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Far Cry 2

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Far Cry 2
Developer(s)Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Designer(s)Clint Hocking
Composer(s)Marc Canham[4]
SeriesFar Cry
EngineDunia
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre(s)Action, First-person shooter, Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Far Cry 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 21, 2008 in North America[1] and on October 24, 2008 in Europe[1] and Australia.[3] Although featuring new characters and storylines, Ubisoft has marketed Far Cry 2 as the true sequel to Far Cry. Crytek, developers of the original game, were not involved in the development of Far Cry 2. It was announced on January 3, 2008, that in addition to Microsoft Windows, Far Cry 2 will also be available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[6]

Gameplay

Gameplay revolves around the player character's quest for the notorious Jackal, a war supporting weapons dealer, through a fictional region of Africa and is open-ended, with the player being able to ally with anyone he/she chooses. The player's choices are completely unfettered, giving a sandbox style of gameplay and allowing the story to progress at the speed the player chooses.[7][disputed – discuss]The player can choose from a wide range of weapons to make his way to the target, accomodating play styles ranging from head-on assaults to stealthy infiltrations. Instead of using individual maps, the game takes place in a sprawling African landscape, with terrain ranging from savannah to jungle.[8] The gameplay area is 50 km2 (20 sq miles).

The player's actions may also have a lasting effect on the environment: for example, one of the missions shown by the developers had the player sabotage a pipeline owned by one of the factions that is pumping fresh water from a lake to a neighboring country, exchanging it for arms and munition. After the player destroys it, part of the surrounding area becomes flooded, including a mine where another mission may take place.[9]

Various factions and vehicles are featured; enemies include human mercenaries, but sci-fi creatures such as the mutants from Far Cry are not featured.[10] Furthermore, the player's feral abilities introduced in Far Cry Instincts and its expansions do not return in Far Cry 2. There is no static mini-map in the game, instead there is a physical map that the avatar holds in-game. There is also a dynamic weather system that has a day night cycle and different weather conditions such as storms and strong winds. The time of day also affects the AI by making them more alert and aggressive or more relaxed and benign. One minute real-time is equivalent to five minutes in-game.

A pre-alpha video of the game, showcasing visuals and 13 minutes of gameplay with developer commentary, was made available online in spring 2008. The video showcased many dynamic gameplay features which included procedural breakage of vegetation, allowing players to shoot down trees and shoot branches and leaves off of trees, which can eventually re-grow. The developers also showcased dynamic propagation of fire, and volumetric wind effects capable of breaking vegetation and spreading fire. Man-made structures were also shown to be highly destructible.

The game has realistic features such as the player having to use a map and navigation system to get around, and more life or death related features, such as the avatar having to use tools to dig bullets out of the body and pat himself down when on fire. Weapons wear-down over time, adding a grimier look to them, causing them to jam and possibly explode. Several species of African wildlife can be encountered in the game, and are able to distract the enemy as well as make them aware of your presence.[11] All the large animals in the game will be grazing herbivores only, such as zebras, wildebeest, gazelle, buffalo, impala, gemsbok, and the like. According to the developers, "The problem was, if we wanted to put predators into that ecosystem we would have to balance it to make sure the lions didn't eat all the gazelles and then all starve to death."[11]

File:Fc2 rl.jpg
Far Cry 2's African-themed setting and visuals.

The game's producer, Louis-Pierre Pharand, says that the single-player game will "potentially have close to 50 hours of game play."[12][13] It has now been stated and claimed by Ubisoft that the game will have 100+ hours of gameplay.[citation needed]

The player is able to tag certain objects and locations such as cars, sniper towers, ammo pickups and buildings, so that they are able to monitor them on their map. The player also must deal with malaria. Every 30 to 40 minutes real time, the player must take a pill in order to combat the effects of the illness. When the player runs out of medicine, he or she will have to do a simple mission in order to get more. The player's reputation comes into play as the more and more notorious the player becomes, the harder it will be to obtain the medication.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in Far Cry 2 attempts to include the dynamic elements of the singleplayer game (such as fire propagation) and to provide as accessible gameplay as possible so that it is available to all skill levels and so that players have specific gameplay aspects to keep in mind when designing their own maps in the map editor.[14] It will also include a vast number of vehicles[15]

Sixteen player online matches can be held.

