Far Cry 2 [Xbox 360]

"You've just arrived in Africa on a mission to locate and terminate The Jackal: the person who is supplying two opposing factions; the UFLL and the APR. A long intro movie sees you to be driven away to your hotel by cab. By sitting on the passengers seat you can witness the beauty the country has to offer.

From the very first beginning I was hooked on Far Cry 2, although I had to get used to a few things. You have full access to almost 20 square miles of open world gameplay, you can literally do whatever you want, wherever you want to, being it by foot, boat or by car. I must admit, it felt a bit overwhelming at first, but once I mastered the controls and had completed the first missions, I felt like a true mercenary though. Now I spend hours just looking for trouble, wondering around the beautiful and diversive landscape which vary from dense jungle environments to open plains. When playing the game, Far Cry 2 comes alive wonderfully thanks to the great deal of attention made to both audio and visual departments. It's definitely a strong contender for 'This Years Best Looking Game' in my book.

The many missions you come across vary from stealing things, killing persons and blowing up stuff for both above mentioned factions, to rescueing certain imprisoned persons. Once you rescue these persons they will become Buddies of you. These Buddies can supply you with certain missions to take on and accomplish. They also help you out when you're criticaly injured. Be warned that they can be killed either, so it's better to keep them alive and be good friends with them. So if you don't feel like following the main story line, you can always take on side-missions to earn more respect from your Buddies, or to unlock new weapons from your personal arms-dealer. Far Cry 2 inhabits some of the most life-like characters I've come across in a game.

If you get bored after playing for hours than there's always the possibility to get involved in the great level designer. It is incredibly easy to make maps and extremely satisfying to play them! You can even invide your friends for some Deathmatch fun! Multiplayer is fun, as long as you don't expect too much. I mean, games like Call of Duty 4 set a certain standard multiplayer-wise and Far Cry 2 falls a bit short when you compare both games. But don't let that put you off. Far Cry 2 exceeds it's predecessor in every way. This game has some very diverse gameplay to offer you and a very large and beautifully made world for you to explore.

So don't wait around, buy this game, grab your virtual backpack and start exploring. Highly recommended!"