It's Far Cry but much, much more
Ok, so before I start rabbiting on about Far Cry 2, you need to know that so far this game has been in development for 2 years and is still pre-alpha. Yep, that’s 2 years of developing the tools to make the game. 2 years of figuring out where the game is going to be set, what character you’ll play and even the whys and where-fors of what you’re doing there.
So, given that this is pre-alpha, I was surprised to learn that this will be a Q1 2008 release on the PC… so Ubisoft must be pretty confident that they’ll have it ready in time with just some 6 months or so left to go.
But anyway, let’s have a look at what’s going on with Far Cry 2.
Now, from the outset Ubisoft wanted to have some form of continuity with the original Far Cry but don’t expect Jack and his loud shirt to make a return. The continuity we’re talking about here is in the way you interact with the world, the number of weapons you can carry and just the general look and feel of the Far Cry series.
Click for larger imageFar Cry 2 is actually set in Africa, but not any particular place in Africa, which allows the game to have a variety of areas from dense jungle to rolling savannah and everything in between. Don’t expect any famous African landmarks to make an appearance either, as this would again limit the playing area and seeing as there’s 50 sq km to run about in, there’s plenty of room for variety.
The basic storyline is that you’re hired to eliminate a shady arms dealer who is supplying weapons to both sides of two warring factions, tearing the country in two and making himself a tidy profit into the bargain. But here’s the real twist, at the start of the game you get a choice of not just one but twelve different characters to play. And the character you pick has some impact on how the game pans out as you play it, as well as how you actually play.
Click for larger imageBut the work on the other eleven characters isn’t wasted as you’ll meet these guys in the game and depending on how you’ve been playing, they’ll become your buddy and pop up at opportune moments to help you out. So if you go around blazing away killing neutral characters you’re less likely to hook up with anyone.
Click for larger imageNow these buddies do have a purpose and one of their key uses is helping you out in tricky situations. Sometimes you’ll find yourself faced with destroying a heavily guarded target and your buddy may happen to be nearby and will offer you his help should he thing you need it. If you take too many hits and get knocked down your buddy will come steaming in and help you out, fending off attackers until you can patch yourself up a bit. The problem is that your buddy is now in play and if he gets killed that’ll be it until you meet a new one.
