$20 Game of the Week/Lost Classics Saturday Night Fever Edition

Yeah, I know I’m a bit late, so lets not waste too much more time. Right after the jump is this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics, so click and enjoy.



$20 Game of the Week: Far Cry 2 (Xbox 360, PC, PS3)
When we last left the world of Far Cry, Jack Carver had successfully managed to stop the bad guys and leave the island safely. Join us now for Far Cry 2 which follows the exploits of a member of a group of mercenaries as they hunt for an arms dealer in war-torn Africa. Waaaa?

Far Cry 2 is related to its predecessor in name only. Crytek didn’t develop it, Jack Carver is nowhere to be found, and the beautiful tropical backdrop of the first game has been replaced with a lush African Savannah peppered with checkpoints and war-ravaged villages. There are no traps to set or feral powers to use. The only thing this game has in common with the previous game is the map editor, which can be used to create maps and upload them online.

At the start of the game, you pick one of several mercenaries. You’re sent into Africa to assassinate an arms dealer known as the Jackal. However, things go south almost immediately after you arrive. You’re attacked by armed men, and you come down with a case of malaria. Just when you think things cant get worse, you find yourself face to face with the target. Instead of killing you however, he saves you instead. Now at first you’re thinking that maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all, but if you’ve read any comic books, seen any movies, or played any video games within the past, I dunno, 50 years, you know that any time the main bad guy saves the hero’s life, then he’s basically manipulating things for later. Form there, you’re thrust into the midst of a conflict and have to make dealings with several factions in order to make your way to the Jackal and to keep yourself alive.

There are a lot of people you’ll run into in FC2’s open world, and if they aren’t trying to kill you, they’ll usually have something for you to do, and they all reward you in unique ways. The two warring factions pay you (in diamonds), the weapon salesman makes more weapons and equipment available for you, while the underground supplies you with the much needed malaria drugs. The mercenaries you didn’t pick show up as NPCs, and the idea is to buddy up with them. They’ll give you side info on how to complete missions, and may even pull you to safety if you go down in battle. However, they can also go down, and you may have a chance to heal them…or you may only be able to put them out of their misery.

The game emphasizes realism, almost to a fault. You can drive most of the vehicles you find, and even repair them if they break down. If you pick up an enemy’s weapon, there is a chance it may jam up, which can be very inconvenient in fire fights. On the plus side, the graphics are a sight to look at, and the physics engine makes things behave realistically. It’s satisfying to see trees catch fire after firing an RPG at them or have shacks crumble apart when hit with Molotov cocktails, and it’s always fun to destroy enemy vehicles (and their hapless drivers and passengers) with a well-timed grenade toss. The African fields even contain various wildlife, which you can shoot or run down if you’re the cruel and sadistic type.

The sandbox gameplay allows you to approach the game at your own pace and choose your own way to get to the top. However, the freedom seems to come at the cost of the story, as you don’t learn much about the two warring factions, the mercenaries, or even the region you’re in. Thankfully there is a lot to do, so even if you do get disengaged with the story, you’ll still be drawn into the game’s atmosphere. The African backdrop is an untapped setting in video games, and Ubisoft has done a good job of utilizing it for this game.

Lost Classics: Quarth(Arcade, NES, Game Boy)
It doesn’t get much more obscure than this puzzle game from Konami. Quarth can best be described as Space Invaders meets Tetris. You (and a second player if playing competitive) take control of a ship. A series of blocks are falling from the sky, and you shoot blocks from your cannon at them. By making squares and rectangles, you make them disappear. As you progress, the game gets faster and faster. It gets addictive, and it’s a fun and unique old school puzzler. One can only imagine that it was slept on because it was lost in the shuffle between Metal Gear, Castlevania, and the TMNT games. Hopefully Konami can give it a second life via Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, or Wiiware, as it is easily one of Konami’s most slept-on titles.