Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2

Developers
	Ubisoft Montreal
Publishers
	Ubisoft
Russia	Buka Entertainment
Engines
	Dunia
Release dates
Windows	October 21, 2008
Reception
Metacritic	85
IGDB	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Open world, Shooter
Vehicles	Automobile, Motorcycle, Truck, Naval/watercraft
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Africa, Contemporary
Series	Far Cry

Far Cry
Far Cry	2004
Far Cry 2	2008
Far Cry 3	2012
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon	2013
Far Cry 4	2014
Far Cry Primal	2016
Far Cry 5	2018
Far Cry New Dawn	2019
Far Cry 6	2021

Far Cry 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS, open world and shooter game in the Far Cry series.

General information

Ubisoft Forums

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Manual

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM PA DRM, 5 activations on 3 PCs. Additionally uses SecuROM 7 DRM for disc checking. Removed in patch 1.03
Amazon.co.uk		Fortune's Edition
Epic Games Store		Fortune's Edition
GamersGate		Fortune's Edition
		Fortune's Edition
GOG.com		Fortune's Edition
Green Man Gaming		Fortune's Edition
Humble Store		Fortune's Edition
Steam		Fortune's Edition. Can be run DRM-free when launched directly from the executable
Ubisoft Store		Fortune's Edition, included with Ubisoft+.
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)

Version differences

The Fortune's Edition is a complete edition containing the base game and the Fortune's Pack DLC.

Pre-order versions contained "Predecessor Tapes", additional missions that can now be unlocked using FC2 MultiFixer.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Fortunes Pack	Included with the Fortune's Edition
Intel Bonus Missions	Released as a free download.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -GameProfile_SkipIntroMovies 1 command line argument

Patches

Patch 1.03

The patch removes the activation requirement and allows the game to be played without the disc. Only required for the Retail DVD version.

Utilities

FC2 MultiFixer

A small program made by FoxAhead that allows toggling on and off essential fixes, and tweaking various parameters like FOV, unlocking missing DLCs, fixing the missing Jackals Tapes, Cheats and more - all in a user-friendly user-interface. Its biggest advantage over manual tweaks is that it does not modify the game's file or .dlls. Instead, the changes will be stored in a configuration file. This allows reverting to a full vanilla state if needed. It is compatible with most mods, and is even bundled with the most popular ones like Redux. The link provided above explains in detail how to set it up.

FC2 MultiFixer Options List

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 2\GamerProfile.xml %LOCALAPPDATA%\My Games\Far Cry 2\InputUserActionMap.xml
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/19900/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Far Cry 2\Saved Games\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/19900/pfx/

"Quicksave" button creates a new manual save each time, they don't overwrite each other.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Patch 1.02 and above. Separate widescreen option is optional and changes FOV with weapon zoom.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Menus and loading screens are stretched. Make changes on the main menu, changing aspect ratios in-game may result in stretching and other errors.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Use Far Cry 2 Multi Fixer for version 1.03.
Windowed		Press Alt+↵ Enter to toggle.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA. Nvidia users can use SGSSAA through anti-aliasing compatibility bits 0x000010C1 in Nvidia Profile Inspector. This requires the game to be in DX9 mode and AA fix is necessary to avoid issues with geometry.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		No frame rate cap. High frame rates can cause save corruption and game ending engine bugs.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		No frame rate cap. High frame rates can cause save corruption and game ending engine bugs.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Ambient Occlusion

Force HBAO+ (Nvidia only)

Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Select the Far Cry 2 profile. Change Ambient Occlusion compatibility value to 0x00000031. Change Ambient Occlusion setting to High Quality. Change Ambient Occlusion usage to Enabled. Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner. Notes Requires the game to be in DX9 mode. The effect bleeds through distant scenery (terrain, buildings, etc.), especially during rainy weather and with effects such as fog present.

Deleting borders for 16:10 resolution

Change the desktop resolution to 16:9 before starting the game, and keep the 16:10 resolution in-game[citation needed]
Notes Also fixes blue borders in 16:10 while using ReShade. Task switch activating windowed mode will add the borders back (game restart required) - it doesn't happen in DX9 mode (minimization works correctly).

Input

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Some minor commands, such as exiting turrets and operating the wristwatch, are permanently bound to the default WASD controls.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Can be modified further by editing Sensitivity value in GamerProfile.xml.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Toggle aim down sights

Create AutoHotkey script[citation needed]
Download AutoHotkey. Copy the code to the clipboard (CTRL+C). Open AutoHotkey, go to File>Edit script, paste the code in Notepad. Change "Fallout4" to "Far Cry 2" in the Notepad, save. Reload Script in AutoHotkey.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output. May require DirectSound 3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 3.0, DirectSound3D. EAX 3.0 only used for indoor occlusion effects, not reverb.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Czech				Retail only.
French
German
Hungarian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Italian
Polish				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Russian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish
Turkish				Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, Tribo Gamer.

