Thought I'd start a discussion on it again after reading an interesting column on PCG. The writer certainly doesn't claim that it's perfect (I don't think even those of us who really liked it would claim it's without flaws), but at the same time makes the argument that it had a huge influence on open world games by doing things that hadn't been done before:
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/far-cry-2s-d ... ars-later/There are games like Doom that forever change their genres. Then there are games that don’t necessarily come to mind on a day-to-day basis, but which constantly re-enter the conversation when developers get together and talk. Far Cry 2 is a real developer's game: an imperfect gem to be sure, but one that changed the industry by changing how people thought about games.
I really enjoyed it at the time. For me the flaws, the fast-talking NPCs, the respawning outposts etc couldn't spoil the sense of place and freedom the game gave you, the sense that anything goes - you're given an objective and then how you pursue it is entirely up to you. Things like the diamond tracker rather that a slew of collectibles icons littering the map - which itself was a literal map your character held up to peruse, all added to it.
I think it's a mark of the impact it had that 10 years after its release people - us included - are still talking about it. Love it or hate it, you can't forget it.
Fuck malaria, though