Far Cry 2 is one of two spiritual sequels to Far Cry (the other being Crysis, made by Crytek, the original developers). A sequel in name only, it does not follow on from Far Cry's storyline, instead taking the player to a fictional African country wracked by civil war, tasking them with hunting down and killing an arms dealer called "The Jackal" who has been selling weapons to both sides. Things quickly get more complicated, however, and the player is soon doing missions for the temporarily at-peace factions as a hired gun. As well as a substantial list of not-particularly-realistic firearms, Far Cry 2 boasts an open world map covering over fifty square kilometres (split into two 5x5 maps), dynamic fire effects, a continuous day / night cycle, and really annoying checkpoints.
The following weapons appear in the video game Far Cry 2:
Far Cry 2's weapons are split into a four-slot system, corresponding to the four directions of a 360 or PS3 controller's D-pad. The first is the player's melee weapon; in reference to Far Cry, this is a large machete. Two additional skins can be downloaded for it, but the player has no choice as to what goes in this slot; it is always a machete of some kind.
The three other slots accommodate whatever weapons the player has in their respective category; one primary, one secondary, and one special weapon can be carried at a time, as well as two types of grenade. Enemy weapons can be picked up, but weapons in Far Cry 2 have simulated wear and enemy weapons are always in the worst condition possible, so this is usually only a good idea in extreme circumstances. Weapons in poor condition are able to jam, which requires a press of the reload button to clear; some of the explosive-firing weapons instead misfire, with the shot going violently off-target or dropping dangerously close to the player. In the end, if the player hangs on to a weapon for long enough it will fail, in a spectacular and generally deeply ridiculous manner. Jam animations always happen instead of a shot being fired, while failures always happen after the shot fires normally, resulting in some very bizarre occurrences such as a weapon blowing up only after cycling its action completely or misfeeding despite cycling correctly after the preceding shot.
Getting new weapons requires the player to do missions for the Arms Dealer, a shady character who apparently wants to corner the market on driving trucks in circles endlessly; he sends out the player to deal with any rivals attempting to drive their own trucks in circles, and adds weapons to the list of available ones every time one of these bizarre errands is complete; only half can be completed in the Northern map, after which he vanishes without explanation, only reappearing when the Southern map is unlocked.
The player pays him for specific weapons in African Conflict Diamonds found in briefcases around the map or earned through completing missions, paying via a website; it's best not to think how that's supposed to work. The Arms Dealer then makes the bought weapon available in his warehouses, several of which are placed in the two maps; after buying a weapon, an infinite number of brand-new weapons of that type can be acquired from any warehouse. In addition, he offers upgrades to the amount of ammo the player can carry, crates allowing weapons to be put in storage and retrieved at safe houses, and per-weapon upgrades which increase a weapon's accuracy or decrease jam rate; these are explained to be "technical manuals" the player character simply has to buy to gain all knowledge from.
Secondary Weapons
There are nine secondary weapons available, from the expected sidearms through SMGs, explosives and even a grenade launcher.
Star Model-P
The Star Model-P, a Spanish M1911 clone, appears as the "Star .45." It is the first weapon the player character is given, after The Jackal threatens them with it. Since the secondary weapon slot in Far Cry 2 can accommodate remote bombs, a grenade launcher or a submachine gun, it isn't something the player is likely to hang on to, though it's common among mercenaries as a sidearm. Despite the game specifically noting it as a .45, the weapon shares ammo with the two Makarovs and the Desert Eagle, making it the world's first .45 also chambered in .365 and .50 Action Express. Like all the handguns, it has an eight round magazine.
Makarov PM
The Makarov PM is the second regular pistol in the game, and really isn't that different to the Star .45 in practical terms; slightly less powerful and more accurate, but overall still a questionable choice compared to other secondary weapons.
