I’ve played a bit of Far Cry 2 now. Probably 5-10 hours or so. I don’t know if I’m going to be playing again any time soon what with all of the other games out there to try and FC2 not quite making the grade. Here’s why it’s not quite the game they wanted…or least it wasn’t on the regular difficulty level (I hear it plays differently on different difficultly levels?).
The AI
Why knock the AI when I’ve also got them in the good things area? Because they respawn like angry mosquitoes when you leave standing water outside. Literally. See, in FC2 you drive around this huge country side a lot. This huge country side is filled with a bunch of random annoying guys (like the internet) with guns (less like the internet). Ok, well, fine. It’s a warzone, I’m a mercenary, I’ll do what I do. Basically, kill the shit out of things. I do that, take the supplies I need and move on. Pretty straight forward. Except, when I have to drive back by there I find a whole host of new guys there. As if they are cloning them in the back somewhere and as soon as I’m out of sight, the little bastards are popping out of the water, running to the guard post and then nochalantly pretending like they’ve been there the whole time. So, no matter how many times you kill them, you get to do again as soon as you go back. Awesome!
The original design vs. what we got
They, the developers, either originally designed a more hardcore game where saving was only available at safe houses or they altered the difficulty levels post design or something, but a few things just aren’t well done. First, you don’t need save points, so you don’t need safe houses (until later in the game when they have supplies…if you’re a right and true bastard). Second, while some of the game seems based on making it feel more realistic, other things aren’t. Repairing a vehicle for instance…as long as the vehicle hasn’t exploded, you can just get out, open the hood, twist a wrench a few times and it’s back to new! While that might be a better mechanic than having vehicles die and you have to hoof it a lot, there should have been some other way to solve this problem without it feely so gamey. Third, why can I only carry 4 weapons, no matter their size. Great arbitrary way to try to make the game harder…
Story?
Ok, yeah, the game isn’t big on story. Completely understandable since it’s an FPS. They often think deep story lines have cooties. Fair enough. But what about a story line that you’re literally thrown into, and then never hear about again? I’m going to spoil something right now (since it’s in the first 5 minutes of the game)…you’re hunting the Jackal. And you meet him right away. And he doesn’t kill you, even though he knows you’re there to kill him. Ok, fine. But then? You never hear from him or where he is again. And you start doing random jobs for random people for…no reason. Yeah, it’s that esoteric. Then, you make buddies…that aren’t really buddies so much as people that want things from you for very little reward. That are also physic. As soon as you take a job, they know and have a counter or altered job already setup. It’s almost as if this entire country was just waiting for you to appear…
Ok, so, those aren’t great things…but you know what? Far Cry 2 is still pretty fun for awhile, and if modding tools exist, the real Far Cry 2 could appear. If no other game was out right now, I’d probably still be playing it. And I will most definitely go back to it at some point. See, it has these really good things. Stealth works, the AI is fun to play against, when they aren’t spawning constantly, and the graphics are amazing.
Now for some developer comments as seen on Pentadact (right after the author’s comments):
I’m missing something fundamental about the buddy missions. Namely, why? And also, why? Why do they want to hurt the APR/UFLL much more seriously at enormous risk to my health and for no extra reward? And why do they think I will want to? It can’t be that they’re die-hard UFLL or APR supporters, because my next mission will be against that faction and they will again demand that I take enormous, preposterous detours to commit mass murders.
Hmm…I agree completely, but what does the developer say (these are taken from the original blog’s comments)?
Thanks for the (cheeky) comments. I would very much liked to have done a better job of realizing the buddies and making them more present and meangingful in the game. At least you can shoot them and make them go away if you don’t like them. I don’t like Michelle much either and after the third or fourth time I had her as a buddy I secretly painted some sandbags with her brains when no one was looking.
So the best way to deal with your buddies is to kill them…interesting. What about why they ask you create massive destruction for what appears to be (yet again) no real reason?
