Far Cry 2 - Guide on weapons: A general outlook.

Although branded as the official sequel for ‘Far Cry’, ‘Far Cry 2’ doesn’t offer many similarities to the original game; there are many advancements particularly in the use of weapons, the wide territory and detail covered by the maps. Add weather effects coupled by a volatile sky and numerous other features, and it all makes for a different gaming experience in comparison to the original, though still not so greatly distanced as to render it unrecognizable.

In this guide we will focus on the most important aspect of the game, or the wide variety of weapons available. Weapons are divided into categories: you will have access to primary and secondary weapons, special-type weapons, hand-tossed explosives (such as grenades) and equipment (such as ammo) which will be crucial in the course of your campaign. Although there are a myriad of rifles, pistols and specials available in the game, you will only ever have 3 slots available of each category of weapon (i.e. primary, secondary and special). Hence, it is necessary to have a plan before undertaking a mission, as the difficulty of the mission will demand for particular weapon-types.

An important feature of the game is the fact that as you use your weapons, they will wear-out and deteriorate without warning. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to maintain your weapon in any way, which created a lengthy discussion between fans; it initially made sense to only implement ‘weapon-degradation’ if maintenance could be carried-out, which would respectively add further realism to a first-person shooter. However, the only solution is simply to buy new weapons in the various storage sites or available shops throughout the game. It is helpful to make sure that your arsenal is new, rather than obtained from either dead enemies or dead buddies. Remember that your enemies won’t be affected by bad weapons, so in case your gun jams you won’t have much luck of the same happening to whoever is out to kill you.

Finally, upgrades also play an important part throughout your campaign, as they allow the potential of your weapon to be expanded (depending on what you choose). Firstly you will need to unlock weapons in order for them to be available, which you can do by running missions for some of the weapon shop's owners. Once you have these weapons available (shown in the shop’s computer) you can purchase various upgrades by way of diamonds (the currency of the game). These include upgrades such as the ‘bandolier’ which will increase the number of rounds a weapon holds, or ‘repair manuals’ which will slow down the degradation of your weapon.

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