Far Cry 2 [Archive] - Colony of Gamers

darkbase

01-03-2009, 01:50 AM

meh

Got this for Christmas and just beat it tonight. I was pretty bored and frustrated with most of the experience, when I wasn't dying I was driving/walking. The story seemed aimless and I didn't understand what was going on (with the characters) until I would read my journal, and I'm still confused as to why I did what I did with the factions and such, as well as the Jackal's motives. Why did I keep working for the factions to, what I believe, work to hurt the country as much as possible by destroying medicine, supplies and such when I am meant to kill the Jackal? And why did this heartless arms dealer all of a sudden want to kill off the factions and rescue the civilians when he's built up to be this evil war profiteer? I liked what was done with the "buddies" though, that was neat and gripping. I'm surprised to say that I had much more fun with Mercenaries 2, a somewhat similar but less polished game. In fact I played that game to the end three times, once with each character.

I feel bad about trading FC2 so soon after receiving it from a friend, but I'm sure they'll understand and getting 1000 points for it is very nice, going to spend that on Dead Space. I can tell him it's a gift that keeps on giving, thanks to Goozex.

Haven't heard a whole lot about the game and it's still fairly new, thoughts? Am I in the minority?

Libuke

01-03-2009, 11:48 AM

My brother bought it and I played it for a short amount of time until I got bored. The constant respawning at the check points with every single person in the country armed (as well as ever single women and child apparently emigrating out) I just felt disappointed I guess would be the word.

The open world was also not that open felling to me, so many canyons that turned the most of the world into corridors that followed the roads. Like I said I was so disappointed I could not play it for very long, and from much that I have read it doesn't seem like I am missing much.

I will agree the little bit I saw of the the buddy system did seem like a good idea.

KingGorilla

01-03-2009, 11:51 AM

Libuke

01-03-2009, 12:00 PM

"better and more polished S.T.A.L.K.E.R."

Really? People have said that? I don't know how one could come to that conclusion.

fitbabits

01-03-2009, 12:14 PM

Playing through it right now and am pretty impressed. The respawning is a pain, for sure, but it's one niggle.

I *almost* gave up a few nights ago, but I eventually stumbled on a breakthrough and I'm back in it to win it.

Norse

01-03-2009, 12:21 PM

The random encounters almost killed this game for me, but I got used to it. Overall I had a great time with the game once I learned to stay off the roads. I wish the game had a quick travel method that was more useful than the bus.

Tron

01-03-2009, 12:39 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed the game myself.

Hotcod

01-03-2009, 01:25 PM

I'm play it at the moment and enjoying it. Not the best game ever by a long shot but there's still fun to be had if your in the right mood for it. I oddly enough rather enjoy a lot of the driving the games purdy and it's fun picking roots to avoid check points and turn up where you want to be. It's all very repetitive over all but i think in the main faction missions if you do what your buddy wants you get at lest some fun stuff. It's annoying that you can't pick a faction... i'd like to have seen being able to work for one of the factions only or the underground or just for the 'buddies' at the bar and have that effect the way the story played out. Only about 1/3 of the way in but i presume the story is going to be unbending which takes out something that could be very cool.

darkbase

01-04-2009, 12:23 AM

A tip for anyone playing it, get the dart rifle or SVD sniper ASAP.

Grifter

01-04-2009, 12:31 AM

It is Ubi's new direction, do the same three things for 30 hours. If you liked Just Cause, like I did, save for the UTTER BULLSHIT of not being able to fly planes in Far Cry 2, you will get some fun out of it. I do, however, want to put bees into the pants of the people who called it a "better and more polished S.T.A.L.K.E.R." I will start with Brad Shoemaker.

It's in no way a better game than S.T.A.L.K.E.R. but it is definitely more polished than both the original and the expansion. I just can't seem to get into it, it looks gorgeous and runs great I just have no drive to play it.

RandoM51

01-04-2009, 12:34 AM

First couple hours are pretty cool, after that the annoying bits start to add up.

For instance:

1. Not enough bus routes.
2. Guards that respawn as soon as you lose line of sight with their spawn point.
3. Quests that invariably take you all the way to the other side of the map.
4. Enemy AI whose highest percentage attack method is running you over with a jeep.
5. 1+2+3+4 combined make the overland travel equal bits tedium and frustration.

