I'm not up to retyping all of it. :(

I'll perhaps post about this in more detail tomorrow but in short:



AI is keen if you play loose with your approach. Their direct perception is balanced by your ability to lose them very easily. This allows players that want to MAC-10 or auto shotty their asses through each conflict to enjoy some hit and run 'stealth'. This was my first major discovery about stealth and is verifiable all through the past 24 hours I've put into this perfect game. Keep moving...sometimes...see last bullet!
Get the camo-suit asap! Crouched and stationary and you're practically invisible (in grass, more so in bushes)...do that at night and you're a ghost.
Enemy can be suppressed with enough overwhelming force that they'll go and hide and not even bother coming for you.
Listen to their dialog...You'll know if they're suspicious...move to a new location and wait. Contrary to my first bullet, don't always keep moving... :D


Long and the short of it, I've entered heavily armed camps (12+ dudes) with nothing more than a dart gun shot to a sniper (he would've definitely seen me...another good game balance IMHO), and left with my target/goal completed with no further conflict. I've stealth'd right up to and past and around guys on patrol in the dead of night, with not so much than maybe a hushed "huh?".

The game is encouraging guerrilla warfare in it's most literal execution; come up short on a checkpoint...pull on the glorious SVD and lay down some damage and go in flank for cleanup.

The game ALSO encourages overwhelming force. We talk about stealth but fail to realize that, for example, if you unlock a certain vehicle upgrade for one of your safe houses...and boy is it bad ass...you charge a check point and while rolling jump into to the gunner and thump thump thump everything before they even know what is going on. They scurry to cover or jump in vehicles and it's entirely possible to just rush and devastate before they have time to get a bead on you...glorious.

Where do you get the camo suit? And how do you equip it? Friend says he has it but can't equip it. Stat enhancement?

[CES]

Stealth is definitely doable, and you don't even need silenced weapons. I just finished assassinating a target within a heavily defended fortification, two stories up, with a MAC-10 and a flare gun. Unloaded the SMG into my target's chest at 10 yards, played hide n' seek with the guards' response (they'll eventually return to patrols if they can't find you - EvoG's right, I listened to their dialog) before sprinting into the tall grass to safety, without a single shot fired in my direction.

Just brilliant.

Stealth seems to be based around hiding on a hill and sniping everything that moves.

A couple things I recently noticed that I really like: Ammo/fuel cookoffs. One sniper bullet and it's chaos. The other is just something that could be straight out of a movie. If you find one of the flammable thin cylinder tanks (not the tiny gas tanks or the big oil drums), you can smack the end of it with the machete and it'll ignite and go flying off, hopefully right into the path of an enemy.

[Nura]

After reading some of the awesome stories here, i feel like sharing a less-awesome story, that just happened to me.

I were on my way to kill some guy as usual, when i stopped at a guard-point, figured i'd clear it out.
I went up to my mounted LMG, and started firing at the bad guys, one down, two down, three down, "this is going well!" i thought "i'm going to have some fun with who ever is left with my MP5" So i jump out, and start shooting some more with my MP5, suddenly i hear the sound of an engine, "Huh, so they think they can take me down if they jump into their cars eh? i'll show them!" i turn 180, and sure enough, there's a bad guy driving like crazy straight at me. "That's cool, no problem, i'll just shoot him in the head, and the car will stop! easy as pancakes!" but alas, my MP5 decides to jam! and i get runned over! :(

[Tayaya]

I must suck at this game because I'm having a hell of a time in the second real mission that you get. One that involves causing a bit of havoc in a train yard. That place is crawling with guys, and whether I try the stealth approach or the gunz blazin' approach, I always end up a corpse.

I'm sure using the starter weapons is a bad idea too. Should I go upgrade them to something better before trying to head into that train yard? I have like 46 diamonds, I think.

That said, the game is definitely awesome, and even though I'm dying a bunch I'm still having a LOT of fun trying different tactics.

[Crittias]

I must suck at this game because I'm having a hell of a time in the second real mission that you get. One that involves causing a bit of havoc in a train yard. That place is crawling with guys, and whether I try the stealth approach or the gunz blazin' approach, I always end up a corpse.

I'm sure using the starter weapons is a bad idea too. Should I go upgrade them to something better before trying to head into that train yard? I have like 46 diamonds, I think.

That said, the game is definitely awesome, and even though I'm dying a bunch I'm still having a LOT of fun trying different tactics.I would definitely spend some time on the side missions so that you can upgrade a variety of weapons. Being able to snipe some of the enemies from a far hill, or blast the train yard with an RPG, or sneak into the camp with a camo suit at midnight, all would be strategies you could pursue once you have some better equipment at your disposal.

[Young Al Capone]

I played this game all weekend, literally. It has been so long since a game has made me want to do nothing else all day. I was even having a hard time getting the motivation to get up and get drinks, I would want one but it would be a half hour before I finally decided to get up and get one. Unless Mirror's Edge pulls out some shit, this is certainly my game of the year, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite games.

I do mostly stealth, rolling with a silenced MP5, IEDs and a dart gun. I will usually sneak in at night, silently taking out whoever I run into and hiding if I am noticed, plant an IED near the vehicles or gas cylinders and then sneak back to the outskirts of the camp to detonate it. It never gets old.

One of the coolest things I did this weekend was just like Schnoogs' story. I had to hit a convoy so I scouted the route, planted a bomb on a bridge and waited, then blew them to pieces while watching from an adjacent bridge and escaped by jumping down into the water where I had left a boat waiting for me. It was an elaborate set up but so worth it.

[Slack3r78]

I have about 15 hours of play so far and am in complete love with this game.

What I've come to realize is that in overall play mechanic, the game is actually very similar to another Ubisoft title -- Assassin's Creed.

You have a vast, open world with incentives for exploring. You have a handful of basic things that you'll be doing a lot. A lot of the gameplay is actually fairly repetitive, but, that said, it doesn't suffer from the same problems as AC did. They solved most of the problem with travel being annoying by adding the bus stations. The sheer variety in ways of completing missions makes up for the sameishness of most of them.

The best thing I can say about this game is that I've been playing it at crack addiction levels the past few days and I'm genuinely worried about whether I'll be able to put it aside for Fallout 3 later this week. I say this as someone who considers Fallout and Fallout 2 to be two of the best games ever made.

[Tayaya]

I would definitely spend some time on the side missions so that you can upgrade a variety of weapons. Being able to snipe some of the enemies from a far hill, or blast the train yard with an RPG, or sneak into the camp with a camo suit at midnight, all would be strategies you could pursue once you have some better equipment at your disposal.

Can I pick up side missions once I'm already committed to and have accepted a mission, or am I going to be reverting back to an older save? I don't mind if I have to start over, since I'm back at the beginning anyway. Tonight will be the first chance I get to really sit down and play it, so I'm sure I'll figure most of it out then.

[Young Al Capone]

Can I pick up side missions once I'm already committed to and have accepted a mission, or am I going to be reverting back to an older save? I don't mind if I have to start over, since I'm back at the beginning anyway. Tonight will be the first chance I get to really sit down and play it, so I'm sure I'll figure most of it out then.