Network

In-game network settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16	Versus
Online play		16	Versus The official mulitplayer service was shut down on June 1, 2021. FC2MPPatcher patching utility is needed: GitHub or FC2MP.COM.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		Dedicated Server software available for Windows and Linux (The latter link starts an immediate download).
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	9000-9003
UDP	3074, 9000-9003

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			Use Helix Mod for better 3D support.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues unresolved

Stuck/can't exit turret

This happens if the "interact" key is rebound to anything other than the "default" (E). In order to exit the turret if key is rebound, E must be used.

Issues fixed

Bouncing NPC glitch

High FPS will cause errors in character animations. At very high FPS this can be a game-breaking bug as important NPCs can't complete their dialog to progress the story.

Cap the framerate, it's reported that up to 90 Hz/FPS is fine, but 60 is recommended[citation needed]

"Silent phone call" bug (DirectX 10 ONLY)

When answering a call the dialogue may be missing at times. Player will still get the mission objectives, but will miss out on the dialogue and potential tips.

Cap framerate to 60 FPS[citation needed]
Notes This can be done using the FC2 MultiFixer. This doesn't completely eliminate the issue but it minimizes it a lot.

Set compatibility mode[citation needed]
Right-click FarCry2.exe in Far Cry 2\bin folder and click Properties. Click the Compatibility tab. Check the Compatibility mode box and select Windows Vista (Service Pack 1) from the drop-down box. Click OK to apply and close the properties window.

If the above fixes do not work, don't use DirectX 10, but switch to the DirectX 9 renderer via in-game option[citation needed]
Notes Comes with worse performance (but this can be mitigated by using DXVK) and some very minor graphical downgrades.

"Black Square" bug (DirectX 10 ONLY)

When using DirectX 10, using Bloom in combination with HDR (enabled by default in DX10) will cause a black square to fill parts of the screen in many different scenarios, but mainly when looking down.

Play in DX9 mode[citation needed]
Notes This comes with worse performance but this can be mitigated by using DXVK.

Disable bloom[citation needed]
Notes This makes it harder to see in dark areas since it disables brightness adaptation.

Audio glitches

Certain audio devices (namely older Realtek integrated audio chips) aren't compatible with the audio in the game and will reverse all channels or make the back channel primary and the front channel near inaudible.

Modify .ini file[citation needed]
Open <path-to-game>\Data_Win32\SoundBinary\DARE.ini. Find the line DISABLE_OPTIMISATION and set the value to FALSE. Save the changes.

Vegetation looks blocky

Disable alpha to coverage
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open GamerProfile.xml. Set AlphaToCoverage to 0.

Disable anti-aliasing (including that by external tools)

Launch crash to desktop on newer systems

Use systemdetection.dll from Far Cry 3[citation needed]
Navigate to Far Cry 3's or Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon's <path-to-game>\bin\ and copy systemdetection.dll. Paste this file in Far Cry 2's <path-to-game>\bin\, making sure to overwrite the current DLL. Notes: This will only work if there's also a legitimate copy of Far Cry 3 or Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon installed.

Game automatically minimizes after launch

Change resolution in GamerProfile.xml
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open GamerProfile.xml. Change ResolutionX="xxxx" ResolutionY="xxxx" in <RenderProfile> and <CustomQuality> to the prefered resolution (eg.ResolutionX="1920" ResolutionY="1080").

Splash screen crash

This issue occurs when having a 4 kb logical sector size.

Move the game to another drive formatted with a 512b LOGICAL sector size or format the current drive to have a 512b logical sector size

Notes For those concerned regarding the effects this might have on the drive, changing the logical sector size will NOT result in worse drive performance. A 4 kb logical sector size performs worse than or equal to 512b and has worse compatibility. The 512b emulation layer exists for this reason. It's a good idea to keep the logical size at 512b for general PC use anyway, hence why most PCs come with this emulation layer enabled automatically, and therefore most people won't have this issue.

Game resolution changes to 1600x900 when Alt-Tabbing

Alt-tabbing out of the game may cause the resolution to reset to 1600x900.

Reset the resolution

Open the Options menu, then Display. Change the Resolution to something other than the preferred choice. Hit Apply. Now change the Resolution back to the own's preferences. Hit Apply again. Notes Can also be fixed by either switching to the DX9 renderer(this has a decent hit to CPU performance but modern cpus will have no issue targeting 60 fps) or running the game in a window and using Borderless Gaming although this may lead to issues with G-sync/Freesync not activating properly.