6P9 suppressed pistol
The 6P9 is a modified Makarov PM with an integral two-part suppressor, the rear part of which is fixed around the barrel; unusually for an integrally suppressed weapon, the 6P9 can be safely fired without the front part of the suppressor attached, though the result is much louder. The weapon is called the "Silenced Makarov 6P9" in-game. The only suppressed weapon available in the secondary slot, it can be useful if the player is sure they'll need to be quiet, but is rather situational.
IMI Desert Eagle
Referred to as the "Eagle.50" [with a missing space] on the Arms Dealer's computer, the IMI Desert Eagle is the sidearm of most of the "buddy" characters the player can recruit as allies. The most powerful of the four pistols by a considerable margin, it wears out extremely quickly and fires slowly compared to the others, but is extremely accurate, and since almost every enemy carries a pistol as a sidearm, the player is unlikely to run out of ammo for very long. The game says the Desert Eagle is chambered for .50AE, but it has an eight round magazine like the other pistols; in reality, this is only seen on the .44 Desert Eagle. The Desert Eagle is also used if the player chooses to execute a wounded buddy; some players will find this an emotional, saddening moment, while the rest will wish they were allowed to use the M79 instead.
hey at least it didnt explode??!! thats a mirical
Ingram MAC-10
The MAC-10 is the weaker and less accurate of the two SMGs in the secondary slot; it's the only one available in the Northern map, and useful if the rest of the player's chosen weapons aren't geared for fighting up close; the rapid rate of fire and 30-round magazine go some way to making up for the terrible accuracy and weak power per shot. Enemy snipers and soldiers with rocket launchers tend to carry one of the two SMGs as their back-up weapon.
IMI Uzi
The Uzi is the second of the two secondary SMGs, and other than durability is better than the Ingram in every way; while it fires more slowly, the result is a much more accurate and controllable weapon. Enemy snipers and rocket launcher troops are likely to carry this in the Southern map, though sometimes they will still have an Ingram. It has a 30-round magazine, much like the Ingram.
Number 4 Mark 1 Flaregun
A single-shot signal flare gun can be used by the player and is seen in the hands of some enemies; while they use it when alerted to call for reinforcements, for the player it is only useful as a means of starting fires from a distance. Oddly, it uses the same ammunition as the flamethrower and molotovs, which is depicted as a 20-litre plastic can of fuel. How this transforms into a magnesium flare in a metal casing is unclear. The flaregun doesn't appear to have a jam animation or misfire (or even an idle animation); it's possible that sometimes it misfires and flares fail to ignite, though there may be other causes of this.
IEDs
Far Cry 2's improvised explosive devices are essentially crude remotely triggered bombs made from one of three types of explosive device, a cell phone, duct tape, a battery and some randomly placed transistors. They can be placed on the ground or attached to objects by standing close to them; placing one will automatically switch to the detonator, but more can be placed by pressing the aim button to switch back to the explosives.
M79
The M79 grenade launcher is the most powerful projectile weapon in the secondary slot; a single-shot grenade launcher which fires shots in a long arcing trajectory, it destroys any object in the game in a single hit and has an extremely wide splash radius; a few shots will easily annihilate a checkpoint.
Primary Weapons
The twelve primary weapons are the mainstay of a player's arsenal, as a rule; assault rifles, sniper rifles and shotguns are found in this slot, as well as an inexplicable grenade launcher.
Heckler & Koch MP5SD
Without the Fortunes Pack DLC, the H&K MP5SD, referred to in-game as the "Silent MP-5," is the only suppressed weapon in the primary slot; regardless, it is the only SMG in that slot, and unsurprisingly is therefore extremely weak compared to the assault rifles and sniper rifles it is placed alongside. A rapid rate of fire and a 30-round magazine go some way to making up for its shortcomings.
