Far Cry 2?

I bought Far Cry 2 yesterday through the steam store, but did not have time to load the game up until today. My expectations were a bit different, and to be perfectly honest, I feel ripped off!

I loved Far Cry, not so much for it's stunning graphics, but more for the fast-paced action and fun multiplayer part.

Far Cry 2 is nothing like that, it's not even a proper First-Person shooter.

You start off in a long video-sequence with you being in a cab in an African country, torn by civil war. You are sent out by a company that wants "The Jackal" - an arms dealer who is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the civil war - dead. Unfortunately this 10 minute long video-sequence ends up with you getting malaria, and thus your mission is screwed up. Instead of fighting the warring militias on your own, you are now "hired" as an errand boy for this small-time criminal. You are equipped with a mobile phone, three weapons anda car. Now you can drive around on your own and complete missions in this African country, or you can hunt for the 221 diamonds hidden around in the landscape to earn better weapons. All in all, it's a game that is very light on action, and very heavy on interaction with other people - you even have to make friends on your own.

So, is it a sequel to Far Cry?
Not anymore than "Space Invaders" was a sequel to Tetris. If Far Cry 2 had to be categorised, it would be best carachterised as "Grand Theft Auto meets Africa".... Sierra Alone?

So far, Far Cry 2 has not been worth the money, and it's kind of sad to see a company like Ubisoft rape the brand that Far Cry was.