Closing off my series of tutorials on how to have fun playing Far Cry 2, let's discuss some stealth tactics you can use to deal with enemy guard posts and enemy patrols.
First of all, you should always consider simply reducing the number of times you actually have to deal with the enemy.
A good way to do this is to make a habit of...
Driving Off Road to Avoid Guard Posts
If you're low on ammo or just merely not in the mood for a shoot-em-up, you might want to consider driving and/or hiking off road to travel around guard posts undetected. In fact, if there's no tactical reason to deal with a particular guard post, DON'T.
And what I mean by tactical reason is, for example, you know you're going to be passing back past the guard post less than 10 minutes later before it respawns (at which point take down the guard post so you can have a free pass on the way back). Or there are some diamonds or ammo/explosives/meds to pick up there. In the case of the latter, you'll have to learn that from experience. Actually Far Cry 2 is a lot more fun the second time through once you get to know the lay of the land.
And yes it takes longer to sneak around guard posts but, hey, what's your hurry? Why are you so obsessed with driving directly from point A to point B as quickly as possible? Remember the number one rule we learned way back in the beginning of this tutorial on having fun playing Far Cry 2? Yup. That's right. SLOW THE F#@K DOWN. Take your time. Observe. Know your enemy. Get him before he gets you. Learn HOW to get him before he gets you. And, as in this case, learn how to avoid contact when it's wholly unnecessary.
Speaking of which, if you really want to have some fun playing Far Cry 2, an advanced strategy that I employ all the time is to...
Recon and Map Enemy Patrols
and greatly to your advantage
This takes some time but it's a total riot. The plain fact of the matter is, all the enemy patrols in Far Cry 2 follow specific routes. Once you get to know all these routes, you can ambush them instead of them ambushing you. All you have to do is whenever you see an enemy patrol that hasn't spotted you yet, take cover and watch it from a distance using your sniper scope or your monocular. Then sneak along behind it (while staying hidden at a safe distance) and learn its entire route. Once you know the entire route of that patrol, you literally own that patrol whenever you're in the vicinity and it will never take you by surprise again.
As I mentioned in my Far Cry 2 review, this game is an acquired taste. Once you slow down, build a balanced weapon loadout, learn about enemy movements and get your stealth on, this game can totally rock.
And that's it, my friends.
Those are a few quick tips on how to have fun playing Far Cry 2.
Wanna see Major Slack in action? Check my Far Cry 2 Walkthrough vids!
Happy gaming!
Thank you for posting this. I just started the game and am so put off by the back and forth driving, I googled to find out if that's all this game had for every mission. It does, which is annoying, but I guess if I walk everywhere, or drive off road, it may be less of an annoyance. Nice video playthrough, too.
Cheers mate. I just recently got this and it is by far one of the best games. I have read the comments and people have been right. I t does get boring. But if you take the time it is a bloody good game.
Thanks again.
When I first played Far Cry 2 three years ago, I was one of the ones yelling "THIS GAME SUCKS". But after reading your review and using the strategies you suggest, I have changed my thinking. Far Cry 2 is really fun and engaging. Keep up the good work, Slack.
My favorite load out is homeland47/m1903
D eagle/ silenced makarov. Rpg And of course
The machete. Homeland is by far the best shogun in my point of view. Cuz it has the most range best reliability
Most damage plus all shotguns holds up to 48 shells why
Not pick the one that has the most fire power. And you unlock it by default. It only cost 4 diamond ppl.
that was a really good article,slack.
i must say,once i learnd your strategie on playing this game it got so good that i could not stop playing it.
you rock,major!
I think you are on the money regarding the different qualities offered by Far Cry 2 gameplay. This IS one of the best. I must thank you for your nice - and fun - walkthroughs. Now I'm playng the game again and i think it is even better now, when I apply not such naive gameplay but really try to optimize it. Using good tactics, I'm able to finish mission more efficiently and with less casualties. Even tough it is tempting to kill everything you see, it is not efficient. You loose ammo, and create wear and tear on your guns. A combination of dart rifler, regular sniper rifle and one of the handguns, you can be very efficient yet powerful.
Thanks for the tip regarding scouting patrols! Very nice!
Another tip from me is the old Bladerunner game. Not so good graphics by todays standard, but the AI is super! The game also have several different endings depending on your actions.
Another good "plan your attack" -game is Rainbow six - Rouge Spear. If you plan well you can do many missions with just the silenced pistol and the usual grenades. Keep in mind that the AI was not so well developed at that time (easy to trick bandits to walk into traps) it definitely can yield some really good moments.
Not to forget fallout.
