What can be said abour Far Cry 2?
Well I started playing this on release day yesterday, and probably didn't get off on the right foot following the activation issues that plagued the UK on release day. Nice 1 Ubisoft!
That eventually gets resolved so now able to launch it. But wait, I can hear music but can only see a blank black window at the top left quarter of my screen.
Find that I now either have to switch Aero off (in Vista 64), or tick Disable visual themes on the exe properties.
Ok now sorted, lets try again. Hoorah, game launches - lets change the screen res and direct x versions first in the options. Le sigh. Back to blank back window again.
Edit the xml settings manually and now it's working ok.
What a pain!
So anyway, game launches, I patiently sit through the first journey and get into the story a bit. Once I'm in control of the character I start wandering around to get a feel for the controls etc. At this point I die pretty quickly and didn't save so have to sit through the 5 minute journey again.
I've played it for around an hour or so now and to be honest found it very slow to get into.
The mouse controls feel very laggy, even in the menu.
Combat is unexciting.
Environment seems to lack 'life' and vibrance.
Although you are free to roam the land as you please, it takes a while to get anywhere which leaves the action fairly sparse. The missions are also very linear in their structure which ruins the feeling of being able to do as you please. For example, one of the first missions tasks you to visit a bar and weapons shop, however you can only enter the bar once you've done the weapons bit. There is no real sensation of playing in a live environment.
The return factor is sadly missing. As much as I want to like this game, I have no real urge to return to it.
Tested on: Asus Forumla Striker 2, Q6600 @ 3.0 ghx, 2 x GTX280 in SLI, 8 Gigs Ram, Vista 64, Soundblaster Audigy 2, G15 K/B, G9 Mouse, 1680 x 1050 screen res.