Far Cry 2 Headquarters

The original Far Cry was hugely successful for two huge reasons - presentation and freedom.

When the shooter first released on PC in 2004, the lush and unrestricted jungle setting was a revelation. Gamers accustomed to dark hallways and crate-filled rooms suddenly found themselves standing in bright sunlight, surrounded by swaying trees, sparkling water and open expanses of mostly nonlinear terrain. You could stick to the path; you could leave the path. You could travel in a jeep; you could travel in a boat. And no matter what choices you made, the journey looked fantastic.

Background: By now you've likely heard that Far Cry 2 takes place in Africa. After a slew of recent games featuring jungles as their main setting, Ubisoft Montreal felt that jungles were very much a case of "been there, done that." So the developer set out to try Africa, and to really take advantage of all the setting would allow for. Vast deserts and savannahs create a much different vibe for this sequel, one that feels rather unique and new for the FPS genre.

Compared to the weird sci-fi hijinks of its predecessor (as well as the unabashed sci-fi flight of its spiritual successor Crysis), Far Cry 2's premise is decidedly grounded in the here and now. Involving a fractured African nation, a Malaria-afflicted protagonist, and an opportunistic arms dealer who supplies both sides of a protracted, unproductive conflict, you could even say it's prescient. But the mind of a gamer can easily extrapolate from these elements a whole mess of concepts with which we perhaps feel more at home: a free-roaming environment, complete with realistically-rendered foliage; disparate factions to alienate and curry favor with; and of course, munitions and firearms in no short supply.

Ever since GTA 3, open world games have been the new hotness. But, it seems like 3rd person games have had a bit of a stranglehold on the genre, with titles like Crackdown, Saints Row and, obviously, GTA, stealing the spotlight. Far Cry 2 will attempt to bring the open-world concept to FPSers, recreating Africa from a mercenaries point of view. We got to spend some time in this new and bloody continent, and now we're definitely considering getting a full time VISA.