Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 is a first-person shooter in which players take control of a mercenary in an unnamed fictional African nation in the middle of a civil war. The playable character is selected from a pool of nine available mercenaries; the remaining eight and some other non-playable mercenary characters are distributed through the world once the game starts. The environment covers a variety of terrain, ranging from desert to savannah to jungle. The mercenary has access to a selection of thirty firearms including pistols, assault rifles, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, and mortars. He can also use a machete for melee kills.

Many missions in Far Cry 2 involve storming or infiltrating encampments, many of which contain supplies. The mercenary can adopt a frontal assault, or approach and carry out their mission using stealth, in addition to there being a number of different options within these approaches for completing a mission. After the opening tutorial area, the mercenary is allowed to roam freely through the game’s open world environment, completing main story missions and side missions for both the game’s major factions and a third independent group, the Underground, in neutral town areas.

The other playable (and some notable non-playable) mercenaries found in the open world are dubbed Buddies, and can be either found in settlements or held captive by one of the factions. Depending on interactions, players have a Best and Second Best Buddy, who when a mission is accepted will call up to offer optional information and support in combat. If Buddies are injured on missions and not healed in time, they die and will be permanently removed from the rest of the game.

The player can save their progress in safe houses captured from enemy forces; the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 (360) versions only allow saves in safe houses, while the Microsoft Windows version allows the player to save anywhere. At safe houses, the mercenary can rest and advance the in-game time using his watch. The player’s health is represented by a bar showing five sections, each of which gradually regenerates unless depleted completely. Once health drops to one bar, a critical state is entered and the heal function triggers a cutscene where the mercenary manually treats their injuries.

If the mercenary falls, their Second Best Buddy will appear to save them and try to get them to safety, but if they are shot down again the game ends and must be restarted from an earlier save. Health can only be restored either through picking up water bottles or using syrettes, of which the mercenary carries a limited number. From the outset of the game, the mercenary is suffering from malaria, which strikes at regular intervals and causes disorientation and blurring vision. The malarial fits must be treated with medicine, which can only be gained from the Underground by completing missions for them.

Over the course of the game, the mercenary’s actions increase their Reputation, which unlocks more missions but also causes the Underground to mistrust him, making the medicine harder to acquire. In the wake of a rebellion against the old government of an unnamed African nation, civil war rages between the rebel forces’ two political factions, the United Front for Liberation and Labour (UFLL) and the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR). While each claims to represent the people, they are equally brutal and exploitative with the civilian population.

The situation is being worsened by the Jackal, an arms dealer distributing efficient low-price weapons to both sides in violation of a Joint Signatory Framework designed to stop the conflict escalating. The protagonist is one of a mercenary team sent into the country to kill the Jackal. The mercenary arrives at a local town, only to succumb to malarial fever. The Jackal confronts him with his assumed failure, but does not kill him, leaving the mercenary to be incapacitated during an ambush on the town. The mercenary is rescued by members of one of the factions, and ends up going on missions for both sides in the hope of catching up with the Jackal.

He also meets Reuben Oluwagembi, a journalist covering the conflict, and after aiding him gains access to malarial medicine through the Underground network, which works to save the civilian population from the activities of the UFLL and APR. During one mission to assassinate the leader of one side, the mercenary’s employer betrays and nearly kills him, only for the Jackal to help him escape. Interactions with the Jackal, together with interview tapes that can be found in-game, reveal both his disillusionment with the conflict and wish to destroy the two factions to protect the civilian population.

The Jackal eventually confronts the mercenary, proposing they work together to save the civilians, and the mercenary is tasked with killing the UFLL and APR leaders. After killing the leaders, the mercenary meets with the Jackal, who reveals the factions are still hunting the civilians to either kill them or trap them in the country. He intends to bribe the border guards to let the civilians through while using explosives to prevent the soldiers’ pursuit.

The mercenary is given the choice of detonating the explosives at the cost of his life, or bribing the guards and then committing suicide, with the Jackal taking the other job. Post-credit dialogue reveals the country descends into anarchy despite attempted peace talks, Reuben’s story is ignored by the press and he begins publishing it on his blog, the Underground is praised for its action saving civilians, and the Jackal’s body is never found.