The Tin Man of Far Cry 2: Part 7

To conclude this series on my favorite pieces about Far Cry 2, I have chosen a handful of pieces that, for one reason or another, I felt did not ‘fit’ in the Top 10. I chose to keep there pieces separate from the Top 10 for a few different reasons.

For example, a couple of the pieces here are only available in print or for purchase as e-book, and it seemed pointless to blog about them without being able to link directly. I’ve included those here. Included also are a few pieces that were too contemporary to the game - something I largely tried to avoid in the Top 10. Also included is a YouTube clip that is more entertainment than analysis, and a piece of the Far Cry 2 discourse that was so unique that it simply didn’t belong with the rest.

Far Cry 2 and the Dirty Mirror - an essay in Shooter
Disclaimer: I was the author of the forward to this collection of essays edited by Reid McCarter and Patrick Lindsey.
While overall Lindsey’s analysis of Far Cry 2 was fairly standard, and didn’t stray too far from the critical consensus, it was of note that he leaned into the then-emerging discussion of the self-aware shooter. Lindsey discusses Far Cry 2 as an example of a game that uses it mechanics and dynamics, rather than its authored story or cinematics to invite the player to question their actions and their application of violence to achieve their goals. While I think Lindsey’s piece is worth reading on its own, I especially wanted to include it in this list because many of the other essays in the book are also worth reading. If you’re reading these blog posts, and you’re interested in the critical discussion of games in general, Shooter is worth reading.

Extra Lives by Tom Bissell (Chapter 8)
Like Shooter, Bissell’s book Extra Lives is not exclusively about Far Cry 2. Bissell discusses numerous games in the book, and each chapter is devoted largely to a different game. Bissell’s analysis is more personal and intimate that most other pieces written about the game, and the book as a whole reads almost as a travelogue of Bissell’s journey through the medium and his developing understanding of how games achieve their creative aims and (as the subtitle suggests) ‘why video games matter’. Bissell is an accomplished author coming from outside the industry and outside the critical circles of the speciality press, so his take is refreshing (though since the book, Bissell has gone on to write for over a dozen different games). Whether you want to read more about Far Cry 2 or not, I highly recommend Extra Lives.

Three pieces written contemporaneously with the game
One of my criteria in selecting pieces of the Top 10 was to steer clear of pieces written within the six months or so around when the game released. I made this decision for several reasons, but principally, I was more interested in focusing on criticism and analysis more than reviews. This was a tough razor to apply, and ultimately I did end up including a few pieces that were written close to the game’s release. Here are three more that I came across and among the last to get shuffled out of the Top 10.

Seeing Africa Down the Barrel of a Gun by Iroquois Pliskin
Heart of Dimness: Half-baked Nihilism in Far Cry 2 by Anthony Burch
Far Cry 2: The Heart of Darkness Game by L.B. Jeffries

Nick tries to Ambush Far Cry 2 while Chris Remo plays music
The Idle Thumbs gang were big supporters of the game, and I’ve always enjoyed reading their stuff, listening to their podcasts, and talking to them about the game. This two minutes of footage is pure Far Cry 2 gold; one tiny mistake and everything goes to shit. Also, while I absolutely love the games soundtrack by composer Marc Canham, I can only dream of one day playing the game with Chris Remo riding shotgun and providing a real time score.

Permadeath - by Ben Abraham
Finally, it should come as no surprise that Abraham’s permadeath experiment is on this list. Not only was Ben part of the early critical discussion surrounding the game, but his record of his permadeath playthrough inspired many others to play the game the same way. In hindsight, the PDF of his experience is a complete oddity, and utterly unique in video game criticism; it’s 400 pages of screenshots and descriptions of Abraham’s playthrough, culminating in his death (and then his choice to carry on anyway). This is Twitch before Twitch, and had Abraham undertaken this experiment 3 years later, it might have been seen by millions. I read through it again recently and was struck also by the introduction I had written for it at Abraham’s request. It’s interesting for me to re-read those words in consideration of my own mental state when I wrote them. Six months later, I would leave Ubisoft to walk ‘back into the terrible unknown’. Life imitates art, I guess.

Conclusion
So that concludes my celebration of some of the best writing about Far Cry 2. Now that I've done 10 year posts for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and for Far Cry 2, I am out of games to write 10 year posts about. I badly wish I could be three years away from putting up a ten year retrospective on some game I made at LucasArts or Valve or Amazon - but the waves just didn't break that way.

That said, I'm working as hard as I can to get you all something you can write about for the next ten years. Thanks so much for all of your support and passion and engagement. Without all of you playing, talking and writing about this game, I very likely would not be here today working on the next one.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Comments

[KenTWOu]

I can't remember that moment when I realized that you simultaneously was creative director, lead level designer and script writer of Chaos Theory. It was long after Far Cry 2 release. Since then you became one of the devs I follow, I mean read interviews, watch GDC talks, wait for your next project, even check this blog. By the way, this top 10 list was really awesome.

But I do remember the moment when I decided to play Far Cry 2. I was tired of waiting when you will release a new game. That’s why when you left Valve, I played Far Cry 2 for the first time, and it blew me away. It was like another forgotten Looking Glass gem, an immersive sim, but open world one, a rare beast, which was overlooked by me shortly after release, because of several stupidly negative reviews.

Since you returned to Ubisoft, I can’t wait for the day when you (or someone from your team) will walk on stage of another major gaming event and announce your next project. Every E3 I hope to see not the next Splinter Cell, but the next Clint Hocking’s game at the end of Ubisoft conference, but that just doesn't happen.

So all I’d have to do is to keep finding bits and pieces of that specific Far Cry 2 feel in other games like Metro, MGSV, Watch Dogs, RDR2 or even the last Zelda, hoping that decisions all these devs made were inspired by Far Cry 2 tight game design.

Concluding on that positive note, I wish you and your team best of luck, hope you, guys, will continue Far Cry 2 lineage in one way or another, even if you won’t, hope you’ll set the bar very high and achieve everything you wanted.

[Kfix]

Thank you for this very interesting collection, and for wrestling with the obviously mixed feelings on this anniversary. And thank you for the games!