A Far Cry from brilliant...

The original Far Cry was an amazing game. I mean amazing! It didn't offer anything thoroughly innovative, or new to the first-person-shooter arena, but what it did was give you all the best elements of other shooters, lump them all into one game, and give it an unprecedented amount of polish. That game was gorgeous, had amazing level design, and was consistant in every way.

So when I heard they were making a sequel I was fairly excited. I was expecting another example of how a simple game can be amazing when polished so well.

The game that I got... was close..

The fact is, Far Cry 2 is an absolutely gorgeous game! It really takes advantage of the Direct x10 and the environments are staggering. The problem is that the quality isn't very consistent. For example, the vehicles, a major part of the game, are all very bland and the textures are quite poor when compared to the other environments.

However, this game does offer something the original didn't; freedom! After the initial mission, you are set free to explore and do jobs for various people. You gain friends, which give you new abilities and strategies to use on your missions. You gain a weapons arsenal too, and despite the fact that you have to work to gain extra things, they start you out with a full set of weapons and a car. So you don't have to go through boring starter missions before the real fun begins.

The biggest issue for me is that the game reminds me far too much of Just Cause. The main character is different, but once you're past the original story it's the same game minus the awesome stunts... and Just Cause is getting a sequel soon...

Far Cry 2 isn't a bad game. However it's also not a great game. It is merely a good game. If I were new to first person shooters, I might think it was amazing. However, I'm not, and in the time where 3-10 new games come out every week depending on the time of year, and some of the biggest games recieve a bigger bankroll than most major movies, good just doesn't cut it anymore.

So Far Cry 2 is a good game... However, Deadspace is a great game, Left 4 Dead is a great game, Call of Duty is a great game... There are so many other options that have come out this recent Christmas season. Why would I play a good game when those are available?