Far Cry 2

I was born in South Africa in 2002, so this game is basically a documentary of my early childhood. 11/10.

This entry into the Far Cry series is definitely not for everybody, especially those who are used to the gameplay loop that began from Far Cry 3 onwards (I first played this when it released, and hated the subsequent entries). It definitely has that tech demo feeling to it, because it essentially was a showcase of the new engine at the time of its release. This said, for those who like a challenging gameplay experience a minimum of hand-holding, Far Cry 2 stands out as one of the most unique FPS games of all time.
Far Cry 2 makes no attempt to empower you, the player; rather, everything about the game is meticulously designed to do the opposite and make you feel small and insignificant. Old guns will jam on you at inconvenient times, malaria can strike you when you least expect, enemies are intelligent and extremely relentless, and this depressing open map is as dangerous as it is gorgeous (even today). Throughout this, the game is trying to hammer home one crucial fact: You are not a badass death god, you are just a guy with a gun who got caught up in somebody else's war.
If I can sum up Far Cry 2 as its own separate genre, it would be called "anti-fun". There is no XP bar patting you on the head for your sick moves, the only value of currency is to buy more guns, and your only reward for getting through a tough firefight is that you get to live another day. It's great, it forces you not only to plan ahead for when a fight is and isn't necessary; but the fact that most firefights in this game actually serve no purpose makes you begin to think about the cyclical senselessness of the violence in the broader context.
This is the entire foil of the plot. You're a mercenary sent down to hunt an international arms smuggler, The Jackal, and end up perpetuating the very same bloodshed you were sent in to end to begin with, at the behest of cynical warlords who don't care about the people they claim to fight for, and who don't care about you -- and the feeling's mutual. It's a blood for cash trade, just like the Jackal himself. There isn't any stunning cutscenes to this game, but in my opinion, this game had a brilliantly subversive plot for 2008 as far as shooter games go.
Is it my favourite Far Cry game? By far.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely.
But for anybody who's going into it expecting it to be like any of the other games in the series, I'd just recommend them to temper their expectations and go into it with the understanding that the game will never go easy on you or give you the chance to feel like Rambo, except for some select moments where you planned really well and the odds fell in your favour.