As for the other ‘why’ why do the buddies want you destroy medicine or defoliate a jungle?… The answer is because they are bad fucking people. They are self-interested, dangerous assholes. Are they really different from the warlords and their goons? It’s completely fine if you don’t want to do that stuff. It’s completely fine that you think they are monsterous. If you don’t want to do that stuff, if you think it’s ‘bad’, you don’t have to. Your reputation will stay low, you’ll have access to medicine for longer, you won’t find the battlefield quite so littered with wounded. But make no mistake – you’re motives here are not to end this conflict. Don’t be so high and mighty, errand boy. You’re a killer. You’ve probably killed and burned and stabbed more people than all of your buddies combined. Why do you think you are the one we hired to kill the Jackal and not one of them :)
So…they ask you to do horribly destructive things with no real logic or reasoning behind them because they are bad people? Are bad people stupid as all get out? Because that might explain things a bit…
I do understand his talk of lack of time and polish. That happens on every single software project known to man. That doesn’t excuse things, but it does give some understanding. Far Cry 2 though…well it could have been an outstanding game instead of just another decent one. If modding exists for it, I think with a bit of work, you could make one of the most amazing single player games to grace our screens.
As it stands, it’s worth a buy from the bargain bin or if you’re out of other games to play.
What Would Matt Do: I’d read the rest of the comments by Clint. They are all insightful and interesting, if not a little bit revisionist and spinnie, but still good. I’d also keep Far Cry 2 and give it another shot when I have more time or when a patch fixes a fair amount of the issues.
Some of your criticisms don’t make a lot of sense. In the paragraph where you discuss safe houses, you say that they’re not necessary unless you want places scattered throughout the map where you can save anytime and where you can eventually stock up on ammo, guns, and health syrettes. I mean…who wouldn’t want that stuff? I think you’re trying to say that the game allows you to save other ways, so the safe houses aren’t the only, or perhaps even the primary means for saving the game. But to say you don’t “need” them doesn’t seem right to me. They’re a great option to mid-mission saving and/or resupplying.
You also state that your buddies ask you to do things for no reason and then simplify and mischaracterize Clint Hocking’s response to Pentadact’s blog post. Hocking didn’t say that your buddies ask you to do things simply because they’re bad. He said they ask you to do bad things because there is profit to be had and they don’t care who else gets hurt. If you talk to your buddy he/she will always explain exactly why he/she wants you to add that extra bit to your base mission and it ALWAYS is because it benefits your buddy, even though it ends up hurting others, including the poor people of that terrible country.
Clint Hocking also didn’t say that the best way to deal with buddies is to kill them. He said that if you don’t like them, you’re free to go ahead and eliminate them, along with the rewards in reputation and the goodies you get at your safe houses for doing their missions. Far Cry 2 has an open world and you’re pretty much never prevented from doing whatever the heck you want, including killing your own buddies or opening fire in a no-fire zone.
MSUSteve…
Umm…. No.
you say that they’re not necessary unless you want places scattered throughout the map where you can save anytime and where you can eventually stock up on ammo, guns, and health syrettes. I mean…who wouldn’t want that stuff?
I used them only as an example of the changing design and how the game isn’t coherent in it’s design. Sure, they are great…except they aren’t really useful and don’t make sense in the context of having save anywhere.
You also state that your buddies ask you to do things for no reason and then simplify and mischaracterize Clint Hocking’s response to Pentadact’s blog post.
Interesting…because if I look at Hocking’s comments, these are his exact words (emphasis mine), “As for the other ‘why’ why do the buddies want you destroy medicine or defoliate a jungle?… The answer is because they are bad fucking people. They are self-interested, dangerous assholes. Are they really different from the warlords and their goons?”
So he said exactly that as a matter of fact. Admit it, the buddies are omnipresent and they don’t have any real motivations beyond destroying more people/things. It’s not a deal breaker, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense in the context of the given world.
Clint Hocking also didn’t say that the best way to deal with buddies is to kill them.
Clint’s comments are, “I would very much liked to have done a better job of realizing the buddies and making them more present and meangingful in the game. At least you can shoot them and make them go away if you don’t like them.”
So, if the buddies aren’t fully realized and are annoying you can shoot them. Which is pretty much what they are at one time or another. Awesome.
Really man, if you want to critique me, read my posts first. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t always get my points across well, but damn me if Hocking himself didn’t make all of my points…
Hmm I don’t quite agree with any of your criticism. As far as I’m concerned, FC2 is the best FPS I’ve played…ever. The first one was I really big dissappointment, but the second more than makes up for the 1st’s overall shittyness. I know everyone has their opinion, but I think you might be just a bit too harsh on this game. No game will ever be perfect, but FC2 is pretty close. You may just have too high of expectations from games these days.