Somebody needs to mod the game such that the guard posts do not respawn at all or oh, say take a week of ingame time to respawn, and get rid of the bit of AI that wants to run you over even when you should be damned near invisible in tall grass.

JayK47

01-04-2009, 12:42 AM

darkbase. I feel sorry for you man. You played a shit game. So did I. We should start a support group. And yet it did fairly well for reviews. I think that is because most reviewers play games like this for about 3 hours and call it a review. And the first 3 hours is where this game fucking shines. After that, it soon becomes a casualty of shitty game design. God, where to fucking begin? Respawning guard posts after literally seconds. A lifeless Africa. Everybody is out to get you. Jamming guns that I have to hit reload to unjam. The whole time my character seems to be confused as to how to unjam the damn thing. Malaria? Not fun. My character seems to be simply trapped in Africa with no real objective beyond stealing diamonds. Should have called the game Blood Diamond. Basically by the end of the game, you should feel a pain between your legs. You've been kicked in the nuts.

Looking back, the game sucks ass. Just like Far Cry. I got duped twice now. Really it is my own damn fault. No more. They may as well make Far Cry 3 a Playstation 3 exclusive. In other words, I won't give a damn since no sane gamer has a playstation 3;)

Far Cry 2 wins the award for best polished turd. I honestly think the game could be fun with a few tweaks to gameplay. Pray for some good mods.

KingGorilla

01-04-2009, 12:51 AM

I don't see what people see as so polished. It is a UE3 game without much improvement, claustrophobic but with leaves instead of girders. Visually it is a drastic step down from say Bioshock. The AI occupies some space between stroke victim and pillow baby (You can take pot shots with a rifle all day long. On the occasion that you come into their magic engagement zone it is straight at you in a Jeep, or maybe around a corner. The AI is the biggest insult to the Far Cry roots. It's OK people, you can say it is a bad game, no one's feelings will be hurt.

Grifter

01-04-2009, 12:57 AM

VerseD

01-04-2009, 04:38 AM

Far Cry 2 is an excellent experiment, like most Ubisoft games. It had some really cool first-person gameplay nuances -- making item grabs and heals and dialog skips all part of the game -- and built on Half-Life's you-are-in-the-scene model. I hope more FPS titles use what Ubisoft came up with, because it showed a lot of potential. And the AI was DAMN good.

The game shouldn't be compared to STALKER, because it doesn't attempt the same degree of realism. It tries to have a fully realistic perspective, rather than realistic gameplay.

EDIT: Does anyone know why this was called Far Cry? It had nothing to do with the first game.

Libuke

01-04-2009, 10:35 AM

EDIT: Does anyone know why this was called Far Cry? It had nothing to do with the first game.

Cash in on the name is all I can think of, it isn't even developed by the same studio.

Deadend

01-04-2009, 02:26 PM

EDIT: Does anyone know why this was called Far Cry? It had nothing to do with the first game.

I don't even know why Far Cry was called Far Cry!

FC2 is kinda shit, I didn't enjoy shooting people, I got tired of running around the jungle for rep... I mean, if I want this shit, I will go play fucking WoW.. at least the AI is better in there.

darkbase

01-04-2009, 02:36 PM

They may as well make Far Cry 3 a Playstation 3 exclusive. In other words, I won't give a damn since no sane gamer has a playstation 3;)

I was in complete agreement with you until that part. Guess I should've stated that I played this on my beloved PS3 :)

Purple Santa

01-05-2009, 06:05 AM

I thought FC2 was better received when it came out. I wasn't going to buy it or anything but a rental or maybe a cheap buy. Reading comments in here now...I'm hesitant to even rent it...

Disgustipated

01-05-2009, 06:28 AM

I thought FC2 was better received when it came out. I wasn't going to buy it or anything but a rental or maybe a cheap buy. Reading comments in here now...I'm hesitant to even rent it...

It's a great rental...

fitbabits

01-05-2009, 06:49 AM

And...I just discovered a game ending bug. Somehow I managed to fall through the scenery in the map and got stuck there. I then quit the game and tried to reload my save - no dice. Pretty annoying.

National Kato

01-05-2009, 08:57 AM

There are a few long threads about this game, darkbase. Lots of opinions and impressions. Just search for it in this General Gaming section.

Sure, the respawning is a pain, but it's minor. Since using the bus routes, it's been a non-issue for me. I continue to get a ton of enjoyment from this game.

