History YMMV / FarCry2

* IKnewIt: While being interviewed during a ''Far Cry'' series retrospective made for the run-up to ''VideoGame/FarCry6'', the creative director of ''Far Cry 2'' confirmed the popular fan theory that the Jackal was an older Jack Carver.

** Game producer Louis-Pierre Pharand said that they made changes to the design to "make the game feel like you were really there", and they succeeded in making the game feel like a brutal, uncomfortable, and distinctly un-fun warzone. Director Clint Hocking coined the phrase [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludonarrative_dissonance Ludonarrative dissonance]] and a desire to avoid that dissonance runs through the game.

* HypeBacklash: The game was widely praised at the time of the 2008 release, but is often seen as the [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Black Sheep]] of the franchise. It's not as arcade-like as its predecessor, and it's not as surreal as its successors. It's a game that actively wants the player to feel uncomfortable. However, it's still praised because of this design choice; it's what makes this game such an interesting oddity within the series.

* HellIsThatNoise: You '''will''' quickly grow to dread the sound of engines revving up as it means there's an enemy in a vehicle who's about to ram into you — which is an instant death if you're not paying attention. It's even worse when you don't initially see where the car is coming from, and before you know it, you turn around and saw the enemy vehicle '''[[JumpScare dead right in front of you]]''', leaving you seconds to get out of the way or be squashed flat.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* CultClassic: Sandwiched four years after ''Far Cry'', four years before ''Far Cry 3'', '''and''' was released in the wake of both ''Crysis'' & ''Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl''. It still managed to find a cult fan-base that appreciated the atmosphere, the novel technology as well as the characters & story they told. It is not uncommon to find old gamers who reject the rest of the games in the series as being too fantastical and prefer ''Far Cry 2''. Being a cult classic was perhaps the inevitable ceiling for those taking a look back with the benefit of hindsight, and it was one that saw the game be successful enough to push Ubisoft to keep making games using the name.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The game opens with the main character entering a war-torn hellhole filled with backstabbing warlords, psychopathic soldiers, and profiteering mercs while being infected with malaria. The game only gets darker and more brutal, with the player being forced to balance gun maintenance, medicine retrieval, and faction loyalties, all while making choices that don't seem to amount to anything. The lack of supernatural elements present in other titles in the series and general gritty bleakness of the world might be enough to turn off quite a few players.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions, who have set aside their differences [[ForTheEvulz specifically to massacre the refugees]], can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat (and you could limit the damage by [[spoiler:killing off the remaining Golden Path leader]] after the ending), and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[AssPull barely hinted at]] and [[DiabolusExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]] Not helping is that ''Far Cry 2'' and the next two games operate on GreyAndGrayMorality - even the slightly LighterAndSofter tone of ''3'' and ''4'' still gives the "good" sides several flaws to balance out the more overt evil of their opposition - while ''5'' works on BlackAndWhiteMorality, where even the Seed family advising you not to use violence against them falls flat when the rank-and-file of the Project at Eden's Gate cult invariably shoot you on sight. As such, when one ending reveals [[spoiler:the cult was correct the whole time and everything you did trying to stop them was AllForNothing,]] it felt unbelievably unfair to the player.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat (and you could limit the damage by [[spoiler:killing off the remaining Golden Path leader]] after the ending), and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[AssPull barely hinted at]] and [[DiabolusExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat (and you could limit the damage by [[spoiler:killing off the remaining Golden Path leader]] after the ending), and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[AssPull barely hinted at]] and [[DiabolosExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat (and you could limit the damage by [[spoiler:killing off the remaining Golden Path leader]] after the ending), and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[ShockingSwerve barely hinted at]] and [[DeusExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]]

** The malaria mechanic forces the player to occasionally undertake a FetchQuest to get pills, as the attacks will happen during '''every 30-40 real-life minutes'''.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat (and you could limit the damage by [[spoiler:killing off the remaining Golden Path leader]] after the ending), and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment barely hinted at]] and [[DeusExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]]

