Far Cry 2 Forum, From Anticipation to Release: images, video, discussions and more!

Far Cry 2
*An Awesome Game in the Making?
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So the day prior to the making of this thread, I had a far cry 2 dream. Its not that wierd, Im sure many of us have all had our share of gaming dreams, and mine was not so different, figuring itself exact like one of the intensely interesting trailers i watched. But basically, I all of a sudden remember how great Far Cry was, and how much Im looking forward to this game.

There are so many things I'm sure everyone is looking forward to for this as well. But lets face it, there are those of us who played far cry and knows why this game is awesome, and unfortunate others who missed out on one of the greatest shooters ever made, the original Far Cry.

So I want this thread to be a hub of media information for those of us needing a good reason to get into the franchise, and those who might need some memories rekindled. Anyways long intro, here are the real stuff.


Just an introduction to Far Cry 2, story and setting


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. (Farcry 2 official site)

Gameplay style and direction:
Great Intro Clip, Interview Clint Hocking, Creative director of Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2 Creative Director makes a few points in his briefing
-dynamic environment to shape Africa as an unique playing environment
-game style focus on tactics: playing faction tactics, few vs many tactics, deception tactics
-dynamically assembled story: multiple story paths
-incorporates team rpg elements by including a dozen ally npcs that can become teammates
-innovative game engine built upon true next gen technology



Far Cry 2: What we should look forward to
As far as shooters go, I want #1: great action and #2: great playing environments to do the ACTION in

Here's what I collected from Ubisoft, pre-release images and videos that will probably gives us a good idea of where this will end up. And this game looks very capable on delivering both ends.

Game Play Screenshots





These gameplay videos are insane!
Video: Gameplay Deception tactics, Insane! Must See

Video: Far Cry 2 Gameplay, a closer look
There is very little you can say about these shots that doesnt end in the word Woahhza. Good looking games like this are few to come by and when they do, you can spot them a mile away; and Far Cry looks like IT. These are pretty average gaming screen shots, nothing big and overly impressive, just scenery and some nice explosions. I guess that's what impresses me most about this showcase. There is so much detail, see the scale and intensity of gun fire and explosion. Look at how much the environment changes from gun fire and explosions. This emphasis on graphical rendering, especially combat related ones is definitely the way to go and for sure to put the top hat on an already beautifully rendered game.

Environment Screenshots






If there is any point to get across here, its that this game is beautifully rendered, and detailed. It wont be perfect, but you'll be so absorbed in the ambiance that you wont notice a bit of edginess of a texture or two. Its great that we seen such a big difference between night and day time graphics. We might expect gameplay that will utilize different tactics for daytime nighttime activities.




As a point of graphical reference, I'm going to benchmark Far Cry 2 Screens against the current throne holder.

Lets see how Far Cry 2 holds up to the closely comparable Crysis


We see very very different image rendering styles between the two. There is no doubt that either game will use very high resolution and high quality textures for their upper end settings. The difference in style is due to Far Cry 2 taking a more artful panorama of reality while Crysis' focus on the photo-realistic aspects. But there is no denying that Far Cry 2 looks very pretty and its unique image rendering will contribute to a different feel of game play well apart from Crysis.


Game Play Features to Look forward to


>Unprecedented level of Environment and Player Immersibility<


Far Cry 2 is a modern-time set game that takes place in Africa. When we think about the setting of the game, Africa is the true heartland of humanity where is in the game the ground zero of the unfolding of good vs evil, lone wolf vs evil mercenary genre. The where, when, why, how are even more important in this game than any other I'd say. It will set the mood of the story, add or detract from the game play and most importantly essential in connecting the player to the Far Cry experience. So its going to be very important that Ubisoft build this Far Cry World with thought and detail.

The strange thing is that to most of us Africa itself is a distant land of mystery. In this sense, Ubisoft knows that in order to make the perfect Far Cry Game, it will need to define what Africa is to us. How well ubisoft convey the experience with this mysterious land with its harsh beauties and subtle dangers will make or break the game.


Video: Player and Environment Immersibility: Find out how Far Cry 2 connects the player with the gaming experience.

