Renault on 7/11/2008 at 16:43

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Yeah, the AI is pretty awful in spots. Can't tell you how many times I've caught AI just standing there, and they don't see me at all, I walk right up to them and blow them away. Or they just stand there when a raging fire is headed their way.

One kinda cool thing I noticed about the AI is that sometimes they go down and lose their primary weapon but don't die, and will crawl over to a safe spot and pull out their handgun. I've been hit by these types of guys several times when I thought they were long dead.

Garrettwannabe on 9/11/2008 at 20:22

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I had to ask myself at the ending(s) - um, like what were you folks thinking? :rolleyes: Out of all the outcomes the game could have had - [spoiler]I can go 2 ways - but BOTH are suicide missions? [/spoiler]
I was thinking afterwards how cool it would have been (just for an example..) if I [spoiler]blew up the canyon - then noticed the jackal's car getting out ahead of that rock slide, then jumping on a hang glider and chasing through the canyon after him & then either the game fades out or I get shot down by one of his thugs and land in the canyon water or something.[/spoiler]
Seems like there's no story for a FC3 and wondered [spoiler]1. why I went though all this and 2. don't think I was that into the "struggle" to go along with that at the end. Kinda see myself more laughing at him and walking out with the diamonds actually.. :rolleyes:[/spoiler]

Sulphur on 22/1/2009 at 18:28

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I've been having a poke at Far Cry 2. Recently bought Call of Duty 4 for the PS3 over eBay, and because the disc was scratched the seller very generously sent me Far Cry 2 along with it. (Even better, CoD 4 works flawlessly despite the scratches. Score!)

It's interesting in how diametrically opposed it is to something like Call of Duty - FC2 isn't flashy, fast, or even very engaging at first. But strangely enough, it's because of this that I've begun to really dig it.

One thing I've noticed is that, though it's seemingly got no relation to Far Cry, it's a quite comprehensive deconstruction of it.

You've got the vehicles, the weapons, the mercenaries, hell even the hang-glider's around if you fancy you need some air. Remember that level in Far Cry with you in a boat going up a creek? Well, it's in Far Cry 2, and you can have that experience at any damn time you feel like it.

At some point, it looks like the goal was to emulate Far Cry's best bits by shaking them up and attempting to make Far Cry something like what everybody wished it would have been - an open-world, free-roam experience with no mutants and a somewhat less corny storyline.

It's interesting. And boring, and samey, and grindy (slow travel time, huge map checkered with guard posts, 2-minute respawn times for each post, missions that have you go through 4-5 posts and back once you're done != genius), and not-quite-compelling in the story department.

But the game rewards patience and encourages you to not Rambo through it like it's a CoD clone. Fire propagation is just one mechanic that shakes up the gameplay, but you have to do the work to find out which is the best way to approach stuff.

However, I can't tell you whether I actually like Far Cry 2. It intrigues me. The bloody thing's hardcore, intelligent and beautiful, but also difficult, repetitive, and a pain in the ass to go through at the same time.

It's almost as if... it's aspiring to be art. And perhaps it is, but not necessarily something everyone would admire.

Sulphur on 28/1/2009 at 14:48

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No, the fuel tanks and munition depots and all that stuff aren't what make the game scream RAMBO. They're there as options to be used if you want to.

I'm talking about play style here - I don't know about you, but I found the game far more fun when I stopped trying to rush camps and plough my way through with brute force. There is stealth; you need to use the silenced weapons, or you can sneak through without killing anyone but your objective. Obviously it's best to attempt this at night, if you're going to.

I usually found combinations of stuff - like finding a bit of high land to snipe from, then going and popping people in the head using the silenced makarov, or starting a blaze and using it to steer the remainder of the forces my way to be far more fun.

It's far more fun to mix things up than just simply stand there and BLAM BLAM BLAM, so to speak.

Sulphur on 28/1/2009 at 15:59

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I agree that it's easy to do that if you want to, mothra, but I've used the words 'far more fun' three times in that post for a reason.

You're essentially describing running and gunning through it like it's CoD as being easier, which is an option, but as you find it easier you obviously prefer that route.

I don't.

Thing is, I tried playing the game like you described. And it became almost unbearably boring after a couple of hours. But when I realised that the game doesn't force you to play it like that, I got more fun out of it because the other options were equally valid, and oft times better.

And when I say 'rewarding', it doesn't necessarily mean that the game rewards you for it; it's rewarding that using a different approach just plain works, which is certainly not universal when it comes to a lot of single-player FPSes.