* ScrappyMechanic

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The overall series, up until ''VideoGame/FarCry6'' finally addressed the problem, had to deal with the issue of [[DownerEnding increasingly bleaker endings]]. ''Far Cry 2'' was the start of the problem, where your ending choices are either [[spoiler:to do one mission that [[SuicideMission you will most assuredly die in]] or do another one [[DrivenToSuicide and then kill yourself]], the latter of which also involves killing all of your mercenary buddies]]. It was accepted in this game because no matter which one you go for, the game ends with you helping refugees escape; your choice boils down to whether you [[spoiler:blow up the one road out of the country after they've passed so the factions can't chase them down, or bribe the border guards with diamonds to let the refugees pass]], which takes a game that was in general bleak and depressing and ends it [[BittersweetEnding on a somewhat hopeful note]]. Things only became a problem when later games gradually lost the nuance or any sense of a HopeSpot; ''Far Cry 3'' had a bad ending that was pretty bad, but you still had a clear choice between it and a good ending that was still good while fitting the game's tone, but then ''Far Cry 4'' had no ending that could really be considered "good", with the only upside being that its repercussions would be restricted to Kyrat, and then ''Far Cry 5'' came about [[spoiler:without any ending in which Joseph Seed is brought to justice, with its most infamous ending resulting in [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war]] for reasons that are [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment barely hinted at]] and [[DeusExMachina completely out of the player's control]].]]

** The M-79 Grenade Launcher. Very reliable, powerful, capable to kill multiple enemies in a single blow, and counts ''as a sidearm''. While it can be used in a similar way to the Type 63 Mortar, the only drawback is its reloading speed. Its cousin, MGL-140 can be this, specially for its rate of fire and the ability to hold four grenades.

* CultClassic: Sandwiched four years after Far Cry, four years before ''Far Cry 3'', '''and''' was released in the wake of both ''Crysis'' & ''Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl''. It still managed to find a cult fan-base that appreciated the atmosphere, the novel technology as well as the characters & story they told. It is not uncommon to find old gamers who reject the rest of the games in the series as being too fantastical and prefer ''Far Cry 2''. Being a cult classic was perhaps the inevitable ceiling for those taking a look back with the benefit of hindsight, and it was one that saw the game be successful enough to push Ubisoft to keep making games using the name.

* ContestedSequel: This is considered the most debated installment in the franchise, with many people loving the game despite the game often working '''against''' the player thanks to its themes, tone and unforgiving world, while others '''hate''' it for just about the same reasons, with an ending that ties loose ends in a very rushed manner..

* HypeBacklash: The game was widely praised at the time of the 2008 release, but is often seen as the [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Black Sheep]] of the franchise. It's not as arcade-like as its predecessor, and it's not as surreal as its successors. It's a game that actively '''wants the player to feel uncomfortable'''. However, it's still praised '''because''' of this design choice; it's what makes this game such an interesting oddity within the series.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The game opens with the main character entering a war-torn hellhole filled with backstabbing warlords, psychopathic soldiers, and profiteering mercs while being infected with malaria. The game only gets darker and more brutal, with the player being forced to balance gun maintenance, medicine retrieval, and faction loyalties, all while making choices that don't seem to amount to anything. The lack of supernatural elements present in other titles in the series and general gritty bleakness of the world might be enough to turn off quite a few players.

** Your [[spoiler:missing buddies from the Northern region]] betraying you for the diamonds, forcing you to gun them down one by one.

** Your [[spoiler:missing buddies from the Northern region]] betraying you for the diamonds, forcing you to gun them down one by one.
* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''Far Cry 2'' seems to have a substantial amount of retroactive popularity when it comes to question: "Are Video Games Art?" , due to the relentlessly grim tone and the often cruel and ([[DeliberateFlawRetcon supposedly]]) deliberately frustrating gameplay mechanics that make it seem the game itself actively hates the player.