You can do any side mission between missions and apparently some during missions as I have had buddies try to pawn off work on me at Mike's bar while I am already doing a convoy mission for the arms dealers. I recommend doing a few and searching out some diamonds so you can have some good equipment in your arsenal early on.

I have put alot of time into this game but am still considering restarting just so I can spend my diamonds differently. I probably won't, but I wish I had a camo suit and don't care for the shotguns or grenade launcher side arm. Plus I will certainly be playing through this one at least once more.

[National Kato]

Stealth seems to be based around hiding on a hill and sniping everything that moves.

But there's so much more than that. My story of taking out that assassination target in the two-story fort took place at midday. I watched the patrols, times my approach, and...well, obviously got lucky. :D

[Young Al Capone]

But there's so much more than that. My story of taking out that assassination target in the two-story fort took place at midday. I watched the patrols, times my approach, and...well, obviously got lucky. :D

A big part of it comes down to patience. If you are not entirely careful then you will be noticed, and even sometimes when you are entirely careful. I still sneak about plenty and do not get noticed.

The lack of prone is a problem though.

[CES]

But there's so much more than that. My story of taking out that assassination target in the two-story fort took place at midday. I watched the patrols, times my approach, and...well, obviously got lucky. :D

Stealth is no longer something I really need or want since I bought the M67. Aim at a window, pull the trigger, no more room. Also, it's equipped in the pistol/SMG slot so you can retain your main weapon and flamethrower. Dont use the flamethrower? You suck at the game, go use it.

[Schnoogs]

I gave up looking for the diamonds...when I saw it was worth a measly 10 achievement points I said fuck it.

I'm not gonna have a heart attack just to find the other 200 hidden through out the map.

[Restlessavenger]

I gave up looking for the diamonds...when I saw it was worth a measly 10 achievement points I said fuck it.

I'm not gonna have a heart attack just to find the other 200 hidden through out the map.

Thus far they all seem to be within scanning radius from the roads, so if your driving along the road I would think you should hit the majority of them.

[Schnoogs]

Thus far they all seem to be within scanning radius from the roads, so if your driving along the road I would think you should hit the majority of them.

I found a couple that were up on hills that I simply can't get to...not worth the effort trying to jump and climb around

[Restlessavenger]

I found a couple that were up on hills that I simply can't get to...not worth the effort trying to jump and climb around

Haven't gotten to those yet, but yeah that would suck.

[Virtual Machine]

Speaking with a few of the guys playing it over the weekend, and we've all got about the same amount of time sunk into the game, but our main faction missions thus far have been COMPLETELY different.

That's pretty bad ass!

[Tayaya]

Thanks for the tips guys. Looking forward to getting my butt home from work and giving this game the attention it deserves. Just been a crazy, busy weekend, and last week Dead Space took all my gaming time. But it's finished, shelved, and it's time to play FarCry!

Until Fallout comes.... then it's going to be a real interesting fight for my attention.

[Virtual Machine]

Thanks for the tips guys. Looking forward to getting my butt home from work and giving this game the attention it deserves. Just been a crazy, busy weekend, and last week Dead Space took all my gaming time. But it's finished, shelved, and it's time to play FarCry!

Until Fallout comes.... then it's going to be a real interesting fight for my attention.

I've been back and forth with Fable 2, and Farcry 2 has all but demolished my interest in Fable 2. Of course, i'll go home tonight, force myself to play Fable 2, and probably wind up hooked on that again... and so it goes.

[Young Al Capone]

I gave up looking for the diamonds...when I saw it was worth a measly 10 achievement points I said fuck it.

I'm not gonna have a heart attack just to find the other 200 hidden through out the map.

I have found something like 40 of them just searching outposts near the roads or rivers, and they have all been fairly easy to attain. I have stumbled across a few out in the middle of nowhere though, and spent some time looking for one in a deep canyon that I never found. I could care less about the achievement, I just want more monies for more gear.

Speaking of the rivers, my earlier assessment that they are difficult to travel by has changed. While the river checkpoints are a big deal, they are not really that frequent. There are plenty of routes that can be taken that avoid checkpoints all together.

[National Kato]

Speaking of the rivers, my earlier assessment that they are difficult to travel by has changed...There are plenty of routes that can be taken that avoid checkpoints all together.

I started using the bus routes to get all around the south half of starting area and not only does it allow you to travel safely and get a free save, but there's always a vehicle waiting for you at the bus station. It's my preferred means of travel, currently. I like to go incognito. :)

[Young Al Capone]

I started using the bus routes to get all around the south half of starting area and not only does it allow you to travel safely and get a free save, but there's always a vehicle waiting for you at the bus station. It's my preferred means of travel, currently. I like to go incognito. :)

Yeah, the busses are really nice, and I like using them when I have a chance as you just avoid check points all together. There are only so many of them though, so I haven't been using them that often.

[Bingley Joe]

I started using the bus routes to get all around the south half of starting area and not only does it allow you to travel safely and get a free save, but there's always a vehicle waiting for you at the bus station. It's my preferred means of travel, currently. I like to go incognito. :)

Yeah, the busses are really nice, and I like using them when I have a chance as you just avoid check points all together. There are only so many of them though, so I haven't been using them that often.

LOL.. for some reason this just reminded me of being in San Salvador in the summer of '98. The city was having a huge amount of trouble with gang warfare at the time, and one of the most distressing issues was that the gangs would often wage this war from within the public minibuses all over the city -- literally doing their drive-bys by picking the right route and hanging out the window or door of the bus as they passed their target. :eek:

Of course, this just as often resulted in the bus being shot at in return.. good times!



On the issue of diamonds: I have found a couple in some pretty out of the way places.. one was on the roof of an outpost -- took me quite a while to figure that out, as I could hear the damn thing, but not see it.. then it was a question of figuring out how to get up there (conveniently located truck + sprint-jump FTW!).

I did manage to stealth my way around the buildings for a good long time though, so that's definitely possible..

Another was up in the north-eastern area near the arms trader.. I could have sworn it was up on top of some rocks, and even managed to get into a part of the map I was clearly never meant to access (had to re-load to get out). I could hear that bastard just fine, too.. turns out it was hidden in a small cave underneath the rocks that was covered up by some boards, and totally obscured by shadows.. I'm sure these are just the tip of the ice burg, too :)

[Young Al Capone]

LOL.. for some reason this just reminded me of being in San Salvador in the summer of '98. The city was having a huge amount of trouble with gang warfare at the time, and one of the most distressing issues was that the gangs would often wage this war from within the public minibuses all over the city -- literally doing their drive-bys by picking the right route and hanging out the window or door of the bus as they passed their target. :eek:

Of course, this just as often resulted in the bus being shot at in return.. good times!

Jeez. In fiction that = 100% awesome.

IRL, not so much.

[Virtual Machine]

Jeez. In fiction that = 100% awesome.

IRL, not so much.

