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Far Cry 2 bugs squashed on 360, 'Hardcore Mode' added

by Ben Gilbert { May 12th 2009 at 11:30AM }

It's been quite a while since Far Cry 2 was released on Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/PC -- 203 days, to be precise, but who's counting? -- and just yesterday Ubisoft released a patch aimed at a game-breaking save problem. And we'd know all about it, as after 25 hours spent terrorizing the African wilderness, we were halted in our tracks by the save file corrupting-bug patched just yesterday.

Our bitterness is somewhat assuaged by the arrival of the promised "Hardcore" multiplayer mode, advertised on the developer's forums back in February. The team has also added the ability to play Rank matches, employing some of the more ... well-developed user maps created over the past half year. Unfortunately, while the (likely malaria infested) save bug has been squashed, the fix isn't retroactive and thus, those who encountered it are out of luck. As for you folks playing FC2 on a PC or PlayStation 3, the patch should be headed your way soon. Not 203 days ago-soon, but soon none the less.

Gallery: Far Cry 2

Jack Thompson takes his fight to Utah radio

by Ben Gilbert { Apr 7th 2009 at 4:31PM }

Fueled by the recent veto of his Utah game bill and the constant thirst for more, Jack Thompson made an appearance on Utah radio show "Utah Eagle Forum" recently to discuss the merits of the bill and, well, to be Jack Thompson. Claiming the Columbine school shooting occurred due to "training on Doom" and saying the recent school shooting in Germany occurred due to the shooter's predilection for Counterstrike and Far Cry 2, Thompson immediately built a case for the audience to be concerned "why this is so terribly serious, to their own safety."

As GamePolitics points out, at no point in the show does anyone make note of Thompson's lack of an actual license to practice law or of his disbarring. He is, in fact, introduced as "an attorney from Florida." An odd omission considering the theme of the show is "Truth in Advertising."

Cry some more: Far Cry 2 'Fortunes Pack' now on Steam

by Randy Nelson { Mar 19th 2009 at 6:40PM }

Fire up your Steam client -- Ubisoft has loosed the Far Cry 2 Fortunes Pack on the PC gaming public. It's just a wee bit late; the DLC was originally supposed to be available by the end of last November. We're willing to forgive (but not forget -- we never forget) when new content includes the likes of a silenced shotgun. Take a moment to let that one settle in.

Priced at $4.99, the pack also introduces a sawed-off shotgun and crossbow (!) to the game's arsenal, along with two new vehicles -- a quad and the "Unimog" (Ubisoft's helpful description: 'a big truck') -- and five multiplayer maps, including the dubiously titled "Lake Smear" and "Jungle Seizure." We're assuming the latter doesn't flash a convulsion-inducing pattern of lights on your screen.

PSA: Steam did not just gift you Far Cry 2

by David Hinkle { Feb 20th 2009 at 10:02AM }

Multiple members of Team Joystiq received a weird email this morning, which stated that Valve, the beloved developers behind PC's great platform, Steam, had gifted us Far Cry 2. With an email address originating from the Steam URL, you could imagine how (almost) convinced we were. Turns out it was all a hoax.

The activation link in the very convincing email (seriously, it looks legit!) goes to a third-party site. We can only imagine the malice awaiting us on the other side of that link, so if you were also the recipient of this email, know that IT'S A TRAP!

Far Cry 2 patch to add 'Hardcore' multiplayer mode, rebalances weapons [update]

by Griffin McElroy { Feb 7th 2009 at 10:00PM }

We didn't know anyone wandered into Far Cry 2's expansive, hojillion-hour-long single-player campaign and somehow managed to make time to check out the game's multiplayer offerings, but apparently there's a sizable community of online FC2 players out there. This group has been calling for more realistic match settings for quite some time -- players can apparently catch more lead than Sonny Corleone and walk away with little more than a scratch and an interesting story.

Their pleas have been answered -- in a recent post on the FC2 community blog, the game's developers announced a patch which will, in addition to rebalancing the weapons in all multiplayer modes, add a more realistic "hardcore setting" to all match types. This mode will boost the damage for all weapons (ensuring speedier demises) and will let players tweak the "spawn times" (but not the "spawn rates", whatever that means). ~~They didn't specify which platforms the patch will be landing on~~ -- hopefully, they'll be affording a hasty death to all three.

