Far Cry 2 Retro Review - Using the Realism + Redux mod 

Interesting fact if you like sniping. If you are sniping in this game the enemy will take cover, but if you shoot the legs of the enemies their friends will come and help them, that way you can pick em off one by one as they try and help their downed teammates.

I worked on this game when I worked many years ago at Ubisoft. I was one of the level designers and I help work on the engine that helps people create maps….. glad you enjoyed the game 👍

Alongside with Crysis and GTA IV, Far Cry 2 was one of the first games that truly felt like next generation in the golden era that you've mentioned. It was the game that made me rebuild my PC from ground up. It was the game that made me spend countless hours in it, listening to magnificent sounds of the nature, traverse terrain on foot trough foliage, water, desert, savanna... It was the first game that truly introduced freedom, I could do missions how ever I wanted, stealth, Rambo, CQB, long distance sniping, with pistols, shotguns, SMG, LMG, sniper, AR's... It was the game that made me feel the world around, due to the absolute gorgeous sound engineering, graphics, animations... The game didn't lead my hand, didn't take me out of the world if I wanted to check the map, and no matter how much people say it gets repetitive, and enemies at checkpoints too fast, those issues were nothing for me, I just enjoyed every moment of the game for decade and half now. It is the game that I have to have installed on my PC and will be in top 10 of my favorite games for ever. Yes, other Far Cry games had improvements, but they had such bland atmosphere and sound design was nerfed to the point of making me just speed run to the end, cluttered HUD, map takes you out of the game, waypoints, etc.... Far Cry 2 formula had so much potential, it had to be improved a bit, it was not perfect, but later installments are just way off the trail. I hoped Far Cry 6 could bring back a piece of African atmosphere, but man, I was so wrong. In the end, I think that Far Cry 2 and Stalker games (GAMMA mod precisely) are one of the best depictions of loner characters, that gives you freedom to go anywhere, and choose to do the missions each time differently. Kudos to you Mac for choosing one of my favorite games of all time. Shame on Ubisoft for ruining the series. I actually liked Far Cry 3 (Blood Dragon deserves more praise), 4 and 5 at some points, but 6 is just a disgrace

Far Cry 2 still has the single greatest fire mechanics I've seen in a game to date. The multiplayer map editor was also incredible, especially for how well it worked on console. It was basically just the Dawn of War/Company of Heroes editor from Relic ported over and it just worked flawlessly.

Wish there was a stop enemies respawning every 5 seconds mod.

I recently just finished this again after a decade, and it’s easily the best Far Cry game, in my opinion. I miss the old Ubisoft.

A lot of happy memories playing this game as a younger man. Simpler times. That engine rev noise still gives me anxiety.

Do love a retro review Mack you should do more for us that are stuck in the past 👍

The map UI in this game is brilliant. I love it and they don't make it like this anymore, it's a shame. Gun jamming too (like in Fallout 3!)

Hope you cover and highlight more mods in the future, Mac! There's a ton of them out there that deserve a chance in the spotlight!

FC2 will forever be my favorite Far Cry game of all time. ❤

Hell yes i was obsessed with this game back in the day. Super immersive

Far Cry keeps popping into my feed lately and now Mack does a retro review on Far Cry 2. There are no coincidences.

Loving the retro reviews. More plz

I have fond memories of this game. One of the things that stood out to me was how a small fire can start a full blown brush fire.

Nice! Love how all these mod makers are bringing back classic games, that are way better than most new AAA titles. Stalker, Falcon 4.0, SWAT 3-4, SH3, Rainbow 6 and so on, all are just like new games or even better.

The word to best describe this game is SOLID. Near perfect game. Time for a replay!

Great to see a updated review of a great game

Had a great time playing this back in the day, truly an unforgettable experience. Hope we get more Retro reviews in the future.

I was hoping you’d review this. Great stuff.

Farcry 2 sunset with the R+R mod is one of the prettiest things you can see in a game, its crazy what modders could tweak in such an old game to make something gorgeous. Shame that the game is held back by alot of flaws that make playing it for hours a pain

Incredible achievement for the time, really made you feel like you were there. The enemy respawning was super-frustrating though. I'd take a proper modern remake of FC2 any day.

This game was so fun with friends, playing the racing maps, blowing each other up! Ahh the nostalgia!

You did it!! My absolute favorite mods for this! :)

If Mac knew his true enemy as an English white dude, it would be a fine thing. 🙂

I have really fond memories of this game. it blew me away at the time.

