Far Cry 2

[Garibaldi]

The silenced shotgun was superb, made you feel like Chigur from No Country for Old Men.

[flight]

Do the weapon convoy missions as soon as they're available - good fun and they unlock more weapons at the store.

[Minion]

Does anyone know if the PC version works with a 360 pad? Wouldn't mind having another go at this but I would need a pad.

[Spacehost]

Do the weapon convoy missions as soon as they're available - good fun and they unlock more weapons at the store.

This. Developing strategies to deal with convoys was a joy. Boobytrapped Jeeps blocking the road? Mortar strike from a hillside? Standing in the road and going Full Swarztenegger? All valid and epic.

BTW, if playing on PC avoid using quick save. The console versions are arguably superior for turning the game into instadeath punctuated by safe houses.

[Hexx]

Does anyone know if the PC version works with a 360 pad? Wouldn't mind having another go at this but I would need a pad.

This.

As it's £2.50 on GMG

[drkbfhmmr]

Does anyone know if the PC version works with a 360 pad? Wouldn't mind having another go at this but I would need a pad.

It does, but I think unfortunately you couldn't turn off the auto aim (no controller specific settings in the options menu iirc) - felt a bit weird to me when the iron sights locked on to enemies so I ended up playing mouse+keyboard instead.

If you do get the PC version, you might want to consider the Dylan's Realism mod for gameplay improvements and a graphics mod that makes everything a bit less brown.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dylans-far-cry-2-realism-mod

http://www.moddb.com/mods/far-cry-2-graphical-enhancement-suite

[Mr. Gerbik]

The aiming is a bit off when moving the right analogue-stick along the x-axis and it takes some getting used to. Also, there are no button prompts for the controller (you have to figure out stuff like how to navigate the menu's and what "press E" means by trying out every button on the controller).

[Vulgar Monkey]

The aim/turn controls have some odd acceleration to them. You have the deadzone in the middle, then an interstitial area of the stick where control is quite slow and precise, then towards the outside you have a very high turn speed. Thing is it isnt gradual, it just ramps up.

Point is, if you're on pad you might want to mess around with the settings a bit til you find something you're comfortable with.

Also, take the time to collect missions from the other mercs at the bar between faction jobs. Eventually your rep will increase and enemy militia will shit themselves anytime they get a sniff of you.

[Minion]

Thanks for the info and advice guys. £2.50! A bargain for sure.

[Guest]

Thanks for all of the responses.

I'm really liking it so far, but it does seem a bit sparse compared to 3. In 3 I always seemed to be running into enemy patrols, which was great fun, but there doesn't seem to be anything like as many in 2.

Also, it's really easy so far. I have loads of guns and ammo. I take it I should be playing it on hard?

[Pob]

Yeah put it on hard and turn off the reticle. You'll be thankful there aren't tonnes of patrols then.

[Guest]

Yeah put it on hard and turn off the reticle. You'll be thankful there aren't tonnes of patrols then.

Reticule is off. No HUD, not even a reticule is great.

I'll start it again on hard.

[Vulgar Monkey]

Also, sparse population can actually make it harder in a way, as they're just spread out enough that you can let your guard down at the wrong time occasionally.

[ZOK]

On 19 October 2008 at 11:26 AM, Big Gus said:

Cool trailer. Still unsure on this one though. Gonna wait and see.

 

I'm reading this thread from the beginning, which I've never done before. This is Gus' first post.

 

Obviously this is one of my favourite games of all time (and possibly my favourite)...and I bought my copy on here second hand off Big Gus! 

[ZOK]

On 25 October 2008 at 2:15 AM, Timmo said:

The atmosphere in this is immense. You know when you're going sleep and the rain is pounding down outside? The rain sounds just like that. Trees sway in the wind and the gentle movement of the bushes as you walk all make ace ambient noise. I actually turned the music off in the menu as it's just not needed. Approaching a camp to free someone with that going on made it strangely relaxing.

It's such a shame that the fighting itself is missing that... oomph. It's far from bad but it should have had people flying backwards from shotgun shots, bodies recoiling from bullets a la GTA IV and just a bit more response. It's all a bit wooden.

There's not nearly enough feedback for where you're being shot from either. A CoD 4 style radar would have sufficed (I always saw it as representing hearing), although it wouldn't be in keeping with the hudless interface, so alternatively I think an idea would be a 'turn to shot' button, which, when pressed, makes you turn to where you were last shot from.

 

Props to Timmo for originating the 'turn the music off' tip, which went on to become the default advice for newcomers to this thread.

[ZOK]

On 25 October 2008 at 3:20 AM, CarloOos said:

I'd just like to state this so it can be hereby accepted as fact: Best sniper rifle since Resi 4. That is all.

 

Truth from the man known back then as Yellow Samuel. (Bring back your cool avatar!)