Update: The update is coming to "all platforms". Huzzah!

[Via Big Download]

Ubisoft: Prince of Persia had 'slower take-off', Far Cry 2 ships 2.9m

by Ross Miller { Jan 22nd 2009 at 1:45PM }

As part of its fiscal earnings report for the quarter ending December 2008, Ubisoft has revealed the "sell-in sales" (that's to retailers, not consumers) for a handful of key titles. Far Cry 2, launched in late October, shipped 2.9 million, while Raving Rabbids TV Party has tallied up 1.5 million since its mid-November unveiling.

Unfortunately, a certain wisecracking acrobat didn't seem to meet expectations. According to the report, the above figures helped to "offset the impact of a slower take-off" for Prince of Persia and its 2.2 million shipped units for December. Yesterday's NPD stats put PoP's US sales at around 483K. Ubisoft has also confirmed a fiscal 2009 release window for Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and a new Ghost Recon.

LittleBigPlanet shifts over 200K copies in UK

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 7th 2009 at 10:56AM }

Media Molecule's platformer and form-your-own-platter, LittleBigPlanet, has earned itself "Gold" status in the UK, as awarded by the ELSPA group to titles that sell over 200,000 copies. As Edge Online points out, this comes after the game fell out of the all-format top ten just one week after its fourth-place debut. Sales are said to have been buoyed by a strong TV advertising campaign and, presumably, mankind's inalienable love for squishy sack persons.

Other notable recipients of the gold in them thar prestigious hills are Bethesda's post-apocalyptic Fallout 3, Ubisoft's pre-apocalyptic Far Cry 2 and Blizzard's socially apocalyptic Wrath of the Lich King. ELSPA also awarded "Platinum" status -- that's for selling between 300,000 and 600,000 units -- to Fable 2, which can be apocalyptic if you play as a complete bastard.

Joystiq's Top 10 of 2008: Far Cry 2

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 1st 2009 at 12:31PM }

<< BACK (9) COMMENT NEXT (7) >>

Would you believe that Far Cry 2 is a lot like the original Star Wars trilogy? It's true! Before he took to bludgeoning audiences with obnoxious special effects, director George Lucas delivered a coherent, lived-in world that seemed more cobbled together than intentionally designed. The spaceships were old and busted, the bars were filthy and sometimes, the hyperdrives just didn't work.

Far Cry 2's approximated Africa feels like just such a place -- dangerous, dirty and devoid of designer fingerprints. There's no level design here, no dynamic vegetation and no sophisticated radiosity. There's only a blistering sun creeping through the trees, their leaves shivering in fear of the approaching downpour.

And then you shoot stuff!

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Far Cry 2 getting DLC by end of month

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 21st 2008 at 3:25PM }

Not too long after the release of Far Cry 2, Ubisoft has announced a new DLC pack to be made available by the end of November (so, next week, perhaps?). The Fortune's Pack DLC brings new vehicles and weapons to both the single-player and multiplayer aspects of Far Cry 2. It will be available for $9.99.

The Fortune's Pack DLC for Far Cry 2 will include:

Single-Player Mode

Three brand-new weapons:
Silenced shotgun; Sawed-off shotgun; Crossbow
Two new vehicles:
Unimog; Quad

Multiplayer Mode

Four new maps:
Cheap Labor; Last Resort; Lake Smear; Fort Fury
New single-player weapons and vehicles also available in multiplayer

Gallery: Far Cry 2 DLC

Far Cry 2 'Fortune's Pack' adds new vehicles, weapons, maps

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 21st 2008 at 3:00PM }

Ubisoft has revealed a new batch of downloadable content for its incredibly aggressive African safari, Far Cry 2. Due to be released "by the end of November," the Fortune's Pack bolsters the game's collection of weapons, multiplayer maps and, perhaps most importantly, fuel-guzzling transports. It's not quite the turret-equipped elephant we were hoping for, but a quad should do us fine. There's also a "unimog," which is either a big truck thing or an adorable Final Fantasy creature with a tertiary education. Probably the former.

