Far Cry 2

[Darth_Pugwash]

Been looking forward to this one for a while, got it home yesterday and tried to install it, but it wouldn't accept the friggin' serial code, at all. Some problem with the DRM I think. Eventually I resorted to certain alternative methods, and viola, game runs fine. FFS.

Anyone else got this or planning to get it? Played it a bit this afternoon and pleasingly it seems to run a little better than STALKER Clear Sky on my computer so far, and it is very pretty looking game. The gunplay is pretty fun, and the self-healing animations are cool to watch. The main frustration at this point is the constant stream of bad guys in jeeps that spawn and charge at you full pelt when you are driving on the roads. Seems like the the sole mission of every mercenary in the country is to jump into a vehicle chase down the player at any cost. I found that I'd frequently use up quite a portion of my health supplies and ammo just travelling the roads to whatever the objective was.

 

[Shylock]

This game rules so hard.

I do hate the vehicle patrols. Which is why I prefer boat travel but even then they like to chase you down.

 

[Metromonkey]

Two of the self healing animations make me cringe simply because of how painful it looks. I don't really like it when the guy pushes a bullet through his arm but the one I dislike the most is when a car blows up next to you and if it damages you enough you pull a metal rod out of your knee.

The game so far has been rather enjoyable although I'm disappointed that none of the NPCs fight each other (except when scripted and buddies). The country is suppose to be in the middle of a civil war except it's more like you vs. UFLL and APR. My only other issue with the game is that it's called Far Cry 2 but it has nothing to do with Far Cry other than they both have hang Gliders.

 

[Snerk]

Oh im really thinking about getting it for my ps3. But with all the complaints about enemies constantly spawning and coming after you, leaves me a tad unsure wether to get it or not. It does sound like something i would get very annoyed over. The setting and general gameplay looks great though.

But with Littlebigplanet on the horizon i think i'll wait a while and see if there will be some paching on this issue.

 

[GoodGame]

How's the AI? Does the AI use squad team work (flanking, cover-fire, etc..)?

I was thinking the AI is a little weak in some of the video clips, though that might be difficulty setting.

Is the hit indicator (red flash that the AI shot you) kind of wonky too? I'd expect some blowback or something from being hit, but the clips show the player getting hit and not even knowing it other than the red flash.

 

[andvruss]

Eh, I like it, I mean its ok, I'd give it 8.3/10.

-had bunch of technical problems
-i don't particularly like the guns or combat situations
-quests and stuff are cool though

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

The AI is alright but it won't blow you away. They try to flank you, but don't seem to make great use of cover, so they can be quite easy to gun down. There is a slight blowback when you get hit by bullets, but not alot.

 

[Truronian]

I'm enjoying it...

Coolnesses:

- Fire, and the ridiculously large number of ways you can start it. (flare guns???) It would be nice is sometimes fires went full whack and took out miles of land, though I imagine this would explode most computers.

- The animations. Especially the one that takes you from a vehicle's gun to the drivers seat. Very cool.

- Protagoist choice. Each one has different arms! Strange that they didn't include any playable women though...

- The setting. Pretty much the main coolness. I'm particularly fond of the odd lake with loads of building on stilts.

- Zebras that are terminally allergic to car paint.

Cons:

- Iron man bad guys. Some of them seem capable of surviving 4 bullets to the chest.

- The complete lack of conflict between the two sides of the civil war.

- The complete lack of neutrality between you and the two sides of the civil war. You can't even drive around in a civilian car without being shot at.

- Zebras that are terminally allergic to car paint.

 

[Maniacal]

How does the game deal with you killing animals?

Also the flaws listed by Trur are disappointing indeed

 

[Snerk]

How does the game deal with you killing animals?

Showing your true colours now, eh Scamp?

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

The animals are actually very rare. I haven't shot any yet but I have run a couple down, I assume you can shoot them as well.

 

[Truronian]

How does the game deal with you killing animals?

Also the flaws listed by Trur are disappointing indeed

They're very delicate. If they run into a parked car it kills them (which is both funny and bizarre, hence the inclusion in both pros and cons).

My cons aren't as conny as they may seem...

The two sides of the civil war are fairly identical (which is a semi-nice touch... true to life but not something that leads to the best gameplay), so you tend not to notice the lack of hostility; while the hostility towards you can be explained as them not trusting a guy armed to the teeth looking in their direction.

 

[Shylock]

In the first mission after you come down with malaria I didn't know who to shoot at and just pointed my gun at them until they started firing at me like I was a cop or something.

I got riddled with bullets alot in the beginning since I didn't know that the entire country hates me and wants me dead.

