Far Cry 2 - opinions?

[Admiral jimbob]

The occasional moments of good action and creative fire-raising are not worth the three hours of bland jungle traversing it takes to get there. Avoid.

 

[bhlaab]

It does some things brilliantly and other things stupidly. Whether you're willing to put up with the stupid stuff to get to the brilliant stuff is is up to you. Can't wait to see how FarCry 3 turns out.

 

[phanboy_iv]

Notable amount of innovative (if incompletely implemented) FPS elements > Far Cry/Crysis. They did try with the whole suit thing in Crysis but really it was quite bland and by-the-book.

I obviously didn't play FC2 as much as you. Could you elaborate on these innovative elements?
Nanosuit in Crysis, bland or not, actually worked and it provided me the means of getting creative with game maps and physics. I cannot resist feeling entertained when I light up an explosive barrel and throw it onto an enemie boat with my strengh mode, for example. What does Far Cry 2 have that is so much better and less by-the-book?

Open, mission-based structure, repairable vehicles, minimal to nonexistent HUD, excellent exploration-fueled weapon progression, malaria as an interesting way to put player back on main quest after a while, weapon degradation, buddies-as-respawn-resource, permanent buddy death, approach/scout/attack compounds, total lack of fast travel, Heart-of-Darkness inspired plot, choice at end of game, morally ambiguous ending that was pretty fascinating and did not involve aliens or mutants.

It's also the only game I know of where you heal yourself by pulling bullets out of yourself with tweezers and set your own bones.

I enjoyed driving and walking through that jungle. Also taking out compounds never gets old thanks to sniper weapons, grenade launchers, mortars, machetes, etc. Game was full of 'oh shit so much for that, gotta improvise' moments.
If you don't enjoy the shooting or traveling the game is going to be no fun at all for you, that's for sure. But I fail to see how the FPS gameplay is substantially any worse than Far Cry or Crysis, and the rest of the game is so much more interesting and atmospheric.

It does some things brilliantly and other things stupidly. Whether you're willing to put up with the stupid stuff to get to the brilliant stuff is is up to you. Can't wait to see how FarCry 3 turns out.

After the reception 2 got, if it even happens it will most likely be much much more conservative.

 

[Luzur]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

 

[phanboy_iv]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

I rarely ended up backtracking and didn't really have that problem.

 

[Multidirectional]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

Few minutes would be an improvement. It's more like minute and a half. Ever tried lingering around the checkpoint you cleared for a while? I did. They respawn right in front of your eyes.
Seems like phanboy_iv got a hold of a better version, the one I wanted to play when I saw prerelease videos.

 

[bhlaab]

After the reception 2 got, if it even happens it will most likely be much much more conservative.

I'm not so sure. Assassin's Creed 2 managed to take it's godawful first entry and turn it into something great. All of FarCry 2's issues are entirely workable without complete reinvention.

 

[Multidirectional]

All of FarCry 2's issues are entirely workable without complete reinvention.

I can agree with this though. FC2 had lots of decent ideas, but zero good implementation. It's why it's so frustratingly bad in the first place, the game is awful yet few seemingly minor tweaks short of being actually good. Well, the mission design would require much more work of course, but even fixing checkpoint respawn would've improved it a lot.

 

[el Supremo]

^Correct. Gordon, that's the weirdest definition of larping I've seen on the Codex. (...)

OK, I stand corrected. Not going to argue about the meanig of larping with codex's veteran :D
What can I say, live and lern

 

[Darth Slaughter]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

I rarely ended up backtracking and didn't really have that problem.

well, you had to go back to the main city, and you could avoid passing through those checkpoints, but backtracking was mandatory in this game. Every quest you had to go back to quest giver. The only thing to avoid this was the bus stops.

but you leave a checkpoint, go about 100 meters, and you go back, it's already repopulated.

 

[schluberlubs]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

Few minutes would be an improvement. It's more like minute and a half. Ever tried lingering around the checkpoint you cleared for a while? I did. They respawn right in front of your eyes.
Seems like phanboy_iv got a hold of a better version, the one I wanted to play when I saw prerelease videos.

Thought re-spawns were just distance based. I noticed that with bar/companion missions, after finishing a job, a new one would only pop up If I drove about at least halfway to town. Could be mistaken, though.

 

[Multidirectional]

Maybe it was a glitch then, but I definitely had checkpoints respawn while I'm still there several times.

 

[phanboy_iv]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

I rarely ended up backtracking and didn't really have that problem.

well, you had to go back to the main city, and you could avoid passing through those checkpoints, but backtracking was mandatory in this game. Every quest you had to go back to quest giver. The only thing to avoid this was the bus stops.

but you leave a checkpoint, go about 100 meters, and you go back, it's already repopulated.

I never stuck around those checkpoints much, and having them respawn on the way back after completing the mission didn't bug me.

Either you love the game or you hate it, but even if you hate it you gotta admit it at least tried to do some nifty things.

 

[Multidirectional]

Either you love the game or you hate it, but even if you hate it you gotta admit it at least tried to do some nifty things.

