Almost-BiiF: Far Cry 2 - Ubisoft Montreal - PC

[Azazel]

I've been playing this for a little over a week now, and thouroughly enjoyed the shit out of initially, but that's been fading fast. I was going to wrte a BiiF initially, but it was too much fun at first, then I thought I'd played too much for a BiiF, and might write a review, but then it started to become meh, and my interest waned. I started writing up something earlier this evening as I ate my dinner, than I got distracted by TF2 and totally forgot about it. After browsing f13 and the interwebs I decided to check and see if there was a new Zero Punctuation, and there indeed is. Far Cry 2.

Well, no shit. Yahtzee pretty much brings up almost everything I wanted to say. The only glaring difference is that he thought the game was over at the point I knew was half-time, because you get two maps in the case, you see.

I'd have posted this in the BiiF section, but not sure how much schild wants or doesn't want links sending people to The Escapist on the f13 front page. If it's cool, feel free to move this to the BiiF section.
 
Addendum to Yahtzee: Oh yeah, on the PC you can quicksave anywhere, anytime as opposed to consoles. Also you get 5 installs, but can get them back by uninstalling, as opposed to "ring EA when you've used all 5." Checkpoint mobs respawn too fucking fast, as in when you're 1 mile down the road the checkpoint you just annihilated and levelled with grenades and rockets will have totally respawned, right down to the buildings you destroyed. Also, the collection of diamonds is kinda fun at first, but by the time you hit the second map, it's quite tedious. But that's true for 95% of the game anyway.

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Rent it.

[apocrypha]

Could you give us a short summary of Yahtzee's "review"? I hate video reviews and while he actually does give a semi-decent review of things his delivery and style makes me want to stab him in the face.

[schild]

Could you give us a short summary of Yahtzee's "review"? I hate video reviews and while he actually does give a semi-decent review of things his delivery and style makes me want to stab him in the face.

Well it doesn't help that he's not "good at" and "doesn't seem to like" gaming for the most part.

I did not like Far Cry 2.

[Azazel]

ok, I'll write up a proper BiiF then. schild, mind if I link to Yahtzee's in the text? I can do it towards the end so the link to the escapist isn't on the frontpage.

As it happens, he actually has almost exactly the same issues I have with the game. As such, I found it to be one of his better reviews. 

[schild]

Up to you.

[Samwise]

The single thing that made me uninstall the Far Cry 1 demo in disgust and never even consider buying the full game was the shitty non-concealing vegetation.  Yahtzee mentioning that in his review as something that persists in Far Cry 2 saved me from having to think about giving the series another shot.  Yay!

[Rasix]

Did someone tell him to start sounding more Australian? I usually don't notice his pronunciation this much in any of his reviews.

This game doesn't sound very interesting.

[Chenghiz]

The enemies in FC2 are pretty good at seeing you in cover until you get the ghillie suit, and then you can sneak pretty effectively.

On the whole it's a vastly different game, and only similar to the first in that it's not on rails per se. I have been playing it off and on, which is, I think, the proper way to play it. You can start it up, do a mission or two, and turn it off having done something fun that you probably won't do again in quite the same way or with the same purpose. It's sort of like a FPS level generator with something of an over-arching plot. The gameplay is solid and, particularly, using IEDs to blow up weapons convoys is incredibly satisfying. Ultimately I wish it had been more like an open-world Crysis without aliens. I still don't feel like I wasted my money, though.

[Engels]

Did someone tell him to start sounding more Australian? I usually don't notice his pronunciation this much in any of his reviews.

This game doesn't sound very interesting.

He was using a fakey South African accent for the review, which can sound like a flat-ish NZ accent to untrained.

[Azazel]

The enemies in FC2 are pretty good at seeing you in cover until you get the ghillie suit, and then you can sneak pretty effectively.

Just now. Like right now. I was sneaking up on an objective, while in long-grass and bushes cover, took a sniped headshot at extreme range then ducked into cover - as in behind the hill - totally out of sight. Within 45 seconds of sitting still and quietly, on the other side ofthe hill, while crouching in my "improved camo" suit (it's clearly not a ghille siut). I got run over by a guntruck which pinpoint-homed in on me from a good 500m minimum away after the one shot taken from dense cover.

