The thematic depth of this game is astounding, the subtle world building through show don't tell is a nice organic way to convey the situation of the world around you without bogging you down in exposition, allowing you to explore and learn things at your own pace. The visuals still look surprisingly amazing! When enabled on Ultra High, the fire effects are jaw dropping, especially given the time the game was released back in 2008.

The game has many different components that makes itself unique. Like the pseudo realism that comes with the setting being a fictional country located somewhere in Central African country, you quickly learn you are just another cog in the machine of this conflict, a civil war to be precise. in which you are sent in to kill one man, a man known simply as the Jackal, an arms dealer profiting off of the suffering of the country's blood diamond trade and increasingly violent and desperate civil war, like many foreign mercenaries in the country looking to profit off of the chaos of the instability of this region. The two main factions are the UFLL (United Front for Liberation and Labour) and APR (Alliance for Popular Resistance) both factions influenced by mercenaries looking for a shot at power among a weak and violent population, The details like your weapons being dirty, rusting, suffering from wear and tear, highlighting the need of insurgency for some form of rigid stability.

The weapons while you can acquire clean/fresh weapons they too will gradually deteriorate as well, which makes them prone to jamming, even in combat, you can tell these weapons have seen far more usage in conflict than you may initially realise, from the scratches and markings in certain Rifles, SMGs, Pistols, and Shotguns.

The Jackal is an enigma at best, he has no clear motives, while it seems like he's in this for the profit of anarchy, you will learn throughout your adventure you'll find collectable tape recordings from a series of interviews with journalist Reuben Oluwagembi, you slowly discover his somewhat pessimistic view of the world and the utter contempt he holds for people masking their true desires behind moral grandstanding, he routinely uses the justification that a grim fate simply can't be stopped as long as someone or something fuels the fires of human savagery, be it through war or other means.


The currency in the game being uncut conflict diamonds you use to pay for upgrades for weapons and other gear perpetuates the mask behind the corrupt goals of these mercenaries and faction leaders, to receive a mission from each faction, you show up by either fast travel by Bus or by driving, boating, and walking, you approach a neutral fire zone and locate it through a symbol on your in-game paper map and GPS, which can also be used to find hidden cases of diamonds across the world or Jackal interview recordings, the latter of which will give you some much needed insight into both the vast beautiful yet hostile African terrain and the mindset of the elusive Jackal. Progress may seem a bit slow from the get go, and that might turn some players off looking for a more mainstream, streamlined hand holding experience. Such as the Malaria mechanic, where in you need to have to constantly take anti malarial drugs to keep your self from passing out even in combat, or dying suddenly from a malaria attack due to having run out of drugs to keep you going. And the weapons deteriorating overtime and jamming and breaking in your hand, would be annoying for some, i like how the game doesn't make thing easy for you right out of the gate.


You're hit with a malaria attack the moment you set foot out of the cab that takes you to your hotel in the town, you pass out and awaken to the sight of a white man in a traditional African short sleeve shirt speaking with an american accent, letting you know of events to come. The Buddy system is surprisingly well implemented, throughout the game you will meet other mercenaries like yourself offer unique ways to complete missions, by doing a few odd jobs for them, in return building up your reputation among the other freelance mercs, they will grow to fear you the more you complete missions for both the main factions and your mercenary buddies, depending on your level of reputation, the enemy will either fear you or mock you. when you reach max level of reputation enemies will sometimes surrender and flee, though I reached the max rep level and haven't seen this yet. with an increase in reputation comes upgrades to safehouses which acquire through taking out the surrounding guards, like three nad free ammo refills like Bullets, Molotov's, and Explosives.


Buddies also have the benefit of assisting you in combat like when you lose your health and have no Syrette's to heal yourself, they'll pick you back up off your feet and sometimes give you a fresh weapon, but they can get wounded and die, if you have a spare Syrette you can heal them if not you have to put them down like a sick dog, this is Africa after all.



In conclusion Far Cry 2 is a game I encourage everybody to try, it is a Triple A game that isn't afraid to not be for everyone and for that I respect it a lot. it's a shame the Ubisoft ditched a lot of what made Far Cry 2 unique in favour of a more generic style of first person shooter.