Ithaca Model 37 long barrel
The Ithaca 37 is one of the cheapest weapons in the game, and one of the first available to buy at the Arms Dealer. It is referred to in the pause menu and on the Arms Dealer's computer as the "Homeland 37," implying it is supposed to be an Ithaca 37 "Homeland Security" version; however, the weapon itself is actually the long-barreled hunting version. While the Ithaca 37's most distinctive feature is the combined loading and ejection port, the Far Cry 2 version lacks this, and instead has a separate side ejection port. It has a six-round internal magazine, half that of the other two shotguns; coupled with the relatively slow pump-action, this leaves it distinctly inferior to the others.
Franchi SPAS-12
The Franchi SPAS-12 is the second of the three shotguns in the normal game's primary slot, and the most balanced between rate of fire and rate of wear. It fires in semi-auto mode only and holds 12 rounds compared to the real weapon's eight.
Daewoo USAS-12
The Daewoo USAS-12 is a South Korean-made combat shotgun capable of semi-automatic and fully-automatic fire, and can first be found in a Northern safe house; however, it cannot be acquired from the Arms Dealer until his missions in the South are unlocked. Despite having the 20-round drum magazine, it only holds 12 rounds. It wears out incredibly quickly, starting to jam after only a handful of reloads, but is useful when a lot of enemies will be encountered at close range as the weapon's firepower is overwhelming. The jam animation is a misfeed; the player character will try to deal with this by fiddling with the cocking handle and thumping the opposite side of the receiver until prompted to actually pull the cocking handle by the player. The failure animation has the entire front end of the weapon fall off.
Heckler & Koch G3KA4
The Heckler & Koch G3KA4, the carbine version of the H&K G3 is the first assault rifle the player will encounter, and is used by many of the soldiers in the Northern map. It's a middle-of-the-road weapon, not really excelling at anything but being dependable enough for the early game and relatively cheap. Like all the assault rifles, it has a 30-round magazine. The jam animation shows the weapon's bolt sticking closed; the player character attempts to operate the cocking lever, then hits the side of the weapon several times for no good reason, then fiddles with the magazine.
AK-47
The AK-47 is a common sight in the game, and features quite prominently on the box art; it is also seen frequently on posters and crates. It does not have a compensator, and therefore is not an AKM. The game also features a number of hidden "gold" AK-47s, which are identical to the normal AK-47s save a gold retexture on metal parts and removed stocks; these are much more durable than regular AKs. It's possible these weapons are a reference to the custom gold AK from the movie Lord of War. The gun model itself is quite off from the real thing; it has the rectangular depression of a milled AK47, but the metal stampings of an AKM.
FN FAL
The FN FAL is called the "FAL Paratrooper" by the Arms Dealer's computer and the in-game menus; this is odd, since it is shown with a fixed stock, not the folding stock of the Paratrooper variant. It can be found in the hands of some soldiers in the North, but doesn't actually become available to buy until the Southern map is unlocked. A reliable and accurate rifle, it is a solid choice for general use.
"Armalite AR-16"
This is an essentially fictional AR-15 based rifle labelled as an AR-16 to maintain a common calibre with the other assault rifles, ignoring that one of them already isn't chambered for the same cartridge as the other two. The real AR-16 never got out of the prototype phase, being the 7.62mm forerunner of the AR-18 rifle, and has very little in common with the weapon seen in game. The AR-16 in Far Cry 2 has single shot and burst fire modes, with a short tap of the trigger firing a single shot while a longer press fires a three-round burst. The weapon has a flat-top receiver with a mounted reflex scope; this has a green dot as a reticle. Ahead of this is an FN FAL-style carrying handle.
Springfield M1903A4
The Springfield M1903A4 is the first sniper rifle available to the player, and often seen in the hands of enemy snipers. It incorrectly reloads with a stripper clip inserted into a hole in front of the trigger guard instead of having the user load rounds one by one into the breech as the real M1903A4 requires, and has a five-round internal magazine. The scope has a duplex crosshair reticle; the player is able to keep the rifle scoped after firing, but can't operate the bolt like this. The jam animation is the bolt sticking; like all jam animations, this triggers before the weapon fires, which makes precious little sense since the preceding shot will have shown the bolt being successfully operated. The failure animation has the gun blow up, emitting a large cloud of thick grey-white smoke; it's then discarded.
