By John Walker on November 29th, 2008 at 12:55 am.
Richard Leadbetter is a man with more patience in one day than I’ll ever have in a lifetime. Somehow he finds it within himself to run comprehensive investigations into which versions of videogames are best for Eurogamer. The latest is Far Cry 2, and I mention it here because the PC dun won it.
“Map-finding issues apart, Far Cry 2 is an excellent release on PC, and the fact that it can run in high definition with all features set to high levels while still providing a reasonably smooth, graphically superb experience is a first-rate achievement.”
We already knew, obv, but just saying.
29/11/2008 at 00:59 Jonas says:
“it can run in high definition with all features set to high levels while still providing a reasonably smooth, graphically superb experience”
…on whose PC!?
Grumble grumble DX10 grumble.
29/11/2008 at 01:09 Lim-Dul says:
You can read about the PC used in the EG article. Truth be told even I got a faster PC although it is two years old so that says something about the FC2 performance…
29/11/2008 at 01:10 DSX says:
Tune in for the next issue, my guess is Fallout 3 will be found to work better on PC too. Mods mods mods!
29/11/2008 at 01:15 Pags says:
Next up on Eurogamer: Pope is catholic. Also, bear talks to us exclusively about his experience shitting in the woods.
29/11/2008 at 01:27 Digit says:
God I hated this game. I was so looking forward to it and then it was basically 90% driving between A and B, and killing respawning guards. Normally, a game would introduce a quick-travel method of moving about after you have done the tedious stuff for the first few missions. But noooooo… not Far Cry 2. :/ The last few missions were fun, but I had to force myself to play it because if I didn’t I never would have had the stamina to complete it.
29/11/2008 at 01:34 Chris R says:
I loved my entire Far Cry 2 experience. The respawning guard posts were a bit annoying, but once I started to use the swamp boats to get around on the water highway, it was better. It could have been better of course, with more varied missions, stealth, etc, but I’m confident a few modders will come along and fix all the issues with the game. That’s why we game on PC’s, amirite? :)
29/11/2008 at 01:34 Pags says:
Digit: evidently you never found the bus stations…
29/11/2008 at 01:43 Dolphan says:
Yeah, with buses and creative driving (i.e going down the railway, which has no checkpoints) you can get to most of the missions pretty fast.
29/11/2008 at 01:50 Saflo says:
I usually just call up PanAfrica Taxi Service. It should be number nine on your in-game speed dial. This joke is horrible, I’m so sorry.
29/11/2008 at 02:05 Rook says:
I’m having trouble thinking of a game that isn’t best on PC when it’s multiformat. Same controls as a 360 or keyboard and mouse + higher framerates and resolution.
29/11/2008 at 02:25 Trousers says:
Setting a field on fire still gives me a game boner.
Therefore: FC2 = GOTY
29/11/2008 at 02:26 Trousers says:
@Rook
Resident Evil 4
29/11/2008 at 02:30 El Stevo says:
Rich Leadbetter? Sega Saturn Magazine’s Rich Leadbetter?!
Wrong crowd…
29/11/2008 at 02:31 Islandesque says:
@Rook – the previous Eurogamer face-off said CoD5 was a crap port and better on consoles.
It’s pretty funny that before they started putting PC in there the comments were always massive 360/PS3 fanboy flamewars despite the fact they’re so similar that you usually need specialised equipment to even tell the differencee in their outputs. PC: peace through superior framerates.
29/11/2008 at 02:42 maybenexttime says:
I was amazed (and impressed) at how well FC2 ran on my system – hell, my CPU technically doesn’t even meet the minimum requirement on the back of the box, but it runs flawlessly. And, from what tiny differences I can glean from their console screenshots, it looks better even on my PC (although, like the article says, there’s not much in it).
Noobish question: What’s screen tear?
29/11/2008 at 02:43 Tarski says:
Far Cry 2 was quite the rip off. $50 drifting across the African desert, soiled with sand…
Bah.
29/11/2008 at 02:43 Frools says:
“To the casual viewer, there’s little to tell the console games apart from the PC version.”
Yeah, it looks mediocre on all 3 :P
FC2 was one of the most boring games I played all year
I am absolutely flabbergasted at the scores it got in just about every review and I dont know anyone who actually thought it was good
29/11/2008 at 03:01 Erlam says:
I think my vote goes to STALKER Clear Sky, or Left 4 Dead.
Not impressed with FC2 at all. Looks like the game that sells the most copies determines ‘best’ game.
29/11/2008 at 03:09 James T says:
(They meant ‘Far Cry 2 is best when played on PC’, Erlam. Which is a given for any game, so it’s a bit of a redundant sentiment, buuuut we have to pretend for the console people…)
29/11/2008 at 03:46 RichPowers says:
Are there examples of the PC version of a game being inferior to the consle version?