I don't know. Trip to the store for Eggs = ADVENTURE!

Reminds me of a few of my old customers who spent a summer in Mogadishu a few years back. They said it was like Mad Max brought to life, and that AK-47's are nowhere near as fun as they appear to be in movies/games.

[Crittias]

I found a couple that were up on hills that I simply can't get to...not worth the effort trying to jump and climb aroundWait until you locate the diamond stashes that you can only reach...via a hang-glider from a neighboring mountain.

[Wasson_]

I gave up looking for the diamonds...when I saw it was worth a measly 10 achievement points I said fuck it.

I'm not gonna have a heart attack just to find the other 200 hidden through out the map.

they're easy to find...just look at a suspicious point on your map, I'd have to say more than half of the time when you say "I bet there are diamonds hid there." ...there are diamonds hid there.

[walkstheplanes]

I can't find documentation about fast travelling around the world of FC2... I know there are bus stops, but I only see three or four stations around the world.

I've been putting around on boats. It's the quickest way to get anywhere, considering all the patrol stops and traffic.

On land, it's not to bad, admittedly. I just get an assault jeep and either drive through the patrol areas or run into traffic head on and hit "c" and fill the other car and its passengers with lead. Also, I've cleared at least half a dozen safe houses simply by running people over.

[SilentScreams]

they're easy to find...just look at a suspicious point on your map, I'd have to say more than half of the time when you say "I bet there are diamonds hid there." ...there are diamonds hid there.

This is the way I do it. Well, that and randomly stumbling onto them in the middle of nowhere while driving.
I'm sure I miss a lot when I'm on foot though, as I rarely look at my map.

With that said, I'm not really bothered about finding them all, as I'm playing on the PC and there's no achievement other than personal satisfaction, which I get more of from firing a rocket launcher into some guy's face than from finding a diamond.
I already have the gear I want (IED, Dragunov, LMG, RPG), so anything else is just a bonus.

[Crittias]

Okay, I had my "Wow!" moment today:

I was performing a gun dealer mission, where you have to chase down a shipment of arms and destroy the convoy. As I got close to the convoy, I realized that I needed to head cross-country to head them off. I'm bumping and swerving across a rocky, hilly field, and I manage to dump my vehicle into a ditch that I can't get out of. Well, crap.

So, I jump out and start sprinting towards the road. I can hear the convoy coming, and I know I'm not gonna make it there. I keep running, to the point where my vision gets blurry and I stall out. I walk up onto the road and all that's left is a trail of dust from the last vehicle in the caravan.

On a whim, I pull out my grenade launcher, point it towards the receding caravan (now out of sight), tilt it upwards liberally, and fire off a desultory grenade.

...BBBBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!

Mission Complete.

"Holy shit!" I shouted. Total 1 in a million shot, took out all three vehicles with a Hail Mary grenade! As I'm whooping with glee, I hear the revving of engines. I've woken up the vehicles at the nearest checkpoint. I whirl around, and lob two more grenade shots: two more smoking vehicles now litter the roadside.

I start walking around the mayhem, admiring the carnage I've created. Suddenly the hair on my neck stands up. I pull out my dart gun and start scoping the local hillsides. I spot the silhouette of a single soldier. Right when I spot him there's a bright flash. Rocket incoming!

I snap off a shot with the dart gun, and the rocket launcher goes down in a heap. Then I turn and sprint as fast as I can. A split second later there's an explosion, and wrecked cars go flying everywhere. My health is down to a sliver, and I'm surrounded by flying metal and burning grass. I pry a bullet out of my foot, and with flames licking my boots, I high-tail it out of there.

Wow.

And I'm not embellishing AT ALL. This game is a story-generator. Easily GoTY for me!

[Schnoogs]

I've seen it all now...

The jeep I'm driving decides to stall...I get out to fix it...another jeep rear ends me and firefight breaks out. I go back to fixing the jeep I notice some movement out of the corner of my eye...I look over and it's a zebra....the zebra proceeds to run past me right into the back of one of the crashed jeeps...it then falls over dead.

[Hellbug]

I had a pretty great moment earlier while playing one of the later missions in the game. I was making my way through a really big village, and there was a mortar being manned by someone further inside the village. He was annoyingly good with it, but just not good enough, and had a tendency to blow his own comrades to pieces. In fact, at one point he actually saved my character's life.

I was below one bar of health, and two soldiers had just ran around the corner and had raised their rifles to gun me down as I pulled a bullet from my arm, when there was a "whirrrrr" and BAM. Luckily, I was inside a small hut, so I was shielded from the explosion that erupted directly behind the two soldiers, but they were not. It made me chuckle, and I almost felt sorry for sniping the bastard mortar about thirty seconds later.

[Bingley Joe]

I'm up in the north-west trying to get to a decent spot to ambush an arms shipment, but the problem is, I've blown through two checkpoints without stopping - just hoping to lose my pursuers somehow (this is after three similar encounters with roving jeep patrols, so I'm a little impatient to just get the mission over with at this point).

Not gonna happen - the jeep I'm in is smoking badly, and barely moving, so I switch to the mounted gun in an effort to at least deal with one of the three jeeps that are following me... I kill the occupants, and the jeep they're in blows up spectacularly, but now mine is on fire, so I bail..

*I drink more gin and tonic*

I'm taking major damage as I'm fleeing because not only am I still being peppered by bullets, but the brush is on fire all around me, and I'm freaking the hell out and basically flailing.. also, since I've just come off a Dead Space binge, my brain is programmed to sprint with LB, so I've used all my surettes in record time trying to run faster .. :o Also, I am out of ammo.

Finally (mercifully, even), I am killed.

BUT NO!

A buddy arrives and drags me out of the fight and gets me back on my feet.. Not only that, but apparently, the utter chaos I have caused has blocked the very convoy I was attempting to stop! How frabjous!!

Now they are standing around wondering where I am hiding.. WITH MY MACHETE :D

Slice, dice, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

I limp to a (thankfully deserted) safehouse nearby to save, only to find an M-16ish weapon inside that seemingly kills everything I point it at just because I did.


Holy sweet christ I love this game :D

[axion]

I've seen it all now...

The jeep I'm driving decides to stall...I get out to fix it...another jeep rear ends me and firefight breaks out. I go back to fixing the jeep I notice some movement out of the corner of my eye...I look over and it's a zebra....the zebra proceeds to run past me right into the back of one of the crashed jeeps...it then falls over dead.

Something like this? (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k1tovsSbEduAw6OgWa)

[Young Al Capone]

Man, both Schnoogs' story and that video made me laugh hard as fuck. Good stuff, thank you gentlemen.

So last night I have to blow up the gas cache at the fishing village. It is a village on stilts built above a swamp. So I sneak in to the outskirts and take out the only guy at the gas place and the sniper with my dart gun, not being noticed at all. Swim through the village, which is crawling with baddies mind you, and plant an IED on one of the gas caches. I get to cover and detonate it, getting the rest of the village's attention in quick order as they mount boats to come hunt me down. I set the second IED, run though the gas station and slide off the deck into the water, without being seen. I swim back to the outside of the village and scope the petrol station, which is now crawling with fuckers looking for me. I detonate the second IED wiping out the gas cache, three boats and who knows how many mercs. I get out without ever being seen.