I still remember playing that back in time. One of the best games I have ever played.

One of my favorite games. It's a great example of how the little things make a big difference.

Love this review . A underrated gem

I haven't been watching your reviews lately but thanks to your choice of character in this game i'm in again. Thanks!

Awesome review and learned important life lesson “Pills aren’t food”. So true!

Thanks for reviewing one of the most immersive game i've ever played.

I got this and fallout 3 for christmas in 2008. I was in 8th grade and it was indeed the golden age of gaming.

Loved this when it came out, played it a lot, finding the jackals voice recordings and following the narrative gave it a very ‘heart of darkness’ vibe. Great game from a great era of gaming

Extraordinary game, then and now

The map editor for this game was brilliant

Dear Mac, all we want for Xmas is a "Digital Feaces" song….

I have so many fond memories of this game. I played it in highschool. The convoy missions where my fav. I remember placing c4 on the road and blowing them up.

I like these older game reviews Mack! Can you please keep doing more as long as it works for you?

Dang it. Now I have to replay it, again. Such an amazing game.

Still play this game to this day. Easily in my top 3 favorite games of all time.

One of the games I always come back to. A true must play.

Man I used to play this on 360 years ago, degrading guns, clean hud, unique setting, companions that can die and missions can be do multiple ways, was a proper gem of a game this, 3 was great but nothing’s come close to how tense this game was to play 👏 😢

Downloaded this like 2 months back with the same mod. Incredible fun. Still the best fire mechanics in gaming

Maaan, thanks for that review. I was like back to my youth. I've dumped so many hours in this game at that time and my friends and I built some maps with the editor to play. I think I gonna install it again...

Everybody has a handful of games that they absolutely love but a lot of people don't. Far Cry2 is one of those games for me and I find it pretty hard to explain exactly why I love it. It was one of my earlier gaming experiences so there's always that but this game has an alluring atmosphere that really nailed me. Also, it's SILENT apart from ambience with a clean HUD. How often do you see that now?

played though this about 2 years ago and actually finished it this time and i had a good time. Sure miss good games. its been a long time sense ive had a great AAA game to play. Thank god we have indie games.

thanks Mack, played em back in the day but I'll be up for trying with some mods

Nice, I would like to see more old game reviews.

Are you me Mack?? I literally downloaded the patches and mods last week and had a blast. It's so damn immersive

Crazy to think about the massive leap between FarCry 1 and 2. And how 3 was basically the peak of the series. Fastforward to today and the series could never really capture that same feeling even 4-5 games later despite better technology/resources

Thanks, Mack! Just bought it. Currently playing GTA 4, would you do a retro review on that?

Yes I agree, played this with a damage mod that made you die and kill of just a few hits, really immersive.

This is a proper game, best in the series

Recently just had a nostalgia period of games. Played this and Saints Row 2. So much fun still

thanks mack, I recently tried to play this and got the bouncing npc's so I moved onto other games. Now I can play again. I loved this game back when it first came out

Great Retro Review

Nice you got to dive back in to this one Mack! I had fun with it, finished all the missions and sometimes this game would just humble you. I ran into a few places and got handed my own ass, but I only actually died once. The buddy system is really nice and changes depending on how you complete the story and who you choose as a main character so it's always a fresh experience.

FC2 was the first FC I played and my god I spent hours playing it, real immersion, sometimes you'd take a moment to appreciate the landscape as it looked so real. The map builder was also superb, I spent many hours making maps although they were never as good as the maps others made, some of the maps were awesome

I was playing Far Cry 2 and loving it when I got my first red ring of death, went straight to the shop and bought another 360 so I could keep playing

I remember this being so immersive and 1 of hardest games , due to the constant patrolling enemy. Wish I stuck with it because games like this, kinda make you so immersed, you almost feel like you’re in the game world. Especially when playing at night in game and in real life. I remember how my jaw dropped when I started my first wild fire. 1 of the best things about the game.

The physical map remains my favourite feature of all time. It keeps you immersed

I loved this game when it came out, I loved the oh sh!t moments when my gun would jam and I would be frantically trying to unjam it while in the middle of a fire fight. Also loved how the more you swim the more rust would accumulate on your gun making it jam more often. Love it.