* HypeBacklash: The game was widely praised at the time of the 2008 release, but is often seen as the [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny BlackSheep]] of the franchise. It's not as arcade-like as the game which came before it, and it's not as surreal as it successors. It's a game that actively '''wants the player to feel uncomfortable'''. However, it's still praised '''because''' of this design choice; it's what makes this game such an interesting oddity within the series.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: The game is noticeably easier than the original ''Far Cry'' (especially the NintendoHard PC version), due to the addition of RegeneratingHealth combined with being able to carry several syrettes that can be used to instantly restore all your health. In Easy difficulty, even new players could easily finish the game in ~15 hours with [[EasierThanEasy less than a half dozen deaths.]] Yet still dying far more than most 'easy' FPS games. The console versions balance this out with a very unforgiving save system (no automatic checkpoints, manual saves only allowed at safehouses), although the result is generally more an exercise in frustration (having to drive 15 minutes every time you get killed) rather than a test of skill.

** If you believe that [[spoiler: The Jackal is truly motivated by altruism, was this his m.o. for every civil war he got involved in? Or did his rumoured terminal illness cause him to have a HeelRealisation and lead him to attempt to atone for his past actions.]]
** It’s possible that The Jackal is a ManipulativeBastard playing everything he comes into contact with for chumps. [[spoiler: If so, are his VillainHasAPoint moments and HiddenDepths just him making himself appear sympathetic to Reuben and the Player Character, in order to ensure he makes it out of the civil war alive? If this is the case, was this his m.o. everything he got involved in a civil war in Africa (manipulating a random mercenary with a conscience into helping him escape, and then starting the cycle anew in a different area of Africa?)]]

* ContestedSequel: This is considered the most debated installment in the franchise with many people loving the game despite its gameplay flaws thanks to its themes, tone and unforgiving world, while others '''hate''' it with a passion for its frustrating gameplay mechanics, bugs and unsatisfying ending that ties loose ends in a very rushed manner. Even here you will find people either praising the game or disparaging it for the above-mentioned reasons.

* CultClassic: 2 was sandwiched four years after Far Cry, four years before Far Cry 3 ''and'' was released in the wake of both Crysis & Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl. It still managed to find a cult fan-base that appreciated the atmosphere, the novel technology as well as the characters & story they told. It is not uncommon to find old gamers who reject the rest of the games in the series as being too fantastical and prefer Far Cry 2. Being a cult classic was perhaps the inevitable ceiling for those taking a look back with the benefit of hindsight, and it was one that saw the game be successful enough to push Ubisoft to keep making games using the name.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The game opens with the main character entering a war-torn hellhole filled with backstabbing warlords, psychopathic soldiers and profiteering mercs while being infected with malaria. From that point onward the game only gets darker and more brutal with the player being forced to balance gun maintenance, medicine retrieval and faction loyalties, all while making choices that don't seem to amount to anything. Add in the many frustrating mechanics, the way the storyline develops, the lack of supernatural elements present in other titles in the series and general gritty bleakness of the world and it's hard to feel the game is worth bothering with at all.
* DemonicSpiders: Mortar operators in Act 2. Also, the soldiers. They soak up ammo, do a huge amount of damage, and have the tendency to try and run you down with their cars, an instant OneHitKill.
* EvilIsCool: While more morally grey than evil, [[StrawNihilist the Jackal]] is regarded as one of the best parts of the game by fans. While not as flamboyant or larger-than-life as future Far Cry villains, the Jackal's creepy mannerisms, [[AboveGoodandEvil personal philosophy]] and surprisingly [[VillainHasAPoint well-founded self-justifications for his actions]] has led to him being seen by fans as an interesting character perfectly fitting the style of the game.

** The M-79 Grenade Launcher. Very reliable, powerful, capable to kill multiple enemies in a single blow, and counts ''as a sidearm''. While it can be used in a similar way to the Type 63 Mortar, the only drawback is its reloading speed, though. Its cousin, MGL-140 can be this, specially for its rate of fire and the ability to hold four grenades.

** Even though being the weakest sniper rifle in the game, the SVD Dragunov is an excellent choice while paired with a MAC-10/Uzi and any Special type weapon such as the PKM. Its high rate of fire can allow you to quickly dispatch enemies '''even at point-blank range''' thanks to its quick sharpshooting capabilities.
** The Dart Rifle is also pretty damn powerful regardless which body part you hit, which always results in a OneHitKill as long its low reliability doesn't let it down.