Like I said, unless Mirror's Edge can pull out some shit, this is my GOTY without any sort of doubt.

[Ancalagon]

A fellow South African who bought this game says its got some authentic touches. he says even the bird calls are legit. Theres a bird called a Piet-my-vrou which makes a call that sounds like its name - ie Piet my vrou (vrou is pronounced "fro"). Piet-my-vrou, translated from Afrikaans, means Piet my Wife.

[National Kato]

...also, since I've just come off a Dead Space binge, my brain is programmed to sprint with LB, so I've used all my surettes in record time trying to run faster .. :o Also, I am out of ammo.


This made me laugh. :D

I've had so many harrowing 'near escapes' in this game, due to weapon jams, lack of ammo, additional enemies due to coincidence of a technical arriving at the scene (those guys have impeccable timing), or just plain happenstance.

I'm going to be playing Fallout 3 tonight, but Far Cry 2 is still holding my GoTY spot currently.

[Virtual Machine]

I'm about even on both games for time invested, and the race is really damn close with Far Cry 2 slightly edging Fallout 3.

Also found something out about the map you're playing on at the start of the game that blew my freakin mind! (i'm sure some of you have passed that point already game-wise.)

This game is HUGE!

[SilentScreams]

My main complaint so far is with how unresponsive the enemies are to getting shot.
I've shot a guy in the chest 3 times before, only to have him continue shooting me completely unfazed.
Likewise, I've emptied about half a clip into some poor suckers leg and it was like he hardly felt it. I don't expect him to die, but you'd think maybe shooting at me would suddenly become a secondary concern.

[Inspector Fowler]

In my world, there is NO sneaking around checkpoints. If these assholes have the audacity to shoot everybody who drives up, they get what's coming to them. How many times do you think they've shot the guy bringing the pizza or the medical supplies? A lot, that's how many.

[Tayaya]

HOLY SHIT. Since my last post here thanking all of you for the tips, I've pretty much done absolutely nothing but play FarCry 2. This game is fucking awesome.

I am doing much better than I was that first time around. Still a little sloppy around the edges, but I'm turning into a vicious killin' and assassinatin' and sneakin' machine. There are so many things to do and so many ways to go about doing them, it's incredible.

The problem with the game is that it's so subtle about how it goes about giving you the wonderful freedom that it does. To a casual player, it'll look like just another FPS, but once you really get an idea of how the game is structured, and how the game naturally accommodates someone that wants to be sneaky, silent, and deadly just as well as it accommodates someone that wants to dress up in explosives and be a walking death machine it really does turn into one really impressive package.

Only real complain is how fast those guard stations respawn... that is indeed kinda shitty.

Time to go unlock more weapons!

[shunoshi]

Well, I got this from Gamerang yesterday and got to have my first go at it. The little touches that add to the immersion are fantastic. The fact that you have to take cover and pull bullets out of yourself with a needle nose pliers or put out the fire raging on your clothing is great. Dying, only to have your buddy come pull you out of the firefight capping your foes in the face, also great. The fact that I've unloaded with the jeep mounted M60 until it overheats only to find my target still shooting at me.....? Fucking retarded.

Other than that, this game is truly great. I'm looking forward to tearing through it. The guard post guys are mean mother fuckers. I discovered that stopping short and approaching on foot is the best tactic.

[Young Al Capone]

I discovered that stopping short and approaching on foot is the best tactic.

With many of them you can just drive right through. Just let off the gas as you get close and they won't hear you, or at least they won't immeadiately take up arms and instead will investigate the noise. Once you are close enough just gas it through and they will fire at you, but usually won't be able to stop you. Sometimes you will have to repair your vehicle, but sometimes not. If you can take a field around that is always the best, as they are just unpreparred for that and can only take pot shots as you speed away.

At night a boat can just cruise through many checkpoints, as they will be too night blind to see you. Just let off the gas as you approach and try to coast through, occasionally giving it a little wind when you lose momentum.

As for the damage modelling, I agree that the enemies are way too powerful, but headshots work great in this game. I often roll with a silenced MP5 and will just aim for the head and spray and watch the suckers drop.

It makes me happy that so many people are enjoying it so much, it is such an awesome game.

[Codicier]

For the guard posts, just ride around in a technical when possible. Just roll up to the post, hit C and then open up. :D

[Virtual Machine]

Yeah, it really does seem to me that this one is getting lost amidst the Fable/Fallout/Gears of War splash, but it's nice to see that people ARE playing it, and loving it.

I really think it could be my Game of the year.

[Young Al Capone]

Yeah, it really does seem to me that this one is getting lost amidst the Fable/Fallout/Gears of War splash, but it's nice to see that people ARE playing it, and loving it.

I really think it could be my Game of the year.

It pains me to think that people are skipping it, but I am sure that it is true to an extent.

Those other games are great I am sure, but this is one of the best games I have played in a long ass time. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite games. The freedom of approach is just something that can make a game for me, and this game gives some serious freedom as far as options to complete a mission go.

[EvoG]

...yea after my 6 or so hours with FO3 last night, I was missing the fidelity and sense of place in FC2. I'm up there with the biggest of FO fans and I wasn't feeling it the way I did when I first entered FC2's world.

There are parts of the south that feel so much more Fallout-y than FO3 does. I know a seemingly strange tangent off topic, but my point is it shouldn't be getting lost as the experience is bar none the most focused and consistent of the bunch...

[National Kato]

Group hug, guys? Us FC2 fans need some love? :D

I've put time into Fable 2, Fallout 3, and FC2 and by far, FC2 is on top. It may not have the immediacy of the other games, in that with Far Cry 2 you have to spend a good amount of time planning something that might only take a few minutes once initiated. But that level of consequence is something I'm enjoying.

I've put Far Cry 2 aside for a bit to plau more Fallout 3, but that's only because I know when I decide to put FC2 back in, it'll be like a warm, familiar embrace of awesome.

p.s. We should all get on multiplayer sometime soon.

[DiBiddilyBop]

I just have to mention how absolutely awesome the AS50 is. I was looking forward to getting my hands on it all game, and when I finally did, I fell in love. The fact that you can zoom in on a nose hair from what seems like a mile out and take out 5 guys before having to reload (1 shot, 1 kill), it just gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Definitely my favorite gun so far.

Prior to that, I was playing the quiet game with a Dart Rifle and Silenced MP5. Now I don't care of the enemy hears me because it will be the last thing they ever hear.

[Young Al Capone]

Group hug, guys? Us FC2 fans need some love? :D

p.s. We should all get on multiplayer sometime soon.

Damn right group hug!

I am down for multiplayer, but I only have a silver account. I need to remedy that but am job hunting now so it will have to wait.

[National Kato]

Now I don't care of the enemy hears me because it will be the last thing they ever hear.

