I’ve been playing Far Cry 2 most of the weekend and today (it came out on Friday) and I’m kind of on the fence in regards to my impressions of it. It’s not that it’s a bad game, it’s just that there’s plenty of minor annoyances that bring it down. I’m still enjoying playing it, but I can’t seem to get around the fact that it seems a little too repetitive and may be better if it’s played in short bursts.

Let’s get the good things about the game out of the way first. Firstly, the graphics are absolutely stunning and the games recreation of Africa is superbly realistic and a pleasure to drive around in. When you’re playing on a HD screen you can’t help but let your draw drop the first time you’re driving down a jungle path with the sunlight streaming through the treetops. You’ll also find a number of wild animals wandering around the landscape - which include zebras, buffalo and gazelle, but sadly no predators - which adds an extra touch of realism to the game world.

I also like how you can approach each situation tactically. I’ve heard some complaints on the Internet that all you seem to do is attack guard posts and objectives guns blazing while tossing a few grenades or Molotov Cocktails. If you have a tactical head on you then this is simply not true. One of the techniques I often do is throw a Molotov Cocktail as I approach then go the opposite direction to the spreading fire. This way you can sneak up behind the enemy and chop into them with your machete. This isn’t the only way of course, but it’s totally up to you when deciding how to approach a situation as the game doesn’t force you to do it one way. Snipe from a distance, go in guns blazing, approach underwater, strap an IED to a jeep and jump out before it hits your objective - whatever you want! Those who say attacking is repetitive just aren’t using their brains. Moreover, the AI can often be pretty smart (although it can also be pretty stupid, such as not noticing you standing four feet away) so get used to them flanking your position and using the foliage as cover (this is both good and bad as half of the time you can’t see where the person who’s shooting at you is, but it also means you need to be constantly aware of your surroundings).

Forget tactical attacking for the moment though, as there are plenty of moments that may frustrate you. For example, it’s annoying to have to fight your way through every single guard post you come across because the guards respawn as soon as you’ve left one. Sure, you can avoid them but this often takes you even longer to get somewhere or is downright impossible due to the way the game often funnels you through these guard points. Even if you try to drive right through them it will be pretty much guaranteed that a few of the enemy soldiers will jump in a jeep or two and give chase. If you get out they’ll make this annoying revving sound as they try to run you over which, unfortunately, has happened to me a number of times. Combine all this with having to drive absolutely everywhere, which you’ll be doing a lot of while also stopping every two minutes or getting attacked by a random patrol (there are buses but they only take you to certain places, and walking is out of the question with a map as big as Far Cry 2’s) as there doesn’t seem to be any innocents in Africa. Not that I’m condoning shooting virtual innocent people of course, it just seems a bit unrealistic that Africa is only populating by gun toting factions.

Far Cry 2 adds a further touch of realism by having vehicles break down on you, which means you have to get out and fiddle with the engine. Weapons will also jam in the heat of battle and eventually explode in your hands, which means you’re better off buying new weapons before each mission as old or enemy weapons will be rusty and unreliable. Getting down to the last bar of health also means you quickly have to find some cover to pull the bullet out or put your arm back in your socket (because we all know that removing a bullet or using a syringe will magically cure all wounds!). All this is cool for the first time but can get a little tiresome when you have to climb out of your jeep in the middle of nowhere for the 300th time, but it at least makes the game a little more exciting. Furthermore, even though it’s supposed to be realistic the act of doing all these doesn’t feel that real, especially when a gun is rusting after 10 minutes of use.

Finally, there’s the multiplayer. I haven’t played all that much of it yet so it may start feeling a little better, but it’s nowhere near on par with Call of Duty 4’s excellent multiplayer mode.  It seems impossible to kill someone with a sniper rifle unless they’re standing still, but that may just mean I suck. Thankfully the game is given extra life with a powerful map editor that allows you to create pretty much any map you want and make them available to play by the rest of the community. I personally can’t wait to see the creations that come out of this, but it’s a shame that the editor is part of a multiplayer mode that isn’t really all that great.

Despite all my objections something keeps me playing Far Cry 2. Maybe it’s the freedom that’s allowed when choosing what to do next, or how to approach a particular objective. Sure, you may only be killing a lot of people and blowing things up when you actually get there but you at least get to do it in a number of different ways. It’s not perfect by any means, and is marred by repetitiveness that is only made worse by trying to mix things up every five minutes with guard posts that only become repetitive themselves. Somehow I’m still finding it fun, but only in a way that an average game can be fun while you try to get the most out of your money. Just get used to being chased across Africa while being shot at by a machine gun turret every few minutes.

Far Cry 2 is out now on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (impressions based off this version).