Far Cry 2

The game will be entirely open ended and non-linear. Instead of using individual maps, the game will be set in a sprawling, open, environment set in a nondescript land in Africa, with terrain ranging from savanna to jungle, similar to those seen in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, Just Cause and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl. The player can choose one of 12 different mercenaries to play as, the other 11 mercenaries will be encountered in-game as "buddies". Various factions and vehicles will be featured, and the gameplay area will be around 50 square km. Enemies will include human mercenaries and native animals, but sci-fi creatures such as the mutants from Far Cry will not be featured. A dynamic weather system has been added that varies the weather based on the players ability - if the player is doing exceptionally well the skies will be clear and sunny, but if problems arise the skies will darken and storm.

The protagonist of previous Far Cry games, Jack Carver, will not be featured in this game. When Ubisoft interviewed players about the original Far Cry in their research for this game, the interviewees didn't find the character very memorable or likeable. As a result, in the sequel the player will be able to choose from around twelve different characters to play, each with a unique look and back story. All of the playable characters will be different types of mercenaries. The playable characters the player does not choose to play will become non-player characters who are friends of the player's character.

A pre-Alpha video of the game, showcasing visuals and gameplay, with developer commentary, is available on GameTrailers. The video showcases many dynamic gameplay features which included procedural breakage of vegetation, allowing players to shoot down trees and shoot branches and leaves off of trees. The developers also showcased dynamic propagation of fire, and volumetric wind effects capable of breaking vegetation and spreading fire. Man-made structures were also shown to be highly destructible.

Engine

Far Cry 2 does not use CryTek's CryENGINE or CryENGINE2. Instead, it will use the "Dunia" engine, meaning "world" or "earth" in Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, Swahili and Malay languages. The engine has been in developed for two years especially for Far Cry 2. It will take advantage of multi-core processors and support DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 10 and showcase dynamic and procedural weather and environment.