I'm not certain of this, having never been shot, but I believe they'd never even hear the retort of the rifle before dying. Speed of sound and all that...

Their friends, on the other hand, well... :p

[EvoG]

Hahah...first off no, they'd never hear the bullet...

...more so those that DO, hide; I fucking love it. The fact that the entire country must have heard it as it echo's on and on and on...awe inspiring.

I'm very much down with MP...we might be wise to do some sooner rather than later only because the gaming surge isn't slowing down for quite some time so... :D

[Chill]

Been playing since launch, have about 25 hours invested, and I'm too bored to come back to it now that I'm playing Fallout. Was a brilliant game for the first 5 hours, a great game for next 5 hours, and has been continually going downhill since then. Besides the different environments and weapons, the game is the same start to finish. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but I just got way too bored doing the same missions over and over again. I realize that you can complete any given mission a million different ways, using different tactics and weapons, but its still the same three or four mission archetypes (assasination, sabotage, delivery).

Other things that bother me. Story and voice acting need some major work. My motivations for whatever I'm doing in the game world should be a bit clearer, and I should be able to understand the NPC's without looking at the subtitles. The repetitive missions wouldn't be so bad if there was some impact to the game world. I only completed missions to progress the game/story (diamonds become pretty worthless after you get all the equipment you want, which I did early on). Weapon loadouts should have been more relaxed. In that, you should be able to hold any three weapons you want.

Was a fun game and I'm sure I'll be playing it again once Fallout looses some of its enticement. I just don't think its GOTY. Not in my opinion, at least.

[EvoG]

^Actually I agree with this completely. I'm not blind nor deaf to the fact the game is repetitive, it's only fortunately I get out of it that escapism of being in a different world and appealing to my nature of wanting to shoot stuff; very cathartic.

Fallout 3 - FO3 combat - FO3 graphics + FarCry2 combat + FC2 graphics + FC2 1st Person interaction = Dream Game?

[Chill]

Fallout 3 - FO3 combat - FO3 graphics + FarCry2 combat + FC2 graphics + FC2 1st Person interaction = Dream Game?

QFT.

too short.

[DiBiddilyBop]

^Actually I agree with this completely. I'm not blind nor deaf to the fact the game is repetitive, it's only fortunately I get out of it that escapism of being in a different world and appealing to my nature of wanting to shoot stuff; very cathartic.

Fallout 3 - FO3 combat - FO3 graphics + FarCry2 combat + FC2 graphics + FC2 1st Person interaction = Dream Game?

Pretty much.

As much fun as I'm having with FC2, I'm also not going to say it's a perfect game and I can absolutely see how it would get very boring after a while. I'm hoping with the map editor, we'll see some great custom maps and maybe even some custom missions to play down the road before I get bored with it. I do see the fast-respawn checkpoints as annoyances that the game really didn't need, and the voice acting is pretty much bad straight down the line (everyone rushes through their script). I would also like to see more rewards for exploring and more variety when you do, although I'm not sure exactly how they'd implement that.

What I DO know is that we have a FANTASTIC engine here that pretty much sets the bar for beauty + playability (my medium-powered PC can run everything smooth as silk with max settings) and hopefully we'll see several more games running on it. If one of them was a sequel or expansion to FC2 that fixed the problems that FC2 currently has... well, I'd be more than ok with that.

[EvoG]

Downside to your hopes there...editor is for MP only (at least on console) and is limited to 512^2 meters...

[DiBiddilyBop]

I have it on the PC, so I'm still hopeful :P

[Inspector Fowler]

I have it on the PC, so I'm still hopeful :P

Well I hope that thing is MAGIC because I can't get it to run.

No, seriously though, it's a testament to how awesome this game is that even with the FREQUENT (no more than 10-20 minutes of gameplay without a crash) problems I'm having it's still probably my favorite game of the year so far.

It's everything I had expected and hoped for. Not perfect, of course. But Satisfying Combat + Great Graphics + Open World + Finish A Mission However You Want + Burning Assholes To Death = Biiiiig sigh of satisfaction.

[Slack3r78]

Well I hope that thing is MAGIC because I can't get it to run.

No, seriously though, it's a testament to how awesome this game is that even with the FREQUENT (no more than 10-20 minutes of gameplay without a crash) problems I'm having it's still probably my favorite game of the year so far.
FWIW, I was having the same problem until I let Windows Update run and got SP1 + everything else installed. Vista x64 just FYI.

[Young Al Capone]

I actually agree with most of the complaints; the respawns, the voice acting (I don't have a fucking clue what is going on, and apparently I am a bad, bad man), the damage modeling, the repetetive missions.

I just am completely enthralled with the amount of freedom, especially as you unlock more weapons, that the game gives. A well thought out plan going exactly as you thought is extremly gratifying for me.

[Slack3r78]

The only major complain I have is that, at least on the mission tree I've ended up on, there doesn't seem to be a choice for a 'I'm not quite an evil bastard' line of missions. A bit more moral choice would have been nice, but fuck it -- blowing shit up is cool.

[Codicier]

Oh man, there's a second map. Sweet.

[National Kato]

Oh man, there's a second map. Sweet.

I haven't even seen the west side of the south map yet and I've been playing for over 7 hours. So: 7 hours in and I've explored 1/4 of the world. :D

[Young Al Capone]

I have put in tons of time so far, not sure how much exactly but wouldn't be surprised to find out it is 15+ hours. I just made it to the second map last night, and did a couple of missions there. This game really is very big.

[scythe]

I have put in tons of time so far, not sure how much exactly but wouldn't be surprised to find out it is 15+ hours. I just made it to the second map last night, and did a couple of missions there. This game really is very big.

Wow, I'm 10 hours in and didn't even know about a second map till I read the last few posts. About what is your game percentage after getting the second map?

[Codicier]

Wow, I'm 10 hours in and didn't even know about a second map till I read the last few posts. About what is your game percentage after getting the second map?

Probably just under 50% for me.

[Young Al Capone]

Wow, I'm 10 hours in and didn't even know about a second map till I read the last few posts. About what is your game percentage after getting the second map?

I am not sure, I haven't really been paying attention. When I get home this afternoon I will try to remember to update this post with my percentage.

[JayK47]

Yeah, as much fun as I was having half shit faced, the more I think about it, the more I will be playing Fallout 3 and come back to Far Cry 2 later;) The guard posts are really getting to me. It's a sandbox FPS, so I don't expect great voice acting and a super obvious plot. I do expect that, when I wipe out a bunch of guys at a guard post that they won't reappear in 30 seconds like I was never there. I'll wipe one out, walk away to get a diamond case, and sneak back just to see a guy chilling out on a chair next to a dead body that I was very recently responsible for. Like the freshly bleeding corpse is nothing to worry about.

I really wish they would have put some randomness into the respawn times. I know why there are respawns, but for fuck sake, give me 5 minutes alone. Some douche game designer thought I would get lonely in the Sahara without 5 second respawns.