That's the thing, the impression it left me with was that they didn't really try to make anything work at all. It's almost as if these "features" were there to be shown in hype videos. Almost nothing in it seemed to be given a proper amount of thought as to how it would work as a part of the whole game. Lots of really cool ideas with zero effort gone in actual implementation.

 

[Sceptic]

Maybe it was a glitch then, but I definitely had checkpoints respawn while I'm still there several times.

Never had that, not once. Might be a bug/oversight that was fixed later on? Were you playing one of the early versions?

 

[Multidirectional]

Yes, unpatched. Never came back later. It's not like respawns taking a bit longer than that would've fixed anything though. Checkpoints need a much more serious rework to be bearable. I remember reading someone from FC2 team saying they can't change respawns because they are hardcoded in engine. Maybe it's only because I don't know much about game development, but it sounds very unbelievable to me that they would make something this stupid.

 

[Darth Slaughter]

all i remember is gunning down the same roadblock over and over and over, which mysteriously repopulated after a few min with new niggers.

I rarely ended up backtracking and didn't really have that problem.

well, you had to go back to the main city, and you could avoid passing through those checkpoints, but backtracking was mandatory in this game. Every quest you had to go back to quest giver. The only thing to avoid this was the bus stops.

but you leave a checkpoint, go about 100 meters, and you go back, it's already repopulated.

I never stuck around those checkpoints much, and having them respawn on the way back after completing the mission didn't bug me.

Either you love the game or you hate it, but even if you hate it you gotta admit it at least tried to do some nifty things.

Yes, they tried. But they didn't succeed overall. The game feels unfinished.

And all main missions had an alternate option in which you would help your friend... this would in fact make things worse, because to finish the mission, you'd have to go to the friend, then go to afro-boss. this would make you have to wander around too much.

But the game, otherwise, was polished in driving sections, gunplay (lots of guns), graphics and effects (explosions, fire). The game is very nice looking, and driving is not a chore in itself. But a shooter in which you spend most of the time driving one way to another... that is a chore. And if you lose a vehicle in the middle of the jungle, you have to walk around, until you find a boat or car. But walking to go to the other side of the map is too much.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

The respawns ruined the game; you have no sense of progression or achievement, and driving to any place is such a chore because you always end up being chased by something. This makes you want to take the bus everywhere instead, which really takes you out of the game.

Also, the sound design is so shoddy you can't hear what any of your contacts say to you half the time, and the missions just boil down to, go here, kill this, blow this up.

 

[Jick Magger]

Played it a year or so ago, and I wasn't impressed.
Respawning outposts made shootouts feel less like fun and more like a chore. It didn't help that enemies would find the nearest car and follow you to the ends of the goddamn earth with their cars going faster than yours can.
It also offers alternatives that aren't really viable options. You could try to use stealth orientated equipment, but it's basically a mixed bag whether or not you'll successfully kill all your enemies without any of the guards noticing, or they just spot you from a mile away from behind cover in a tree while wearing a stealth suit and crouching.
You could try to use the game's fire mechanics to your favor. But once again, it's completely random whether or not it'll help or hinder you.
It also gives you multiple options that don't really deviate too much from the original path, if not just making it even more difficult. Like going with the buddy missions during story missions. If anything, it makes the mission even harder than if you just went through with the first option because you have to do another 'go to this place, kill this person/destroy this item' schlockfest, but then in the end of it you'll have to babysit an extremely inept AI partner.
Basically all optional missions are the same, too. It's all about going to so and so, avoiding the instantly respawning outposts, and destroying such and such. There's very little in the way of collectible items or minigames, too.

 

[anus_pounder]

After the reception 2 got? I thought the pro review sits loved it. Gamspot gave it 8.5 for example...

 

[bhlaab]

After the reception 2 got? I thought the pro review sits loved it. Gamspot gave it 8.5 for example...

You obviously don't know how reviews work nowadays. The number means "we can turn around and talk about how shitty this game actually was in [X] months" which would be 8 and a half in this case

 

[phanboy_iv]

After the reception 2 got? I thought the pro review sits loved it. Gamspot gave it 8.5 for example...

I mean how whenever you bring it up these days at least 15 people feel compelled to call it a boil on Satan's ass.

 

[Peter]

I wanted to like the game, and I actually commend the devs for some of the gameplay ideas. However, I agree with everyone that the respawn rates and monotony ruined the game. Stealth was basically non-existent too. Silent pistols didn't work at all, snipers saw you from a kilometre away and you couldn't tell where anyone was because of the brown n bloom.

They really nailed the atmosphere, though. It felt a lot like Heart of Darkness. Dark, oppressive, probably one for the more mature games I've played. Has that untangible quality that really sucks you in and almost disgusts you, in a good way. I think FC2 is the only pure FPS I've played that doesn't glorify violence at all.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Stealth was basically non-existent too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOr7zukvpKw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtS3uLJCqgU

 

[phanboy_iv]

Speaking of which, still the best Far Cry 2 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HmDUsDykdM