Modes

Four modes have been confirmed to be shipping with the game:

  • Deathmatch
  • Team Deathmatch
  • Capture the Diamond - a slight variation of the standard Capture the Flag
  • Uprising - Each team has a captain who must capture points across the map, with the assistance of his teammates. Once all points have been captured, the opposing captain must be assassinated to win the round.

Classes

Multiplayer gameplay is class based. Each class can choose an appropriate primary weapon and a side arm, as well as carry explosives such as frag grenades or Molotov cocktails. Players are able to unlock more powerful weapons within each class by spending up to three "blood diamonds" on a class; diamonds are earned through experience points gained by killing other players and completing objectives. Potential upgrades for individual weapons within a class include operation manuals, maintenance manuals, and bandoliers.

There are six classes:

  • Commando - "Mid-range assault class. Effective at fire-and-movement tactics."
  • Sharpshooter - "Long-range specialist. Armed with highly accurate weapons."
  • Guerrilla - "Short-range class. Specializes in close combat and ambush tactics."
  • Rebel - "Specialist in explosives and fire. Strong on offense or defense."
  • Gunner - "Heavy firepower specialist. Highly effective from static firing positions."
  • Saboteur - "Equipped with silenced weapons. Specializes in stealth tactics."

Setting and plot

File:Far Cry 2.jpg
One of the possible player characters.

Far Cry 2 abandons the science fiction aspects of its predecessor in favor of a more realistic setting. The game takes place in a small, fictional, failed Central African state, currently embroiled in a civil war.

The protagonist of previous Far Cry games, Jack Carver, is not featured in this game. When Ubisoft interviewed players about the original Far Cry in their research for this game, the interviewees didn't find the character very memorable or likeable. As a result, in the sequel the player chooses from nine different characters to play, each with a unique look and back story.[16] All of the playable characters will be different types of mercenaries. The playable characters the player does not choose to play become non-player characters who are friends of the player's character and who can be found around the in-game nation.[8] These friends are called Buddies. They can be used to complete some missions

According to the game's plot, the nation's government has recently collapsed, leaving two major factions vying for control. At war are the United Front for Liberation and Labor (UFLL, led by Addi Mbantuwe, a former opposition leader) and the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR, led by Oliver Tambossa, Chief of Staff for the former government). Both factions have claimed that they have the people's interests at heart, but both have shown signs of ruthlessness, warmongering, greed, and a general disregard for the well-being of the people. Both sides have hired many foreign mercenaries to bolster their strength over the course of the conflict.

Within the game world, it has recently been revealed that the nation's diamond mines have been exhausted, throwing the nation, its people, and the conflict into further turmoil, and possibly leaving the many foreign mercenaries without pay and without a way out, in a country in whose fate they have no real interest.

The goal of the player's character is to find and assassinate "The Jackal," an arms dealer that has been selling weapons to both sides of the conflict. The player must accomplish this goal by whatever means necessary, perhaps even through actions which are dangerously close to the level of immorality employed by the warring factions and the Jackal himself.

Development

System Requirements[17]
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows
Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
CPU Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, Pentium D 2.66 Ghz, AMD Athlon 64 3500+ or betterIntel Core 2 Duo Family, AMD 64 X2 5200+, AMD Phenom or better
Memory 1 GB2 GB
Free space 6 GB of free space
Graphics hardware NVidia 6800 or ATI X1650 or better; must support Pixel Shader 3.0,NVidia 8600 GTS or better, ATI X1900 or better

History

The unveiling of Far Cry 2 took place on July 19, 2007 in Paris, France,[18] by head company Ubisoft. Ubisoft stated that the game had been in development by the Ubisoft Montreal team, and would be released on October 23, 2008.

