Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 is another open world game. I have not been able to get extremely far in the story, but it is still a very fun game. Set in Africa, the expansive map offers beautiful jungles, savannas, deserts and towns with many things that are destructible. The game even offers full day and night cycles, although I don't like the long nights.

The government of the Central African country has collapsed and two factions fight for control. As the player, you can team up with the factions as you find fit. You will need many friends if you will find a way to kill the Jackal, an arms deal of near god-like power.

Let's look at what the game gets right. The map is absolutely huge and the player can navigate it as they wish. There is just something fun about tearing through an African jungle and then engaging in a gun fight. There are a wide array of weapons and vehicles, and best yet are that they degrade, making the game more realistic. Yes you can pick up a weapon from a dead enemy, but then you run the risk of the heavily used weapon jamming or overheating. There are so many ways to play this game and that really increases the groups of people that would enjoy playing this game. People can just explore, go on mad killing rampages, gain allies to help with the fighting, or try to complete every side mission and collect all of the diamonds scattered about the terrain.

Now I enjoy killing things in games, but in this game it gets to be a little much at times. Factions control checkpoints along the roads. You can kill all of the soldiers off and be on your way, but the next time you go back through the faction will have regained control of the checkpoint. When you have to pass 10 checkpoints to get to the next town, and you have to make that trip several times, it gets to be a bit much. You can, however, just drive right through, but they will still shoot at you and chase you.

This game is very fun, but some of the combat could be a little better and sometimes it just takes too long to get places. Four out of five stars.