** If you crouch into a shallow part of a lake and let yourself drown, using the HealThyself button produces amusing results, such as your character setting a broken arm in three places to ''pulling spontaneously-appearing rebar out of his torso'', all of that from just ''swimming''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enb0zWbYUik Observe!]]
** There's a little-known glitch involving the Golden AK-47. If you have bought the standard AK from the arms dealer and you have the golden version as your primary gun, you can abuse this glitch by accessing the armoury next to the shop at any map it's on and switch to the standard AK. Then when your golden version has been dropped in favour of the standard version, pick up the golden version and then exit the armoury. Your Golden AK is as good as new like it was when you first picked it up from its original location. With this, you'll never need another assault rifle again and saving up precious diamonds. The only thing to keep in mind is that the golden version cannot receive upgrades from the weapons shop as those are its only drawbacks.
* HellIsThatNoise: You ''will'' quickly grow to dread the sound of engines revving up as it means there's an enemy in a vehicle who's about to ram into you and killing you instantly. It's even worse when you don't initially see where the car is coming from, and before you know it, you turn around and saw the enemy vehicle ''[[JumpScare dead right in front of you]]'', leaving you seconds to get out of the way or be squashed flat.

* HypeBacklash: The game was widely praised at the time of the 2008 release, but like many games of its vintage, once looked back at retroactively the flaws can be quite brutal in comparison to more polished and linear modern shooters. Like many games from the TheTwoThousands it suffers when looked back at retroactively with but the general consensus today amongst the general gaming public seems to be that in hindsight it actually had significant flaws and game mechanics that are a detraction from the core gameplay & story. It does remain a CultClassic, with a number of industry insiders who cite the game, the interface & design as inspirational and a major influence on their own work. A player with an open mind and suitably warned about the downsides will find it an immersive and deeply atmospheric game that stands well alongside the later games in the series.
* MagnificentBastard: [[CulturedBadass The Jackal]] is an infamous ArmsDealer, currently funding both the APR and UFLL factions in a war torn country to [[PlayingBothSides play them against each other]]. Rumoured to be dying of brain cancer, he openly uses cancer as a description of war and how it corrupts people. It is soon revealed he is helping refugees escape the country, by keeping the factions fighting each other, using underhanded tactics to prevent a ceasefire that would kill the civilians; such as stealing blood diamonds and [[FrameUp framing the player]] for his killing of a warlord. Coming out on top of every encounter with the player, he eventually gets them in on his plan to save the last refugees, having the player kill the last warlords and their corrupt "Buddies". The Jackal then has the player take part in his suicide mission to ensure the last refugees escape, claiming that their own deaths are to destroy "every cell" to "[[TakingYouWithMe keep the cancer from spreading]]".

* OlderThanTheyThink: The WideOpenSandbox gameworld of ''Far Cry 2'' was actually done a couple years earlier in ''VideoGame/BoilingPointRoadToHell'', a revolutionary game done in by a buggy pre-patch release and its non-big-name publisher/developer and their lack of publicity. There's also ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}: Shadow of Chernobyl'', which came out a year before ''Far Cry 2'' and was in development even before the engine for the first ''Far Cry'' was created.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''Far Cry 2'' seems to have a substantial amount of retroactive popularity when it comes to the "Games as Art" topic, due to the relentlessly grim tone and the often cruel and ([[DeliberateFlawRetcon supposedly]]) deliberately frustrating gameplay mechanics that make it seem the game itself actively hates the player.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The "revolutionary" WideOpenSandbox gameworld of ''Far Cry 2'' was actually done a couple years earlier in ''VideoGame/BoilingPointRoadToHell'', a revolutionary game done in by a buggy pre-patch release and its non-big-name publisher/developer and their lack of publicity. There's also ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}: Shadow of Chernobyl'', which came out a year before ''Far Cry 2'' and was in development even before the engine for the first ''Far Cry'' was created.