When the original Far Cry debuted in 2004, it raised the bar for first-person shooters (FPS) in regards to realistic graphics, interactive environments and artificial intelligence. With the upcoming sequel, Far Cry 2, Ubisoft handed the project to its in-house group, Ubisoft Montreal. The development team took all the aspects that made the first game great and built a brand-new game engine from the ground up. While the original Far Cry pushed hardware to its limits, the sequel looks like it will rocket gaming through the stratosphere.

Set in Africa's savannah, the sequel has no connection to the first game. Here, two warlords fight an ongoing battle, and you take on the role of a mercenary hired to kill an arms dealer who goes by the name of "The Jackal," a scumbag that supplies goods to both sides to ensure the conflict keeps his profits flowing. This is the only immutable goal in the game. Anything that comes between starting up the game and completing that objective is completely up to the player.

In keeping with the Far Cry tradition, the game features an open world environment. You can explore practically every nook and cranny of the 50sq/km landscape without ever experiencing a load screen,since everything streams from the hard drive. Furthermore, everything in the game is completely dynamic, and that's not just a buzz-word either. Almost everything is reliant on changes in environmental conditions. Unpredictable weather changes how the game plays, as strong winds blow flames around, causing grass and foliage to catch fire. The fire spreads in the direction the wind blows, as will its plumes of smoke. Jeeps leave tracks in the grass, leaves can be shot with pixel precision, and anything that's flammable will light when it comes in contact with flames.

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