Far Cry 2 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Windows, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Mac)

common sense media says

A violent but graphically superior shooter.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is an extremely violent and realistic shooter set in a war-torn African country. Players take the role of a hardboiled, morally grey mercenary who, when not plugging his enemies full of lead, setting them on fire, or blowing them up, is often seen jamming a knife in his leg to fish out shrapnel, sticking a pair of pliers in his arm to pull out a bullet, or injecting himself a medical stimulant. Simply put, it's plenty bloody. However, the game does a good job of realistically recreating the terrifying atmosphere and environment of an African nation at war with itself, and sends out an unambiguous message that an influx of weapons in such a situation does more harm than good.

Educational value: Not applicable.
Positive messages: The game isn't morally vacuous -- it does a fine job of illustrating the despicable aftermath of black market arms deals, and gives the player the opportunity to bring an end to them via various means -- but it nonetheless includes plenty of bloody missions on behalf of a pair of self-involved insurgency organizations.
Violence: Most of the action consists of intense gun fights and fiery explosions. Plenty of blood can be seen. Many of the game's most gruesome moments take place when the player's avatar tries to heal himself by fishing bullets and shrapnel out of his body with pliers and knives. Characters also frequently catch fire.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Profanity isn't heard all that often, but all of the standard four-letter cusses are here, including f--k, s--t, and damn.
Consumerism: This game is part of Ubisoft's Far Cry franchise.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Beer is mentioned and seen. The game's hero must take medication to keep his malaria symptoms at bay, and he frequently injects himself with a stimulant to replenish health.

More on Far Cry 2

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about this game's portrayal of a conflict that resembles the sort we often hear about in the news but, thankfully, never experience firsthand. Does it seem realistic? How do you think you would cope living in a world in which gun-toting militia walk the streets and armed blockades keep you from traveling freely? Do you think a game like this helps players get a better feel for a problem taking place half a world away, or is it simply more mindless first-person shooter entertainment?

What's the story?

What's the story?

The original Far Cry for Windows PC was a sprawling, epic, highly realistic shooter. It spawned four console offshoots which, while fun, significantly tamed the original's scope and authenticity. However, FAR CRY 2, the first proper sequel in the franchise, restores and expands upon the first game's enormous, imposing, and beautiful environments by providing players some 50 square kilometers of completely free-to-explore African wilderness, multiple means by which to carry out each assignment, and a lengthy campaign designed to last a minimum of 30 hours--potentially much longer should players decide to seek out every last mission and hidden item.

The game's hero -- your choice of nine rough and tumble mercenaries from around the world -- is on a mission to rid a war-torn African country of an arms dealer known as the Jackal, a man responsible for providing weapons to warring factions in more than a dozen of the continent's civil wars. But our protagonist is no angel. He does dirty work for both of the conflict's factions to earn the cold hard diamonds necessary to fund his investigation. And while he establishes a rough brotherhood with a few other hired guns, there's no attempt to make these men out to be noble knights; they're professional soldiers, plain and simple.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

It doesn't take long to figure out that the game's real star isn't any of its grisly military men, but rather its lush jungles, rolling deserts, and expansive savannahs. Zebras and wildebeest roam the plains, wind ruffles the leaves of trees and bushes, and the sun, moon, and stars rotate across the sky to create a wonderfully believable day/night cycle (we can actually see this happen in sped up photography whenever our avatar sleeps). It would probably take half an hour to walk across the game world from one corner to another, and you would never see a loading screen while doing it. Spend enough time with Far Cry 2, and you may well feel as though you've actually visited Africa.

Other elements help to extend the player's sense of immersion. Cars break down and have to be repaired with a wrench. When injured, our hero must fish out bullets from his flesh or pat out flames on his legs. Should he become gravely wounded, one of his buddies will come to his rescue and carry him away while fending off attackers -- an excellent alternative to the traditional die-and-respawn system found in most games. These unique tweaks combined with the game's gorgeous environments help Far Cry 2 overcome its semi-unlikable characters and give the game a flavor all its own.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Windows, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Mac
Available online
Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: UbiSoft
Released on: October 21, 2008
Price: 59.99
ESRB Rating: M for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

This review was written by Chad Sapieha
 
 

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What parents & educators say

12

Most useful reviews by all members

 
Good for teens...on the mature side
This game is really great. there are many different vehicles to drive including jeeps dune buggies even hand gliders. many different realistic weapons. very long story line. But very graphic. Most of the missions are assasinations, sabotage etc. the most gruesome parts are while restoring your health at the critical, the charachter will pull bullets out of the legs, arms hands etc. sometimes will pop the broken bone back into place. even cauterize bullet wounds closed with a lighter. Great for older kids but if your against blood and gore not right for you. occasionally some swearing but not too bad...

 
Great game for kids in their late teens
Right off the bat i'm just gonna say the alleged "sexual content" the ESRB put in the rating is non existant. I don't know if using the F word constitutes this for the ESRB but through the hours and hours i've played this game, i have not seen or heard any mention of sexual content. The game is a little bloody, but like the commonsense review said, its bloodiest moments are when you extract a bullet from your arm or pop a limb back into place. i suppose their are some ethical issues in the fact that you fight for both sides of an African civil war and you get paid in diamonds. the language is strong, but not excessive or gratuitous. there is one reference to Khat in it. I would say it's appropriate for kids 15 and up.

 
This was gold
A truly great game.