SVD Dragunov
The SVD Dragunov is the first semi-automatic sniper rifle available to the player, and one of the last set of weapons unlocked through doing the Arms Dealer's missions in the North. The SVD is one of the most useful primary weapons, and is better than the Springfield in most regards. The SVD reloads and fires more quickly and has a ten-round magazine to the Springfield's five, while the difference in damage is negligible; it is less reliable, but not nearly as much so as the AS50. The player character holds it rather oddly, and it features a highly inaccurate representation of the PSO-1 scope reticle. The model in Far Cry 2 appears to be a hybrid of the SVD and the FPK / PSL Sniper Rifle, sharing the X-shaped stamping on the magazine the latter rifle has, and having similar twin holes halfway up the side of the forend. This SVD also, for no good reason, has a three-prong open-front flash suppressor like an early M16.
Accuracy International AS-50
The Accuracy International AS50 is a British-made anti-material rifle chambered for .50 BMG, and has a five-round magazine like the Springfield; it is a semi-auto, with the rate of fire falling about halfway between that of the Springfield and SVD. It is the most powerful sniper rifle in the game and the least durable, and is equipped with an illuminated mil-dot scope with a stadiametric rangefinder. This distorts slightly immediately after firing. The failure animation shows the barrel defying physics in order to make one final lunge at the operator's skull for not knowing how to maintain a firearm.
MGL-140
Perhaps the strangest weapon in the primary slot, this version of the Milkor MGL is equipped with a scope with a precision plex reticle. It only holds 4 rounds in the cylinder compared to the real MGL's six. It is a devastating weapon in certain situations, but the MGL isn't something the player can use as a mainstay of their weapon setup due to the low ammo limit, frequent reloads and unsuitability for short-ranged combat. It does, however, make Far Cry 2 probably the only game in history where the player has three weapon slots and they can all be grenade launchers. The jam animation has the cylinder emit a metallic shriek and fail to rotate properly; the player character flips the weapon upside-down and tries to force it. The failure animation has the weapon, um, split completely in half.
Special Weapons
The seven special weapons are for the most part heavy weapons; rocket launchers, machine guns and so on, with the sole exception being a CO2-powered dart gun.
Remington M40
The "Tranquilizer Rifle" is a version of the Remington 700, most closely resembling an M40. This particular Remington is converted to a CO2-powered single shot dart gun and fitted with a sight which appears to be based on the Bushnell-manufactured scopes used on Dan-Inject JM Standard tranquilizer guns; it's the only sniper weapon in the special / heavy weapon slot. It can be surmised that the tranquilizer is not something intended for use on humans; a hit anywhere will kill the target instantly, and also kick up a spray of blood as with the normal rifles; odd behaviour for a dartgun.
PKM
The PK machine gun is the first of the game's two machine guns, and the only one available to buy in the North; the model in Far Cry 2 has the newer flash hider. It feeds from the left and has an ejection port on the right; this is a reversal of the normal configuration of the weapon, which in real life actually does eject spent casings to the left. As in a lot of video games, the recoil of the PKM is exaggerated when standing, to the point the weapon is uncontrollable; with both machine guns, without the accuracy upgrade the muzzle climb is so extreme the player can end up firing straight up if they don't try to fight it. In reality, the PKM's slow rate of fire (roughly 600 RPM) allows for controlled full auto shooting even when firing from the shoulder. Like the SAW, the PKM uses a 100-round belt.
FN M249 SAW
The M249 SAW is seen in both man portable and emplaced versions. While handheld the M249 will never overheat no matter how long it's fired for, but has incredible muzzle climb and limited ammunition. In this configuration it uses a 100-round belt box which appears to be made of metal. The jam animation shows the top cover popping open; rather than open it all the way to find out why, the player character just tries to slam it closed. The failure animation has the hinge fail and the whole top cover break off.
