Far Cry 2 – A Review of A Classic

By

On 6th March 2022

In Video Game Reviews

Far Cry 2 is a game I first played back in 2009, very briefly on the Xbox 360.

I didn’t my last long, it was frustrating and really hard and just felt too much like hard work.

Anyway I realised that though bundles and deals I owned all of the Far Cry games and decided that I had best actually play them!

So I recently finished the original Far Cry, the review of which you can see here.

And thus I cracked on with its sequel, Far Cry 2.

To start with, it’s absolutely and completely different from it predecessor. Whilst Far Cry was a run of the mill Sci-Fi shooter, albeit with a very high difficulty level, Far Cry 2 is an open world game very much based in reality.

So how about we start with the positives.

Even 14 years on from its release, it looks good, the open world of the game is beautiful and very realistic in how it’s structured.

The open needed nature of the game, along with the choices you can make along the way give it a lot of character.

The setting is great, very much one that’s not been explored a lot in video games.

But I have a lot of issues with the game.

It feels very schizophrenic, it can’t decide if it wants to be an action-shooter, an RPG or social commentary about the influence of western mercenaries and blood diamonds in Africa.

And it doesn’t do a great job at being any of those.

If really feels like it wants to be an RPG, it really feels like it wants to encourage you to develop you character. But you never really do.

You get a choice of characters, I chose Frank, but it doesn’t feel as if that choice makes any difference in the game, it feels like it plays the same regardless.

And as a shooter, well this might sound weird but there is too much shooting!

See there are two different factions in the game, not that you would know as they are all, without exception going to attack you as soon as they see you, no matter who you are working with.

When you clear out checkpoints, within minutes they are repopulated, and the limited carrying capacity for syringes, the games health packs, mean that sometimes, you get stuck, unable to go back to a checkpoint for fear of the shootout, but unable to go forward for lack of syringes when you face the inevitable shooting.

So for me, I think this is a game that has a lot of potential, but never quite meets it.

So that leads me onto my conclusion.

This is a game that could really do with a remake, and I mean a full in remake, with the RPG elements enhanced, so that for example, when you clear out a checkpoint, you can reman it with the faction you are working with.

I would love to see the militias of the two factions treating you differently depending on how you have played the game.

Anyway let’s get away from what I wish the game could be and onto what the game is.

The game was fun, but difficult, perhaps too difficult. The story was interesting, but the big bad guy was a little generic.

This game sets the foundations for what the series becomes, and in a way it’s groundbreaking.

So I am gonna award it 3 out of 5.

I had the settings at the maximum possible and was getting 60fps constantly, it never dipped or got higher than that.

Hardware

  • CPU:- Ryzen 5 5600X
  • RAM:- 32GB
  • GPU:- RTX 3070
  • Resolution:- 1080p

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium – Issue 16 Battle Report

By

On 5th March 2022

In Battle Reports

The 16th part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.

In this episode, we see a Squad of Assault Intercessors try to take down a Royal Warden of the Necrons.

Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium of Mankind.

You can buy your own Task Lamp here

You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-

Assassin’s Creed – Review After Replay

By

On 4th March 2022

In Video Game Reviews

So I have decided after my recent play though of Assassins Creed, which you can see on YouTube, to give you a review.

First off let me give you a bit of background to my relationship with Assassins Creed. I first bought the game when I got a PlayStation 3 on release, and I actually ended up trading it in very quickly because it felt dull and repetitive.

But about a year later I was given it on Xbox 360 and it was a very different beast, it was a lot more enjoyable and the reason for that was achievements.

Those dull repetitive things now became things I wanted to do because I wanted the achievements, I spent a lot of time in that game trying to score as much G as possible.

And the story got me hooked as well, and it still is a very good story.

Anyway so how does it hold up from a modern perspective, well it’s a bit middling.

The game still looks good, I think games of that generation still hold up today and frankly are comparable to those on mobile phones and even the Switch, yeah the textures are a bit meh, but it still looks amazing.

The score is wonderful and very atmospheric, but the speech of the NPCs is very repetitive, which is think is a result if the limited size of the DVD media that it was released on for Xbox 360, and it didn’t really take advantage of the Blu-Ray disk for PS3.

Gameplay is still good, but the initial complaints still stand, it’s dull and repetitive and I can see why Ubisoft have not remastered this game, it would need more than some HD textures to improve it, it needs a whole remake.

The crack is that doing the game without achievements, although I did have some to collect still, makes it a much less enjoyable game, because it feels like you are doing the exact same thing over and over again.

Yeah it set up the franchise, but it is, absolutely not a classic, if anything it’s a bit of a disappointment in retrospect.

