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Far Cry 2 pc Game Reviews
Far Cry 2
Critic Score
Metascore: 86 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.8 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 376 votes
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Rate this game

Caught between two rival factions in war-torn Africa, you are sent to take out "The Jackal," a mysterious character who has rekindled the conflict between the warlords, jeopardizing thousands of lives. In order to fulfil your mission you will have to play the factions against each other, identify and exploit your their weaknesses, and neutralize their superior numbers and firepower with surprise, subversion, cunning and, of course, brute force. Real-time story telling, systemic auto-healing, minimal in-game interface are just few of the features that make you feel the tension of being alone against barbarous warlords that threaten thousands of innocent lives. Choose from a wide range of weapons to make your way to your primary target. Meet the fight head-on with your machine-gun, go berserk with your machete or make stealth kills as a Sniper. If you feel that the atmosphere is not warm enough, light up your flamethrower and let your enemies and everything around them feel the heat. [Ubisoft]

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
DEVELOPER: Ubisoft Montreal
GENRE(S): First-Person Shooter
PLAYERS: 16
ESRB RATING: M (Mature)
RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2008

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
PC PowerPlay
The unique setting, brilliant AI and palpable atmosphere, make Far Cry 2 a quintessential PC gaming experience. [Dec 2008, p.63]
94
PC Gamer UK
After playing Far Cry 2, I'm simply unable to go back to straight and simple first-person shooters. This game has executed my expectations. [Nov 2008, p.62]
Read Full Review
94
PC Gamer
I'm unable to go back to straight and simple first-person shooters. Far Cry 2 hasn’t just exceeded my expectations, it’s blown them away. [Holiday 2008, p.58]
94
Cheat Code Central
By adopting a laissez faire attitude to player discretion, Ubisoft has crafted a brilliant follow-up.
Read Full Review
94
3DJuegos
Far Cry 2 is not a game for everybody, neither is it perfect. It requires time, patience and dedication; some will be frustrated with the long car trips - avoidable - while others will struggle with the excessive freedom. Nevertheless the little objections that can be made disappear compared to its virtues. This video game is technically impeccable, it offers a very interesting multiplayer mode, and is equipped with a campaign that should appear in the dictionary under the words intensity and immersion.
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92
PC Format
Sumptuously realised, stuffed with action and pushed along by an engaging plot. Far Cry 2 is how shooters should be made. [Dec 2008, p.86]
91
Gamers.at
A remarkable array of physical effects that weren’t just pretty but actually relevant to the gameplay itself, stunning graphics and a story written also by the player instead of the developer alone: Far Cry 2 truly did impress me. Only the constant respawning of outposts had me grinding my teeth.
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90
VideoGamer
Nothing but brilliant. But we're already looking to the future. Our minds are already spinning at what Ubisoft Montreal might come up with for the inevitable "Far Cry 3."
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90
PC Zone UK
There's nothing like it around, and even with its flaws, it's a game you certainly grow to love. [Dec 2008, p.56]
90
Jolt Online Gaming UK
It’s a shame that more wasn’t done with the story, as the shallow characters and lack of moral depth sits in stark contrast to the hard work spent on some of the most impressive game technology we’ve ever seen.
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90
LEVEL (Czech Republic)
Unusual in that a first person shooter shows you the fictitious African country where real crimes against the civil population are fought in the name of profit. An intense experience in all aspects. [Nov 2008]
90
Boomtown
Far Cry 2 is phenomenal fun and brings new meaning to the term open world. It has surpassed my expectations and without a doubt Ubisoft Montreal have taken an uncut diamond and worked it into a nearly flawless gem.
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89
PC Games (Germany)
Far Cry 2 is far from perfect, but the gorgeous African landscapes and thrilling gun-fights make up for the annoying enemy camps with their constantly spawning occupants. Ubisoft delivers an immersive First-Person-Shooter, which is easily on a level with Call of Duty 4.
Read Full Review
89
IGN
More importantly, it has nowhere near as many bugs as something like "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl," a title that bears many similarities. Add to the roughly 25 hour single-player campaign a remarkably easy-to-use map creation tool and a full multiplayer suite, and you've got one of the most complete overall gaming packages of the year, as well as one of the most ambitious.
Read Full Review
87
GameTrailers
The action is high-quality, free-roaming stuff, and the game earns major points for its smart way of dealing with getting shot up, patched up, and bailed out. The story does keep you on a leash and your objectives tend to repeat without too much variation, but if you enjoy this line of work, Far Cry 2's dangerous African landscape is a great place to be a merc.
Read Full Review
85
GameSpot
Although you can't say the same for the plot, Far Cry 2's first-person action squeezes every last drop of potential out of the unique African setting.
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82
GameStar
Far Cry 2 scores right in the core area of first-person-shooters: action. Players who like some logic and a good story even in a first-person-shooter will have their problems with Far Cry 2. Ubisoft's Africa is beautiful, but life in all its glory is missing most of the time. Travelling takes a long time and you are forced to make absurd detours because of mountains and valleys. Far Cry 2 can be reproached with a lot of things, but once the Savannah is burning they are forgotten, at least temporarily, because fighting the APF and UFLL is so much fun.
Read Full Review
80
G4 TV
Technical issues aside, Far Cry 2 is an epic (and epic-ly long) take on the first-person shooter. The setting, open word, and side quests make it feel more like a more action-oriented "Grand Theft Auto," or a less ridiculous "Just Cause," than the original. Which, admittedly, will annoy fans of the original (present company included).
Read Full Review
80
Edge Magazine
Combat is thrilling – each weapon packing a solid, vicious blast; movement suggesting heft and momentum. [Dec 2008, p.80]
80
Gamer.nl
Far Cry 2 isn't able to deliver on its expectations, but is still a high quality shooter with lots of freedom and one of the most beautiful settings ever. The developers could have been more creative with the mission structure though.
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76
YouGamers
Visually impressive and ambitious but ultimately falls short of the hype. Attempts very hard to immerse you in a realistic sandbox world but fails to be anything but a simple, repetitive shooter. Driving across beautiful but lifeless world while fighting infinitely respawning enemies to complete unimaginative missions for people who all try to kill you can be summed up as beautiful but disappointing.
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74
Worth Playing
Far Cry 2 looks and sounds great (voice acting aside), but it has some gameplay mechanics that make progression through the game world a frustrating task.
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70
DarkZero
It falters in just enough places to make you think before you hand over your money.
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70
Game Over Online
Some games grow on you the more you play them, as you get used to the little idiosyncrasies and learn to appreciate the finer points. Far Cry 2 is at the opposite end of the spectrum, a game that makes it harder and harder for you to like it by placing more and more junk between you and its best features.
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70
Total PC Gaming
If you plot a graph of genius times faltering game design, Far Cry 2 sits firmly in the top right. [Issue#13, p.50]
70
GameSpy
If you can bear some of the repetition in between missions, the missions themselves are a blast. The environment is among the most compelling ever put on a screen this year. And multiplayer is strong. Far Cry 2 may not live up to its full potential, but there's a lot here to enjoy regardless.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.8 (out of 10) based on 376 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Belushi S. gave it a4:
It's all been said before...but i feel so let down by this after all the anticipation...sure, the world they've created is beautiful, the graphics are very good (not brilliant..) and the game engine is top drawer...but it all starts to fall down after you've enjoyed the scenery for a while...re-spawning enemies with dodgy AI...some who are a crack shot from an absurd distance while some can be standing right next to you...it's also not a game you can just jump into. If you don't mind a more thoughtful RPG approach then i suppose this is pretty decent, but it's just not much fun...long jeep journeys, repairing your vehicle every 5 minutes...a ropey plot and your malaria hampering you constantly...Great games cannot be left alone until you've clocked them...i can take or leave this and if i never load it up again i won't wonder "what if". A crying shame...so back to Crysis/Warhead I go and if i didn't realise how good they were before FC2, I do now.

