Farcry 2: Purposefully Unpleasant

With the recent release of Farcry 5, I felt it was best to look at the past misteps in this long running franchise's veteran career. There was a time when no one knew about the open ended gameplay that has existed in Farcry for years, with the breakout title of the series of course being Farcry 3. But even fewer people remember its edgy, no nonsense older brother Farcry 2. And this is for good reason. By all accounts, the game was purposefully designed to break down the fun that gamers feel when playing a game such as this.

Farcry 2 is the story of a random, no faced, unvoiced mercenary in an unnamed African country in an unnamed conflict hunting down a weapons dealer named the Jackal, and right away things strike the player as just generally unpleasant. If you thought Call of Duty has too much Brown and green in it, you should see this game. Very quickly you get to the first firefight and you notice how weighty and mechanical all the guns feel, unlike most other shooters of the time where guns felt smooth with the tiniest amount of kick. But here in Farcry 2, you can feel every piece of the weapon moving every single shot you take, and intentionally, it feels fragile. One of the best systems in the game is its weapon degradation system. Over time, your crisp and clean firearms will become dirty and worn down until they eventually explode in your hands. With every bullet fired, you can feel the weapon breaking a little bit more, and it is a wee bit nerve-racking.

Another key part of the game is of course the missions. You do missions for both factions in the game, the APR and the UFLL. Every mission is spread out and isolated, and there is no real fast travel, only traveling between exceedingly isolated bus stops. You go to each mission, which getting there can take 5 to 10 minutes a piece, you violently murder everyone standing in your path, and then settle in for the long commute back. Also, you can't really clear any outposts either. You're one man against 2 separate armies. Both factions attack you, because neither side is willing to admit they've hired you, so you are never truly safe. And then there is the inculsion of the buddy system. Buddies are every other mercenary that you do not pick to be your player character who can swoop in to rescue you if you go down in combat. But your best buddy will offer you alternate ways to complete missions. And no, they do not give you a moral alternative. Instead, doing things their way is always a shrewd, self beneficial, and even more violent way of handling things. Things like killing an entire villages crop supply so the enemy won't have cover.

The final unpleasant system of Farcry 2 is the fire. Farcry 2 has the most advanced and natural system of spreading fire I think I have ever seen in a video game. In the dry Savannahs of Africa, the slightest spark can start a wildfire. Here is no different. Fires will spread very quickly, and can be either a boon to the player, or another obstacle. Some of the smaller outposts often have ammo and explosives, and when fires start the explosions quickly follow. Fires will even start accidentally. The first time I noticed this could happen was when I was engaged in a firefight at a larger Outpost with a dozen or so APR goons. One minute I'm being shot to pieces, the next there's complete silence. So I look up and to my surprise every APR soldier had been burned alive when I accidently shot an oil lamp next to them. Then I look to my left and discover the fire has also completely burned up my car. It's a double edged sword.

All of these mechanics combine into a game that is very difficult to finish. Yet not because it feels incompetent, or incomplete. Quite the opposite in fact. Every mechanic feels perfectly refined to annoy you and decrease your level of fun. And yet you wanna keep going, because of how refined it feels. You aren't exactly having fun, but it feels like being a soldier in one of these many nameless conflicts. It sucks, but you have to see it through. Everything is out to kill you, and there's not a single thing you can do about it.