STUDIO: Ubisoft
RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2008
CONSOLE: PS3
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: XBox 360, PC
DEVELOPER: Ubisoft Montreal
GENRE: First-Person Shooter
PLAYERS: Multi
ESRB RATING: M (Mature)

The influence and impact of Grand Theft Auto makes it all the way to Africa in the gigantic, open-world game Far Cry 2, a title that could practically be called "Grand Theft Blood Diamond". Advertising over 50 hours of gameplay, Far Cry 2 is an overwhelming and immersive experience that features a remarkable and diverse story but sacrifices focus and gamer experience in the name of scope. The question with Far Cry 2 comes down to this - is bigger always better? Far Cry 2 is a consistently impressive experience, one that every gamer has to respect on a design level, but is it fun? That was the question I kept asking myself as I drove around (and around and AROUND) the jungles of Africa in one of the longest gaming experiences that you will ever have in your life. But does length equal quality? I'm not convinced that there couldn't have been a shorter, more user-friendly version of Far Cry 2 that wouldn't have been a more rewarding and less repetitive experience. Far Cry 2 is an easy game to admire, but I found it a hard game to love.

One of the most interesting things about Far Cry 2 is that it's one of the most unrelated sequels in the history of gaming. In fact, it's almost false advertising. Far Cry was a pretty standard FPS and this game carries over none of the story or characters from that game. Why not call it something new? Like "Several Days Of Your Life"?

In Far Cry 2, you play a character caught in the middle of two warring factions - the APR and the UFLL - in a fictional African country. You pick your protagonist at the beginning (the characters you don't pick will pop up as "buddies" who can help you in your main mission or give you side ones and who will be a major part of the experience) and your main goal is to take down the weapons supplier known only as the Jackal. To get to the Jackal, you're not only going to have to work your way through hundreds of lesser characters but keep the war between the APR and UFLL going so the villain will make an appearance on the bloody scene. Like Grand Theft Auto or the Saints Row games, Far Cry 2 features "main missions" that need to be completed to move the game forward along with dozens of sub-missions and the general ability to just drive around Africa and do whatever you want.

The weapons system and shooting controls in Far Cry 2 are one of the title's most user-friendly and easy-to-use elements. You only carry four weapons at a time with each one attached to a different directional button. Running and switching between weapons at the same time is very easy to do and something you'll have to get used to quickly. Naturally, as with the plot described above, weapons are a major part of Far Cry 2. You're constantly buying, upgrading, picking them up and unlocking new ones through main and side missions. I loved the fact that a lot of the weapons you find in the field - the ones that you take off your enemy or find in outposts - will jam on you and you have to hit a button to unjam them or trade them in for new ones in town. Very clever.

The majority of Far Cry 2 involves missions that you'll receive at either APR or UFLL headquarters and, to be honest, the world of the game is not as open-ended as you might think. Just because it takes a long time to get ANYWHERE in the game, doesn't mean it's a completely unique experience for every user. You will spend a ridiculous amount of time driving in Far Cry 2 and taking out guard posts with respawning enemies along the way. After you've destroyed the same guard post a dozen times, it gets a little boring. And there's nothing more frustrating than starting a mission, driving for ten minutes, and dying, only to have to drive ten minutes again because there's no real checkpoint system in the game. Far Cry 2 requires a lot of patience.

But to those patient game players looking for an immersive experience, they'll be satisfied. Personally, the backgrounds and environments that looked gorgeously rendered at first started to blend together after taking out the same guard post for the 20th time and having to drive down the same dusty road. (It's also a little odd that there's not a single sign of wildlife in Far Cry 2. If you can have randomly generating hookers in GTA IV, why can't they put a giraffe in the background of Far Cry 2?) The claim that Far Cry 2 allows for complete free range of activity is a little misleading when even basic activity starts to get repetitive.

As for the multiplayer aspect of the game, Far Cry 2 is actually, believe it or not, pretty straight-forward. The trend in FPS is to make the online quotient of the game more exciting than the single-player mission but the inverse was clearly the focus with this title. Having said that, I love the map editor, which allows players to design and share their own levels in which to unleash their online dominance.

Far Cry 2 is unbelievably well-designed. It looks great, sounds great, and moves as smoothly and fluidly as any game this season, but I was also more frustrated with it than any game this season. I have a love-hate affair with this title It seems appropriate that a 50-hour game should provide so much joy and pain at the same time. I'm amazed at the size and scope of Far Cry 2 but don't love the way they're used in the name of gameplay. It's a gigantic game with some serious flaws when it comes to repetition and every time that my character bought it after a half-hour or more of gameplay since my last save, I wanted to scream. No one can argue with the graphics and the lack of glitches in Far Cry 2, but I wanted a happy medium between the simplicity of the first one and the complexity of this title. Believe it or not, there can be "too much" in the world of gaming.