AFAIK, TF2 for the 360 hasn’t received any class updates. ET: Quake Wars received higher scores on the PC than on the PS3 or 360. (I played both games earlier today, which is why I mention them.)
29/11/2008 at 04:18 malkav11 says:
Sure. Resident Evil 4 is one of the more egregious examples of a PC version that’s worse than the console one, but there are others. Like Capcom’s pre-DMC4 output. Many of the Spiderman games were a completely different, inferior game than the console one. Certain games, like Iron Man, were ports of the PS2 version rather than the 360 one for reasons totally unknowable. Etc.
29/11/2008 at 04:41 Real Horrorshow says:
“…on whose PC!?”
On mine, for one. DX10 even runs a few frames faster than DX9. 2.8 ghz dual core, 8800GTX, 3 gigs of RAM. Dunia is a well engineered engine, my friend.
29/11/2008 at 05:21 Heliocentric says:
If the game is lo fi enough it may well be best on ds. Being mobile is a killer app. I suppose a micro pc with touch screen could full that role, but they never seem to have either the grunt or the support.
29/11/2008 at 08:05 Masterdog says:
Anyone venture an opinion as to why the game performs better on Xbox than PS3? I was under the impression the hardware on the PS3 was significantly more powerful than that on the 360.
(Note – I’ve no wish to start a flamewar here, we can all agree the PC is better than either :) )
29/11/2008 at 09:04 Mogs says:
Any multiformat game should always be best on the PC. If it isn’t, it’s due to the developer/publisher not allocating the proper resources to it (i.e. shoddy ports).
Far Cry 2 was so nearly a truly superb game – the engine is sublime, the combat is meaty, varied & satisfying…
…but the storyline, phoned in voice acting, uninspired missions and of course the overpopulation of guard outposts and endless travelling made this a 7/10 for me when it should have been 9 or 10.
Shame.
29/11/2008 at 09:18 Heliocentric says:
PS3 ports multiplatform titles can suffer. The 360 is a pc, so crossing there is fine. But the sony fun box has a very strange structure. 7 cores for one point (8 with one turned off for a higher yield), 7 independently quite slow cores. the blue ray drive is still young tech and can slow down the data transfer. And apparently a whole world of hurt with its other issues, enough for valve to abandon development on the box certainly.
29/11/2008 at 09:28 SuperNashwan says:
I wonder how many people read these articles on EG because they actually need to make a buying decision between formats? This one wasn’t too bad but some of them are just terrible, playground level journalism for people who like to shout at other people about how Typical FPS IV: Return Of The Shotgun is upscaled slightly more on the PS3, making 360 owners gods amongst men. No wonder my browser finds its way to RPS and kotaku instead these days.
29/11/2008 at 09:53 Digit says:
*sigh* Of course I found the stupid bus stations.
They were fine as long as the mission was nearby, but the southern map has no station on the far left of the region, so any mission there is a long boring trek. I seriously don’t mind the initial “ooh” factor of exploring the big open terrain but after the first northern map, I had pretty much had my fill. The southern map is more clostraphobic and lacks the vital western bus station too. I have no idea what they were thinking when they decided to force this on the player.
The issue I have is that not only does it make you travel everywhere manually, it punishes you for using roads and the ‘well trodden’ path by having guard posts that repopulate the moment you turn a corner. Then we realise that none of this, is worth ANYTHING. Travelling gets you nothing for your character, I was overflowing with diamonds and before the final missions the gun dealer just unlocks all the guns anyhow. Eliminating guard posts again, no progress for your character, for your buddies nothing. It’s just pointless. The missions and buddy-stories would have been enough game content in and of themselves. :/
29/11/2008 at 10:40 Mogs says:
Kotaku is a good source of news but I can’t be dealing with the self-indulgence & delusions of granduer, especially from Asscraft & Crecente.
29/11/2008 at 10:47 Gap Gen says:
Yes, game engines are startlingly pretty now. I shed a tear when I turned Crysis up to full, before turning it down because my weak (Q6600 8800GTS) PC couldn’t handle it.
29/11/2008 at 12:00 Flint says:
My boyfriend rented the PS3 version while I bought the PC version. The PS3 version runs well but is ridiculously full of glitches – so much that he just stopped playing at one point, fed up on the constant wonkiness. He couldn’t even take proper use of the helping buddy system without grand fear of his buddies glitching up and staying on the site forever, dying randomly when he’s moved past already.
I kinda regret buying the game myself, as an off-shoot. Sure it’s damn fun but it gets its whole steam blown out halfway through when you’re practically forced to re-start the whole game in a new setting. Couldn’t find the energy to continue. Plus after a while it does get too damn repetetive.