[SeanR]

I am now convinced that far cry 2 is based entirely on a single episode of the A-team

 

 

[barkbat]

I was in my local charity shop last week and saw Far Cry 2 on the 360. Having never played it, but over the years heard how special a game it is, I thought it would be silly not to at the asking price of £2 and paid forthwith. I started playing it today and while I really love the setting, I am getting my ass handed to me in the most spectacular fashion with every gun fight. Partly this is because I have now not played an FPS for about 7 years and my skills have withered to that of a small child. But I'm also sure I'm missing something. I'm sneaking in the grass to such an extent that I barely know what is going on, yet still the shotgun shells rip me apart the moment I so much as sniff an enemy base. Is this just like Dark Souls where repeated death is part of the formula? Will my FPS skills ever return? Can you remember tips for a game that is over a decade old (time, where does thou go to)?

If you can please help.

[Mr Do 71]

34 minutes ago, barkbat said:

I was in my local charity shop last week and saw Far Cry 2 on the 360. Having never played it, but over the years heard how special a game it is, I thought it would be silly not to at the asking price of £2 and paid forthwith. I started playing it today and while I really love the setting, I am getting my ass handed to me in the most spectacular fashion with every gun fight. Partly this is because I have now not played an FPS for about 7 years and my skills have withered to that of a small child. But I'm also sure I'm missing something. I'm sneaking in the grass to such an extent that I barely know what is going on, yet still the shotgun shells rip me apart the moment I so much as sniff an enemy base. Is this just like Dark Souls where repeated death is part of the formula? Will my FPS skills ever return? Can you remember tips for a game that is over a decade old (time, where does thou go to)?

If you can please help.

 

It's hard at first, but you'll soon have enough money (gold nuggets that you find) and be able to unlock more guns etc.. You'll want the flare gun, dart rifle, and also the rocket launcher to take out vehicles. 

 

Also there are golden guns hidden somewhere, that won't ever break. Also try and keep to the jungle, as roads are dangerous.

 

It is pretty hardcore compared to the recent Far Cry games, as you can't mark the enemy. Or throw rocks to distract them.

[ZOK]

For the best experience, you need to play as a silenced sniper, ie Dart Rifle on main and silenced Makarov as your pistol. And stealth suit!

 

But it’s a game for sniping generally. You should never be blundering into a battle, but creep creep snipe creep creep snipe until you can stroll into the remains.

 

Accuracy upgrades are essential purchases.

[ZOK]

On 14/06/2014 at 14:24, ZOK said:

Turn off the music, turn off as much on screen stuff as you can, and enjoy an African holiday hunting the deadliest game...

 

Oh, it might be included in your version, but there was a DLC that introduced quad bikes as vehicles, that is well worth getting.

 

Also do this!

[ZOK]

On 01/06/2011 at 23:13, mr_woo said:

It really isn't a game for everyone, it's very unique in how it approaches things but I can only really speak for myself in why I love it so much so I'll try to explain. For me it's mostly about the game world, it's as much a character in the game as anything else. The atmosphere, the sound of everything in the world, the changing weather, the way it naturally shifts from one environment to another (a good example is going from a jungle area to a desert area in a way which doesn't feel forced). It's a game mostly about the journeys you have with some firefights and missions in between. The game is VERY samey in what you have to do, it's mostly kill someone or destroy a truck so you aren't playing it for mission variety. It's the approach it takes to this. It's incredibly laid back. Apart from when you are in a firefight you are never under pressure, I honestly find it very relaxing to play. If you get into it, you REALLY get into it. It's a very immersive world if you enjoy it. I would honestly prefer it over something like Crysis in terms of an actual game world.

 

Apart from the actual world it's about the choice you have in approaching situations. Do you

 

1. Get as close as you can with a silenced pistol before finishing everyone off with a silenced machine gun ?

 

2. Start throwing grenades and go in with a heavy machine gun ?

 

3. Stand atop of a hill nearby and use a sniper rifle to kill everyone ?

 

4. Use your flare to shoot at the grass nearby which somehow manages to engulfs everyone with flames ?

 

5. Stand atop of a hill with a big fucking rocket launcher killing everyone with that ?

 

6. Drive in with your vehicle and quickly switch to your mounted 50 cal shooting every motherfucker that moves ?

 

7. Go in guns blazing with your shotgun and run around like a madman ?

 

Every single one of these is a viable option to a situation and it just gives you a lot of freedom to fuck around. I love experimenting, I'm the sort of person who has to try every weapon and lots of combinations. I'm like a kid in a sweet shop everytime I go into the weapons room and can pick and choose. I can actually stand there and talk to myself for 5 mins on what I want to take to a mission.

 

Plus on the missions themselves you may have a plan and things go absolutely pear shaped making you think on the fly.

 

Haha you fuckers I've killed you!

Oh wait there's one left, come here you

Shit, I'm out of ammo!