Mix the respawn times with the level design that forces you into the guard posts, and you basically have to stop every 5 seconds to shoot something. It gets old pretty quick. Especially when every mission is on the opposite end of the huge map. It is still fun, but in now smaller doses. I hope some mods do come out and one specifically address guard post spawn times. That will really improve replays for me.

[Schnoogs]

Just beat the game...now I'm gonna try and get some of the achievements I missed.

The game's amazing strengths were matched onle by its huge shortcomings. Definitely a mixed bag of success and fail.

I look forward to the 3rd one...if they fix the glaring issues it will be an incredible game.

[Inspector Fowler]

The guard posts are silly. I was hoping that "scouting" one would enable you to permanently clear it, or, heck - once you were friendly enough with a faction, for them to man it henceforth. But no such luck.

[Crittias]

The guard posts are silly. I was hoping that "scouting" one would enable you to permanently clear it, or, heck - once you were friendly enough with a faction, for them to man it henceforth. But no such luck.Yeah, a few more tweaks to this game would've really made a big difference. The respawn guard posts is the most glaring issue.

[Schnoogs]

Yeah, a few more tweaks to this game would've really made a big difference. The respawn guard posts is the most glaring issue.

That's one of 20 for me.

Not only did I have to constantly deal with the same guard post over and over and over but I also had to deal with the "Magic Jeeps" that no matter how far ahead of them you are they always some how catch up.

[AgtFox]

Review is planned to go up on Wednesday here. We had Fallout 3 today, will have another big game tomorrow and this game on Wednesday. As a short preview I find this to be the sleeper game of the year that will fall under everyone's radar because there are other "bigger" named games that came out recently or are coming out.

The repawning guard posts is annoying and I can see where people could get bored with the same enemies throughout the game, but then again that is somewhat realistic in an all too realistic gameplay setting. This game is pretty innovative in my mind and if they had tightened the story and voicework up a bit more it could have been off the charts.

[Young Al Capone]

That's how I feel about it. There are certainly flaws, but they are eclipsed by the great parts of the game. It is one of the better games I have played in a long time, but might not ever end up an all time favorite because of those flaws.

[Slack3r78]

Review is planned to go up on Wednesday here. We had Fallout 3 today, will have another big game tomorrow and this game on Wednesday. As a short preview I find this to be the sleeper game of the year that will fall under everyone's radar because there are other "bigger" named games that came out recently or are coming out.
I agree. It's a thousand times more interesting than the bland whatever that, say, Gears of War 2 will likely be.

[Schnoogs]

This game is pretty innovative in my mind .

Someone introduce this guy to GTA and it's dozens of clones.

Hardly innovative but still quite fun.

[AgtFox]

Someone introduce this guy to GTA and it's dozens of clones.

Hardly innovative but still quite fun.
Is GTA and its dozens of clones done in first-person with a map that is always there that you don't have to pause in order to see? That's where part of the innovation is, the immersion is far deeper here in first-person than in GTA and its dozens of third-person clones.

[Schnoogs]

Is GTA and its dozens of clones done in first-person with a map that is always there that you don't have to pause in order to see? That's where the innovation is, the immersion is far deeper here in first-person than in GTA and its dozens of third-person clones.

I would hardly call that innovative...seeing as STALKER was already an FPS and GTA like. Far Cry 2 is NOT the first sandbox shooter.

The map is certainly cool...I'll give you that...reminds me a lot of Doom 3's menu's. This looks more like the evolution of the same idea.

Don't get me wrong...I love the game...it just hardly seems innovative.

[AgtFox]

Would you not say this is a better game than STALKER with a more broad stroke?

[Schnoogs]

Would you not say this is a better game than STALKER with a more broad stroke?

I liked them equally to be honest...I thoroughly enjoyed Far Cry 2 despite its many shortcomings...I will eagerly wait for Far Cry 3. I'm a fan for life....I enjoyed this game way more than Crysis so the franchise is in good hands now.

We need a spoiler thread so we can discuss the Jackal.

[Slack3r78]

The animation blows away pretty much everything else to date.

Game probably makes better use of environmental damage than any other open world shooter I've seen.

[Schnoogs]

Game probably makes better use of environmental damage than any other open world shooter I've seen.

You've never played Crysis then...Far Cry 2 isn't even close.

[Schnoogs]

The animation blows away pretty much everything else to date.

Animation of what?

[National Kato]

In order to be innovative, you don't have to be the first to do something. Far Cry 2 surely does innovate when it comes to immersing the player into the role they've chosen: with both the healing or death mechanic, I don't know of another game that keeps you immersed as well as this one.

[Schnoogs]

In order to be innovative, you don't have to be the first to do something. .

Funny...the word innovate literally means "to introduce something new". :confused:

You might want to rethink your post.

[DiBiddilyBop]

Schnoogs makes an excellent point. Words mean things.

[Schnoogs]

Schnoogs makes an excellent point. Words mean things.

Someone needs to find that Schnoogs motivational poster than someone made over at EvAv.

"Schnoogs....he knows facts"

[National Kato]

You might want to rethink your post.

Nah, I'll pass. I was using the Random House Unabridged definition (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/innovate)that incorporates both meanings:

1. to introduce something new; make changes in anything established.

Words do have meanings. Sometimes, more than one.

Besides, what other games use the same healing and buddy-rescue/death mechanic? Or would that be a first in Far Cry 2?

[Schnoogs]

Nah, I'll pass. I was using the Random House Unabridged definition (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/innovate)that incorporates both meanings:



Words do have meanings. Sometimes, more than one.

Besides, what other games use the same healing and buddy-rescue/death mechanic? Or would that be a first in Far Cry 2?

Epic fail...to make changes to something established you make something new out of it.

If I turned something that already existed into somethign else that already existed that's not innovation. Something new has to be the result.

[National Kato]

If I turned something that already existed into somethign else that already existed that's not innovation. Something new has to be the result.

But I ask again...where else do you find gameplay mechanics such as how Far Cry 2 deals with healing and death? It's either new or it isn't...and I've never seen it before. If Far Cry 2 introduces a new way of healing and dying, then it's innovating.

[Schnoogs]

But I ask again...where else do you find gameplay mechanics such as how Far Cry 2 deals with healing and death? It's either new or it isn't...and I've never seen it before. If Far Cry 2 introduces a new way of healing and dying, then it's innovating.

Just so you're on the same page as us we were talking about it's sandbox like features...that is what I said was NOT innovative. STALKER already did that.

Context is everything.

[DiBiddilyBop]

National Kato also makes an excellent point... The buddy save system is innovative.

Now I'll actually jump in and add something constructive... I'm finding the gameplay has gotten pretty stale going into the second map. As much as I enjoy the open world, I feel like a game has to have RPG-like elements in it to keep things interesting. Once I reached the second map and unlocked all the guns, it didn't really feel like I was working toward anything or that my missions had enough variety to keep me interested. I'll still boot it up when I feel like shooting up some random outposts, but I think I'm done with the storyline missions.