29/11/2008 at 12:23 Rei Onryou says:
Tiple-Format Face-Off scores so far…
Fallout 3: PC
CoD5: Not PC
Far Cry 2: PC
2-1 to the superior format! Besides, the PC version will get patched soon enough and his issues will be fixed.
It’s worth noting that in his Fallout 3 review, he does say “Speaking as someone without day-to-day experience of PC gaming”. Its good to hear that a primarily console (or so I’m led to believe) player sees the good of the PC.
I wonder what he’ll compare next…
29/11/2008 at 12:37 SuperNashwan says:
I wonder what he’ll compare next…
Satsumas v tangerines v 1L carton of Tropicana, The Ultimate ‘Which Is Juiciest?’ Showdown.
29/11/2008 at 13:28 Thiefsie says:
This douche claimed the 360 pad doesn’t work on PC in CoD WaW, which is GFW certified. = Part of why it lost to consoles.
29/11/2008 at 13:48 Ian says:
Stupid respawning guards. I hate it when FPS games want me to kill things.
29/11/2008 at 14:00 Rook says:
I was pretty sure that Resi4 was actually best on PC simply because of the insane amount of modding work people have done for that game.
29/11/2008 at 15:13 n3utr0n says:
I just got the grenade launcher that takes up the otherwise useless pistol slot.
Game just went from mediocre to GOTY. :D
29/11/2008 at 16:23 Jesucristo says:
FC2 is a poor game. nice in graphics, terrible in gameplay.
29/11/2008 at 16:46 Adjust Your Set says:
I thought it was great. The open-world parts were obviously underdeveloped but once I realised that I stuck to the main missions and had a blast. The combat provided loads of great moments, the setting and story were different enough to be interesting (which is as good as it ever gets in an FPS), and I liked what they were doing by introducing lots of different mechanics. Not perfect but thoroughly enjoyable.
29/11/2008 at 16:58 Adjust Your Set says:
Really, if you didn’t like assaulting that Dogon village on the hillside, running around that crazy architecture with mortars exploding around you, I don’t know what single player FPS you’ll ever enjoy… most fun I’ve had since exploring haunted labs in Stalker.
29/11/2008 at 18:44 Maximum Fish says:
@Thiefsie
Why would you even want to play a pc shooter with a gamepad anyway? Also, CoD5 from my experience and everyone’s i know who’s got it (all of them on PC), the game has no issues, it runs better, looks better and plays better than the console counterparts. It is in absolutely no way a “crappy port”. Seriously, if this is a bad port, i guess this guy never played Splinter Cell Double Agent, Kane and Lynch, Halo, Lost Planet, the rainbow six vegas games, or countless more…
29/11/2008 at 22:59 UncleLou says:
“Really, if you didn’t like assaulting that Dogon village on the hillside, running around that crazy architecture with mortars exploding around you, I don’t know what single player FPS you’ll ever enjoy”
That was pretty much the only “level” in the game that was reasonably good, so I am not surprised it’s the one you mention – and it comes after about 20 hours. If anything, it only served to demonstrate how mediocre the rest of the game is, and what a waste of potential. And even this scene wasn’t a patch on pretty much any of the setpieces in, say, Crysis: Warhead.
Sorry, but I really don’t think one’s opinion of Far Cry 2 says anthing at all about the general ability to enjoy single-player FPS games.
29/11/2008 at 23:31 Gap Gen says:
Rather, I think it says something about your preference of set piece action over open-world fighting. And there are plenty of linear shooters out there (you mention Warhead, for one), so it’s no big deal.
Warhead I enjoyed – it was big and dumb and the story wasn’t amazing, plus a whole bunch of the cool action was done in cutscenes for no reason, but it had explosions and guns and lots of people to shoot, so that’s fine. A bit faster-paced than Crysis, too, which was nice.
30/11/2008 at 00:09 UncleLou says:
You might have misunderstood me. I for one love open-world shooters, I just don’t think Far Cry 2 is a good one. That one of the more setpiece-like moments of the game was mentioned as being a highlight (and not be my initially) speaks volumes.
Although I’d even disagree that Warhead is much less of an openworld shooter than FC2. At least when it comes to how you play each situation, it’s at least as flexible as FC2, and FC2′s non-linearity is pretty much smoke and mirrors, anyhow.
I also don’t think FC2 and Crysis: Warhead are very far apart on the dumbness scale, but that’s yet another discussion. :)
30/11/2008 at 02:37 Adjust Your Set says:
If I’d mentioned a personal highlight that wasn’t a set piece (e.g. the time I took out an entire guard post without firing a shot) you wouldn’t have known was I was taking about or had the same associations. You misread the comment, by the way, I didn’t say that if you don’t like FC2 in its entirety you have no taste.