ENG
Do you know what the main thing with Far Cry 2 is? Everyone scolded her when she left. I was infuriated by broken barrels, wild distances, monotonous missions. Fifteen years later, it turned out that this was not just a game. This is a textbook. The concentrated, undiluted essence of everything that Ubisoft fed us for ten years afterwards. Only here, in the dusty hell of the African civil war, it wasn't all for show. It was for the sake of survival.
These are not "Assassins" or "Hunters" with their beautiful pictures. It's a dirty, sweaty, bloody reality horror. A game that doesn't love you. Who spits in your face and hands you cartridges filled with sand.
Why is this game still being disassembled for parts?
Are you talking about animations? Come on. These are not animations. It's a ritual. You're not just being "treated." You pick at the wound with your fingers, pulling out a fragment, while bullets are whistling around. You're not "recharging." In a panic, you try to stick a curved rusty horn into the hot trunk, which is about to jam. This is not "gameplay". This is a stress test for strength.
And this "realism" of yours? In the current games, this is the grass waving and the animals running. The realism of Far Cry 2 is when you set fire to dead wood, the wind fanned the flames, the fire blocked the mercenaries' escape route, they ran in panic, and you almost burned yourself because you forgot about the wind change. This is not a script. It's a living, wild, unpredictable chaos. The game just creates conditions and laughs at how you burn in them.
The interface? He's gone. You're not looking at the corner of the screen. You flatten yourself into the ground, pull a crumpled, sweat—soaked map out of your pocket, and try to get your bearings until they find you. A compass? This is your wristwatch. Hilki? You carry them in your hands like your last hope. It's not brilliant because it "looks cool." It's because it doesn't let you breathe out for a second. You are always at peace. Until the very end.
And yes, the weapon breaks. And yes, it's infuriating. But that's exactly what gives rise to those legendary moments. When your slick "drinkoff" machine gun clears on the last boss, you grab the sawn-off shotgun from the ground and use your last strength to shoot back. No one can give you that in modern games. It's all slick and predictable. And here it's pure, unfiltered tin.
Result
Far Cry 2 is not about nostalgia. It's a scar. The kind of game that doesn't try to please you. Which brings you to your knees and teaches you how really cool stories are born out of mud, blood and gunpowder. Not the ones the scriptwriters told you. And the ones that happened to you personally. Because you survived. Or he didn't survive.
They still hate her. And she is still adored. And this is her main victory.
RU
Знаете, в чем главная штука с Far Cry 2? Ее все ругали при выходе. Бесили поломки стволов, дикие расстояния, однообразные миссии. А прошло пятнадцать лет — и оказалось, что это не просто игра. Это - учебник. Концентрированная, неразбавленная суть всего, чем потом десять лет кормила нас Ubisoft. Только здесь, в пыльном аду африканской гражданской, все это было не ради галочки. Это было ради выживания.
Это не «Ассассины» и не «Охотники» с их красивыми картинками. Это - грязный, потный, кровавый хоррор наяву. Игра, которая не любит тебя. Которая плюет тебе в лицо и подает патроны, залитые песком.
Почему эту игру до сих пор разбирают на запчасти
Ты говоришь про анимации? Да брось. Это не анимации. Это - ритуал. Ты не просто «лечишься». Ты пальцами в ране ковыряешься, выдирая осколок, пока вокруг свищут пули. Ты не «перезаряжаешься». Ты в панике пытаешься всунуть в горячий ствол кривой ржавый рожок, который вот-вот заклинит. Это не «геймплей». Это - стресс-тест на прочность.
А этот ваш «реализм»? У нынешних игр это - трава колышется и звери бегают. Реализм Far Cry 2 - это когда ты поджег сухостой, ветер раздул пламя, огонь перекрыл путь отступления наемникам, они забегали в панике, а ты сам чуть не сгорел, потому что забыл про смену ветра. Это не скрипт. Это - живой, дикий, непредсказуемый хаос. Игра просто создает условия и со смехом наблюдает, как ты в них горишь.
Интерфейс? Его нет. Ты не смотришь в угол экрана. Ты - вжимаешься в землю, достаешь из кармана помятую, залитую потом карту, и пытаешься сориентироваться, пока тебя не нашли. Компас? Это - твои наручные часы. Хилки? Ты их в руках таскаешь, как последнюю надежду. Это гениально не потому, что «круто выглядит». А потому, что не дает тебе ни на секунду выдохнуть. Ты всегда - в мире. До самого конца.
И да, оружие ломается. И да, это бесит. Но именно это и рождает те самые легендарные моменты. Когда твой вылизанный «дринковский» автомат на последнем боссе клинит, ты хватаешь с земли обрез и из последних сил отстреливаешься. В современных играх тебе такого не подарит никто. Там все вылизано и предсказуемо. А здесь - чистая, нефильтрованная жесть.
Итог
Far Cry 2 - это не ностальгия. Это - шрам. Та игра, которая не старается тебе понравиться. Которая ставит тебя на колени и учит, как из грязи, крови и пороха рождаются по-настоящему крутые истории. Не те, что тебе рассказали сценаристы. А те, что случились лично с тобой. Потому что ты выжил. Или не выжил.
Ее до сих пор ненавидят. И ее до сих пор обожают. И в этом - ее главная победа.

Although it's age is glaring at times, it is easily the best Far Cry game in terms of its direction & presentation. The game takes its war-torn Africa setting seriously(unlike the newer games). It provides a very gritty and consistent aesthetic that many games failed to imitate since. A common criticism is that the game might feel restrictive or even an annoyance to play with its mechanics such as unavoidable malaria attacks and weapon condition deterioration with RNG jamming, but these mechanics add to the overall aesthetic, theme, and game-play loop that the game was trying to create.
It is nearly unplayable on modern hardware without patches, but a lot of games of this age are, just typical Ubisoft abandonware. It is as easy as installing a tool to patch it for modern hardware. It also has the traditional Far Cry blunder of having bullet spongy enemies, but that is also remedied with a few easy to install mods, which I highly recommend as it makes combat far more immersive.
An often overlooked gem that can be appreciated with a little patience and appreciation for what the developers were trying to create, it is a work of art and a shining example of what direction open-world shooter games should have kept going in. I definitely recommend this game as long as you are fine with patching it, and can tolerate older 3D videogame jank.