It just doesn’t stand up to modern standards, but the green shoots of what would come in the sequel are there and waiting to be improved upon.

Assassins Creed as a franchise has come a long way, and this was that first step.

Flawed, but with its own charm.

Scoring this game is difficult, I love the story, Altair is an engaging character, it looks good and the score is evocative.

But the gameplay gets boring very quickly.

So I have to give the game 2 out of 5.

Hardware

  • Xbox Series S
  • Xbox Controller
  • 1080p

Taking a Stand

By

On 1st March 2022

In Blog

I know I am only small fry, but i myself have to make a stand.

Lots of little stands will make something much bigger, and will hopefully make an impact bigger than any of us.

One thing I have done is to uninstall any program or app I have that’s from a Russian or Belarusian company, the big ones being Audacity and World of Warships.

I know it’s not a lot, but all I can hope is that small actions lead to big change.

What I Am Modelling

Not much, been very distracted.

I have built Fafnir Rann, Darkstrider, the Canoptek Doomstalker and some Blood Warriors.

Paintingwise I just painted a pair of Haemotrope Reactors for the Company of Legends terrain.

I am currently working on some Orruk Brutes.

So what’s on the painting plan this week?

  1. T’au Pathfinders x 10 & Darkstrider
  2. Soulblight Gravelords Mortis Engine
  3. Orruk Brutes x 6
  4. Ork Kommandos Kill Tram x 12
  5. Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
  6. Ultramarines Intercessor Squad x 5
  7. Blood Bowl Referees x 2
  8. T’au Empire Crisis Suit Team x 3
  9. Blood Angels Assault Intercessors x 8, Primaris Lieutenant & Librarian in Phobos Armour
  10. Skitarii Rangers x 10

What Am I Reading

A little bit of School of X still, but not as much as I would like.

What Tabletop Games Am I Playing

Not a lot but we did do a Murder Mystery at Meeple Perk for Megan’s birthday.

What Video Games Am I Playing

Again not much, a bit of Forza Horizon 5, some Unpacking and a bit of Halo Infinite.

But I have sat down and pushed to play some Far Cry 2 and I had a session of Horizon Zero Dawn tonight, the video of that will be in YouTube tomorrow.

What I Am Backing

No live projects right now, but the Isle of Cats expansions have arrived along with the big storage box.

What I Am Spending

On Saturday Fafnir Rann and a few paints arrived from Element Games.

I popped into Games Workshop on Sunday for the birthday week and I ordered the two birthday models and picked up Darkstrider at the same time.

I have also decided to subscribe to Humble Choice this month, simply because they had Borderlands 3 in it with the seasons passes at a very nice bargain.

Age of Sigmar Weekender

By

On 25th February 2022

In Blog

This post is a bit late cause I had a little health scare, which was actually quite scary. Found a lump downstairs, thankfully it turned out to “just” be an abscess.

Anyway lads, remember to have a fumble downstairs every month!

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Durham Raiders Age of Sigmar weekender, something I look forward to all year!

I took Flesh-Eater Courts to represent the forces of Death and this is my army list.

+ Leader +

Abhorrant Archregent: Arcane Bolt, Battle Regiment - 1 Commander, General, Gory Talons and Fangs

Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist: 2. Razor-clawed, Death Shriek, Fanged Maw, Gory Talons and Fangs, Skeletal Claws, Unholy Vitality

Crypt Haunter Courtier: Massive Bone Club, Rancid Talons, Vanguard - 1 Sub Commander

Crypt Infernal Courtier: Foetid Breath, Skewering Talons, Vanguard - 1 Sub Commander

+ Battleline +

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Battle Regiment - 2-5 Troops, Reinforced, Sharpened Teeth and Filthy Claws

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Battle Regiment - 2-5 Troops, Reinforced, Sharpened Teeth and Filthy Claws

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Battle Regiment - 2-5 Troops, Reinforced, Sharpened Teeth and Filthy Claws

+ Other +

Crypt Flayers: 3 Crypt Flayers, Death Scream, Piercing Talons, Vanguard - 1-3 Troops

Crypt Flayers: 3 Crypt Flayers, Death Scream, Piercing Talons, Vanguard - 1-3 Troops

Crypt Horrors: 3 Crypt Horrors, Clubs and Septic Talons, Vanguard - 1-3 Troops

These were organised into a Battle Regiment with the Archregent, Ghoul King and Crypt Ghouls with two Vanguard Regiments, one with the Crypt Haunter Courtier and the Crypt Horrors, and the other with the Crypt Infernal Courtier and the Crypt Flayers.

The event also asked us to take an ally, who would be gone once they were killed, so I took the Grymwatch.

My first game was against Conner and his Kruleboyz, and he tabled me completely, to be fair it was a really fun game and I love playing the Conner boys.