Press Alt+↵ Enter[citation needed]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 10
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Matchmaking+
Anti-cheat	PunkBuster

Advanced improvements

The following tweaks require editing XML documents within the game's resource file[citation needed]

Download mod tools from moddb. From the archive, extract the contents of the WobFC2DUNIAxxx folder into <path-to-game>\modding\, create this folder if it doesn't exist. Run bootstrap.bat to unpack Far Cry 2's resource file into modding. After changes have been made to the unpacked resources, run build_patch.bat to pack the modified resources back up into patch.fat and patch.dat. Copy patch.fat and patch.dat into <path-to-game>\Data_Win32\, backing up the existing resource files before overwriting them. Notes This process should work even with mods installed. Mods are typically distributed as patch.fat and patch.dat resources. The mod tools will unpack these resources if installed, so when the resources are repackaged after making these improvements the mod should be preserved. This method won't work on vanilla game if it's not Steam version. These Steam patch data files can be used, which will mostly work with the retail or GOG copy (minor niggling issues) or patch files of the existing mods can be modified.

Mouse sensitivity multiplier

Far Cry 2's resource file contains a set of mouse sensitivity multipliers which augment the sensitivity slider in the options menu.

Instructions[citation needed]
In original\patch\config\inputactionmapcommon.xml, change the sensitivity attributes within each <MouseFilter> element to the desired scalar.

Remove mouse speed clamp

Far Cry 2 clamps mouse speed once it reaches a certain rate. This can be problematic for player who use high DPI mice or low sensitivities.

Instructions[citation needed]
In original\patch\config\inputactionmapcommon.xml, remove all the maxOutput=10 attributes from each <MouseFilter> element.

Eliminate one-frame latency

Far Cry 2 uses a multithreaded renderer, meaning the rendering happens in a thread separate from the main game loop. This pipelining, which is performed by default, increases framerate substantially but at the cost of one frame of latency. Since Far Cry 2 needs to be framerate limited to avoid certain bugs, this tradeoff can be beneficial in cases where framerate is capped well below the system's capabilities, or in cases where the player values low latency over outright framerate.

Set ThreadCnt="0" on the <ThreadSetting id="RENDER_THREAD" ...> element in original\patch\engine\settings\defaultthreadingconfig.xml[citation needed]

Notes Additional threads can be allocated to the PHYSIC_THREADS and JOB_THREADS to regain some lost framerate. 4 physics threads and 2 job threads appear to yield the greatest performance increase on quad core machines. Increasing job threads too far can have catastrophic effects on performance. The game will feel much smoother comparing the same framerates (especially when constant 60 FPS can be achieved using the solution).

Command line arguments

Parameter	Effect
-GameProfile_GodMode 1	Enables god mode (only enable after tutorial)
-GameProfile_UnlimitedAmmo 1	Unlimited ammo (only enable after tutorial)
-GameProfile_AllWeaponsUnlock 1	Unlocks all weapons
-GameProfile_UnlimitedReliability 1	Weapons will never break
-exec filename	Parses console commands from the file named filename in the Game data directory. Known to work for files with a .CFG extension. Execution results can be viewed in-game by opening the console with ~.

Mods

Scubrah's Patch

Refines the vanilla gameplay experience by introducing new features and a host of tweaks & fixes. Intended to be an overhaul for the vanilla gameplay loop, with a focus on QOL improvements, bug fixes and entirely new features that make the gameplay feel fresh.

Active development.

Far Cry 2: Realism + Redux

Combination of both Realism+ and Redux overhaul mods with new features such as a vibrant color palette, extra difficulties and further improvements to enemy AI behavior.

Far Cry 2 Redux

Immersion focused massive overhaul of Far Cry 2, includes bug fixes, more dynamic AI and a complete re-balance of multiple aspects of the game.

Stays true to the vanilla emergent gameplay loop.

2019 ModDB MOTY Winner (Editor's Choice).

Far Cry 2 Patched

Fixes lots of bugs and developer oversights, as well as adding a couple of small features to improve gameplay.

Compatible with Steam, GOG, Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store versions of the game.

May reduce performance to some extent when using Enhanced version due to graphics changes.

Far Cry 2: Vanilla+ (Tom's Mod)

A vanilla focused mod that maintains the feel of the original game while adding improved graphics, re-balanced weapons, quality of life features, massively increased gameplay variety and plenty of bug fixes.

Chill+, Realism+ and Insanity+ mod flavors exist by the same author.

Far Cry 2 Modernized

Overhaul mod based on Far Cry 2 Redux that includes other mods and fixes, as well as a ReShade preset.

Dylan's Realism Mod

Revisions to enemy health, diamond prices, enemy AI and other balance changes.

Infamous Fusion

Major mod with countless improvements on realism, graphics, weapons, animations and gameplay.

No Malaria and Infinite Sprint

A simple mod that only disables malaria attacks and removes the cooldown on sprinting.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium D 2.66 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+	Intel Core 2 Duo AMD 64 X2 5200+ AMD Phenom
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	3.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1650 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible Shader model 3 support	Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS ATI Radeon X1900 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 10.1 compatible

Multiple saves and user created maps will increase the amount of needed hard disk space.