Research

In July 2007, Ubisoft sent a team of the game's developers to Africa to carry out research for the game. They reportedly spent two weeks traveling around Kenya and camping out on the savannah. The game's producer, Louis-Pierre Pharand said that following the trip they realized they had gotten the design of the game "so wrong" and made several changes to "make the game feel like you were really there".[19]

Map editor

Far Cry 2's map editor has been designed specifically for ease of use. It will include features such as easily raising/lowering terrain and applying textures. A video was shown showcasing the editor, including an Eiffel Tower made completely from in-game pieces.[20][21]

The map editor will feature thousands of objects found in the single player game including vehicles, buildings, bridges and more. However, weapons cannot be placed on maps to support the game's class-based gameplay. The objects in the player made maps, such as buildings and structures are prefabricated from the game, making the map files smaller. This means that uploading and downloading maps will be quick and easy. It was announced at the GC 2008 that there will be a memory space limit for each map.

Engine

Ubisoft has developed a new engine specifically for Far Cry 2, called Dunia, meaning "world", "earth" or "live" in Persian language but also used in many languages including Bengali, , Hindi, Indonesian, Kurdish, Turkish, Malay, Marathi, Punjabi, Urdu and Swahili[22]

The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers realistic destructible environments, special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system and non-scripted enemy A.I.

The engine will take advantage of multi-core processors as well as multiple processors and support DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 10.[23] Only 2 or 3 percent of the original CryEngine code is being re-used, according to Michiel Verheijdt, Senior Product Manager for Ubisoft Netherlands. Additionally, this engine will be less hardware-demanding than CryEngine 2, the engine used in Crysis.[24]

Far Cry 2 will also support the amBX technology from Philips. With the proper hardware, this adds effects like vibrations, ambient colored lights, and fans that generate wind effects.

Marketing and release

Ubidays 2008

During Ubisoft's Ubidays, held in Paris, France on May 28 - 29, 2008, Ubisoft revealed brand new video footage for Far Cry 2.[25] Along with the new footage, Ubisoft displayed in-game screenshots showing off the visuals rendered by Ubisoft's Dunia Engine (see engine). A video of Ubisoft Montreal's developers talking about the upcoming game's features can be seen on G4TV's website.[26]

Additional content is available to those who pre-order it at GameStop. Dubbed the GameStop Exclusive Pre-Order Edition, the package sells at the same price point as the regular SKU, and includes the following:[27]

  • 6 Bonus Missions with about 3 extra hours of gameplay
  • A fold out map of the open world of Far Cry 2
  • Exclusive game packaging

Reception

Far Cry 2 has so far received positive reviews from game critics. The current average ratio from Game Rankings for the Xbox 360 version is 86%, based on 19 reviews.[39] The graphics and open-world design in the African setting were universally praised. Critics also praised the intelligent enemies who actively hunt for the player, but noted the sometimes unresponsive AI. The main criticisms of the game was the long time it takes to travel from one objective to another, the lack of information within the plot, and the not-so-compelling storyline. Another minor issue with the IGN review was the difference in the save system: in the PC version players can quick save at any time, while the console versions only allowed players to save at certain points. While IGN criticized this, Gamespot noted that the console version's save system gave the player more of a sense of urgency as it made death seem more consequential.


