If there’s one title that’s received its fair share of marketing hype, the newly released Far Cry 2 is one such game. As an old school PC gamer since Doom 1, I’ve seen Free Person Shooters (FPS) evolve from “point and shoot” gun fights to “wild epic” adventures.  With the open world concept of FC2, does the game live up to its hype?

First of all, Ubisoft developed a beautiful looking game with an open world (sandbox) concept, where players are given the Liberty to explore a fictitious African nation, along with the ability to complete missions in a variety of strategic paths.  The DUNIA engine is pretty immaculate and scales pretty well with older computers so you really don’t need a mammoth gaming rig to play at a high graphical setting.  Players are also given 50 square kilometers of world to explore with vast deserts and lush jungles.  Unfortunately, all this eye candy doesn’t make up for various shortfalls in Far Cry 2.

A very big drawback with the game are the respawning enemies. Sure, FPS games are all about action but I was forced into way too many firefights that didn’t forward the storyline at all.  Practically every corner on the road is patrolled by an armed faction, where a given player is faced with a repetitive gun fight every single time.  Once you eliminate the enemy and clear the area, they’ll respawn after you leave the area. This means when you come back to the same stretch of road, another worthless gunfight is bound to happen again. Too much time is wasted by completing mundane battles so you can finally progress to an objective or perform a mission.

Another problem is the amount of traveling to reach a point on the map. I found myself traveling 80% of the time. Yes, the serene surrounding can take a away some of the boredom but the experience starts to feel like a bad TV rerun as the game lingers on.  And don’t get me started about the shoddy physics, control, and Enemy AI (an argument for a later time).

Overall, if you’re a FPS gamer for the PC, think twice about purchasing Far Cry 2. The game felt like a dumbed-downed PC adventure that caters to Bubble-Gum console players on the Xbox 360 or PS3. It’s like a hazy dream with too many promises, but in the end, an experience that makes you go to sleep out of sheer boredom.