Your writing skills leave much to be desired. I really hope you weren’t compensated in any way for this tripe.
Dear Justin,
Yes, I expect games to be good at the very least. Far Cry 2 tried hard, but fell down in a couple of ways. See above.
Dear Chris,
I can’t share with you the amount of money I make from displaying no ads on the site (the amazon thing doesn’t count as I don’t get money for that…it’s just a game tracker), but let me just tell you, I feel like I got paid a thousand bucks when you leave thoroughly boring and hohum comments like the above. Personal attacks on the internet? Why I never!
Why don’t you think about all the aspects before you go bashing on something? Not very intelligent. Number one enemys respawn because if they didnt then guess wat u get to drive around and be bored and have nothin to do but the missions they respawn to keep the game alive while u drive 50 miles. second repairing a vehicle the game cant get down to a realism level that is like in real life of repairing a vehicle thus again it would get boring. Third, why can I only carry 4 weapons: Heres the answer to this because in real life most soldiers only carry 2 weapons a primary and a secondary so they cut you slack on two more. you have any idea how heavy weapons are. also about the story you do jobs to learn information about the jackal and beat the game its another form of keeping the game active. the game is like assassins creed yes it is repetitive in a general sense but all the time the landscapes change and change 3 major times cause of diff acts. so why dont you finish the game before you judge it.
@Daniel
Dear Sir… you wound me! To suggest I have not thought about Far Cry 2 is to suggest I do not think Selma Hayek is crazy hot. It’s a dumb thing to say, a dumb thing to suggest and you’re dumber for having said it.
Oh, and if you read my article, Mr. Thinkypants, you’ll find that only did I think about, but the articles I linked thought about it.
Including the developers who says, and I quote, “The guardposts thing – yeah, we’re getting raked over the coals for that. Funny thing is, we did discuss it and unfortunately, while there are better theoretical solutions than repopulating them after unloading, none of them are terribly simple (in the time we had to react to the weakness).”
They ran out of time to implement something else. That doesn’t make it fun…
If you want better ways to do things, I can suggest a few, or you can look at other games out now and see how they handle (such as Mercs 2 where your faction improves and when the guys are back, they don’t hate you) it.
I’m glad you like the game. Me, I don’t think it’s quite right. Hopefully they will continue with this theory of gameplay in the next one and clean up the things they didn’t have time to on this one.
Hmm, You seem to have alot of ideas. Why don’t you make a game and see how hard it is to please everyone? Give me one suggestion of a good respawn of enemies. Second I didn’t say you didn’t think about the game I said you shouldn’t judge it before you finish it. You have to have all the aspects in context before you make a conclusion of it. You must be the kind of guy that judges a book by its cover. The developers say what they said to please the mass of idiots that bitch like yourself. Due to the fact of a developers blog I saw said the development team was all in all satisfied with their decisions and implementations. Also if you played the game more like I said you would find out that a faction you play more with starts to respect you more.
Daniel,
First day on the internet? I ask only because you pulled out both of the common straw men when arguing games. One, I can have an opinion on a game, even if I haven’t made games myself. It’s been approved. Second, I don’t have to finish a game to have an opinion. I said right up front how many hours I played and why I stopped. That too has been approved.
Now, beyond that, if you read the sites I linked, you’ll see that the developers too lament the fact that they didn’t have a bit more time to develop it. I’d post them again, but they are in the article right fucking above here. Go read them.
Also, suggestions to fix the respawning guys? How many do you want? How about, if you clear one out, they don’t spawn until the next day? Or what if you could clear them out and put your friendly guys there? Or how about the more you clear, the longer it takes them to respawn. Wouldn’t it be sweet if the proximity to their base determined the respawn time.
Or a host of other potential ideas that come to mind.