Controversies

Digital rights management

Far Cry 2 uses a modified version of the digital rights management (DRM) software SecuROM as copy prevention. Similar to Spore, it can only be installed on a limited number of machines (5), with the exception of being able to 'revoke' installations.[42]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Thorsen, Tor (September 5, 2008). "Far Cry 2 howling October 21". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-06. Cite error: The named reference "FC2Info-GameSpot" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Official Release Date & Map Editor Info". Ubisoft. September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  3. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (October 23, 2008). "Ubisoft announces Far Cry 2 Release Date". XBoxWorld Australia. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  4. ^ "Far Cry 2 Soundtrack Preview by Nimrod Productions Director and Composer Marc Canham". Music 4 Games. August 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  5. ^ "Far Cry 2: 720p, but no 60 frames a second". VideoGaming247. October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  6. ^ Robinson, Martin (January 3, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Spreads its Wings to PS3 and 360". IGN - AU. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  7. ^ Onyett, Charles (January 22, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Progress Report". IGN - AU. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  8. ^ a b Osborn, Chuck (2007). "Far Cry 2: Survival Guide to Africa". PC Gamer. 14 (10): 24. ISSN 1080-4471. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Far Cry 2 PlayStation 3 Show - E3 2008: Live Wire Demo". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  10. ^ Smith, Graham (July 31, 2007). "Far Cry 2 - first look!". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  11. ^ a b Valen, René (February 8, 2008). "QUESTIONS FROM LP'S VIDEO". Far Cry 2 official blog. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  12. ^ Jackson, Mike (May 28. 2008). "Far Cry 2 single-player "close to 50 hours"". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-09-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ Jackson, Mike (May 28, 2008). "Far Cry 2 single-player "close to 50 hours"". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2008-09-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  14. ^ Miller, Jon (September 19, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Exclusive Multiplayer Hands-On -- Game Modes, Weapons, and Blood Diamonds". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  15. ^ "IGN Video: Far Cry 2 Xbox 360 Interview - Far Cry 2 Multiplayer Video Interview". Xbox360.ign.com. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  16. ^ "Far Cry 2 - All nine playable characters' full details, images included". VideoGaming247. September 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  17. ^ "FC2 PC Specs Revealed!". Ubisoft. August 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  18. ^ "Ubisoft announces Far Cry 2". Ubisoft. July 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  19. ^ Stuart, Keith (April 25, 2008). "FarCry 2 Interview". Three Speech. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  20. ^ Plunkett, Luke (August 20, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Map Editor Looks Absolutely Amazing". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  21. ^ Miller, Jon (October 14, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Map Editor Gone Wild". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  22. ^ Amancio, Alex (2008-08-14). "Introduction to the Dunia engine". Far Cry 2 official site. Ubisoft Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  23. ^ "GameTrailers.com - Far Cry 2 - Developer Diary - Engine Introduction". GameTrailers.com. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  24. ^ de Vries, Wilbert (2007-12-14). "Ubisoft light tip of the veil on Far Cry 2". Tweakers.net. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  25. ^ G4TV.com - The Feed http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/ May, 2008
  26. ^ G4TV - The Feed http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/685862/Far_Cry_2_Videos__Screenshots.html
  27. ^ "Ubisoft Confirms Far Cry 2 Ship Date and Announces Exclusive Edition". IGN. September 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  28. ^ Nguyen, Thierry (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review - 1UP". 1UP. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  29. ^ Donlan, Christian (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review - EuroGamer". EuroGamer. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  30. ^ McInnis, Shaun (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review - GameSpot". GameSpot. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  31. ^ Kosak, Dave (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review - GameSpy". GameSpy. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  32. ^ Onyett, Charles (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review - IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  33. ^ Onyett, Charles (October 21, 2008). "Far Cry 2 Review (PC) - IGN". IGN. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  34. ^ Edwards, Tim (November 2008), "Far Cry 2", PC Gamer UK
  35. ^ PC PowerPlay (December 2008). "PC Powerplay #158 Synopsis". PC PowerPlay. {{cite web}}: Text "Citation" ignored (help)
  36. ^ "Far Cry 2 (PC) Review - MetaCritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  37. ^ "Far Cry 2 Review (Xbox 360) - MetaCritic". MetaCritic. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  38. ^ "Far Cry 2 Review (PlayStation 3) - MetaCritic". MetaCritic. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  39. ^ a b "Far Cry 2 Review (Xbox 360) - GameRankings". Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  40. ^ "Far Cry 2 Review (PC) - GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  41. ^ "Far Cry 2 Review (PS3) - GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  42. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10066846-1.html
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