Reverant

01-05-2009, 03:26 PM

I gave up after a couple days with this game. Unless a miracle happens and Ubisoft releases an SDK for it, I doubt I'll find a reason to jump back in either. There was a lot of promise, but the repetitive and frustrating nature just killed it.

Lunar Blue

01-05-2009, 03:44 PM

Yeah, my experience was similar to pretty much everyone's. It's a good game in the beginning but after some 5 hours, it just goes sour for the repetitive nature of the simplistic missions that all somehow take place on the edges of the map. I think I played around 10 hours and shortly after reaching the 2nd part of the game I just said fuck it, why am I playing this game again?

Tron

01-05-2009, 04:11 PM

Visually it is a drastic step down from say Bioshock..

One takes place in a dark city under the ocean...the other in the open plains of Africa.

I can see the obvious reasons for comparing them! :p

ShivaX

01-05-2009, 04:21 PM

Farcry2 is great as a game to play when you just randomly want to shoot shit. You don't want to sit down and play it constantly. If you are playing and thinking "I don't wanna fight these guys," thats your signal to do something else for a while.

In small bites the game is great. All at once its going to get boring and repetative. Tech-wise its a pretty cool little game, the flame effects are pretty darned cool, the weapons are all pretty solid and you can do all sorts of neat crap.

JayK47

01-05-2009, 04:23 PM

Sure, the respawning is a pain, but it's minor. Since using the bus routes, it's been a non-issue for me. I continue to get a ton of enjoyment from this game.

Yeah, I went that route about halfway through the first area you can explore. Basically they force you to "fast travel" to avoid a crappy game design decision. Respawing makes sense, otherwise you would literally be in a lifeless Africa. But timing is everything.

I was climbing a hill to a guard post, killed all guards, and saw that there was a diamond further up the hill. The diamond was about 20 yards away. I had to go back the way I came to leave the area. The dead bodies had yet to magically disappear. Yet already, new guards had repopulated the area. A guy was chilling out on a chair right next to some dead guy. From that point forward the immersion was gone, and the game was a steaming pile.

For fuck sake, give me 5 minutes or something. If you wipe out a guard post, let an in game day pass. Or several hours. But this was like 10 in game minutes. It would get pretty annoying when you had to drive across the map and would eventually succumb to the hordes of guards chasing you and you would get killed. Then, your surprise stalker buddy would pop in and help you out, wasting your buddy backup on the way to the mission.

What also bothered me was that every single person outdoors is an enemy. I loved the line you would get for the main missions. "This is a secret mission, our own guys don't know, and will shoot you on site." More like the game designers were too damn lazy to make a working faction system like STALKER or even a crap game like Mercenaries 2. You have a game with two factions who hate each other, yet hang out with each other in a cease fire area, yet don't fight outside if it. Just you. Gee, thanks.

The game was no doubt great looking and had several neat little tricks. But they were wasted on an otherwise pointless game. I'm not seeing any sites dedicated to any kind of modding for this game. So any potential it may have had will no doubt be wasted, like my $50 I spent for the damn thing.

crazyD

01-05-2009, 05:08 PM

I really enjoyed what I played of it. I need to get back to it sometime, maybe when I finish Witcher.

I think I played a different game then the people who complained about the AI. I thought it was pretty damned smart. I was out flanked quite a few times.

RandoM51

01-05-2009, 05:17 PM

Sure, the respawning is a pain, but it's minor. Since using the bus routes, it's been a non-issue for me. I continue to get a ton of enjoyment from this game.

Sounds to me like you're not on the second map yet. The bus routes aren't much use when your quest initiator and your quest target are as far as physically possible from any of the bus routes.

Hotcod

01-05-2009, 05:32 PM

I may be odd in that part of the fun i've gotten from the game is the driving and finding roots to go around guard posts. I can see how it would get boring if you stop at every one along the road root you have to take to kill all the guys. There seems to be some off the beaten track way to get around guard posts on your root... either that or i drive right through them. I've never been killed while just gunning a vehicle through a point. It's only really on missions that i find my self feeling the need to take on a guard post and that is almost always beacuse it blocks the entrance and running past them means i can't go off and find a place to snipe from.