Thankfully, from video footage, it looks like Far Cry stepping in the right direction.
We can see some of the innovations that adds to the believability of the atmosphere.

* Realistic Wear and Tear: equipments such as guns and vehicles will degrade with use. This means guns will jam easier, misfire, and change in appearance. Cars will break down and you will need to either find a new ride or repair it using available resources.

This could be good if done right or really annoying through design flaws. On the one hand its cool that the game forces you to look out for new weapons and vehicles. And this mechanic will add some complexity to outside of combat action as well. I just hope that the frequency and rate of deterioration isn't too annoying.

* Realistic Combat Damage and Healing Methods: risky actions will produce injuries. Dislocation will occur from falling, objects will lodged into your body causing wounds. All of this sounds very gruesome and yet its representation could not be more welcomed. You'll need to pop your arm into its socket, or pull that branched lodged into your thighs right out; all of this with full animation, blood gushing out, bone grinding sounds, etc.

This simple mechanic adds to core game play on so many levels. No longer are you just shooting @ enemies and watch as their heads pop off with globs of gore flying about, you're watching your own avatar suffer from combat in the rawest and most visceral way possible. I guess this is ubisoft's way of connecting the player to the avatar so that not only will you have to pay attention to the environment: scanning of enemies, looking for cover, scavenging, etc. it'll become more player focused as well.

* Realistic Navigation and Communication: we can see in the video the player will use a map in hand to track progress. At the same time, intelligence seems to be based on radios feedback and/or broadcasts, which means that information regarding your enemy will need to be obtained.

Its hard to see exactly how Ubisoft will provide this world to player feedback, but it's always nice to see these types of information fed through real world means. The hand held map keeps the player connected to the game. So that you spend more time in the setting rather than in some removed interface.


It'll also be very interesting to use a compass and map for getting around in game. Ubisoft could be inadvertently teach us basic survival skills in the wilderness! If you need a crash course on good old fashions navigation or want to improve your survivalship probability in case of getting stuck in the mountains, play this game!

*Dynamic Environment Interaction:
'The player's actions may also have a lasting effect on the environment: for example, one of the missions shown so far by the developers had the player sabotage a pipeline owned by one of the factions that's pumping fresh water from a lake to a neighboring country, exchanging it for arms and munition. After the player destroys it, part of the surrounding area becomes flooded, including a mine where another mission may take place' (E3 2008)

'A dynamic weather system has been added that varies the weather based on the players ability - if the player is doing exceptionally well the sky will be clear and sunny, but if problems arise the sky will become dark and stormy.' (Ubisoft 09-06-2008)

Video: Day/Night Cycle
Video: Dynamic Weather Cycle + Environmental Interactions

'include procedural breakage of vegetation, allowing players to shoot down trees and shoot branches and leaves off of trees, which can eventually re-grow. The developers also showcased dynamic propagation of fire, and volumetric wind effects capable of breaking vegetation and spreading fire.' (E3 coverage)

Video: Dynamic Vegetation Growth


>Unique Map Editor providing vast expansive potential<

Every good multiplayer first person shooter should incorporate a map editor. We've seen different versions in games like unreal tournament, halo 3, crysis, etc. However, these editors can range from too simple to extremely complicated, so players might need to water down their creativity or else deal with software so enigmatic that only the hardcore can take advantage.

Nevertheless, a good map editor gives multiplayer wings and up the replay value exponentially.

Far Cry 2 has its own map editor and you can see how it works in this below video.

Far Cry 2 Map Editor Briefing

So good thing to know that this game will be very expandable with new player content cycling online. Its a very good basis for building a healthy multiplayer community. Fry Cry 2 has taken a good first step.


It'll be interesting to see how this editor pan out. So far it looks relatively easy to learn and use, which is a plus.

Historical Lineages:
Lets Take a look @ how far Far Cry 2 has come from the Original

Far Cry:
Far Cry is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004 for Windows.