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is the first rocket launcher the player can access, available from the Arms Dealer after his missions in the North are completed. In real life the rocket goes a lot faster than it does in the game, usually at around 295 metres per second, and does not have a smoke trail. It also self-destructs at maximum range; the Far Cry 2 version instead has the motor cut out and the rocket fall in a ballistic arc, allowing it to be used like a mortar. The "jam" animation in this case is a misfire where the rocket's booster charge ignites but the motor doesn't correctly, leaving the rocket spinning in circles on the ground a couple of yards right in front of the player. Needless to say, when it does this the self-destruct works just fine.
FFV Carl Gustav
The Carl Gustav recoilless rifle is a Swedish-made 84mm launcher produced by Saab-Bofors; in real life it is an unguided recoilless grenade launcher with some rocket-boosted rounds available. In Far Cry 2 it is depicted as a laser-guided missile launcher with projectiles so manoeuvrable they can turn right around in mid air if the sight is pointed at the user's feet and return to hit him, and is equipped with a scope with a circle reticle. The missile can also be manually detonated if the player presses fire again while it is in flight; normally, this will just start the empty launcher's reload animation, but if a missile is in the air it will detonate as the animation starts. The "jam" animation is a misfire similar to that of the RPG-7; the guidance seems to fail just after launch; the smoke trail turns black, and the missile veers sharply off-course, detonating on impact. The failure animation has the hinged rear venturi tube break off, after which the player character throws the weapon away.
Norinco Type 63
The Norinco Type 63 60mm light mortar is one of the harder weapons in the game to use effectively, but one of the most powerful. By default it fires a marker round that produces harmless smoke, but pressing the reload button switches to the high explosive rounds; this is rather poorly documented, and many players using the mortar for the first time have trouble figuring out why it doesn't do anything. The mortar can also cause an extremely bizarre glitch if the player is in a boat which is hit by a shot from one; the impact will catapult the boat miles into the air, where it will become permanently stuck, as will the player.
LPO-50 Flamethrower
The LPO-50 flamethrower is a Russian-made weapon which featured prominently in Far Cry 2's publicity due to focus on the game's dynamic fire effects. While promotional images show it almost correctly as tube resembling a rifle without a magazine hooked up to a backpack containing three fuel tanks, the in-game model appears to be a jury-rigged version built to operate with no backpack. It instead has a single fuel tank and what appears to be a pressure tank near the muzzle, and a fuel gauge halfway along the weapon. The weapon has no reload animation, being loaded automatically with all the fuel the player is carrying, and uses the fuel gauge for an ammo counter. The misfire animation is a pressure leak at the base of the fuel gauge, requiring the nut there to be tightened to remedy it. The failure animation shows the pressure and fuel tanks breaking away from the frame, after which the weapon is discarded.
Thrown Weapons
Both of these weapons are available to the player immediately, and are both carried at the same time with a button used to switch between them.
M67 hand grenade
The only thrown explosive weapon, these are used by enemies and the player character and are US-made M67 hand grenades. The throw animation omits a rather important stage of throwing a hand grenade.
Molotov cocktail
An improvised incendiary made from a bottle filled with flammable liquid with a lit rag inserted into it, these are used only by the player character, and are pretty much exclusively for starting fires; the radius of effect of a molotov simply hitting solid ground is tiny.
Mounted Weapons
M249 SAW
The SAW behaves rather differently when mounted; it has no muzzle climb and cannot fail or jam, and has infinite ammunition, as do both the other mounted weapons. The mounted SAW is fitted with spade grips, presumably to explain why the player isn't able to pick it up and carry it away. It is secured to whatever mounting it is using by the bipod attachment point, but is always horizontal, which makes it appear that the rear of the gun is levitating. As with all the game's crew-served weapons, long bursts will cause the weapon to overheat, though only when it is mounted. Rather than using a heat indicator, during protracted firing smoke will escape from the SAW; the longer it is fired without pausing, the darker the smoke that comes out of the weapon will be. If it is allowed to overheat, flames will briefly be visible, followed by a cooldown period.