My was against my friend Adam and he had Kruleboyz again!

I managed to score a major victory by staying in the objectives until the very end!

My last game of Saturday was against Jane and her Serphon army, which I lost, but had a good game. I got tabled in turn 3.

In the evening we had a pub quiz, a Warhammer themed one and my team, called “Michael is Not Cool“ (Thanks Aiden) won, thanks to a combined knowledge of the Old World lore, particularly when it came to the Winds of Magic.

The next day my first game was against an old foe, Mark, who is the dad of my first games opponent. But rather than his Sylvaneth, brought Ogar Mawtribes.

His army ripped mine apart pretty convincingly, with the shooting just removing models very easily!

My last game was against Matthews Slaves to Darkness, which demolished me in three turns.

The weekend away wonderful and winning a game means that this is my best showing yet at the weekender!!!

Next year, I might go Stormcast! I have previously avoided them as they have been extremely popular, but at this event there was only a single Stirmcast player!

So thank you, Durham Raiders for a wonderful weekend!

What I Am Modelling

I painted some Alchomite Stacks that my sister in law got me, these are getting added to my Zone Mortalis board.

I then painted up some Blood Warriors for my Blades of Khorne army, getting the base coats and wash done on stream Monday night.

And I also painted the Snottlings Blood Bowl team!

And today I finished a Repressor for my Zone Mortalis board, its not really got use in the Sisters anymore, so its going to be a piece of scenery, an abandoned vehicle from an Enforcer Patrol.

So what’s coming up next week then?

  1. T’au Pathfinders x 10
  2. Orruk Brutes x 6
  3. Soulblight Gravelords Mortis Engine
  4. Ork Kommandos Kill Team x 12
  5. Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
  6. Ultramarines Intercessor Squad x 5
  7. Blood Bowl Referees x 2
  8. T’au Crisis Suit Team x 3
  9. Blood Angels Assaukt Intercessors x 8, Librarian in Phobos Armour & Primaris Lieutenant
  10. Orruk Weirdnob Shaman

What Video Games Am I Playing

Not much this week, a bit of Forza Horizon 5, some Deeeer Simulator, and a bit of Horizon Zero Dawn.

I streamed the former last Thursday night and you can see the video here.

https://youtu.be/cPBjf9ayfsc

I did run the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark as well given that’s it’s been added to the game and I am really pleased with it.

Putting all the setting at balls to the walls max, with everything in Ultra or Psycho, including the ray tracing, I got a respectable 66.97 FPS with DLSS Quality mode enabled.

What Tabletop Games Am I Playing

Just what I played at the weekender!

What I Am Creating

I published the Issue 14 Imperium battle report on Wednesday!

And whilst I was at the weekender, on Saturday the Issue 15 report went live!

What I Am Spending

I got a few bits and bobs from Element Games, specifically a Razorback to make a Repressor out of, the T’au Codex and Datacards, and a few paints I needed for my T’au.

I ran out of black primer and couldn’t get into town so I decided to try the Hycote primer a fair few people swear by, as well as ordering some Green Stuff.

And after the doctors I bought a Canoptek Doomstalker!

I also purchased Final Fantasy Pixel Remake, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Stormground this week.

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium – Issue 15 Battle Report

By

On 19th February 2022

In Battle Reports

The 15th part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.

In this episode, the deranged Flayed Ones of the Necrons make their debut as they try to get between a Canoptek Plasmacyte and the Assault Intercessors of the Blood Ravens!

Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium of Mankind.

You can buy your own Task Lamp here

You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium – Issue 14 Battle Report

By

On 16th February 2022

In Battle Reports

The 14th part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.

In this episode, we get terrain for the first time, a Container of resources that a squad of Assault Intercessors and some Warriors are fighting over!

Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium of Mankind.

You can buy your own Task Lamp here

You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-

Not The Best Week

By

On 14th February 2022

In Blog

This past week hasn’t been the best, simply because it was my Nanas funeral, so not the greatest week.

However I did have a couple of nice meals with my parents, brother and nephew, and I helped a friend build his new PC.

So a few bright spots amongst a bunch of rubbish, and frankly that’s what you have have to do in life.

What I am Modelling

I started off by painting the Charnel Throne for my Flesh-Eater Courts!

And then I painted a couple of Ferratonic Furnaces for my Zone Mortalis board.

I am now working on some Blood Warriors for my Blades of Khorne, but so far they have just been primed!

So what’s the plan for thisweek?