The game's story follows an ex-Special Forces operator, Jack Carver, who is stranded on a mysterious archipelago in Micronesia. He is searching for a female journalist he was escorting after she went missing when their boat was destroyed by mercenaries. The game includes thematic elements relating to the dangers of genetic engineering and the genocide of local islanders as can be seen by the deformed creatures created by a mad scientist named Krieger.

The terrain in Far Cry varies greatly. Set on a South Pacific archipelago, the landscape includes beaches, dense rain forests, towering canyons, mines, swamps, and even volcanic forests. Many of the interiors range from simple beach huts and army camps to elaborate complexes, an underground temple, and ultra-modern research labs. Several of these mazes use the remains of WWII Japanese-era fortifications and bunkers.


So some of us knows this story and some don't. But here are some key features the original was noted for.
-Open world game play
-extensive world/environment
-intense action
-twist: genetic alteration granting super human powers

Lets look at what we have for Far Cry 2 so far

heres the story again:
'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.'

key features
-open world play
-extensive environments
-heavy immersion mechanics
-Very intense action (from what we know so far, at least in the graphical component)
-Twist?

Gee the two games sound very similar so far, well except for the entirely different story, different setting, and oh yeh we dont know what the twist is yet right?

What sets Far Cry 2 apart from Far Cry?

' Various factions and vehicles will be featured; enemies will include human mercenaries, but sci-fi creatures such as the mutants from Far Cry will not be featured. Furthermore, the player's feral abilities introduced in Far Cry Instincts and its expansions will not be returning in Far Cry 2.' (Ubisoft Statement).

Looks like Far Cry 2 will be a pretty different game after all.


Anyways, here are several questions,
-what do you wish to persist from Far Cry 1 into Far Cry 2
-What do you want to leave out

Look how far graphics as come since the original



Its funny how people wanted the original for its beautifully rendered environment, game play aside, and now with the upcoming release of Far Cry 2, its again the graphics that catches the eyes first. Yes theres been monumental improvement upon graphics.

The original Far Cry was considered ahead of its time in graphic rendering, can we say the same from what we're seeing from Far Cry 2?

It seems the entire industry is build on graphics and not enough on game play. The original Far Cry had both, lets see if Far Cry 2 will do the same.


General Game Info - Release Date, Console releases, PC Requirements

Release Date: October 21, 2008

Platforms: Xbox360, PS3

Separate PC Release Date: October 24

PC Requirements - FC2HQ

High Requirements
CPU: E6600 Core 2 Duo
Graphics: Nvidia 8800GTS
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive

Minimum Requirements
CPU: Athlon 64 3000+/Intel 2.8ghz
Graphics: Nvidia 6600 or ATI X1600 - Shader Model 2.0
RAM: 1GB
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive

Recommended Requirements
CPU: Dual-Core CPU (Athlon X2 / Pentium D / Core 2 Duo)
Graphics: Nvidia 7800GT or ATI X1800XL Pro (SM 3.0)
RAM: 2GB+
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive


More to Come: Far Cry 2 Review
-I'll need help on this since I'll be getting the xbox 360 version, inadequate gaming rig to play it well.
-Thinking about doing a xbox 360 vs PC Comparison, but will need a good PC review first.

........................................................................................................
Enjoy

 

anyone excited about this game?

 

Niiiiice thread! I'm very interested in this game, but I don't think I can run it too well, maybe on low, I'll have to wait for some technical reviews.

 

yeh, im sure theres going to be alot of optimization threads devoted to running this game. If they can get crysis warhead running like the way it does not, theres definate hopes for you to run this game @medium settings.

You can always get this game for the console.
It baffles my mind to think that they're running this game @ what looks like high settings on the 360, and we're having trouble running this game @ medium settings on performance cards.

 

I am very excited about this game, I'm gonna pre-order it in early October.

Yay! I meet the high requirements, well actually I surpass them!

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHZ @ 3.6GHZ w/ 6MB L2 45nm "Wolfdale".
G.Skill 2X1GB DDR2 800.
Visiontek 4850 512MB GDDR3 256-Bit @ 700/1100.

 

i want this game so much...

 

Is it just me, or was FarCry 1 a crappy First Person Shooter?

It had awesome graphics... But the AI was stupid, with cheesy dialogue, and it didn't feel like you were shooting guns at all, and the gun sounds were lame.

 

Farcry 2 is only looking like the opposite of that.

 

They really do need good ai for this game though, it'll be such a shame if everything else is polished but that.

But then i dont know if its even possible to have bad ai nowadays with all the software advancements we're making?

 

Oh, it possible alright. Look at Mercenaries 2

But yeah, very much looking forward to Far Cry 2. The open world really draws me in. I'm curious though how this will run on decent PC's. You never know, unfortunately.

 

The minimum requirements sound pretty tough. Both the ram and gpu req are pretty through the roof. 7800gt, thats like a 8600m gs with a 256bit bus. 2gb of ram as well, its pretty tough i tell ya.

its times like this that I wish i had a 8800 gt.Games like this scale really well as you get into the high end cards. All settings max probably@ a medium resolution.

man, this game is gonna be sweet even without all the graphical eye candy. The fact that its an open-living breathing world with all these destructible plants and animals is enough to make me play. The first thing Im gonna do is to get a rifle and shoot some elephants!! Think this might be a grand theft auto in africa?

 

this game is gonna be so much better than crysis

 

From what I recall the original Far Cry was quite a highly acclaimed game. However, Far Cry 2 has been totally reworked and is nearly 99% different from the original. As a matter of fact, Far Cry 2 was not going to be originally called Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2 is a total rework and redesign of the original Far Cry and of the CryEngine from which only a tiny bit of code was reused in the new Dunia engine for FC2.

 

I don't think the desktop 7800GT is equal to the 8600m GS.
Farcry 2 is going to be a real beauty, like its predecessor and I hope that the gameplay will be any good, you couldn't say that for it's predecessor.

 

The 7800 GT is a bit more powerful than the 8600M GS. The 8700M GT comes closest to matching the performance of the 7800 GT.

However, one must note that the newer technology on the 8000-series cards might allow some games to be run at the same or better performance level as the 7800 GT, when it comes to older games, not so much.

Anyways, I love the idea of having an open, non-linear world where you can choose when and how to do things. For example you might be tasked with assassinating someone, you could try to kill them during the day with guns blazing, or you can sneak up on them at night while they sleep. There are just so many possibilities, I think the Single Player campaign is gonna have a lot of replay value even after you complete it. Decent multiplayer would be a great bonus too.

 

ya i feel the same way and thats why im so excited about this game. I think one of the reasons that this game is gonna be successful is the responsive ai and environment. From watching the videos, if you wound someone, his buddies will come and help, giving you the chance for multiple kills. If enemies spot you, they wont just run toward you, you'll bring an entire squad on a gun to gun you down. And if you're trying to escape on a car also, they'll try to run you off the road. Its awesome that there are so many unique npc modes of action in this game. And Ubisoft said that every encounter and reponse will be different. SO this gives us more situation for different game play. I love it.

Watch the first interview with Ubisoft's creative director. He said there are up to 12 different unique npcs that can play this role. They also specifically said that you can play as these 12 characters in the interview. So im actually wondering, is that a hint for some kind of big multiplayer co-op mode? Or will you be playing the part of multiple characters in the same story?

 

What didnt you like about the first Far Cry specifically?

 

I tried Far Cry when they released it as a free download with ads for a while and while the graphics were pretty good, the game play was a bit repetitive and too arcade and fake.

Far Cry 2 is more realistic.

 

Well...seeing as i only have a laptop...that would hardly run far cry 2, i guess ill have to settle for the PS3 with 1080p... such is life...


BTW, does anyone have any news on a leaked demo, or some kind of early release torrent or anything? Also, what happened to the free ad-supported version of farcry?

 

I doubt it. 720p more likely.

 

haha, way to party poop, i realize it probably wont be 1080p, although i've noticed that more games are crawling out with 1080p, like the upcoming wipeoutHD, so perhaps in like 2 years, the norm will be 1080p games, we shall see....

 

More party poop, you'll also need to spend 2 grand on a 1080p hdtv. So perhaps after 2 years and a wad of cash.

Anyways back on topic, most of those shots are taken from console gameplay using 720p. So im guessing the pc version will look even Better.

 

Just to throw in my 2 cents, I played the Beta for this game at Leipzig, albeit on a 360...graphics were very nice, almost have a hazy sort of look/feel as you can probably tell from the screenshots. Was pretty cool to throw a molotov ****tail and start a grass fire that just kept spreading...lol.

Overall seemed pretty nice and should be a great game.

-Krait

 

I have been waiting sooooo long for this game
Those requirements seems OK but I'm actually scared how this game will run on my 8600M GT...

I really hope for the best but I got my doubts.. I'll wait and see how this runs on the 8600M GT, if it can be played between medium-high than I'm gonna go crazyyyy

 

Today is Sept. 21st! 29 days till launch! W00T!

This will be the first game that will really stress my new system (desktop)!

 

I felt like this was going to be released a lot later. Fortunately, it's sooner than I thought!

 

Yes, actually it was delayed, I believe it was slated to be launched in the middle of 2008.

 

don't have the time to read this yet, but thanks, nice job

 

It's gonna be so awesome and the multiplayer is shaping up to be great as well.

 

I found a new video on ActionTrip:

http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=092308_3

 

It's kind of annoying watching that video. They're clearly playing the Xbox360 version, and taking EXTREMELY long to line up a shot. Takes about 5-10 seconds for this guy to line up just a body shot, while any PC gamer could line up a headshot in mere milliseconds.

I have no doubt this game will run ALOT better than crysis, sure it doesn't look as good but it'll be great. One thing I know is that it won't get a perfect review, probebly not even a high review from game sites due to the fact that it's an open ended FPS game, and almost all reviewers have no creativity and go strait to the main storyline and don't sit and enjoy it. They'll play this like it's thier job, because it is.

Another rant I have about this game is that it's developed multi platform, obviously the PC version will have much higher res textures, and higher quality DOF effects, and lighting overall, but the textures aren't as good as they could be. I'm not seeing any use of steep parallax mapping, which is what made the textures in crysis look 3D and realistic, and also used in many highly graphical games like Motorstorm(ps3), perfect dark zero(x360) etc..

The map editor would probebly deter me since I'm used to ones with more complicated and fully featured tool sets, like the Crysis editor, Source's SDK tools etc, and would probebly not be able to do what I want. In the Crysis editor I could make a map with 200 vehicles stacked on top of each other if I wanted to, same as if I were to make a map for HL2, or CS:S, but this game's editor has a limit of 4 vehicles for ANY MP map, and 16 vehicles for any SP map. Also, I would like to know what the filesizes are on the custom made maps. I'm guessing since there's no custom textures, or polygon data, or flowgraph editor and it's all based on a general grid, the filesizes of maps would be under 5MB since you won't be downloading map files, rather map coordinates for the engine to generate. Then again, Ubisoft said on thier FC2 blog that the PC version of the map editor will be different than the one for the consoles which is the purpose that the maps created WILL NOT be cross platform.

 

Well if the gameplay is good then I could care less about the graphics as they already look plenty good to me anyways. I guess we won't be able to tell until the 21st.

 

I'm pre-ordering today!

 

Theres no way that the online modding community wont cook up custom high resolution textures. The game already look amazing, and thats from looking at the xbox 360 preview, I think pc with settings cranked to max will utterly astound.

 

The gameplay preview from IGN actually said it was a candidate for 'brownest game of the year' on the 360, they also were not amazed by the textures on the 360, but it looks 'good'.

 

do want (10 char)

 

lol brownest game of the year.. thats probably because the game reviewers were stuck on the sahara the entire time.

textures arent as important as lighting and shadows my opinion. If the game have passable textures but great lighting and shadows, it'll look amazing.

 

I am extremely excited about this game.

 

XD I would be really in for suprise if this game run on this computer.
Mission Start -> Lag -> Freeze -> Hang -> Crash -> BSOD -> Integrated GPU Melted

 

Oh man, integrated GPU! Good luck with that.

