When we got our hands on a playable build of Far Cry 2 at E3 2008, we were immediately impressed by the game's immersive atmosphere. Not just graphics; things like the near-complete lack of HUD, the intense weapon recoil, the believable damage to persons and structures and the pull-that-bullet-out-of-your-big-toe health regeneration system had us playing more conservatively than we might otherwise. But over the course of our short demo, lead level designer Jonathan Morin told us about one more - the game's so-called "buddy system."

At first, we didn't quite understand what Morin was going on about. Buddies were NPCs you could befriend (eh); buddies would give you your mission objectives (yawn); and buddies would - spectacularly - save your rear from rather extensive perforation by dragging it to nearby cover (hmmm). But when Morin told us that these buddies would also feature into the game's plot, we perked up our ears.

Games like Portal and BioShock have recently proven that even first-person shooters can tell impressive stories, but these games are typically quite linear - with only one path for the player to tread, you've more or less got a captive audience for the journey that follows. But Far Cry 2 boasts 50 square kilometers of African jungle for players to traverse at their leisure. How could a game that big, and that open, possibly tell a convincing tale? Morin couldn't say, but there was someone else in the room eminently qualified to assist - the game's dedicated narrative designer, Patrick Redding.

Once you pick your mercenary and launch into Far Cry 2, the other seven mercs are sent out to occupy the rest of the game world. Throughout the game you'll be engaging these characters. They'll be providing you with side quests, constant commentary about your relationship to the ongoing conflict, and occasionally aiding you in battle. Outside of these characters, you’ll be playing both sides of the war, aiding the underground civilians in return for malaria medication, and engaging your constant search to find the Jackal. Already you can see how there are a number of relationships at work. Aid one side of the conflict too much, and the other faction may turn on you. Ignore the Underground, and expect your malaria to kick in at the least opportune moment. Far Cry 2 is all about playing your options, and the designers expect you to be overwhelmed with choices.

It’s not the kind of game that hits you with dialog trees that clearly define your choices. Far Cry 2 requires that a player adapt of their own free will. Aiding factions may net you some conflict diamonds to spend on weapons and upgrades in any of the 3 towns in the 50 square kilometer area. But if you spend too much time gaining money, the civilians may turn on you and refuse to provide you with medication. You may not be able to keep everyone happy, but that’s what makes the game exciting to play: actions have consequences, however indefinable they may be at one given time.

Trekking around the African landscape can be done however you choose. You can hop in a car, catch a hang glider on a nearby cliff, or just hoof it across the terrain. I just don’t recommend walking everywhere, because you’ll get nowhere fast. Of course, how you choose to travel can often affect any conflicts you engage in. During the day, troops will easily spot you on an open road and defend their territory aggressively. Use the cover of night and stick to the bushes to try to sneak in to lay waste to any camps you need to infiltrate. Just make sure that everyone is dead, enemies are known to drag each other to safety to heal one another.

The sheer wealth of choices you have when engaging an area in combat are pretty daunting. The number of weapons available can reflect nearly every style of play. Hold on to the ones you buy in town, because scattered weapons will rust and increase their chance of jamming with each shot fired. Players are able to scope out areas in advance by targeting the terrain with their binoculars. Any medkits, ammo crates, sniper towers, and so on are all marked out on your map for you to reference later. There’s really just so much that you can do to make the game experience your own, it lends an air of RPG to the entire experience.

Because there’s so much going on in Far Cry 2, I really just want to take the time to describe one moment that left a lasting impression on me. Before heading out to blow up a pipeline, I ran into one of the NPC mercenaries in a nearby shack. We chatted for a bit, he said it would be good to watch each other’s backs, and I took off. During my next encounter, I fell in the midst of battle and instead of just dying, I woke up to discover the NPC dragging me to the edges of the conflict. He was firing away, covering me while I regained my wits, and then literally put a handgun in my open palm and raised me off the ground. Of course, I quickly set out in search of a new weapon, but the whole experience immersed me in the game play. If I hadn’t talked to him, I’d be dead right now. It was very, very cool.