Positives:
* Immersive atmosphere.
* Beautiful graphics.
* Really cool setting.
* Sheds light on important problems within sub-saharan African conflicts.
* Virtually no bugs (with the Realism+Redux mod. Idk about vanilla).
* The ending is cool and interesting.
Negatives:
* Annoying and repetitive enemy encounters.
* Repetitive missions.
* 90% of the game is driving from A to B or fighting off annoying patrols or outposts.
* Unclear story (You don't always know what's going on or why you're doing what you're doing).
* There is nothing to build up your relationship with your buddies.
* I miss the linear story and cut-scenes from the first game.
* Bad voice acting.
* The main villain gives you too obvious main character treatment.
I'd recommend this ONLY IF:
* You've always looked for a dedicated war crime simulator.
* A good story isn't crucial for you (This one is just okay).
* You're nostalgic.
* You have a bad computer. (This is where I come in)
* You're interested in 3rd world geopolitics or sub-saharan Africa in general. (This is also where I come in)
* or...
* You don't mind the negatives I mentioned.

It is my second time playing this game. The state it has been left in is sad beyond belief. A game that delivers something no other game does, the fact that there has never been a spiritual sequel is actually a sin. No other game portrays the raw human desire for violence and greed like Far Cry 2 does.
After finishing it I set to work right away reading 2 books about how the Diamond trade works and it was sickening to witness myself, read so often a story about yet another man who had been killed by foreign mercenary guards at an illegal mine and had his insides searched thinking he had swallowed diamonds and tried to make a break with them. So often did I read these stories so that when it kept happening again and again I didn't even stop to ponder it and just keep going as if I had just seen a man walking his dog, a mundane unimportant thing. Yet meanwhile there is a strange fear in my body if I hear in the news that someone in the small town I live in got robbed, let alone killed. The mind can grow so complacent, even a massacre can feel like another Tuesday. All for that diamond to end up on the ring of a white woman living in the suburbs of California which her Banker husband bought at Tiffanys.
There is a sickness in the sand and dirt and it only grows. There is nothing new in Far Cry 2, there are only things you don't know about that you are taught. The disgusting human desire for more than enough. The Jackal was right though, how are we supposed to know? The dead 24 year old they brought in from the USA will get plenty of news time after he steps on a landmine, but the mass graves of the 50000 locals are not mentioned almost ever.
Your character is a horrible person, one who knows nothing else than to do this again and again until it kills him. Shame he will die here, this place has seen far worse men than him who came and went, quite a few of them richer than they were before their arrival. But its better this way, we have to burn it all, so that it can start again, without the sickness. It teaches you a valuable lesson, that you should at times feel as happy as possible as your eyes reflect the fire particles flying in the air, as you witness it all burning away, including your own flesh. This sickness needs to be cured and you are part of it.
NEVER FORGET: That the term "Diamonds are forever" and the popularization of non-rich working men giving a diamond ring to their future wife was a marketing campaign by De Beers in 1947 which "Increased wholesale diamond sales in the United States from $23 million to $2.1 billion." Before this only 10% of wives had a diamond engagement ring, in 1990 it became 80%. This demand needed to be met somehow, who can fault the diamond cutters in Antwerp, Belgium for having a simple selling procedure where anyone can walk in and present a diamond and sell it without any questions asked about origin and receive a handshake, no receipt, cash in hand and promptly be asked to leave.
Please read:
Tom Zoellner - The Heartless Stone (journalistic non-fictional work)
Greg Campbell - Blood Diamonds (journalistic non-fictional work)
Joseph Conrad - Heart Of Darkness (fictional work based on author's real world experience as sailor employed by a belgian company in the Congo in the 19th century)

Not a bad game, even though the story can get wonky.

Also, a recommendation, DO NOT play with shadows on.

Yes it makes the game more realistic with darkness, especially at night, but because you don't have a flashlight, it forces you to wince what you see in pitch black, even indoors during day time. So unless you can mod night vision or a flashlight yourself, don't ruin your eyes.