[H.Bogard]

.I enjoyed this game way more than Crysis so the franchise is in good hands now.



Have you played Warhead?

[National Kato]

Context is everything.

Jesus, Schnoogs, is every post just an opportunity to be snarky? AgtFox said the game was innovative. You then replied about GTA and sandbox games. AgtFox then replied about immersion.

You steered it towards solely defining it on a sandbox scale. As if AgtFox had never heard of the GTA series. :rolleyes:

Is this where I type 'Epic fail' or something else ridiculous? :p

[Schnoogs]

Jesus, Schnoogs, is every post just an opportunity to be snarky? AgtFox said the game was innovative. You then replied about GTA and sandbox games. AgtFox then replied about immersion.

You steered it towards solely defining it on a sandbox scale. As if AgtFox had never heard of the GTA series. :rolleyes:

Oh please...so you think because of one feature it should be hailed as innovative?

Then fuck....everygame is innovative.

[Schnoogs]

Have you played Warhead?

Yeah...well sort of...I stopped playing at the hovercraft level...that was so frustrating I said "fuck it" and never went back to it.

It felt just like Crysis...very little change in gameplay or style if you ask me.

[Schnoogs]

Is this where I type 'Epic fail' or something else ridiculous? :p

Still bitter because you fail at understanding the definition of words?

[National Kato]

Oh please...so you think because of one feature it should be hailed as innovative?


Wow, I totally thought your whole house of cards was resting on it not being innovative due to one feature. Imagine that.

Whatever, man. You enjoyed the game as did I. You can carry on your crusade against Far Cry 2's innovation of anything.

[Bingley Joe]

I've found that more often than not (at least so far -- I have about 9hrs of playtime on this), you can easily go around guard posts if you just don't take the most direct route to your objective.

They will sometimes force you to fight past one by putting a buddy mission behind a checkpoint with no route around it, but most of the time I've found that by using a combination of busses, off-roading, and hiking, I'm able to just bypass the checkpoints altogether..

It's not like they don't tell you exactly where they are... I know if I was basically alone in BF-Africa operating as a hired gun for whomever had the most diamonds/malaria meds, I'd be hella careful in planning my missions to avoid the hotspots that got published in the goddamn guidebook ;)

[Schnoogs]

Wow, I totally thought your whole house of cards was resting on it not being innovative due to one feature. Imagine that.

Whatever, man. You enjoyed the game as did I. You can carry on your crusade against Far Cry 2's innovation of anything.

Run along now...let the grown ups talk.

[Schnoogs]

I've found that more often than not (at least so far -- I have about 9hrs of playtime on this), you can easily go around guard posts if you just don't take the most direct route to your objective.

They will sometimes force you to fight past one by putting a buddy mission behind a checkpoint with no route around it, but most of the time I've found that by using a combination of busses, off-roading, and hiking, I'm able to just bypass the checkpoints altogether..

It's not like they don't tell you exactly where they are... I know if I was basically alone in BF-Africa operating as a hired gun for whomever had the most diamonds/malaria meds, I'd be hella careful in planning my missions to avoid the hotspots that got published in the goddamn guidebook ;)

By the time I got to the second map I almost always found a way to drive around or between them...unless the geopraphy precluded it of course.

[Bingley Joe]

By the time I got to the second map I almost always found a way to drive around or between them...unless the geopraphy precluded it of course.

Yeah, exactly. There are definitely some they simply will not let you avoid, but hey -- it's a game about shooting the hell out of things ;)

[Goronmon]

The buddy save system, while cool, can really suck sometimes. I got "saved" one time, which really meant my "buddy" trying to save me, getting shot, requiring me to use a syringe to keep here from dying, all while getting shot at. Which wouldn't have been so bad if 2 seconds after I saved her, she gets up, gets shot, falls down and I need to use another syringe to save her. At this point I try to kill some more enemies. Of course, then she gets up and 2 seconds later gets shot down, where-in I use my last syringe, upon which she gets up, and before I can kill the last couple enemies, she gets shot again...then I get shot and because I've used up all my syringes, I die and have to load my last save.

Thanks "buddy".

[National Kato]

The buddy save system, while cool, can really suck sometimes.

That made me laugh. The first time a buddy saved me, I was unsure of what the hell was going on and expected it to merely be a device, not that the buddy would stay with me and help fight after I was up and healed.

So I was trying to clear this house room by room, floor by floor. I come out of the front door after clearing and turn to see someone running towards me - so I unload a clip into him by pure reflex. Yep, it's my buddy.

[Schnoogs]

The buddy save system definitely has its issues...for one thing it highlighted an issue that I found with almost all of the games animations...THEY ARE PAINFULLY SLOW AND DON'T ALLOW YOU TO CANCEL THEM!!!

Every time I would save my buddy it would cause the slowest sequence ever where my guy would move like a sloth despite being shot at in every direction. I think in real life you would move a shit load faster. Well then of course I end up getting killed.

[SilentScreams]

I've more or less given up on Far Cry 2. The action is cool, but the fact that every mission it gives you seems to be on the complete opposite side of the god-damn map and at the furthest point away from the local bus station it can possibly be just annoyed the crap out of me.
I got bored of driving early on, and since it's what you spend 80% of the time doing, the game is not for me.

[Bingley Joe]

The gliders are cool, but they get shot down too easily in my experience..

What this game really needs is a couple of grass air-fields, some Cessnas, and the ability to parachute into a location. :)

[Schnoogs]

The gliders are cool, but they get shot down too easily in my experience..

What this game really needs is a couple of grass air-fields, some Cessnas, and the ability to parachute into a location. :)

I'm sure I'm not the only one that tried to get into that plane at the airfield.

[Crittias]

The gliders are cool, but they get shot down too easily in my experience..

What this game really needs is a couple of grass air-fields, some Cessnas, and the ability to parachute into a location. :)So, a little Just Cause action would've done Far Cry 2 a world of good: the ability to fly to locations, combined with checkpoints and bases that DON'T reset with enemies after you've cleared them.

[Wasson_]

I want a mod that gives you the Crysis suit...and a motorcycle. This game sooo demands a motocross bike the terrain the openness...everything. And I want to strap a weapon case to the back so I can switch at least one weapon while I'm on the go. I think the flair gun is quite cool...but their is no way I like it better than the M79, which is bad-ass.

[Schnoogs]

I want a mod that gives you the Crysis suit...and a motorcycle. This game sooo demands a motocross bike the terrain the openness...everything. And I want to strap a weapon case to the back so I can switch at least one weapon while I'm on the go. I think the flair gun is quite cool...but their is no way I like it better than the M79, which is bad-ass.

Motorcycle? That might be the best idea I've heard so far in this thread!

[muddi900]

Motorcycle? That might be the best idea I've heard so far in this thread!

Correction. That IS the best idea.

I've just begun playing this game, Its great. But why is it called Far Cry 2. They could've called it Sun of Africa(get it?!?!?) or something like that.

[Wasson_]

It's the essence of "Far Cry", the feeling of not being confined to one set path in a mission oriented FPS. Sure, there is a right way and a wrong way, but never one way.