Browning M2HB
The Browning M2 is seen both as an emplaced weapon and mounted on vehicles. It has a significantly lower rate of fire than its real life counterpart, but is incredibly damaging, easily able to kill any enemy and deal lethal damage to an unwary player with a handful of shots. The M2 overheats much more readily than the SAW, but still not as rapidly as the Mk. 19. The final buddy mission in the North will cause all trucks at safe houses to spawn with M2s instead of the usual SAWs, but they are not seen on enemy vehicles until the Southern map.
Mk. 19
The Mk 19 grenade launcher is the most powerful of the three mounted weapons, though it overheats quickly, and is only encountered in the Southern map, where it can be found on tripods and monopods near enemy strongholds and on boats and trucks. The grenades are devastating, easily able to kill the player character; this can result in some frustrating deaths if the player is taken by surprise.
"Fortunes Pack" weapons
These three weapons are exclusive to the "Fortunes Pack" DLC that was released shortly after the game. If this is purchased, a large crate is placed in the centre of the arms dealer's warehouse containing the three weapons. They do not have to be bought.
Sawed-Off Double Barreled Shotgun
An old-fashioned rabbit-ear 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun with decorative engraving, this is used in the secondary slot. It fires both barrels with a single trigger pull, and is effective at close quarters but not anywhere else; like the SMGs, it's a good choice if the rest of a player's weapon setup is long-ranged or explosive. The failure animation is essentially lifted from the M79; in the jam animation, the shells somehow end up shoved right inside the barrels, leaving the player character struggling to free them. Also, it is worth noting that even though the shotgun fires two shots, the game only subtracts one shell from a player's ammo reserves
Suppressed Shotgun
Most closely resembling a Mossberg 500, this is referred to in promotional materials as the "Silenced Shotgun." It is the fourth shotgun in the primary weapon slot, and a second suppressed weapon for that slot. It is equipped with a pistol grip, (empty) spare shell holder on the right hand side, and a suppressor with the weapon's sight on top of it. Like the Ithaca, it is pump-action and has a six-round tube magazine; it also recycles the Ithaca's jam animation, including pumping the forend an extra time at the start of the jam animation just so it can actually happen. This weapon may be a homage to the suppressed shotgun used in the movie No Country for Old Men.
Crossbow
A low-durability compound crossbow with wood furniture is the special weapon for the Fortunes Pack. The Crossbow is equipped with the same scope as the grenade launcher and AR-16, this time with a crosshair reticle, and uses exploding arrows; as with the RPG-7's rockets, these can deflect off surfaces, though attaching the label "realistic" to this behaviour might be a little dishonest.
Non-usable
IMI Micro Uzi
While the Micro Uzi isn't usable in the game itself, it appears on the cover of magazines seen in the game world.
M16
Another magazine which appears to be in Japanese shows a number of illustrations of M16-series rifles, specifically captioning one as an M16A3. Some posters and crates also depict M16-series weapons, though without identifying them.
Yakushev-Borzov Yak-B
In the Southern map, the wreckage of a crashed Hind-D gunship can be found in the area "Crash Site" and is part of one optional mission; only the nose, one wing and the tail remain, and while the barrels are missing, the mounting of the Hind's Yakushev-Borzov 12.7mm gatling gun is still present and intact.
Trivia note: fake widescreen
Like many games, Far Cry 2 defaults to a fake widescreen mode which cuts the top and bottom off a 4:3 aspect ratio image rather than actually increasing the field of view horizontally. This has been fixed in the PC version, which has a selectable "widescreen" option; this is because players with multiple monitors were dealing with an image so vertically compressed they couldn't see anything. However, in the console versions it has never been fixed. All screenshots in this article were taken in "fake" widescreen mode as it is the most common, but a demonstration of the difference is below.