You see, Farcry 2 isn’t a bad game. It’s *this close* to being a really, really good game. If the publisher had given their guys more time, maybe it could have been bad ass instead of just another entry in the big FPS market…
LOL, Opinions only mean as much as the truth that is contained within them. So I said you opinion is wrong. Plus I am not arguing over a game, I could care less. I play games when I am bored. You probably play games when you get home from your job if you even have the latter. So when it comes to making a point and defending it. (arguing) I will always win. That is a fact and not an opinion which cannot be subject to change. Another thing you think you’re so badass using perfect grammar and punctuation. Rofl, You want to know why no game will ever be perfect or as you want it? Because humans are not perfect. Software is only as good as the one who makes it. Yea two more things smart people, like the kind you think you are, finish something before they state their opinion. Second about your idea of a respawn time; I see you haven’t played much because when you get a certain distance away then they respawn. Also that distance is a good ways. The game uses its on “24 hour” based system and if it took x time to get x distance. Then I say enemy troops being able to deploy back to that point in 30-1 hour is likely.
Wow. So wrong, so naive, so little time to make fun of idiots like Daniel.
Hey analytik, Your right when you have no time to make fun of me cause 1. You have no shit to say and 2. You’re a fucking loser who looks like a mommy’s boy. Your statement and conclusion about me is wrong and your mind is naive like that of a 13 year old kid. Don’t try to support your statements cause I see who you really are. And before you waste your time replying back because you don’t have any time at all due to your statement I will tell you that you will never win against me ever. Not over the internet and not in real life which I would prefer to argue with you and own your ass in front of all your little virgin friends. Good day.
Priceless. You sure “owned” him, Danny!
Its late so when I get home from work tomorrow I will rebuttal that with a response Ergo.
Oh, gee, I can’t wait. Your previous posts have been so precious. I look forward to you insulting my sexuality/virgin status/inability to defeat you in an argument. Did I forget anything?
Don’t forget that I have perfect grammar and I’m flaunting it…
Ergo, my dear virgin friend, you forgot that this
boy man knows you from your font.However, I give Daniel some credit – I really have no shit to say. Everything I say is absolutely nothing like feces.
Yea Ergo you forgot two things: You said precious twice in the same sentence which makes you look like an illiterate fool. Second you forgot that you are wasting your time if you do in fact concur with me that you will never win. Matt, always good to hear back from somebody once they have more retards who try to side with their stupidity. analytic, First; get rid of the gay picture and second stop thinking your basic knowledge of HTML code makes you look fucking cool cause its lame like your mother. Respond if willing I will be glad to occupy your pitiful and pathetic life’s mocking your intelligence and repeatable stupidity to challenge me.
My mother can walk just fine, although I admit that my typo has brought disastrous results upon Earth. So let’s try that again.
Ergo, see how massively wrong you are? You’ve written precious twice, even when Daniel is the only one of us morons who can see that.
OH, I REEL BEFORE YOUR GRAMMATICALLY-CHALLENGED FURY. YOU HAVE PWNED ME LIKE I’VE NEVER BEEN PWNED BEFORE. I CAN ONLY LIE IN A FETAL POSITION, CRYING MY LITTLE EYES OUT.
By the way, this time I actually did use the same word twice in a sentence, my barely-literate little friend.
I think Daniel needs a hug.
Analytik, you have to be one of the biggest gayest looking fucktard I have ever seen.I would like to tell you this and this only: There is a game people like you play,its called the asshole game,they play this game because they want attention because there mommies and daddies are too busy fucking in the other room to pay attention to them. STOP PLAYING THE ASSHOLE GAME!!!!!!.
P.S.Tell all your friends u queer.
Whoopee fucking doo. One mistake in 19 years big ass deal. It’s not my fault I didn’t care enough to thorough read the shit coming out of your head and typed into a website. Lol, you thrill me to no extent and I actually feel better reading your post every day. Your stupidity and pompous ass thinking is so fucking stupid it actually makes you think you are smart. Ergo, next time you come on here thinking you going to bitch to me about your life in a sarcastic way leave the CAPS LOCK off. Yea analytik I don’t need your nerd ass shit HTML code either. You think your cool cause you probably took a trade school class with a teacher you had oral sex with to get your grade. Show me some color douche bag. You fucking suck at HTML code. This is why your picture is so fucking gay, you put it on a website which you think people actually want to see your shit ugly face. Next time search on Google for “Handsome People” and use a picture like that and maybe a dried up hooker will have sex with you and spread your diseased genes. Chunkstyle perhaps you should think about hugging guys and actually get the fuck out of my conversation with these 2 fools. You will only lose in the end. So type away on your $80 keyboards and see the one error I made on your big ass LCD Screen monitor, because in the end no one will give a shit about you. Wow when I started writing this my head hurt but now I am actually alot better telling dumb fucks reality feels good. Looking forward to many more posts.