You get shot and are on one bar of life left so you hide and pull the bullet from your leg. The guys still shooting at you and you're like 'fuck I need to heal'

 

You heal and you run looking for the closest gun you can find. You pick one up and you shoot, your gun jams and you think you're screwed. Then right in front of you the guy you were shooting at keels over dead. You thank your lucky stars you escaped with that one. This all happens under various conditions too, it could be pitch black in the middle of the night, it could be during a beautiful sunset or sunrise, it could be during a thunderstorm or when its pissing with rain or even in the moonlight.

It's very much about the emergent moment to moment gameplay you can have and all the little stories it creates unique to you. Even now, 2 years after Far Cry 2 first came out, not a single other FPS has given me the experiences that game gives me and still continues to give me even now.

 

I apologise for the rambling, just typing what comes into my head. It's really hard to try and explain what make it so appealing. It's also by no means a perfect game, I can list various problems it has but everything good about that overcomes it. People easily call it 'boring' or a 'load of shite' and to be honest I can see how it comes across like that. There's nothing really like it. If you need a completely directed experience you won't enjoy it at all. I still have friends on my friends list who tease me about playing it when I play some Halo with them after playing some FC2. But you give me a flawed masterpiece like this any fucking day over generic dudebro shooter 1.1 (and I like them games too!). It remains up there as one of my favourite FPS of all time and I don't regret that for one second.

 

Great post.

[Mars]

Yes, this thread reminded me of the various Halo threads, in that the stories I read here gave me as much enjoyment as the game itself.

[Len]

Absolutely brilliant game. Keep off the roads! 

[mr_woo]

3 hours ago, ZOK said:

 

Great post.

 

I forgot I had written all that   The Dylan mod for FC2 on PC is very good as well, just makes things a little bit better.  There's also a Far Cry 2 Redux mod I haven't tried yet, I still love the game dearly so really must try it sometime. 

 

Funnily enough I'm in the middle of a Far Cry 5 playthrough though I've been taking a break, it's very enjoyable but it's not really hooked me tbh.

[Nick R]

With the news that Ubisoft is ending support for Far Cry 2's online features at the start of June (along with Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, Anno 1404, Might & Magic – Clash of Heroes, Splinter Cell Conviction, The Settlers 7, and Might & Magic X – Legacy), Digital Foundry did a video replaying some of the early parts of the game:

 

 

 

They do praise the spreading fire, changing time of day, and animations for getting into the mounted machine guns on cars. But overall they're harsher on the game than I expected them to be. They make all the common complaints about the game (respawning guard posts, holding a button to repair your car, you're forced to follow a series of linear valleys rather than it being truly open world). And a lot of their comments come across as a string of "I know it's unfair to compare it to Crysis, but that was done better in Crysis" and "that idea was more polished in Far Cry 3".

 

But I do recommend skipping to 7:30 in the video to watch the clip of the bouncing NPC bug that happens if you try playing the game at above 60fps! 

[Spacehost]

1 hour ago, Nick R said:

you're forced to follow a series of linear valleys rather than it being truly open world

This is one of the better decisions in the game, it's not Skyrim where you just climb on fucking Spiderhorse and go jaunt over every piece of geology in your path and therefore none of the terrain matters.

[CarloOos]

It’s still the best Far Cry game, and comfortably better than the entire Crysis series.
 

Also agree that the semi-structured map is actually more fun to navigate than the giant, fully traversable maps from the sequels. I find it boring when you can just walk across whole mountains as the crow flies.

[SeanR]

I went back to the 360 version of FC2 on my series S the other day, and the only way I can describe is is that it’s closer to JP Trespasser than it is to FC3. 

 

You get me?

 

Theres a lot of jank present, that dates it, features that have been ironed out in later fps titles, like a button to pick up ammo, that marks the game as “of its time” when it was new it was really good, but I’ll leave it in the past.

 

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

[Vimster]

1 hour ago, SeanR said:

I went back to the 360 version of FC2 on my series S the other day, and the only way I can describe is is that it’s closer to JP Trespasser than it is to FC3. 

 

You get me?

 

Theres a lot of jank present, that dates it, features that have been ironed out in later fps titles, like a button to pick up ammo, that marks the game as “of its time” when it was new it was really good, but I’ll leave it in the past.

 

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

I remember putting a lot of time into the PC version in 2010, even then it was a flawed gem, lots of interesting and immersive ideas that didn't all come off, some more bearable than others. 

 

Went back to try and play it a few years back and it was difficult to deprogram the knowledge of games that had come since, not even for old times sake. Plus on PC it barely ran under Windows 10, was sluggish and sloppy in performance. As far as I know Ubisoft haven't made any attempts to get it running on newer hardware, and the files are encrypted so modders cannot lavish some love on it. 

 

FC2 is a dead game, and that's tragic.