I really can’t wait to get my hands on the final game. It’s been a long time since an FPS has immersed me so heavily in an environment in a way that I felt I had complete control over my actions. Far Cry 2 may be the title I’m looking forward to most for this fall. The game has a simultaneous release on the PS3, 360, and PC this holiday season.

For starters, the African Serengeti, the open-world venue for the game looks the same on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. The location has some great level design put into it with our 20-minute experience presenting us with several locales. After a battle in one particular village, we got on a boat and drove through a well-detailed ravine; while in another instance we drove to a location in a car along dirt roads. The driving in the game is surprisingly good, making sense depending on what terrain is being driven over, and we didn't find ourselves unnecessarily fighting with the controls at all. Now, let's discuss the surprising AI in the game.

OK, we're going to preface this by saying that if the AI in the final product does similar things to what we saw in this demo, we're going to have an enjoyable time with Far Cry 2. Ubisoft Montreal has done a fine job with some reactions we didn't expect from the enemies.

For example, during a battle, one enemy we capped in the leg fell to the ground, little did we realize he was down, but not out. Sneaking around the side of a building and just watching, we saw one of his comrades come and drag him to safety behind some cover and prop him up. When the battle continued, we took out the helpful friend and when we came near the wounded soldier he was still on the ground and injured, but he started shooting at us with a pistol.

We also saw other examples of teamwork and just proper AI. None of this is exactly amazing, but it's nice to know that it's in the game. We avoided stealth due to our lack of time with the game and during one village attack just rammed a car into the middle of a bunch of soldier, running over one of them. His buddies jumped out of the way, ran behind cover and started shooting. We started running for cover ourselves, hitting the heal button in the process and throwing a grenade at the car. Once the car blew up, the soldier started looking for better cover as fire began to consumer the village.

Mod Description

Well, to start off with. Its still in HEAVY Planning. Also, it's in EARLY Development. For right now, the mod starts out in the year 2008, However, it does switch to the year 2050 within the 1st-2nd Levels. I promise it to be Action-Packed, full of Adventure and PLENTY for you to fight.

Highlights: *Planning Still*

New Aliens
New Characters
New Buildings
New Weapons *Hopefully*
Hopefully Multiplayer too
New Vehicles

Expected Things:

There will be a ton of expected things, but im gonna bring it down to the most important stuff. Let's start with the most popular among the team, the Advanced Nanosuit (AN). Sure, it might not have visual changes (im hoping for) but it will have a lot of physical changes. Also, there is the possibility of New Weapons. We are going for futuristic Weapons while keeping it somewhat believable. Another thing to expect is, Amazing CutScenes. With the mix of music, artistically created world and Action, We promise you will be on the edge of your seat.

Work-in-Progress Screenshots





Recruiting
The mod is also looking for people who want to help out. They are looking urgently for talented voice actors but there are also other positions open.

The 2050 mod is recruiting in the following areas:

* Modeling
* Texturing
* Coding
* Voice Actors

Feature list
Here's a list of the features that have been implemented.

* Three islands to showcase the game's physics engine.
* Various unique and all-new constructions.
* Many possibilities to mess around with the physics.

Installation Guide
Here's a list of detailed instructions on how to install the mod.

* Go to your Crysis game folder -> Electronic Arts -> Crytek -> Crysis -> Game -> Levels.
* Eventually backup existing levels with the same name.
* Copy the level folder from the downloaded file into the current game folder (Game/Levels).
* Start Crysis
* Open console and type in "con_restricted 0" (without "") to allow access to console commands
* Load your custom map by typing in "map mapname" (Without "") and press Enter.

Version 2 Previews
We're proud to present to you a series of screenshots CyberAlien has released from the upcoming version 2 of the mod, beautifully detailed.