[AcidCat]

Hiding can be hit or miss. It's much easier at nighttime. For example I came up to a compound and took a few sentries out with a sniper rifle, then ran halfway up a nearby hill and just watched. A patrol vehicle came out to roughly where I was and started searching the area. Then I took them out with a grenade launcher. But, they do actively seek you out and don't seem to automatically know where you are, just the general location your shots came from.

Anyway Yahtzee makes some valid points, the whole storyline and faction setup was basically an afterthought and the missions are repetitive. It's a sandbox game in the truest sense, you kind of have to make your own fun. But if you get into the zen state of the game it can be a lot of fun. The world is beautiful and is a joy to just be in (it's really spoiled me for any other game featuring outdoor locations) - and the gunplay itself is a lot of fun, presenting you with a lot of options for how to kill angry men. That's basically all you do is drive around and kill angry men - so it's a game that is better in short doses instead of marathon play - but it is a unique take on the FPS genre that is atosmospheric and beautiful and brutal and lonely. I dig it.

[SnakeCharmer]

Bought it last night.  Reasonably good fun.  The mouse action in the game is a bit wonky, not sure what that's about.  Beautiful game except when you see a female walking around.  Looks like a MAN, BABY!!!  The infinitely respawning bad guy thing is really annoying, and the how or why they thought it was a good idea is beyond me.

The flamethrower is pure unadulterated LOVE.

[Tarami]

It lacked many things, but I had fun with it. What it does well, it does really well. Had alot of fun with the roaming and just blowing huts up and burning savannahs down, and dear God, it's pretty. I'm hoping for a sequel (really, this has nothing to do with Far Cry 1 aside being a shooter) with the same theme and a better storyline. Civil war in Unnamed-African-Country was a nice change. I do feel guilty for liking it (the theme) though.

[Chenghiz]

It is pretty, although it is definitely the most Brown game I've played thus far. Is there any way to make it a bit more colourful?

[Samwise]

Drop some acid before playing?

[schild]

Drop some acid before playing?

Some people don't like gaming with mods.

[AngryGumball]

Drop some acid before playing?

Man I wish I had the nerve to do acid. Alkie isn't sending me on that room spinning wondertrip anymore.

[apocrypha]

Drop some acid before playing?

Playing video games on acid has risks. I once saw little HUD's and an artificial horizon appearing on every single horizontal line in the world for about 3 days after playing some stealth bomber game on the C64 for about 6 hours whilst tripping.

[Sky]

Ultima 5 has some amazing graphics and sound when modded with a double-dipped blotter of LSD. The 80s were fun.

[SnakeCharmer]

Also, to add:  Possibly THE absolute worst voice over I've heard in a few years. 

Other than that, had good fun lighting stuff on fire last night.  Though I'm trying to find out how to holster my weapon so that bad guys don't start insta-agroing me in the town that has the cease fire...Walk around with my phone and map out is the only work around I can find.

[schild]

Also, to add:  Possibly THE absolute worst voice over I've heard in a few years.

You don't know bad until you've played Chaos Wars on the PS2.

[Kageru]

Finished this recently. The ending tries to say something about the "corruption of the spirit" such wars cause but there's just not enough foundation to actually make you feel it. Sure, the audio tapes from the arms dealer (if you are lucky enough to find them) give a lot of flavor but it's not really connected with the gameplay. Also disliked the fact you can't buy anything with diamonds once you have your favourite weapons thus making the currency of the game pointless, the insanely rapid respawn on the endless checkpoints, excessive driving around, grindy and samey missions, dumb AI and your main enemy being the foliage which the enemy can see through and you can't. Oh yeah, and the malaria thing is just incredibly annoying.

It is really pretty though, and driving around then stopping to shoot-up a camp (or a zebra that really needed it) can be fun especially since I was playing in small blocks of time. The damage system is pretty cool in that when severely wounded the PC needs some uninterrupted time to do some drastic self-surgery though it does make his mutant healing capacity even more visible.