But ya i do enjoy the driving, i use the bus roots as much as i can but i don't mind speeding around. If your trying to keep up speed and avoid the guard posts it becomes a interesting challenge and leads to some fun driving.... like flying off a cliff you didn't realise was there :D

But ya the game has some huge flaws and it's sad since it could have been SO much better if they addressed them. A working faction system would have made the game twice as good as it is even if it was just a simple one... it a game that i'll kill a few hours with late at night tearing around the jungle and blowing peoples heads off. Not the most deep or engaging of games but it's purdy and fun if your in the right mood. I think chunks are the operative word, i tend to do one or two missions before i leave. More beacuse i know it will start getting boring so i quit while i'm ahead.

Tron

01-05-2009, 05:55 PM

Sounds to me like you're not on the second map yet. The bus routes aren't much use when your quest initiator and your quest target are as far as physically possible from any of the bus routes.

What would be the point of the game then if you could bypass everything during every mission?

To me that was the whole point of the game...traversing the plains of Africa and not a Greyhound bus riding simulator. ;)

bryan

01-05-2009, 08:41 PM

The game's good, but what really killed it for me was how great it could have been. Almost every 5 minutes I'm constantly reminded of how this game could have been fantastic if only the designed had been further refined. There's some REALLY stupid decisions in the game, for instance how many bullets it takes to take someone down.

Oh and apparently something in Africa can resurrect your dead buddies, and make them really pissed at you and wanna kill you. Now that was some WTF moment.

Since someone brought Stalker up, yes that is the superior game. There was just something compelling about it. For Far Cry 2 it became a task. What compelled me to finish it was that I paid good money for it.

ShivaX hit the nail on the head. Load it up, play one or two missions, then walk way. Otherwise the monotony makes a bead for your head.

VerseD

01-05-2009, 11:25 PM

The game's good, but what really killed it for me was how great it could have been. Almost every 5 minutes I'm constantly reminded of how this game could have been fantastic if only the designed had been further refined. There's some REALLY stupid decisions in the game, for instance how many bullets it takes to take someone down.

That's all I can ever think of in recent Ubisoft Montreal games. Both Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2 attempted some pretty far out stuff in terms of immersive gameplay. Sure they failed at a lot of it, but they failed fantastically. Because they're experimenting instead of just refining old mechanics, the games are worth playing just to see where the industry might be heading and to get a taste of something different.

Purple Santa

01-06-2009, 05:03 AM

It's a great rental...

I'm sure I'll end up renting it during the summer slow season or if it's in the bargain bins below $20 sometime I'd pick it up. Just not a "must" as it was before...

Slack3r78

01-06-2009, 08:46 AM

FC2 is a great game to pick up and play for half an hour between other games. Personally, it was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of 2008 for me. The Jackal is one of the most interesting characters I've come across in gaming.

Restlessavenger

01-12-2009, 10:29 AM

I recently decided to pick this back up after grabbing it at release and I am having a really great time with it now. Once I decided to just forget about cars and to stroll through the jungle rather than along the roads (also helpful for finding diamonds) the game got a lot more fun.

Now I am sneaking around mostly at night with my stealth suit and silenced weapons and having a blast. Sneaking out of the jungle to take out my target and then fading into the night has been a blast.

Wasson_

01-12-2009, 10:03 PM

Far Cry 2:
awesome visuals, plentiful gunfights, sound AI, awesome fire, awesome explosions, great weapons and lots of them, great effects and small touches to many aspects such as healing and weapon jamming, huge world, lots of vehicles, and some minor RPG elements to top it off.

Excellent Game. If you were dieing alot...you were playing it wrong, topic starter. Keep something that goes boom with you at all times. such as the best weapon in the game-
http://world.guns.ru/grenade/m79-2.jpg
Why the fuck would you ever carry a pistol?! :)

darkbase

01-12-2009, 10:18 PM

I used the Desert Eagle, SVD sniper, and SAW for a majority of the game and it was just fine. I died plenty in the beginning because I would get shot at from all directions and could never locate every enemy in time. The indicators of where you're being shot at were very lazy and obscure, and enemies easily blended in to environments. Countered this by getting the Camo Suit and doing every mission at night, and using the machete plenty.

and

What also bothered me was that every single person outdoors is an enemy. I loved the line you would get for the main missions. "This is a secret mission, our own guys don't know, and will shoot you on site." More like the game designers were too damn lazy to make a working faction system like STALKER or even a crap game like Mercenaries 2. You have a game with two factions who hate each other, yet hang out with each other in a cease fire area, yet don't fight outside if it. Just you. Gee, thanks.

