Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 is a first-person shooter in which players take control of a mercenary in an unnamed fictional African nation in the middle of a civil war. The playable character is selected from a pool of nine available mercenaries; the remaining eight and some other non-playable mercenary characters are distributed through the world once the game starts. The environment covers a variety of terrain, ranging from desert to savannah to jungle. The mercenary has access to a selection of thirty firearms including pistols, assault rifles, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, and mortars.

He can also use a machete for melee kills. Many missions in Far Cry 2 involve storming or infiltrating encampments, many of which contain supplies. The mercenary can adopt a frontal assault, or approach and carry out their mission using stealth, in addition to there being a number of different options within these approaches for completing a mission.

In the wake of a rebellion against the old government of an unnamed African nation, civil war rages between the rebel forces' two political factions, the United Front for Liberation and Labour (UFLL) and the Alliance for Popular Resistance (APR). While each claims to represent the people, they are equally brutal and exploitative with the civilian population. The situation is being worsened by the Jackal, an arms dealer distributing efficient low-price weapons to both sides in violation of a Joint Signatory Framework designed to stop the conflict escalating. The protagonist is one of a mercenary team sent into the country to kill the Jackal.

The mercenary arrives at a local town, only to succumb to malarial fever. The Jackal confronts him with his assumed failure, but does not kill him, leaving the mercenary to be incapacitated during an ambush on the town. The mercenary is rescued by members of one of the factions, and ends up going on missions for both sides in the hope of catching up with the Jackal. He also meets Reuben Oluwagembi, a journalist covering the conflict, and after aiding him gains access to malarial medicine through the Underground network, which works to save the civilian population from the activities of the UFLL and APR.

The original Far Cry was developed by Crytek using their in-house CryEngine and published by Ubisoft. Far Cry was released in 2004, the same year Crytek signed a deal with Electronic Arts to produce a new CryEngine title, leaving them unable to work on future Far Cry projects. However, Ubisoft struck a deal with Crytek and eventually purchased the Far Cry intellectual property, allowing their Ubisoft Montreal studio to create further console Far Cry games using CryEngine technology. The aim with Far Cry 2 was to "rejuvenate" the Far Cry universe using a new setting and mechanics.

The shift in direction was partly to separate it from Crytek's new project, which was assumed to be set in a similar tropical environment, but also to separate it from the original game's console spin-off titles, which all had similar environments. The change in setting and direction would also help invigorate the brand, which was suffering in the market due to exploitation of the original game's premise and tone. There was also the factor that several games and other media titles were using a jungle island setting. The team went through a long pre-production period, with plans for a sequel emerging prior to the original game's release and concept work beginning during the development of Far Cry Instincts (2005).

The Windows version was the best-selling game in North America during its opening week. The 360 version was fourth, while the PS3 version was fifth. According to a report by the NPD Group, Far Cry 2 was the fifteenth best-selling Windows game during November 2008. By November 12, the game had sold one million copies worldwide across all platforms.

9 million by the following January. Far Cry 2 met with generally positive reviews from gaming journalists. On review aggregator website Metacritic, the Windows and console version were given scores of 85 points out of 100; the score was based on 34 reviews for Windows, 49 for PS3, and 75 for 360.

Ubisoft Montreal continued as lead developer for the series, beginning production on a sequel titled Far Cry 3, which was released in 2012. This sequel would return to the first game's tropical setting, either discarding or polishing gameplay elements that saw a mixed reaction from Far Cry 2 while improving the core gameplay. The Jackal, despite his mixed reputation among series fans going forward, was the beginning of a trend for leading charismatic antagonists taking a prominent role in the story and marketing. Far Cry 2 was the first major release to use Ubisoft's eventually-common design philosophy of sustainable franchises with large open worlds on next-generation gaming hardware. This formula would be embraced by later Far Cry games, the Assassin's Creed franchise, and properties based on the work of Tom Clancy.