SCORE: ★★★☆☆
The Breakdown
+Stellar graphics and aesthetic despite the game's age
+Missions are open-ended with many ways to approach
+Surprisingly adept commentary on colonization and war profiteering
+Stunning physics and systems that majorly affect gameplay, such as rapidly spreading wildfire
-Incredibly unstable PC port, with constant crashes without an unofficial mod
-Getting from Point A to Point B grows old due to constantly spawning pursuers and checkpoints
-Story lacks much in the way of setpieces or bespoke missions, causing repetition
From an outside observer new to the franchise (which I'm playing mostly in release order), Far Cry 2 always sounded like an outlier for the long-running series. Lacking its predecessor's sci-fi campiness and future games' cinematic setpieces and extensive voice work, it's a systems-driven shooter about being an amoral mercenary in a brutal African civil war. Out of curiosity (and the fact I bought it in a bundle almost 15 years ago on Steam), I decided to take a stab and see how well the game has aged, and walked away impressed, if slightly baffled, by this odd duck of an FPS.
The first challenge was getting the game to work. Far Cry 2 used extremely advanced tech for the time, and it's clear that stability has suffered on newer systems. I experienced constant crashes throughout my entire playthrough; there's a mod called the Far Cry 2 Multi-Fixer that is well-regarded, but by the time I found it, I was halfway through my run, and it's advised to start fresh when using it. As a result, while it helped, I still had issues the whole time, so be warned if you plan to give the game a shot.
Once I got it running, though, hoo boy. It's hard to overstate how impressive Far Cry 2 is on a technical level for being from 2008, and some of its features stand out even now, eighteen years later. Guns reflect light that filters dynamically through canyon cracks; grenade blasts shake trees like a hurricane; enemies are flung off their feet by taking .50 caliber bullets to the chest. The game prides itself on immersion, and it shows. Most impressive are the fire physics, which a programmer later admitted they had to tone down because they could consume the entire map during development. Throw a molotov into a field of dry grass and the flames will spread through the entire field, dynamically consuming anything in their path. Enemy AI reacts accordingly, meaning this can be as useful as a distraction as it is a weapon if one's being stealthy.
Gunfights feel punchy and raw, befitting the gritty setting, and that's good since there's going to be a lot of them. Most missions ultimately come down to wiping out a bunch of dudes, but responsive foes and aggressive mechanics keep things interesting. Far Cry 2 is a game about friction, and for the most part, it's to the effect of greater texture and immersion. Guns jam and degrade, especially those in poor condition, both for the player and the enemies. Take a hit, and you can recover with a quick syringe - take too many, and it's a longer animation to dig a bullet out of your hand or reset a broken bone, leaving you vulnerable for longer. If enemies see a vehicle, they'll get in it and try to run you down; if their own weapons break, they'll chase you with their machetes.
That said, the line between immersive friction and obnoxious frustration can be blurry, and the game definitely veers into the latter at times. Every checkpoint is populated by rapidly respawning guards and pursuing jeeps, which means just getting around grows exhausting. The map, despite ostensibly being open, is mostly made up of mountains and valleys, meaning that it's hard to extensively travel off-road and avoid these engagements. Worst of all, the player is beset by malaria, which affects their stamina and visibility if they don't keep up with medication. This is novel, but the problem is the only way to refill is doing the same repetitive 'deliver passports for the underground' mission.
In general, Far Cry 2's greatest weakness is tied to its greatest strength, in that the lack of structure begets serious repetition. Systemically, the game is satisfying, but its themes of corruption and foreign mercenaries weakening a country they have no business being in fall short when the plot is so lightweight. There's a 'buddy system' where you can perform secondary objectives for other mercs, but they're interchangeable and barely characters. The primary antagonist, The Jackal, mostly just shows up to make the player look like a dunce then elaborate on his vague manifesto, so there isn't much of a hook there, either.
Despite these problems, I think there's a lot to appreciate about Far Cry 2. I've always been a proponent of games that are willing to keep a bit of coarseness in the name of depth, that don't sand off every edge in an attempt for mass appeal, and Far Cry 2 commits to this in spades. Sure, the respawning enemies and laughably explosive vehicles can be a little awkward, but when I was cursing at my jamming uzi while desperately sprinting out of the way of an oncoming jeep, or knocking back malaria pills to steady my aim while in a tense sniping shootout with a warlord's bodyguards, I felt what the developers were going for, and I liked it. Though it's a bit of a pain to get running on modern PCs, there's value in the game - even if it's just to see a time when Ubisoft was less obsessed with mass appeal.
