Sandbox style games have become somewhat vogue in the past few years. Made popular by Rockstar and their Grand Theft Auto series, we've seen other publishers such as THQ (Saints Row 2) take a swing at the genre. Is it any surprise then to see the sandbox idea permeate into the arena of first person shooters? Really it was only a matter of time, and Ubisoft Montreal has taken up the challenge with Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2 places players in the midst of a war-torn central African nation on the verge of total anarchy. Players are asked to choose one of a variety of possible characters, and are then given the seemingly simple order to find and eliminate an enigmatic arms-dealer known simply as ‘The Jackal’. The Jackal, however, is as wily and resourceful as his moniker suggests. Capturing him will turn out to be no easy task.

Gameplay:

The player's character begins the game in the backseat of a car piloted by a charmingly self-deprecating cab-driver. Even at this early stage of the game it is immediately apparent that Ubisoft Montreal’s unique first-person approach to the tried and true open-world sandbox concept is exceptionally well polished. The immersion evident in the game is unprecedented. From actions as pedestrian as opening doors and entering rooms, to the performance of a slick little bit of field-surgery in the heat of battle, Far Cry 2 will continue from start to finish, to pull the player into its world. This kind of realism thankfully compensates for the game's biggest problem: nothing about the game’s story gives the player grounds for forming any kind of affinity with the central character and his struggle. In reality the character the player chooses affects the gameplay in a very limited fashion. All this adds up to the fact that, though the game is profoundly immersive visually, it fails to draw the player in intellectually or emotionally.

Far Cry 2 is set up such that the player is given more or less free reign to explore the fifty odd square kilometers of the game landscape. The essential missions that drive the plot forward are varied enough that makes the various limited possible mission types – blow this up, kill that guy – consistently entertaining. Throughout the game the player meets other A.I. hired guns who, under the right circumstances, become “buddies”, and offer the player alternative methods of accomplishing missions. This means that even before the player decides whether he wants to rush into an enemy camp with guns blazing or silently pick off unsuspecting thugs with the dart rifle (one of the games exceptionally fun little pieces of hardware), the player will have plenty of options. The side missions, however, lack the same kind of variety, and it turns out that utterly annihilating cargo trucks with an RPG can, believe it or not, get tedious after a while.

Despite minor flaws ultra-realism makes this otherwise ordinary shooter, great. When the player’s health gets too low, he is obliged to perform delightfully gruesome operations on himself, cauterizing bullet holes or pulling hot lead out of his arm with a pair of pliers. These animations are smooth and complex enough that it is hard to pick out the same operation twice. I found myself wondering if my characters arm moved exactly that way the last time he pulled shrapnel out of the back of his leg. The animations as a whole really enhance the players’ experience. Watching a bad guy hop awkwardly and grab his gut after taking a slug in the breadbasket never gets old, and even if it does, there are other delights to discover. It was a shock the first time I realized that the inaccurate handgun fire coming from an otherwise abandoned outpost was coming from a mortally wounded mercenary who had dragged himself to cover. The option to bury my machete in his chest was second to none.

Far Cry 2 also includes several things that I’ve never seen executed so effectively before. The dry grass in certain areas of the map is realistically prone to conflagration, and a well-placed Molotov has the power to put a whole mess of enemies in a whole lot of trouble real fast. The fire spreads naturally, enveloping nearby trees and junk heaps, and when it’s over, all that remains is a few inches of ash.

Gun condition is also a well polished feature. Picking up a weapon that looks like its spent the last few years at the bottom of a lake, one can be pretty sure that it’s going to jam in the middle of a gunfight. Though this can be incredibly frustrating, it adds an element of realism that is also incredibly entertaining.

The enemy AI is good for the most part, but there are occasional instances of baffling stupidity. I learned very quickly to keep an eye out for the consistent flanking manoeuvres employed by bad-guys. They are quick to realize when you’ve got the upper hand, immediately finding cover and waiting for an opportunity to spring their counterattack. The enemy AI also knows how to use the natural cover provided by long grass to their advantage, and they will not give up searching for you once you’ve upset them.