Aha. I knew he was a teenager. Only kids can spew that kind of nigh-incomprehensible gibberish.
DANCE, MONKEY!
Shut your fucking mouth Ergo you know more about incomprehensible bullshit then any of the rest of us u damn idiot.
Lol, and what are you? A old piece of shit talking on a forum about a game you probably don’t even have and shouldn’t have get a job loser. Oh yea and I don’t mean playing WoW 24/7.
i agree with daniel and cherokee lol and i dont even know wat the argument is about
And the monkeys multiply! I’m trying to decide who is more of a simian–Danny or Cherokee? Choices, choices. It’s so very close! Which of you prefers the name Cheetah?
I won. You lost. To much bullshit coming out of your mouth now that doesn’t pertain to anything. Next time you argue with me use logic. Thanks for the game. It was great. I know your a fucking loser but hey…once a loser…always a loser. Its just how it is bro.
Ergo you and everyone else should have just shut the hell up the conversation was between matt and daniel to begin with. I may just be 17 but I know enough that grown adults shouldnt be bitchin about stupid shit if you over 20 get a job and shut up.
Lol, this Kyle guy seems to be a pretty smart dude. Yup and as I part with thee…Yup! *Leans back in chair* Feels good to be the best. ROFL
What did you win, again? I’ve lost track. Oh, and I shall call you Simba. Anyway, truce:
http://tinyurl.com/2g9mqh
yeah, I love that winning consists of calling people names and proclaiming you’re the rightest.
That’s what I always say, don’t let logic and common sense get in your way when you have retardation to lean on…
I lol’d, Matt.
I thoroughly enjoyed how Daniel resorted to creating alts to make him seem right. When he looks up to sages with pearls of wisdom like “if you over 20 get a job”, he’s sure going to be a productive member of society. Hey, where would we be without someone to clean the streets, right?
I also liked how my “basic knowledge of HTML” transformed to “nerd ass shit HTML”. I’m glad I’m making a progress, because maybe one day, Dot Com bubble will come again and people with basic knowledge of HTML will one again make $200 an hour, before the bubble bursts.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You look like a fucking faggot Lol Keep you picture it makes me laugh. You dont make 200 dollars an hour idiot I know so fuck you.
I’m very sure I’m much more attractive than you are, since I’m not afraid to post my picture. Also, girls love me, I have a girlfriend, a job, reading and comprehension skills, and I don’t write like a 6-year-old. We are so very different, Daniel!
Haha, I don’t waste my time posting my picture on stupid websites that almost nobody looks at. Your “girl friend” is only as hott as you see her to the other people shes a fat ugly bitch. Yea you want to see me motherfucker, go take a look at me cause I got it all and more. I will be more successful then all you fucks could ever dream of.
http://www.myspace.com/danph7
One of the reasons I love the internet, possibly more than it is legal to do in several states, is that exchanges like the extended… “argument,” I guess, featured here are preserved where random people like me clicking links at 2:30 in the morning can come across them and giggle.
How I wish I could peek in on Danny-boy’s life from time to time to see how he’s prospering, and whether he has achieved more success than I could dream of or at least has become at least as mature as my 8-year-old daughter. Although in his case, that might still be more successful than I could dream of him being.
Hey Nate,
Why are you even responding to a thread that is over a year old. It is safe to deduce that this argument is over. Now the only reason I am here is because I received an email that someone responded to this old thread; however, I am wasting my time writing back on here because it is completely pointless. Yet, I will let you in on something…when I got into this ridiculous argument a year ago I was still in high school as a cocky ass senior; however, I am now in college, and so to satisfy your rhetorical statement of my success…I am about to obtain a degree in Computer Science….I would say that is more than successful…wouldn’t you agree ;]
If you do respond maybe you could enlighten me on your success in life… (or maybe that is just a rhetorical remark)
Good life to you sir,
Dan