Coming from shooters like COD4 and alikes ,it really is a refreshing change to have 50kms of freedom , yes this is not a linear shooter. Running this game on high settings , I changed my clock to a dawn attack , hoping to get the element of surprise. Watching the sun rise and the way it changed the landscape was incredible. I pulled out my map , viewed the guards through my monocular and followed an old dried creek bed until I was within attacking range. I shot some gas cans and a ammo dump to create a very impressive series of explosions , and proceeded to take out the guards , find a diamond and create a bush fire which then caught fire to a tree and burned it down to a crisp. Hmmm can anyone tell me when a fps gave you so many options without being ushered through the next scripted event? The weapons sound and look great , the al can sometimes look and act like they have just finished a reefer , but this only lends to using your machete which is really very satisfying. I could go on about the endless choice you have. For someone like me who dosn't have huge amounts of time to game and has a busy business to run , playing Far Cry 2 is the perfect escape to a African safari which includes great graphics , better then average al , great weapons and sounds , and if the killing is getting you down-lol , you can set your watch for 6am, sit on the hill the watch the sun rise.

Other than the obvious benefits of title recognition, there is no reason for this game to have been called “Far Cry 2” – the original was always more of a tech demo than an actual game, but Ubisoft Montreal has succeeded in creating the first truly convincing open-world FPS.

Swapping genetic-experiment-gone-wrong infested tropical islands with the savannahs, desserts and jungles of Africa, Far Cry 2 is an utterly immersive game thanks largely to its impressive graphics. Though not as technically astounding as Crysis, they are nonetheless breathtaking at times, from the swaying of foliage and flashing lightning during a thunderstorm to the clouds of debris thrown up by an explosion. Animations are uniformly superb- never leaving the first person viewpoint, actions such as entering a car, performing first aid or unjamming a weapon are all utterly believable and completely immersive. Another plus is that the game runs far smoother than Crytek's recent offerings.

Gameplay is much as one would expect from an open world shooter: you drive to a location and are given a mission. You then drive to the mission area and complete said objective. Lather, rinse, repeat. The missions themselves are a blast, especially with optional objectives given to you by a randomly assigned AI buddy. The games AI is a little patchy in places. Enemies generally do a good job of hunting you down, but the way they can occasionally spot you and shoot you from a mile away often puts paid to any notions of a stealthy approach, whereas other times they'll simply ignore you.

The games size is both its greatest asset and problem. Of the 50 hours play the title boasts, its likely you'll spend half of it driving – a problem further compounded by the speed at which enemy checkpoints are repopulated.

If you're after a huge, immersive semi-tactical shooter that is heavy on action, light on story with a decent (if a little cliched) multiplayer and features one of the most brilliantly realised video game settings ever, look no further than Far Cry 2.

Simply awesome game.

You start off in a jeep with a tour guide explaining the basics of what is happening, and right from hear, you see the vast openness of what is Far Cry 2.

You start of as a gun-for-hire. You can do missions for two factions the UFLL or APR, your buddies, the guys at Mikes Bar and Marina which are the two pubs/drinking places, you can get assassination missions from your cellphone, doctor missions for pills for your malaria, and missions for the gunshop which unlocks more toys to play with. The great thing about Far Cry 2 is, that if you get bored of doing the missions, there are plenty of areas to explore, like towns, diamond mines, plane crash sites, etc and everything you do has an impact on the story. It truly is amazing, being able to go to a mission and decide if you want to go in stealthy, plant the explosives and sneak out, or go in with a RPG, a MG42, Grenade Launcher and blow the crap out of everyone you see. A must-buy for any FPS enthusiast