Also added to both the single- and multiplayer components are three new weapons: the sawed-off shotgun; the silenced shotgun; and the crossbow. Be sure to use those on Fortune's four additional multiplayer maps, dubbed Cheap Labor, Last Resort, Lake Smear and Fort Fury.

The pack will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store for $10 -- or two of the diamonds you found in a suspicious briefcase in the middle of nowhere.

Gallery: Far Cry 2: Fortune's Pack

Branching Dialogue: Wild file preservation (and other Far Cry 2 stuff)

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 12th 2008 at 5:45PM }

Presenting Branching Dialogue, a weekly, wordy and often worryingly pedantic discussion of video game genres, trends and err ... stuff I didn't think to put in this introductory line.

Alright, that's it. After starting, deleting, undoing, regretting and then restarting this opening paragraph numerous times, I'm just going to write things as they tumble out of my brain and work their way down to my fingertips. Far Cry 2 is a struggle. Narratively, mechanically, stylistically, everything about the game is a to-and-fro tug-of-war. And for me, Ubisoft's open-world shooter is a struggle to decode, to disassemble in my mind's eye and discover that one piece that makes everything click into place. But I think I've found that critical cog in the machine -- the relatively limited save system.

Why? Well, now that I've saved that paragraph for the last time, I'm just going to have to figure that out as I go along.

Continued →

Far Cry 2 sells a million copies across the globe

by Alan Tsang { Nov 12th 2008 at 3:00PM }

Ubisoft has disclosed its sales numbers for Far Cry 2 -- in less than three weeks, the game has sold an impressive one million copies all across all platforms worldwide. The FPS has received a fair amount of praise from gamers and the press alike, so this doesn't come as a complete surprise. We are also glad to see a title with developers who have voiced support for the PS3 have such success -- Far Cry 2's technical director Dominic Guay has praised the Blu-ray format and its hard drive as ideal for their game. Congratulations Ubisoft!

Far Cry 2 becomes a million copy selling member

by Dustin Burg { Nov 11th 2008 at 4:30PM }

Thanks in part to its much hyped map editor, Far Cry 2 has sold one million copies worldwide across all platform since its release a few weeks back. Congrats!

One million copies is nothing to take lightly, seeing that Ubisoft's Far Cry 2 has been (for the most part) under the gaming radar thanks to this Fall's blockbuster gaming lineup that is a bit crowded. We raise our glass to Ubisoft in hopes of seeing another Far Cry grace the 360 with even more explosive goodness and maybe an even more advanced map editor. Maybe ...

Far Cry 2 sells a million copies worldwide

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 11th 2008 at 2:55PM }

Ubisoft just announced that Far Cry 2 has achieved a million sales worldwide in under three weeks across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Even with the holiday wallet onslaught (and recession) in full effect, it's encouraging to see a quality title that could have slipped through the cracks compete at retail.

The Africa-set Far Cry 2, developed by Ubisoft Montreal, has met with solid reviews from the gaming press and our very own Afrikaner, who greeted the news of the game's achievement with, "YES! Good job, world."

Fable 2 slays Far Cry 2 in UK sales charts

by Ross Miller { Oct 28th 2008 at 10:56AM }

More appropriately, we should probably say, "Fable 2 slayed Far Cry 2, then farted on it, did a heroic pose for the crowd, brought it a shoddy necklace, bought it a house to live in and invited it to unprotected group sex with three random villagers." Peter Molyneux's farcical epic debuted at the top of Chart-Track's UK sales chart, followed by Ubisoft's African-based shooter at number two. Can somebody get Pete a tissue?

Other fun facts about Fable 2's launch:

It was Microsoft's first All Formats #1 since Halo 3.
It outsold the first Fable's launch by a margin of 3.8 to 1
It was the 5th fastest selling Xbox 360 game in the UK, behind Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 3, FIFA 09 and Call of Duty 4.

European's virtual football sensation FIFA09 dropped down to number three, followed by Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Saints Row 2. Full top ten list after the break.

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