Terrman D gave it a9:
Yeah, the missions are bit repetitive, but look at the flexibility of the game. You can manage which missions to do and when, how to get around (on foot, jeeps, buses), and most important the approach you take to a situation. You can take the roads and deal with patrols and checkpoints head-on (good ‘old run and gun style) or go off-road and snipe these folks from high ground. I really can't think of a game that has done this sooooo well. After a while I've gotten really good at this and it’s very cool. I think a lot of you out there are missing this point of FarCry 2.

Andrian C gave it a5:
Caught between two rival factions that involve no Trigens or genetically mutated guards, you are sent to seek out the typical facade of usual mindless objects in a shroud of agitating redundancy. It would have been more interesting if they inculded pourly translated subtitals, and 8 bit sound effects. Then the AI could of at least followed the retro theme. However, if you have a higher end PC, they did a good job on shading/lighting effects, which makes if briefly bareable.

Andrew J. gave it a3:
In an attempt to make the finest FPS game bar none, UBI forgot one fatal mistake, THEY FORGOT TO MAKE IT FUN!. The only reason I'm still playing this game is because I forked out the cash for it. Once done this game will be uninstalled, sent to gamers hell, never to be played again. The most OVERRATED game I've had the misfortune to play.

dudeman theman gave it a5:
The level design is impeccably bad. 50km by 50km and they designed missions to be on the other side of the map with no active save system. Good job. I give it a five because the game is beautiful, the story is nicely written, and the game features extra animations that can only mean that the creators fell in love with their game and wanted to make it that much better. This game would have shined if the level design team had been high class.

Donny D. gave it a2:
This game is not just bad because it's a console port, it has major gameplay issues as well that I doubt are any different in the console versions of the game. To sum things up, it's extremely boring, repetitive, bad story, bad gameplay, bad "level" design and just badly design in every aspect of the game. The graphics are ok, but everything has a boring brown tint to it. People who enjoy this game would enjoy 30 hours of counting cars next to the freeway just as much.

Daniel B. gave it a9:
This is gaming marmite, your either going to love it or hate it. After the first five hours of game-play the scale of the game really starts to hit you and suddenly it becomes a sheer joy to play - if the game was a drug the effects start to kcik in and it feels great. its when you realise that ever mission in the game (there are about 35) is EXACTLY the same that you start to feel a bit betrayed. SURE, you can approach each identical mission in a new and expressive way and SURE - each mission takes place in varying environments. HOWEVER, the objective is ALWAYS one of two things: Kill a man or Blow up an object with explosives. That is just two missions repeated roughly 15 times to make 35 missions. I find it baffling that the creators could produce such a detailed and imaginative environment and such a beautifully crafted fighting system only to come up with the most unimaginative and simply boring mission system to go over it! Assassination or Sabotage, thats it, thats all you will be doing for 30 hours and every time you go to get a mission your heart sinks a little bit 'Oh! What a surprise! you want someone dead! I didnt see that coming! ive only gone and done that 13 times already! Its ok..This time ill try using nothing but a flare gun.' I would give this game 10 if they had spent the time varying the missions how about these possibilities: Undercover Missions, Hunting Missions, Decoy Missions, Puzzle Missions, Rescue Missions, VIP Missions etc etc . The game may be the best SinglePlayer FPS ive ever played but its also the most disappointing - a bit like a one night stand with a beautiful woman who doesn't really like me.

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