[H.Bogard]

Yeah...well sort of...I stopped playing at the hovercraft level...that was so frustrating I said "fuck it" and never went back to it.

It felt just like Crysis...very little change in gameplay or style if you ask me.

I don't know what game you played, Warhead was better than Crysis... or even Far Cry 2 in every aspect. But its the kinda game in which your enjoyment depends on how you play... so bleh.

[AgtFox]

It's FarCry in name only. I'm going to guess that Ubisoft wanted to use the name since the original and the other console games sold quite well for them. It does share some characteristics in gameplay to the original, but storywise and scopewise it is very different.

[Inspector Fowler]

As a PC player who had the quicksave demonstrated to me, I refuse to ever be saved by an NPC. F9 FTW.

[biosc1]

So, a little Just Cause action would've done Far Cry 2 a world of good: the ability to fly to locations, combined with checkpoints and bases that DON'T reset with enemies after you've cleared them.

Here's hoping Just Cause 2 learns from it's earlier game and all the games out right now...

[Young Al Capone]

Here's hoping Just Cause 2 learns from it's earlier game and all the games out right now...

It would be more prudent that other games learn from Just Cause, as that is one of those games that was horribly underappreciated.

Let me remind you that in that game you could leap from a car, to a helicopter, which you could then fly 30,000 feet into the atmosphere, parachute for 3 minutes before ditching the parachute and landing on some loser's motorcycle. The first time I did something like this I cried, cried tears of pure bliss.

[National Kato]

As a PC player who had the quicksave demonstrated to me, I refuse to ever be saved by an NPC. F9 FTW.

Except if you never utilize the Buddy system, you'll have to find other ways to increase your relationship with those NPCs. My Buddy and I have a ton of history (you can view your relationships in your journal) thanks to him saving my ass more than once.

[Inspector Fowler]

Except if you never utilize the Buddy system, you'll have to find other ways to increase your relationship with those NPCs. My Buddy and I have a ton of history (you can view your relationships in your journal) thanks to him saving my ass more than once.

But what effect does this have on the game? I've been just plugging away doing missions with no problems at all so far.

[Young Al Capone]

But what effect does this have on the game?

Safehouse Upgrades.

[Inspector Fowler]

Safehouse Upgrades.

Well, every time I do a mission, my "buddy" calls and offers the side mission. I do every one of those. He always seems pleased, even though I never show up in time to help him. It keeps saying the safehouse is upgraded, but I never go into the safehouses except to talk to him.

Keep in mind also - with the ability to save wherever/whenever I want, the safehouses are almost 100% pointless to me. Why would I bother when I can hit a single button on my Nostromo and save myself the drive? :D

Of course, my continued crashing has ground me down to a halt. I have Googled until my eyes bled (well, not really) and after trying everything short of Voodoo sacrifice, I can't figure out why it crashes to desktop.

There are a LOT of people with the same problem, using XP and Vista, using ATI and Nvidia cards. Nobody can seem to find a common thread. Some people swear that turning off v-sync fixes it. Some people swear that using DX9 instead of DX10 fixes it. I haven't found anything to help me yet.

[Voodoo]

...I have Googled until my eyes bled (well, not really) and after trying everything short of Voodoo sacrifice, I can't figure out why it crashes to desktop...

Now I know why mine doesn't crash to desktop. :D

[Bingley Joe]

There's a fascinating interview up at Gamasutra with Jean-Francois Lévesque (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20901) - one of the gameplay programmers at Ubi Montréal, who spent over a year on the fire propagation code in this game alone :eek:

I'd submit it as news if I knew how -- It's a great read, and really made me appreciate how much subtle yet significant detail they managed to pack into this game..

A few choice quotes:

A few months after Dominic told me I had to propagate fire to everything, I had it working in my test environment, and I decided to give it a try in the game.

I launched the game and decided to attack a small camp with five or six guards. There was an explosive barrel there, so I shot a single round into it. The barrel exploded and sets fire to the grass underneath, and the fire spread to the camp and set fire to the hut.

The hut set fire to the trees nearby, and the flames reached a propane tank, which went flying in every direction, setting fire to everything in its path.

One of the guards then caught fire and, in his panic, set more things on fire. Within two minutes, as far as I could see, literally miles of terrain were on fire. Every single tree, every hut, everything. The result was that I had killed every guard by shooting a single round and that my PC was now reduced to a crawling speed.

LMAO.. I've had nearly that exact thing happen -- just glad they managed to optimize the code before I got my hands on it :p

What in-game factors and variables does the fire in Far Cry 2 take into account?

JFL: It's common knowledge that wind affects propagation direction, but it's not as well known that hot gases released by the flames affect it too. It makes the propagation move faster uphill than downhill.

Humidity is another big factor -- you will notice that the jungle is much harder to set on fire than the savanna, and it doesn’t propagate as much there. The same thing happens if it rains or if it rained recently. It takes some time for the environment to dry and starting a fire during that time might prove to be difficult.

Another nice touch is that, if a burning object falls into the water, only the submerged part of the object will extinguish, while the dry part will continue to burn. The game is filled with those details that nobody might ever notice, but that contribute to the world believability I was talking about earlier.

I've seen items burn while floating on the water and thought it was amazingly cool, but I never would have guessed they were actually simulating hot gasses rising faster uphill.. that's just nuts.

Another one of those details is how the sunlight can glint off of a certain type of dry grass (it looks a bit like wheat) just at dawn .. you only ever see it at a particular time of day, and only in certain locations when pointed in the right direction, but it is just absolutely spectacular.

Kudos to Ubi on this one. They've really crafted a true marvel of art, technology and gameplay working in unison here.

[H.Bogard]

If only they'd worked that hard on the AI...

*ducks*

[muddi900]

If only they'd worked that hard on the AI...

*ducks*

Like Crysis?

[muddi900]

Well, every time I do a mission, my "buddy" calls and offers the side mission. I do every one of those. He always seems pleased, even though I never show up in time to help him. It keeps saying the safehouse is upgraded, but I never go into the safehouses except to talk to him.

Keep in mind also - with the ability to save wherever/whenever I want, the safehouses are almost 100% pointless to me. Why would I bother when I can hit a single button on my Nostromo and save myself the drive? :D

Of course, my continued crashing has ground me down to a halt. I have Googled until my eyes bled (well, not really) and after trying everything short of Voodoo sacrifice, I can't figure out why it crashes to desktop.

There are a LOT of people with the same problem, using XP and Vista, using ATI and Nvidia cards. Nobody can seem to find a common thread. Some people swear that turning off v-sync fixes it. Some people swear that using DX9 instead of DX10 fixes it. I haven't found anything to help me yet.

Ati released a new driver just for Far Cry 2 and Clear Skies.

Edit: Also, Safehouses are great for switching to night. Some missions are easier in the night?

[H.Bogard]

Like Crysis?

Crysis's AI is a million times better than Far Cry. Heck, even Fallout 3 has better NPC AI than FC2.