 

[GoodGame]

Maybe they're wearing cheap body armor. It is out there.

Cons:

- Iron man bad guys. Some of them seem capable of surviving 4 bullets to the chest.

So can you run over elephants in one tap?

 

[Maniacal]

I highly doubt they wear much body armour. The avg price for a the cost of equipping a child soldier in Africa is $100 USD. Gun, ammo, bare minimum training (like how to shoot the gun and at whom), food. I doubt there is a lot more for the adults. Although I havn't really seen the enemies in game yet so, a picture or two would be nice. Or just having the person react properly to being shot.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

There aren't any elephants in the game, the only animals I've seen are zebras, antelopes and buffalo.

 

[GoodGame]

http://www.interamer.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=207

I guess they just have to kill a couple of child soldiers then.

Though really they'd want these sewn into their uniforms :http://www.interamer.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=316

I highly doubt they wear much body armour. The avg price for a the cost of equipping a child soldier in Africa is $100 USD.

 

[t0mme]

I really enjoy the game, but there are a few drawbacks, which I hope Ubi will fix...

-The gameworld is gorgeous. It really is. But it's utterly boring. It's nice to find an occasional hidden diamond, but usually you're murdering out guardpost which will respawn soldiers the moment you turn your back on them.

-The AI is fairly competent, until the moment they step into a car. I had one guy ramming his jeep into a tree. Fair enough, might happen. But as I walked up to him, he stayed in his car, so I killed him there. On other occasions he gets out, but only when I'm waving my gun in front of him. And he isn't wounded after the crash or anything, because it still takes me half a mag of AK47 bullets to kill him.

-I have the PC version. I even bought a new graphics card for it (Geforce 9600GT) and the game ran like a charm (30+ fps) on full detail with DirectX10. I was happy, until the framerate dropped to 5 when I got in a vehicle for about 5 minutes. I tried lowering the detail, but that didn't help. Also switching to DirectX9 isn't an option, because performance under DirectX9 is way lower anyway (barely over 20fps). I tried every fixes on the damn internet, but it's all of no help.

-The map editor is quite easy. But it's only for multiplayer maps. There is no possibility to add AI enemies or even guns to pick up.

Luckily, there are some good points:

-Weapon slots seem odd, but I makes you experiment with them. You have a primary, a secondary and a special slot, but certain weapons don't fall in a slot you would have thought in the first place. Already there are lots of discussions about the best load out and certain load outs means different gameplay (sniping versus rambo).

-No mutants/aliens/zombies. I've been looking for a non military first person shooter without . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . enemies and this is the first one in a long, long time. I played the original Far Cry right up until the zombies game. And I played Crysis until the first sightings of an alien (which, fortunately, was at the end of the demo, meaning I didn't have to buy it).

-The animations when you heal yourself are really cool. Snapping broking bodyparts back in place, yanking out pieces of glass, pulling bullets out etc all make you avert your eyes a bit.

-Your weapons break. I thought that would suck, but it doesn't actually. It really fits the picture of makeshift and improvised combat. When your primary gun jams and all you've got left is simple pistol and a rocket launcher, the battle will change drastically. Plus the rust on the guns is pretty nice and adds to the lowtech warfare. But the best thing is the spectular way your guns will fail. They'll blow up in your face, but the rocket launcher is the funniest. Your rocket will fire at an incredible slow pace leaving it twirling and exploding only a couple of feet from yourself.

-Fire and explosives are cool. During a multiplayer game, I tossed a molotov to an enemie near an ammo supply. I missed both, but the foilage caught fire and made its way to the ammo pile, which blew up big time! Bullets were going everywhere, piercing the enemy, gastanks and myself.

-Oh, and it looks great. But then again, I normally never play games that focus on graphics this much.

All in all, it's a great game with the right potential. When the first patches arrive (if they do...) and most of the problems get fixed, buy it! But you really should wait until the first patches arrive...

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Some things I'd like to see in a patch:

-Ability to hack through bushes with the machete
-Ability to go prone
-Ability to re-name saves
-Automatic deletion of old quicksaves
-Respawn timers on guard posts

 

[Maniacal]

Some things I'd like to see in a patch:

-Ability to hack through bushes with the machete
-Ability to go prone
-Ability to re-name saves
-Automatic deletion of old quicksaves
-Respawn timers on guard posts

Honestly, I'm surprised those aren't already in the game, and somewhat irritated. It's 2008 with a game that claims to have a really advanced engine and these simple things aren't done? It's 2008, not 1998!

I'll probably buy this tomorrow if I can't find The Witcher: Enhanced.