As well as slowing down your approach and carefully building and maintaining a balanced weapon loadout, there are a few other key strategies you can employ to make Far Cry 2 a helluva lot more fun.
For starters, you should always...
Take the High Ground
a roof of a garage in the Private Property area.
This is something the game tries to teach you right from the get-go in the training mission. For me it didn't really start clicking until I had made a sniper rifle as a mainstay in my weapon loadout. Then it was a matter of realizing the best way to put a sniper rifle to good use was to always gain a commanding view of the enemy position which is obviously any high ground near said enemy position.
So once you've learned to slow down your approach and habitually get close enough to see your enemies without putting them on alert, you can scout around for that perfect high ground spot from which to launch your assault (presumably with a long range weapon).
When you are constantly forcing the enemy to react to you and your maneuvers, it's a lot more fun than being constantly taken by surprise by flanking attacks and rushing enemy patrols.
But to be able to successfully recon enemy positions, you should develop an intimate knowledge of the...
Enemy Alert Levels
Enemies in Far Cry 2 basically have three distinct modes of activity.
These are:
Idle Mode
In this mode, the enemy is not aware of your presence in the area. He walks leisurely about, smokes, drinks from a canteen, sits down, etc. It is preferable to keep the enemy in idle mode until you have thoroughly reconned his position and are ready to launch an attack from a good high ground position that —if possible— provides at least some cover.
Alert Mode
In alert mode, the enemy is aware of your presence in the area but does not necessarily know where you are. In this mode, the enemy is usually either taking cover or skittering about looking for cover. He may also spread out in preparation for a flanking attack.
It is this mode that makes Far Cry 2 most frustrating for new players because what will happen time and again is the newbie will put the enemy in alert mode without even realizing it. Then as the newb approaches the enemy position, it quite often appears as if there are no enemies about at all when really they're all just hunkered down behind cover waiting for him to blunder in. And blunder in he often does which immediately recreates that repetitive situation of suddenly coming under attack from all sides and being forced to run and gun his way through with no time to strategize.
This is the situation you want to avoid as much as possible. The less control you have in this game, the less fun you will have. It's that simple.
Be well advised that once one enemy is put in alert mode, all enemies at that same position/area/guard post are also automatically put in alert mode. So once your cover is blown, that's it. It's game on. That's why it's best to put the enemy on alert on your own terms, i.e., when you are fully ready to deal with him.
Combat Mode
In this mode, the enemy knows exactly where you are and is hell bent on terminating your existence. The enemy will quickly and effectively flank your position basically making your life in Far Cry 2 a living hell.
If you are not in command of the situation when the enemy is obviously in combat mode, RETREAT and/or TAKE COVER in order to buy time enough to plan your attack. Otherwise, you're going to get into a repetitive situation where you're just simply running around trying to hunt down each enemy soldier individually while taking fire from all sides. And as you may well be aware, THIS IS NOT FUN.
And that's why it's important to consider...
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