Ironic ive just been playing this after a set of nights. Still remember when it came out and being amazed i could play as a sikh character. Cheers for spreading the nostalgia

the atmosphere in this game can never be touched. i remember playing this back in the day and being completely engrossed in it, i felt i was really in africa... ubisfot could never make a game like this anymore

Loved this game, played the hell out of it back in the day

I loved Far Cry 2. Never did finish it, but bloody hell was it a lot of fun.

FC2 is unironically the best one in the franchise. I always found it to be extremely immersive with an atmosphere unmatched in any other FC game. There's just something magical about wandering around the map with the briefcase tracker out, waiting for it to pick up a signal, with that perfectly fitting music playing. I also love the malaria mechanic. Most people hate it but it adds a little bit of a realistic feel to the game. Gun jamming does too.

Absolute classic, i just replayed this myself last month. Awesome game

Excellent review man this game is one of the best and blows new games out of the water completely. Just one thing Mack don’t be fooled Israelis are NOT white! lol.

Never played it through. For me it was just fetchquest after fetchquest, always at the opposite corner of the map, so 10 Minutes of driving and then a short fight and all the way back across the map to the next 1-minute-shootout. The fire animation blew me away, though.

I prefer Dylans Mod. It fixes some of the ai issues, among many other fixes and improvements. I could write entire paragraphs about my love for Dylans Mod, and I have before, but I can't tap all that out on my phone right now.

Respawning enemy outposts combined with enemy bullet sponges killed the game for me. The navigation system is fantastic. Wished all open worlds adapted something comparable to this.

FC2 was incredible back in the day, would love a remaster on the PS5

This is THE best Farcry game I think. Far Cry 3 was a wacky blast Far Cry 4 was pretty But this game literally felt like a mercenary in a hostile environment. It's never been as good as this.

I always wondered what you thought about this game as you speak so much about great FPS games. This game was one of the best action games i ever played at the time by far and stood the test of time for years after that i could go back to and shoot and blow crap up and never get bored. And seeing grass fires was something i had never seen before and loved and going for a swim and your gun getting rusty and jamming and your gun slowly looking more rusty. Those features are what i believe real gamers want, and i have never seen anyone do them better.

I've wanted to play this game for so long, but because of the issues mentioned i never did, thank you!

I was just installing this mod a couple days ago after having a conversation about FC2.

Love diamond searching too. Man i played this 10yrs ago was toughas nails on hard no mods.

Thanks for covering this Mac. I know this isn't the best FPS ever (with the respawning enemies that can get annoying, but you didn't mention here), but for some reason I feel right at home with this game and have revisited it again and again throughout the years. A guilty pleasure.....

I will definitely give this another try

I had a lot of fun with this game when it came, Awsome.

I kinda wish the mods did a bit more. There are so many things it improves and I would recommend not playing vanilla. But you can't scoop out the guts of their old engine that much, just tweak and change some things.

I think we need more modded retro reviews

Africa is a severely under used setting for games. It's the perfect, gritty survival environment. I'd love to see a new African "Far Cry" like game.

Ive been meaning to play this classic and its on sale for 3$ USD, I bought it and I haven't even started the review. Love ya Mack.

Remember the guns jamming or breaking during a firefight

Thanks for the review and the mod! was trying to see a review with the Mod to decide if I wanted to try it or not so this was so helpful! just the joke at the start was not necessary and pointless :/ but apart from that very good!

I was actually thinking about playing this. Mostly because you can set everything on fire.

Three was the first one I played. This one does not look too bad.

This game was way ahead of its time, not only graphically but gameplay as well. Edit: It could also be that later entries just got stale xD

Played this back in the day on the ps3 was a blast. Munus some short comings a lil repedtive and the checkpoints got tireing. 4 mins in this on pc with mods wowza! Props to the mod dev. Doesint ask for a penny and makes it run like a dream.

Yes! My favourite game and mod. But I use the original colors, that's personal. Playing on hardest mode with controller. (Mouse makes in into a point and click game. lol)

Far Cry 2 was my first and last Far Cry game. I especially loved the level editor that they bundled for free. Remember when games did that? I remember. Crysis literally shipped with an editor that you could use to edit the campaign levels. Or make your own maps. Incredible stuff.

Would love to see you do Steam World Build, Mack.

This and Dead island are in the same bracket of undersung bangers

This is by far the best Far Cry, has the best immersion with everything being ingame, and the fire effects where great

This was such a great game!

My favourite far cry game by far. Love this game

If i remember correctly you could recruit some of the characters from the character selection to assist you, one of them died trying to save me from a fire i started 😅