Exactly, that element was so horrible to me. Mercenaries, older GTA games, and a few others like you mention have systems where if a faction is happy with you, they won't attack unless provoked. Far Cry 2 felt very big budget for the most part, so that astounded me.

Wasson_

01-12-2009, 10:42 PM

ltmMJntSfQI
For future reference darkbase...if you ever feel like giving up your machete ninja ways. I have this wonderful instructional video.

darkbase

01-13-2009, 01:15 AM

I always thought the idea of a grenade launcher was silly when I already carried grenades (not to mention molotovs) and had a good throw.

VerseD

01-13-2009, 02:16 AM

Keep something that goes boom with you at all times. such as the best weapon in the game-
Why the fuck would you ever carry a pistol?! :)

I love the M-79. It's so perfect for when one of the fanatical jeep drivers charges you. One shot and bam, problem solved. Explosions in Far Cry 2 are way overpowered, too, so if two vehicles are within five yards of each other and one blows everyone in the area is dead.

I always carried the M-79, the AR-15 or silenced MP5, and the dart rifle, which was just as good as any other sniper rifle only silent and in the special slot.

That's one thing I didn't get: why weren't all sniper rifles special weapons? It's ridiculous that you can carry around a sniper rifle and a light machine gun, instead of a sniper rifle and an assault rifle.

Wasson_

01-13-2009, 07:29 AM

eah, yeah, I guess all part of those light RPG elements, mixing / matching weapon set ups, but the M-79 was one of the most perfect weapons in any FPS, it's fun to use, it's highly effective throughout the entire game and...well, it's bad-ass quite simply.

what would be awesome is a MOD where you can set up exactly how you allocate your dude's inventory to which weapons/type and how much ammo you want, where like, the more powerful the weapon, the more space maximum ammo takes up on top of the weapon it self, like for the assault rifles, even the MP5 and G3 get to carry more ammo because they're weaker, the MP5 especially. Because I would rather have carried 10 rounds for the M-79 than 5 and then 5 regular frags, ya know? But then, you can decide to carry more med-thingys or leave your extra allowed weight open for extra body armor or faster running speed.

Slack3r78

01-13-2009, 09:10 AM

FAL Para, Uzi, IED was my standard loadout.

Bingley Joe

01-13-2009, 10:16 AM

What also bothered me was that every single person outdoors is an enemy. I loved the line you would get for the main missions. "This is a secret mission, our own guys don't know, and will shoot you on site." More like the game designers were too damn lazy to make a working faction system like STALKER or even a crap game like Mercenaries 2. You have a game with two factions who hate each other, yet hang out with each other in a cease fire area, yet don't fight outside if it. Just you. Gee, thanks.

This is true for the most part EXCEPT for one significant instance that I can think of: you can use the flare gun to signal a rival faction to come and fight soldiers in your area by shooting a flare into the sky.

Just stay hidden, send the flare up, and wait for the rival faction to arrive. All hell will break loose as the soldiers from both sides fight one another, and then you can sneak around undetected, or take advantage of the chaos to pick targets off from a distance, etc.

Everyone and their dog will still attack you if you get spotted, but if you stay hidden - especially if you have the cammo suit - the technique works really well, and can be pretty fun to watch :)

National Kato

01-13-2009, 10:23 AM

Shit, Joe...I forgot about that and always wondered why anyone would equip the flare gun. I need to pop this back in for some chaos.

Bingley Joe

01-13-2009, 10:52 AM

Shit, Joe...I forgot about that and always wondered why anyone would equip the flare gun. I need to pop this back in for some chaos.

Yeah, it's actually a pretty fun tactic -- I end up carrying the flare gun quite a bit because of it. That, and it's a damn good way to start a fire exactly where you want one..

JayK47

01-13-2009, 04:50 PM

This is true for the most part EXCEPT for one significant instance that I can think of: you can use the flare gun to signal a rival faction to come and fight soldiers in your area by shooting a flare into the sky.

Just stay hidden, send the flare up, and wait for the rival faction to arrive. All hell will break loose as the soldiers from both sides fight one another, and then you can sneak around undetected, or take advantage of the chaos to pick targets off from a distance, etc.

Everyone and their dog will still attack you if you get spotted, but if you stay hidden - especially if you have the cammo suit - the technique works really well, and can be pretty fun to watch :)

Thanks for the tip. I never tried that out because it just sounded pointless. I thought maybe it was another way to start fires. If a patch or a mod fix some of the other issues I have with this game, I'll give it another try.