That’s not to say the AI doesn’t have its faults. I repeatedly found myself in head-on collisions with clueless mercenaries who thought it prudent to slowly step out of their cars and start firing at me, by which time I had already mounted the machine-gun on the back of my truck and started firing. In these cases, even when the AI didn’t stand a chance it was still recklessly aggressive, and this seemed out of place in such a realistic game. Enemies, who refuse to get off gun emplacements even when you are right beside them is puzzling. These AI issues seem like obvious oversights, and take away from the grandeur of Far Cry 2 as a whole.

Apart from the occasionally inconsistent AI and the somewhat scanty plot, the only other major problem with this game is the mysterious inclusion of malaria. Before you even get a chance to pop off a couple rounds, your character falls victim to a particularly nasty fever, and you spend the rest of the game downing pills and trying not to pass out. It isn’t so much a problem for the game, but an oddity; there doesn’t seem to be any good reason to include this feature. Gamers have enough trouble trying to dodge bullets without worrying about potentially fatal mosquito bites. Far Cry 2 could have done just fine without it.

Graphics:

If nothing else, Far Cry 2 is drop-dead gorgeous. The world is massive, and the developers left nothing behind in the transition from lush viridian jungles to sun-scorched plains. Whatever the locale, the attention to detail is the same. Beyond the immediately obvious textural excellence of the environments, Ubisoft Montreal maintains a highly continuous and profoundly internally cohesive world. One of the great pleasures of the game from a visual standpoint is to watch the sun move across the sky and the stars come out as you sleep. Players will find themselves immersed in an environment that is alive irrespective of their inclusion in it, with grass and trees that sway with the wind and cast moving shadows across the sun dappled ground. Be in the right place at the right time and you might even catch a breathtaking sunset, giving the opportunity to ponder all the people you’ve killed that day.

Sound:

Nothing compares to the unmistakable thump of a pump-action shotgun. The sound in this game is so good that it can actually cause a bit of anxiety. Hearing the pop and crackle of gunfire all about you when you can’t see well-hidden enemies for all the foliage...it gets a little hectic. In addition to the sound of gunfire, the sound of fire itself is incredibly well captured and invariably mixes well with the frantic screams of the enemies caught in its merciless web. The voices of said enemies are a strength as well: there is no greater joy then to kill a few enemy soldiers and hide out of sight. You will hear the enemy AI whispering in fear about your character, wondering when you will strike next. The only criticism of the sound in this game is that the actual voice interactions with NPCs seem strangely rapid. It sometimes sounds like the voice actors were given scripts and told to read as fast as they can, and this draws from the overall audio richness of the game.

Longevity:

Far Cry 2’s multiplayer is a nice extension of the single player, but the limited game types prevent it from offering anything particularly unique.The inclusion of some rather detailed map making tools adds a personal layer to the multiplayer component, although to get the most out of this feature, you're going to need to invest some time here; even though it's possible to generate maps fairly quickly. It's certainly an excellent feature to add to the console version and well worth spending some time with if you are of a creative disposition.

The campaign provides many options, but once played through this game seems like an excellent innovation that could perhaps use a little more refinement. The single player campaign is undoubtedly Far Cry’s strength, and the fact that it takes up a solid chunk of time compensates for a multiplayer experience that, though undoubtedly fun, is more or less uninspired.

Overall:

Though there are a few hiccups in the gameplay, the sheer immersion of the ultra-realistic and well-refined perspective, combined with a beautifully detailed environment and intense and unrelenting combat, make Far Cry 2 an incredibly enjoyable game. An initially weak plot means that this is a game that takes a bit of an investment at first, but after a short time the rewards are huge. That said, I feel like more could have been done here. The challenge of an open-world, non-linear title like Far Cry 2 is that it is difficult to keep the main story compelling, but in this case I feel like it was never made a priority. Far Cry 2 is a great game, but still has room for improvement.