Far Cry 2

Few games of 2008 have been as polarizing on the online forums as Far Cry 2 - it has been understandably criticized for a repetitive mission structure and sometimes aggravatingly frequently-re-spawning enemies. But it is also one of the most progressive shooters this year, and for those with whom it hit home, it has been a rare joy.

Ubisoft Montreal took an admirably systemic approach with Far Cry 2 in a genre increasingly defined by scripted experiences. It doesn't ease the player into a difficulty curve so much as it drops the player headfirst into a brutal war-zone where scavenged weapons fall apart and everyone is hostile, save the arms dealers looking to make a buck. For those willing to invest themselves into such a world, Far Cry 2 - with its fire propagation, its recurring malaria, its beautiful open landscapes, its subtly dynamic buddy and mission system, essentially its total dedication to its own rather unusual game-play premise -- can be immensely rewarding in a much different way to a straight, linear shooter.

Memorable moments abound, both in the ways combat plays out, as well as in the interactions with the environment. There is enormous attention to detail in Far Cry 2's Africa, not so much in terms of discrete content as much as in the way its systems are modeled. Legitimate flaws and all, Far Cry 2often feels ahead of its time.

Read more »

Far Cry

"Looks aren't everything". These supposedly comforting words are usually reserved for the geeky teenage loner on a downer. The quiet one with the dodgy hair and the wonky teeth that has trouble looking anyone in the eye without burning up with embarrassment that anyone's even looking in their direction. But try telling yourself that looks aren't everything when you fire up Far Cry. Try not to feel a ripple of excitement run through you when the Cry engine starts showing off how much better a PC game can look than anything else now.

Far Cry is the new girl in class. A real head turner, and destined to break hearts. But for all her perfectly sculpted form, the air of class, grace and stunning elegance, the bitchier element have the knives out for this wannabe. They reckon she's nothing more than a common bimbo, prancing around in fancy threads and thrusting her charms in people's faces just to get the attention she craves. Who does this airhead think she is swanning around here like she owns the place? But this seething resentment won't stop the boys from salivating over this dream new arrival. They want her bad, and she knows it, and she's going to flaunt her charms all she can to get what she wants.

Read more »

Sins of a Solar Empire

One of the year's great success stories was this space strategy title from Vancouver-based Ironclad Games, which put the small developer on the map and scored another hit for its increasingly influential publisher Stardock. Ostensibly a member of the "4X" genre of domination-oriented titles, Sins of a Solar Empire, with its explicit focus on battles and its real-time nature, is more like an RTS with 4X scale.

A game of Sins methodically unfolds, blossoming into an epic galactic conflict where tiny fighters zip around huge capital ships, which sail between massive planets -- all of which is dwarfed by the size of the overall battlefield, which can be easily surveyed thanks to the smooth-zooming scroll wheel mechanism that is becoming increasingly popular among PC strategy games. That feature is as useful a staple of gameplay as it is a showcase for the game's attractive visuals, which smoothly transition from ant's-eye views of individual craft out to map-like surveys of the surroundings.

Paradoxically, despite the constantly frenetic nature of the game, in which there is always something that can demand your attention, it rarely feels unduly overwhelming, avoiding the overly micro-heavy pitfalls of many smaller RTS games.

On a final note: Sins of a Solar Empire also deserves some kind of award for one of the most clever and alluring titles in gaming.

Read more »