I do wish there had been a bit more freedom in the weapon selection though. It links a range of weapons to primary, secondary and side arm which meant I couldn't carry a sniper rifle and assault rifle but I could carry a sniper rifle and light machine gun which seemed really arbitrary. As a result you find a preferred load-out and tend to stick with it which makes the gameplay even more repetitive and makes you wonder why you don't just skip the country. It almost felt like it needed something for me to spend cash on. I must have stolen hundreds of jeeps (with attached machine guns), had the opportunity to pickup thousands of weapons and was loaded down with diamonds I had nothing to buy with. Letting me trade those in for cash and using it to spruce up a home base might have explained why I was motivated to get shot at.

[rk47]

Also, to add:  Possibly THE absolute worst voice over I've heard in a few years.

You don't know bad until you've played Chaos Wars on the PS2.

Seconded.

Farcry is more of 'icansayshitreallyfastidontneedtopausecauseucanreadsubtitlesnshit'
I was too busy giggling at the ridiculous zero punctuation in game to hate it.

[AcidCat]

I couldn't carry a sniper rifle and assault rifle but I could carry a sniper rifle and light machine gun which seemed really arbitrary. As a result you find a preferred load-out and tend to stick with it

The weapons slots do seem arbitrary ... but you can carry the dart rifle which goes in the special slot, then your main slot is open for any assault rifle. The dart rifle pretty much functions the same as a sniper but with limited ammo.

Though I did find certain loadouts that were really effective, I made sure to keep switching it up every so often to add some variety. With all the stuff to mix and match, there are a lot of effective ways to kill dudes, so there's no reason to just stick with one loadout and get bored.

[Azazel]

Aewsomely, my desktop shortcut (to the Launcher.exe) just stopped working. Telling me that some registry files cannot be found and that reinstalling the game may fix the problem. (great for a limited-install piece of software). Nothing on google.

Tried going into the install folder and double-clicking the farcry2.exe, and whaddayaknow? It worked. My guess is that the laucher/autopatcher will remain fucked though.

mmmmm buggy.


On the game, I'm kind of at the point where I no longer want to play in large chunks or small chunks, but instead want to blow through and finish it, simply because the <missions/side-missions/everything else> is to fucking repetitive. As in exactly the fucking same.

I really believe that it would have been a better game if it had ended after the first half.

[Azazel]

After posting, I thought i'd have a bit more of a play around with it.

Last session, I ran out of malaria tabs. The doctor, however, didn't send me anywhere to get more, and wasn't even home. Fine, I think. More weak plot, shitholeland is out of malaria tabs.

So I play with it just now, get 90% of a mission done (have to deliver a truck somewhere after getting a spare part), so I'm out the front, looking for the correct driveway, one not blocked, and I pass out from the malaria, resetting the mission.

get fucked.

I think this may end up joining Doom3 in the list of games that sit rotting and unfinished on my HDD.

[AcidCat]

Well I finally got around to finishing it yesterday. I kind of wish there was some bigger blowout for the ending .. but all things considered I have to give them kudos for making such a bleak, downer of a game and the end fits right in with that. The immoral actions of your character and the npcs in the game are a nice contrast to the beauty of the world itself - you get the unmistakable feeling that this place would be so much better without humans.

Anyway I immediately started a new game on the higher difficulty. Not quite ready to let this one go yet...

[Sky]

Last session, I ran out of malaria tabs. The doctor, however, didn't send me anywhere to get more, and wasn't even home. Fine, I think. More weak plot, shitholeland is out of malaria tabs.

So I play with it just now, get 90% of a mission done (have to deliver a truck somewhere after getting a spare part), so I'm out the front, looking for the correct driveway, one not blocked, and I pass out from the malaria, resetting the mission.

get fucked.

Sounds like my last trip to walmart.

Far Cry was very console friendly (the good ~ console, not the yucky kiddie game platform  ). Gotta be something to spawn new meds or reset the count or something. Does the FC2 godmode work the same as FC1? It's one of my favorite things about FC1 and really made the whole down-side of foliage and hawk-eyed enemies kinda dealable. In FC1, god mode didn't make you invulnerable, it just meant you didn't die. You would increment a death counter and regain health.

So basically, you could play it normally, healing up and getting armor, etc. But you didn't have to dick around reloading all the time because of the game's engine quirks. And a new minigame, playing with as few increments to the death counter as possible.

[Zzulo]

I really liked the game at first but grew bored of it before I could finish it. How did it end?