In spite of being severely disappointed the first time around, I am replaying Far Cry 2. Once again, I am struck by the fact that the player character (no matter which of the several possible characters you choose) is apparently the Antichrist, an individual of such obvious and transparent evil that men will drive, or even run, hundreds of yards out of their way just to take a shot at you.

*nods*
that allways irked me about that game . .

Huh? Explain, I am intrigued.

Actually, I've changed my mind. It's not that the player character is so evil that he provokes otherwise normal people to try to kill him just for existing, it's that the war-torn country in which the game is set is inhabited by raging psychopaths with nothing better to do than start firefights with random strangers. It certainly explains why the country is war-torn (albeit informedly so, since you never see NPCs fighting each other).

It actually takes place in the hillbilly parts of the USA, where you're a foreigner try to steal their jobs.

I would laugh at that, but I live in one of the hillbilly parts of the USA and I know how true it is.

My idea breaks down with the conflict diamonds as currency, however...

I started with a lot of disappointment: every NPC attacking you, respawning NPCs at checkpoints and so on, but finally I quite enjoyed the game. The gameplay is quite fun and you finally get used to the game's problems.

And shooting people on sight is something you quickly start doing yourself, so I guess it's just that the NPC are used to it as well.

Sure it could have been much better, but it's still fun to play.

Just picked up the game for $10 and waiting for it to show up. I did chuckle when I watched some playthrough videos on Youtube and the militia leaders mention they like using you as a deniable asset. Makes me want to run a Shadowrun game based in Africa.

What makes you think this isn't?

Hmm, i may have to reinstall this game, now that i have more hardware . .

Heh, I beat the game a long time ago (I got it in some bundle deal on Steam) and I gotta say that my favorites, the sniper rifles, are pretty fun to use, along with my other favorites, the remote detonation packs. Especially when it came to the "blow up a convoy" missions: grab a Landy, park it sideways in the middle of the road, measure car length and a half along the road, dump two IEDs there and hide in the bushes. When the convoy arrives, KAYBOOM!