 
STUNNING BEAUTY!
This game has AMAZING graphics and is definatly a must have for any teenager interested in a long game with a good storyline. I would recommend this game for kids 12 and up due to it's minor language and rather excessive blood content. This game is rather violent but nothing worse then you see on t.v. The graphics alone make the game worth buying... and the free-roam basis allows for the game to be played in you style... whether that be sneaky and quite or guns blazing carnage. An excellent game for adults as well.

cross_breed
teen, 17 years old
 
Fun 1st Person Open World
Far Cry 2 is made by possibly the most graphically centered company to date, Crytek. Crytek also manufactured the game with the greatest graphics of all time, a PC exclusive called Crysis. So, needless to say, Far Cry 2 is extremely impressive, graphically. The gameplay is fun, although the controls can be extremely overwhelming at times. As for the content, the violence is easily the most prevalent bit of questionable content. The game is not gory, but it is bloody. Corpses never really disappear and shooting corpses causes more blood to come out. Lots of explosions, shootings, and some pretty graphic finishing moves with the machete. As for the language, I don't know what game some of you are playing, but, while it's not Grand Theft Auto, there are reasonably frequent F-bombs. I'd say if you aren't offended by language, it'll be fine. Fourteen plus.

Gore Guy
parent of 17 year old
 
this game was fun but it gets very boring after 2 days and it is also very short but the graphics and realisim is epic

farcry4
kid, 13 years old
 
yes for tweens 9-14 +
i'm a 11 and i think is the best game,i would let my kids play it (if i had some) cause i know it's a good game.there is some swears but they probaly have heared them from there parents

thunder1
parent of 14 and 16 year old
 
Ok for kids 11-12 and up.
This seems fine. Most kids these days are exposed to these words cause of older kids on the bus or kids in the hall swearing about a bad grade on their test. Simply put, kids don't tell parents when they're exposed to this cause they don't want them to worry. Also. Whenever you do hit someone with anything well usually if you stab a knife into someone nothing more than a little blood. If you hit something and someone catches on fire usually they fall over and you don't see it. You shoot them a little blood comes out. I would be much more worried about TV shows these days. So again kids 11-12 should be able to play the game. There are no sexual themes as far as I know. And I've played this before. And just a big FYI to parents! In these games they only say swears once or twice.

westertin
teen, 14 years old
 
this game is better than far cry 1 because you can pick the character,buy guns,jam and degrade guns,heal yourself,make every one know who's boss,a great online mode,and just play around.

ssrex
teen, 15 years old
 
Slow start, but awesome. Pretty on the m rated side of things.

iamJMAN00793
teen, 18 years old
 
Boring M-rated shooter
Far Cry 2 is a mediocre shooter with constant violence and blood shed toward soldiers and civilians alike. Many of the characters in the game use frequent fowl language including the f- and s-words. There is also some drug reference such as you having to take pills when you catch malaria and inject yourself with some drug to heal you wounds. Now let me say that when I start a game I usually finish it, I didn't finish Far Cry 2. There was nothing fun about the game, the guns were no fun to shoot and jam frequently if your not using your own, the vehicles are boring to drive and there was a lot of 'go here and talk to this guy then go over there and shoot these guys so you can go back and tell the guy you just left that you did what he asked'. Overall Far Cry 2 is a very shallow and repetitive FPS.

mathew56
kid, 13 years old
 
perfect for 9+
before they play this they need to play Far Cry 1 to understand why there is all the blood and what happend

codfan257
teen, 15 years old
 
Open world game but has blood and language
This game has great graphics an is very realistic. The blood is not super bad but it is in ther often. Such as when you use pliers to taek bullets out of you which is graphic. The language is heard often including a couple of f bombs. The drugs isnt but, yuou inject yourself with a needle to get health.

gameregg
kid, 13 years old
 
great intense game for 1+
there is blood in the game but its not disgusting like a slasher movie the gun fights are very intense you can not cause post Morten damage. the payer has to take prescription drugs but that is a good thing suitable for 11 year olds

 
Violence is a little over the top.
Far cry 2 is a great game but has quirks with the violence. There is lots of blood in the violence, In combat and cut scenes. Shooting people is really bloody. Blood going everywhere. You have an ability with pliers to pull bullets out of your skin. Which looks realistic. The language obviously happens in this game with F words at the max. But there is not THAT much. There are drugs and injections to stimulate but its not that bad. Overall its really violent with some drugs too.

Joe10
teen, 16 years old
 
This is an awesome game! I highly suggest this to anyone who loves hours of gameplay! It is hardly gory and I have played this game for hours and havent hardly heard any drug refrences. I dont think it should be rated M. Great game for 12+.

TakeFive332
teen, 15 years old
 
12+ would be fine
The Game is very very violent there's some blood and you have to sometimes remove a bullet from yourself in-game(witch makes more blood) but it's nothing I would worry about. as far as Language goes there's a few bad words but if your kid watches Saturday night live then he would be fine. there's no sexual content what so ever and ESRB was dum to put that on the box. So if your kid is 12+ go ahead and buy it and if your still worried about language go to the options menu and turn the voice volume down. online is another think though if another player has a microphone he could say all kinds of bad things and there nothing to stop him so be careful. =D

Ph0chiz0
teen, 16 years old
 
Older
It's great, but for older teens...

tommy18
teen, 15 years old
 
Its a bit too violent for me.
This game isn't to my liking because purely of the violence. Its stupid, The AI is dumb, not much to say. Just not a good game

 
Great Game
Well, what can i say about Far Cry 2, Its a fun filled game with lots to do and lots to explore. The bad things about this game are: There is alot of blood and violence, Not to much cussing but the only cussing in the game is like a couple of s*** and like one F***. Im suprised at how much is on the back of the game, Though theres no sexual content.. Theres sexual content on the back? i dont get ESRB sometimes. But the drug content is just using needles to boost you up. But overall this game is for Teens really.. Theres killing and blowing up stuff. Teen stuff right? This game isnt to bad but id say 15 and up

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