 

man, exact quote from ign:
'Given the scale, however, it's understandable that the visuals don't quite reach the peaks scaled by other top tier first-person shooters, with textures on the Xbox 360 version we tested sometimes feeling flat. '

I dont get it, the screenshots look amazing and they're taken from console versions. Does the ign reviewers expect this game to look like a super beefed up crysis or something. Cause even so, to me, I dont see flat anywhere.

 

I really want to try Far Cry 2 at E For All next week, the screenshots and videos sure make it look amazing, but you really have to get your hands on it to see how the gameplay is. I could also see what kind of specs the PCs they are using to play the game have and get an idea on what it really takes to run the game with all those pretty graphics options on.

 

this game is gonna be better optimized than crysis warhead. Its an intentional point of the developers to use more lighting and shadow as opposed to textures. So what you can expect is a heavily atmospheric feel with good but not super amazing textures. So the end result is that on medium and high, it'll look better than crysis war head.

I think this game will be so much better than crysis. There's actually depth in the open sandbox play that crysis emphasized on. Best of all, theres no gay nano suit that takes the realism away from gameplay. Its all about wilderness survival here.

 

well i dont see this game having a better atmosphere than Clear Sky, the game is a master piece.

 

i cant wait, but it looks like they ripped off crysis a bit i almost cant tell the difference in a few of those images i mean WOW crysis 3

 

Far cry 2 has a different environmental feel its a much more interactive environment, dynamic vegetation/weather system, grass light on fire, realistic environmental damage, etc. I mean its more than lighting effects that makes for an atmospheric feel. Its more realistic.

I still like clear sky art style though, but i think dead space is going to out do it on atmospheric.

 

another great game and by all accounts it is better on PC

 

anyone read up on far cry 2 multiplayer?

GamePRO PReview:
Character classes, blood diamonds, and hang gliders. Far Cry 2 multiplayer revealed!

Yesterday I sat down to play an introductory preview of Far Cry 2's multiplayer mode. The event was in San Francisco where seven other journalists and I hunkered down to play a couple multiplayer levels, a few objective-based game modes, and test drive the different character classes. Ultimately, Far Cry 2 multiplayer currently feels like a lite version of Call of Duty 4's kickass online mode, but with the addition of vehicles and even a hang glider.

Character Classes and Weapons

Before each multiplayer match begins, you'll need to customize your "load out." The load menu is where you select your character class and equipment. The character classes are Commando, Gunner, Rebel, Guerilla, Sniper, and Saboteur . The Commando is a standard assault class. The Gunner wields light-machine guns and rocket launchers. The Rebel is a pyromaniac. The sniper snipes, duh. And the Saboteur is closest to a light weight, fast-moving scout class.

Class Features:
Each class carries a primary weapon, side arm, and explosives, whether that be frag grenades or Molotov ****tails. As you kill other players and complete objectives you will earn experience points. Experience points level you up and unlock "blood diamonds," which can be used to upgrade the character classes. Each character class can be upgraded with three blood diamonds, each diamond unlocking a new set of higher-power weapons. For example, adding one blood diamond to the Gunner class unlocks and upgrades your light-machine gun to a rocket launcher. Adding another diamond unlocks an even more powerful and accurate SAW machine gun.

Modes and Map

In my play session with Far Cry 2, we were able to squeeze in three different game types: Deathmatch, Capture the Diamond, and Uprising. Deathmatch is self-explanatory as is Team Deathmatch. Capture the Diamond instead of a flag with both teams attacking and defending flags simultaneously. And then there is Uprising, an Alpha, Bravo, Charlie capture-point gametype with a twist: Only the team leader can capture command points. Only when all three points are captured can you finish the match by killing the other team's leader.

We played a few maps over the course of these game modes, but none of them really stood out from one another. They all look like junk yards, one with more junk than the other. One map, however, did feature a wide variety of vehicles from jeeps with mounted turrets to SUVs to hang gliders, which proved to be the most sought after vehicle. In fact, our team captain thought it would be distracting to hang glide above the enemy base as we moved in for the assault. Let's just say that it worked quite well, surprisingly.