Another extremely satisfying way to do killing missions, is to find a spot, a long way from your target, and then take them out with a sniper.. You don't even have to kill all the bad guys - just the one who's your target..
The only problem I have with this guide is that it is way too specific. He tells us exactly what weapons to buy and exactly how our loadout should be. It is a good loadout, but I find something like Shotgun, Mortar, Flare Gun to be more fun to mess with or Assault Rifle, IED, Flamethrower to be pretty interesting. I read somewhere that the Flare Gun calls enemy reinforcements if you fire it while hidden so there is suddenly a shootout between APR and UFLL as long as they don't see you.
Dude, you f@#$'INZ rock man love the guide so use to close combat on games now im going stealthy unless it's COD then im one bad ass machine
I have a couple strategies involving vehicles and IEDs:
1. You can strap one to your vehicle, drive full speed towards an enemy camp then jump out just before, so that it coasts into the middle of the camp, then blow it up!
2. This is for if you dont mind some walking, and you dont feel like clearing an enemy check point. Strap an IED to your vehicle, drive straight through an enemy camp and keep going. When your out of range of the camp, jump out of your vehicle and run and hide. The enemy will soon drive up to your vehicle, and get out and look for you. When they stop, blow up your car and your free of enemy presence!
I bought this game at the release, played it for a couple hours and I got really frustated, like really pissed off of how this game sucked and i actualy thought it was the worst fps ive played. 1 year later I find this amazing website and I think majorslack is right, i mean this game is so good i think its the best fps ever made. the concept of this game is a bit ahead of its time and not everyone understood how awesome this game really is. We owe you so much Slack ! Thanks Majorslack! Thanks a lot. (bad english; im french canadian sorry guys)
my tactic is MG/sniper rifle & flare gun
MG for close range or when i run out of sniper amunition
sniper r. for taking out guards at long distance
& flare gun for setting grass up in fire from long distance (doesn't work in the jungle)
as part of main tactic i'd avise to change quickly your position after every shot and take out the enmy when they flank your last position - works well with places with more then 3 or four guards .
i don't use much of rgp launcher.
i'd wish in the game was more danger to come across from the nature eg wild animals when you wander on foot around
- thanks for the big job in intruducing the game, i like
the quick death in the game instead of taking on 100's of bullets on and keep going type of games
Absolutely amazing!
seen many of your videos and read this guide and it's completely changed by view of the game, at first I got so annoyed before even completing the first mission I didn't have a clue what to do and kept getting killed.
Your guide has made me fall in love with the game.
Great work, thanks very much!
Luke
When I first started playing Far Cry 2 I got insanly frustrated with all of the enemys surprising me and, evidently giving me a good spanking, I stopped playing. When I started to watch ur walkthroughs thpugh everything changed. Thanks Slack,
Yo man thnx im already doing everything you said (except ambushing patrols). I rather race with to see if they can keep up and sometimes find even more patrols to chase with then it's totally fun!
Why not sneaking to an enemy camp, alert them, and start using cover and only your machete to kill? Very very fun. At max difficulty in scrap salvage I kill all of them using only my machete and well cover/ambush.
I just got this game. I have played CoD3, CoD WoW, MW1 and 2, Bioshock, Resistance 1 and 2, Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed and Uncharted 1 and 2. To me, this is the best game by far. I just enjoy so much hiking around, although driving feels great I feel I miss to much, so I just walk around all the time and take great pleasure in planning my missions. Thnxs for your guide it's really great!
very gud advice and i hav learnt alot about far cry 2. not just by watching all ur walkthough guides but how to play the fun way. how get the best from this wicked game
Nice guide, gonna do those dealer missions now. Been rolling around with weapons jamming.....no more Thanks
Your guide rocks man. First time I tried to play Far Cry 2 it ended after 15min, I got bored. But now when I saw your videos on youtube and read your "How to Have Fun Playing Far Cry 2" tutorial, now this game rocks ;-) Thanks to you, Major Slack ;-)
I was thinking about picking up this game as my first real FPS and all your awesome stuff will surely come in handy.
Thanks for your great work!
awesome. i'm going to give this game another go. i did everything you said NOT to do, haha. it's good to see someone enjoy a game like you do. thank you for sharing!
Fantastic stuff Major. About time someone seen the awesomeness of this game. Have been playing for well over a year now, and just started my third walkthrough. ATMOSPHERE is the key word for this game. Once I load it up (xbox 360) and get into a vehicle, just the sounds of the jungle sends tingles up my spine cause I never know whats gonna happen next. Again, Cheers mate.
Awesome guide's Major :)