Anyway, I’m happy you admit the game has some good parts. I admit there are bad parts. We aren’t fanboys! Hooray for us, we have won the internet.
30/11/2008 at 07:36 Deuteronomy says:
Far Cry 2 is simply not an open world shooter. It merely imitates one. Great art and engine but either this game was cut down big time to fit console memory limits or the devs ran out of time. Or the devs are just nuts.
30/11/2008 at 08:54 mashakos says:
ditto. From the 8800GTX onwards, DX10 is better. Memo for teh n00bs: ATI 2600-2900, 3850, Geforce 9400, 9600, 9800 are NOT gaming gfx cards.
the geforce 9800 is not that bad, but it still sucks cause it should have been an improvement over the 8800GTX, not a downgrade. Best mid-range cards out there right now are an ATI 4870 or a used 8800 Ultra.
BTW, I am getting a GTX280 next Saturday. The falling pound has made it quite affordable to import from the UK for 3rd world denizens like myself :D
30/11/2008 at 09:09 SwiftRanger says:
“Its good to hear that a primarily console (or so I’m led to believe) player sees the good of the PC.”
I don’t think it’s good that his wet dream about PC gaming is having a PC as a more high end Xbox360 with control pad and all that. Has it come this far that this is PC gaming now? Poor, poor world.
30/11/2008 at 11:18 Ben Abraham says:
A bit late to the party and all that, but Far Cry 2 is still my game of the year. Yes, really. I know not everyone will like it, but if you can stomach it, it’ll blow you away.
30/11/2008 at 16:48 Kanakotka says:
…Fallout 3? World of Warcraft?
Far Cry 2 is good, don’t get me wrong, and the map editor IS nice (although i wished for custom building blocks and custom textures instead of premade everything, in addition to premade stuff, of course)
But at the moment it’s littered with bugs and several issues, and the physics on the engine isn’t that good, and graphics… who cares about graphics any more, really? They all just look good, and that field hasn’t needed to be improved upon much since the original Far Cry.
And we come to the defining moment of all games that be… gameplay. Which is appaling in single player of Far Cry 2. The multiplayer is really the only charm of the game… even if the voiceacting and such is all fine, but the travel is such a chore, and it doesn’t present any manner of challenge, really.
30/11/2008 at 16:50 Kanakotka says:
Oh, shameless plug, search for ”Yadar Swamps” and “Yadar Gorge” maps on Far Cry 2 map community! D:
30/11/2008 at 19:53 I don't understand this comment system says:
Anyone mention that FarCry 2 PC is currently on sale for $18 on amazon?
That might be relevant.
30/11/2008 at 20:44 Saflo says:
Despite currently having nothing to play it on, I believe I’ll take them up on that offer.
01/12/2008 at 16:05 Ian Dorsch says:
I understand the criticisms, but Far Cry 2 is still my game of the year as well. I loved the combat, and the impeccably crafted atmosphere and sense of place really won me over whenever the travel grind was starting to blunt my enthusiasm.
02/12/2008 at 07:42 Num3r1c says:
The presence of the bus station only makes *some* of the missions *a little* easier.In most of the missions the location is just too far from bus stations and there’s usually still two or three checkpoints that you have to go through. I’ve completed like 55% of the game and I’m thinking of uninstalling it. Going from point A to B,shooting some bad guys,again go from B to C,pick something up,and return to base :most of the missions are different combinations of the stuff above.At least throw in some interesting cutscenes for mission briefing,But NO.
04/12/2008 at 13:31 Masterdog says:
I’d have to agree with FC2 as GOTY. No other game this year has drawn me in quite so effectively as it did.
16/12/2008 at 00:17 TSTheOne says:
I’ve come up with a method to get away from the guard posts.
Firstly you must find yourself a jeep with a machine gun on the back to travel around in.
Before you begin to set off anywhere, Get in the MG turret of the jeep and turn the MG so that it is facing the opposite way in which your drive. When you approach a guard post, floor it and go about 500 metres past the guard post, quickly swap to the MG turret and pump the bastards full of lead, then swap back and drive off. Piece of cake
16/12/2008 at 00:51 Saflo says:
A piece of cake you have to consume 10 times in a row when trying to get anywhere on the map.
16/12/2008 at 00:59 Charlie says:
@ Saflo – Exactly!
I found FC2 disapointing. I honestly don’t know how anyone could enjoy it more than Clear Sky. Seemed like Stalker without a personality.
I didn’t think it was a bad game just surprisingly dull. I blame it on the PCGamer review. It hyped it up to be the most amazing game ever, I played and I was so disappointed I gave up a few hours later. A bigger disappointment than GTA4 for me, I’ve got to stop getting dragged in by all the hype!
05/07/2009 at 23:30 Robert says:
@jonas it runs fine on any good computer lol