  1. T’au Pathfinders x 10 (Awaiting some paint)
  2. Blades of Khorne Blood Warriors x 10
  3. Snottlings Blood Bowl Team
  4. Soulblight Gravelords Mortis Engine
  5. Orruk Warclans Brutes x 6
  6. Ork Kommandos Team x 12
  7. Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
  8. Ultramarines Intercessor Squad x 5
  9. Blood Bowl Referees x 2
  10. T’au Crisis Suit Team x 3

What Am I Reading

I finished Witched Unleased, you can read a review here.

I have now started on School of X, edited by Gwendolyn Nix.

What Video Games Am I Playing

I have been playing The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening on my Switch, it a lot different than the last time I played the game on the original Game Boy.

I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn on the PC, and its a beautiful game, I am playing this on Stream so I expect it will take a while.

Got a session in on Saturday and another on Sunday.

https://youtu.be/R0Jq4XE7FAw
https://youtu.be/8w3jknYxoQs

I have also finished working my way through Doom 64 and been playing some Forza Horizon 5 and Halo: Infinite here and there.

So let’s update you on my next games I intend to play on Stream.

  1. Horizon Zero Dawn (PC)
  2. Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection (Xbox)
  3. Control Ultimate Edition (PC)
  4. Assassin’s Creed III (Xbox)
  5. Borderlands (Switch)

What Tabletop Games Am I Playing

None Sadly

What I Am Creating

The Issue 13 Battle Report for Warhammer 40,000 Imperium went live on Saturday.

What Am I Spending

I needed some dopamine on Thursday so I bought a couple of paints from Travelling Man.

I also bought myself some video games, I got Dying Light Platinum Edition, and the remaining Star Trek games on my GOG wish list, those being Hidden Evil, Armada, Armada II and Starfleet Command III.

Witches Unleashed

By

On 13th February 2022

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Untold book Witches Unleashed by Carrie Harris published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let these things cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

Also I won’t lie, I have looked at other reviews to see what others think, so there may be some influences from them in this book review. If I am going to quote them, I will attribute them. But if I forget to, or something is highly influenced by them, and you think I ought to attribute someone, let me know so that I can.

What is Marvel

Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!

The Witches were a trio of magical users who were supporting characters in some fairly older titles. The team is Jennifer Kale, Topaz and Satana who were put together by Dr Strange to counter the Hellphyr and get it back into the Tome of Zhered-Na. They had a series back in 2004 I think.

They are joined by Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider and Jennifer’s cousin.

The Story

Johnny Blaze managed to get himself stuck in Hell, and in his escape he let Lucifer, the Prince of Lies out, but shattered into 666 pieces.

Now its the duty of the Ghost Rider to hunt down the fragments and send them right back to Hell.

Finding his way to Salem, Florida, Blaze detects something different about this fragment, and he decides to seek the help of a local coven of witches, who just happen to consist of his cousin Jennifer Hale, guardian of the Tome of Zhered-Na, Topaz, an empath, and Santana Hellstorm, a half demon of hell.

Realising that the fragment of Lucifer is in the body of a Kale family member, the sister Lefay and Johnny Blaze, turn to some extreme means to try and find the fragment and send it back to the underworld.

Conclusion

When I started this, I was a bit concerned that it would require quite a bit of background knowledge about the magical world of Marvel, but Harris does an amazing job of spoon feeding what we need at the exact time we need it.

There is lots of exposition, but it feels just right, its never too much or too little and I think the judgement was just right.

Now if I am honest the pacing isn’t something I am a fan of, the story takes a long time to get started, but then the finale does feel a little rushed.

I don’t know the confrontation with Lucifer just felt like it needed more build up, but the writing of that battle was absolutely incredible it felt very fluid and dynamic and with Lucifer using his powers to push the group of heroes to their limit.

It really was a very well written and descriptive climax with the most unexpected of endings.

The Witches get only the smallest time in the main Marvel comics and its great to see them getting the attention they deserve here, and this is the amazing thing about the Aconyte books, they take characters who only get bit parts and expand them out into amazing novels.

This book I am going to give a score of 4 out of 5.

The eBook is out now, and the paperback will be published on the 17th February.

Mood:- Frustrated
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed:- 5
In My Ears:- That Don’t Impress Me Much – Shania Twain
Tabletop Game Last Played:– The Horus Heresy
Video Game Last Played:- Horizon Zero Dawn
Book Last Read:– Witches Unleased – Carrie Harris
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed:- The Masked Singer
Current State of Projects:- Nowt on my desk!

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium – Issue 13 Battle Report

By

On 13th February 2022

In Battle Reports

The 13th part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.

In this episode, a Captain and some Assault Intercessors go head to head with some Skorpekh Destroyers and a swarm of Scarabs!

Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium of Mankind.

You can buy your own Task Lamp here

You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-

Page 16 of 58

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén